I spent several years of my life thinking that art, in any form, was an exclusive club belonging to the rich and focused, the talented, and those with a lot of time on their hands.

I thought I could never make music because you had to have a lot of resources to do that, I thought I'd never write poetry because I didn't have time or focus to make it perfect or to constantly teach myself new words.

I thought I'd never be able to draw because I didn't have supplies and I have too much executives dysfunction to make anything beautiful or worthwhile.

But then, I took a poetry class and realized that poetry isn't some exclusive club belonging to the elites or the royally depressed, but rather something everyone can and should try their hand at, even just for fun.

I even discovered that despite all the time I spent thinking poems had to be pretentious and majestic, that couldn't be further from the truth. Even if others don't put a value on your words, if you like what you've done then you've made something important.

I discovered the DIY community and all these bands and houses and people giving and sharing all of the limited resources they do have to make something beautiful and inclusive out of their conjoined efforts, taking the music scene and touring from something that requires a lot of wealth and popularity to something anyone can do as long as they have the time and a little dedication.

There are so many people I've seen and met and discovered simply through word of mouth and kindness that I never would have imagined existed, so many of whom make music that fits perfectly into every niche I never knew I needed to be fulfilled. It's truly beautiful.

And even further than those things, physical/digital visual arts are so much more expansive and inclusive than I ever imagined.

Of course, I knew anyone could make art (I'm sure we've all made the mistake of seeing DeviantArt and Rule 34 drawings that cursed our souls when we were younger) but I didn't know until recently that anyone can make art that will be appreciated by those in their lives.

I've even been able to sell some of my own art already and I've only been drawing very casually a few months.

All this to say that the only thing stopping you from making something beautiful, even if you're only gonna share it with yourself, is yourself. You can and will do anything you dream of, even artistically, if you just start.

And it is never too late or too early to start or to reinvent yourself. So get out there and make something beautiful and graceful even if others don't see it that way because I promise it will help bring you more joy than you can imagine.