Making art is inconvenient. We have to carve out time for it. We have to carve out space for it. We have to spend our hard-earned money on it.

We have to rearrange our schedules, ask for time off from work, and beg out of gatherings with friends and family at times. We have to give up distractions and addictions and some of the time we could otherwise spend just lolling about.

We have to go out on a limb and do things that terrify us and put ourselves out in ways that make us feel vulnerable. We have to bare our souls, express our truths, share our visions with a world that doesn’t always appreciate them.

But it’s worth it.

Because it makes our lives full of meaning, delight, wonder, play, and expression. It brings us joy and a sense of being “on purpose” in our lives.

Making art is also inconvenient because it tells the truth. It shows us how we’re feeling. It reveals what we need to look at and what we’re neglecting. It tells us what we love and what we can’t tolerate. It shows us how rich and deep and beautiful life can be and what isn’t working now.

Making space for art in our lives can cause us to long for more, to dream of better, to not be satisfied with the status quo. It awakens our souls and calls us to who we truly are.

But, inconvenient as it is, where would we be without art? Without the beauty, wonder, imagination, and truth that it brings. Life would be awfully bland without music and dancing, poetry and painting, sculpture and films, and all of the gorgeous arts and crafts.

We need art to enlarge our minds, expand our hearts, and uplift our souls. To carve visions of a more beautiful, loving world, and remind us of what really matters, and what’s possible.

So yes, it’s inconvenient. Like most of the good things in life. Like meaningful relationships and inner growth and big dreams.

And we need it.

So, I urge you to make time and space for art in your life. Let it inconvenience you. Spend some money on it. Ask for time off for it. Cancel that engagement you didn’t want to go to anyway. Give up a meaningless distraction. So that your life can grow and bloom in the most astonishing ways.