Toss the LIMITING LABELS!

"PROFESSIONAL" - This word needs to be erased from our mainframe! This word makes people use less of their brain. This word is an excuse for creative people to sit on the sidelines and watch other, more ambitious people find success. This word is a money word, not a substance word. It means nothing! But sadly, it means everything to so many!

I have known people who simply REFUSE to apply themselves to a given task, a given medium, a given venture, simply because they are "not a professional." Not that they would say this mind you. But, this phenomenon is a byproduct of our LABEL-OBSESSED culture. We are enslaved to the labels we give and labels others give us. CHAINS! These words are chains! We need to ZOOM OUT and realize that the labels don't exist unless we CHOOSE to recognize them and let them limit us!

Of course I understand and recognize the need for and purpose of labels. But, we are simply too beholden to labels. Let them serve their purpose while still being able to sustain a strong drive for creative exploration in any field and with our skills and abilities. School and a degree are not the only things that make someone useful. These are more about marketability in a competitive work environment. You all know you've seen those straight-A students who are as brain dead and limited as a cash register with a restricted button set. The ability to memorize and regurgitate information in a classroom for a grade is a nice skill, but hardly accounts for intuitive application of one's mind to a task at hand, and certainly doesn't replace raw ambition and creative and proactive thinking.

Bottom line - If someone hands you a camera, a tool, a book, an instrument, don't squirm about and assume the dunce position mentally just because you've never taken a class on it or because you're in a different "profession!" Apply your God-given intuition, creativity, and desire to grow and DO SOMETHING WITH IT!!!!

You might surprise yourself.

P.S. And when you learn something by taking this approach, for the love of Pete, PLEASE pass this notion on to your kids or to ANY young person you have the blessing of having an influence on!