Owner | Lead Designer
Diane Carlton Atelier
Dear Tsahai,
My beautiful and talented multifaceted creative!
Even with the steady hum of anxiety, insecurities, and fears.... I’ve watched you press on. Even in these times, burdened by the loom of uncertainty and social restrictions, it has lifted my heart to see you cling to your creative goals with your savvy fierce spirit. You have used your gifts as a therapeutic tool, and our time in lockdown as an impetus to explore and sharpen your skillsets.
I’ve heard it said, that passion is the God in us wanting to say “Hi” and that creatives are imbued with a heavenly power that is like water to ones soul. Both sentiments I believe to be true, as I myself have lived a life fuelled by artistic expression, that in many ways have been my saving grace.
Art is essential and creatives are a special breed of indispensable folks.
You should be proud of yourself. We love what we see blossoming before our eyes. Follow your calling.
It has also been said that creativity is intelligence having fun, and to express yourself, you have to know yourself. The path to self-identification is easy my darling; just follow what you love.
Actress Phylicia Rashad said it best.
“Before a child talks, they sing.
Before they walk, they dance.
Before they write, they draw.
Art is fundamental to human expression.”
My darling girl, artistic experiences enhance our reality and allows us to fill our space in the world by sharing our unfiltered, soul driven, point of view. It is within the arena of creative spaces that we often discover the narrative, the truth about who we are; embodied by the hands, the voices, the words, the notes, the chords, and the expressive moves of those who dare to share their divine downloads with the rest of the world.
As for the sting of judgment and harsh criticism, know this: human discomfort is the unfair reaction to people’s inability to fit you and your ‘unconventional’ choices into society’s box. But stay elevated always my darling. You are more than just a bundle of conditioned reflexes and your emotions, the hurt, and disappointment you may experience at the hands of the unkind, are just your body’s response to your thoughts, so stay conscious and employ wisdom to reprogram your responses to life and its many challenges. Stay elevated!
In dealing with society, it is wise to navigate using instinct.
Your “gut” always informs situational calculations on the highest plain. Use it; cultivate this art and learn to separate its findings from your fears, your hopes and the other voices in your head, because if you don’t listen to your instincts, you may be doomed. This I wish I knew much earlier in life.
Fortune favours the bold, so go hard and strive for excellence; but embrace failure when it happens and the lessons that it brings! Circumvent any deterrents against your endeavours with fervent prayer, and know that it is natural to waiver at times even in the strength of your own talent, this is a struggle that every creative endures. Just listen to the voice within you. It is your most reliable radar!
Stacey Weekes - Benjamin
Creativity runs deeply through
my blood line.
As a woman, a mother, a wife, and a businesswoman, creativity is a daily ‘essential’ to me. I’ve spent my life as a hyphenate, leveraging my natural skills and abilities to attract business opportunities in the capacity of service to individuals and corporate clients.
Art is likened to another form of prayer for me, a sacred space. Music, poetry, fashion, painting, any creative prowess - to observe the artist’s passion in motion; and in the end to have our eyes or ears kissed by the fruits of their creative offering, bears a divine intel that reveals the depth of human greatness in a raw and untainted form.
I believe that we are all creators, fashioned for divine service to each other. Everything else is attendant to that purpose.