We might not always know what to do, but we always know that there is something to do: Someone to Love, somewhere to go, and some way to grow.

Sometimes I think of life as an ever-flowing poem. I imagine the world as an incredible canvas, but that canvas is far from blank. While the space is infinite, words from the past and present are written in every direction, speaking volumes about the human experience, human emotion and the power of humanity.

So if life is a canvas, are we all painters? I think not. While we all contribute to the mural, we all contribute in a variety of different ways. Some of us are the actual painters, but some of us are the voices, the actors & actresses, the teachers, the believers that inspire the paintings. And some us even create the paint.

I believe that each and every one of us contribute to that mural, but it is up to us to choose in what way we contribute. Unfortunately, there are still people who steal our paint, laugh at our goofy expressions of human joy and reject even the most inspiring stories, claiming that the world was cruel to them. While we might aim to understand what robs the vibrancy of one's soul, our first priority must be to enliven ourselves, ignite our own souls.

And the first step to making our lives more vibrant is to free ourselves from external judgement and oppression. Undoubtedly, we should take the advice of those close to us, but only to the extent that it amplifies our personal character, our best selves. In both a rational and an emotional sense, we must no longer hide our powerful human nature, the pure essence of joy, gratitude, miracles, faith, communion, family, Love, from the world. We must shine brightly as powerful individuals who choose to share our lives for the better of our world, our humanity.

And to free ourselves, we must make a very clear, a very distinct declaration. We must declare, today, that we will NEVER give up the pursuit of our most elaborate dreams, our deepest desires. We must understand that the one thing that limits our capacity to give, to inspire, to Love, is the decision to give up on ourselves and to settle for living someone else's story.

And we must know that faith, faith that our constant and willing pursuit to become the people that we most deeply desire to be, will somehow be documented into that beautiful mural, the book of life.