Someone once said, "There's never a perfect time to go to the dentist, buy a house or have kids." The same goes for working towards any dream but it might be especially true if the dream involves an art form. Most people understand if you eventually want to own your own home or have a child. As for the dentist...sometimes it's not negotiable. But a large portion of our "realistic" society still sees art as frivolous, dispensable and maybe even self-indulgent.
That's why some of us find ourselves justifying such dreams in terms of cost-benefit (especially when challenged by someone else), neglecting them when Urgent Business calls or simply telling ourselves, "I'll write that screenplay/start my website/launch my portrait business when things settle down."
The problem is that things won't settle down, at least not permanently. To quote Oprah, "This I know for sure." Life is like a 2-month old kitten - it never stays still for long. Sure, you'll get the car paid off but someday it'll die and you'll need another. Kids grow up and leave home but as many of my Boomer friends are experiencing, aging parents or grandparents needing care may take the kids' place immediately.
If you've been dying to do something creative but have been postponing it because of life "stuff," stop waiting. Conditions will never be just right; you have to create the right conditions yourself. You do this not by first taking care of everything else for once & for all but by making time today. It need only be five minutes at first. In the beginning what counts is that you're doing it at all. The energy builds from there.
Scottish climber W. H. Murray's famous quote ("when you move, providence moves too") reminds us that once we start on a dream, it's as if we're making an announcement to the universe, and often we'll be rewarded with unexpected help. But we have to make the first move.
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