When you have a thought inside your head, what do you do?

Maybe you paint a picture about that thought.

Maybe you talk to someone about it.

Maybe you let it pass all together.

If you’re like me, then you pull out your laptop and open another word document before writing it all down.

When I open my laptop, I don’t see an essay that I’ve been preparing, or a presentation that I’ve been revising. Instead I see word documents galore, random pictures to give me visual inspiration, and tabs that I didn’t even know I had opened on Internet Explorer (mostly revolving around clothing items my mind refused to picture).

These random things help me as I write. Sometimes I’m unable to picture the perfect black and white dress and I need several images to get the one I want to describe. I need one that has the style, one that has the right pattern, one that has the right length, and of course I need an image that shows me what it would look like with heels versus flats.

It’s stressful and a little absurd, but it’s all for the art of writing, and it’s something that I will happily do until the day I can no longer write.

People will do a lot for their art, but others don’t seem to realize this.

Photographers risk their lives to get the perfect image. Painters spend hours upon hours getting the perfect color shade for their latest masterpiece. Actors research and study their character and develop their own backstory intricately to perform to their best ability. As artists, we do things behind the scenes that no one knows about, and we often get little recognition for it.

We put so much effort into craft that the ending product is our sense of recognition.

It gives us so much joy to know that people appreciate our work because we pour our hearts into it.

So, the next time a friend, classmate, stranger, or anyone creates something that has their heart in it. Show them that they’re work is appreciated, because a little goes a long way in terms of recognition.