Ownership

In the most recent issue of Communication Arts there was article I read last night and it stuck with me all day. I would like you to consider, what do you own?

"Ownership means being involved with something, putting in an investment of energy, caring and learning. You own what you are committed to."

Consider the subject of ownership, you are usually dealing with a specific problem or task or object. Was this stock a bad investment? Do I need liability insurance? Should I buy an iPhone? But if we think more broadly about ownership, it becomes more complex and more interesting. When I ask the question, "What do you own? What is the first things that comes to your mind? Your car? Your bank account? Or do you think of ownership in the non-physical realm of, say, friendship or faith or knowledge? Do you see ownership as a freedom, or are your possessions a burden? Does ownership imply yours vs. mine?

For years the authors mother told her that she was lucky because she has an important possession, one that she owns completely; her work. By that, she did not mean a job or a particular profession or even a talent. She means a commitment to creative endeavors to developing and producing objects and environments and to ways of thinking and looking. It is a crucial part of her identitity. She has cultivated it, grown it and she lives by it.

Think of your creative journey. All the years you've spent pursuing and developing your creative identity. You have worked to make it yours. Do you own it?

Something to think about.