Watching America's Got Talent with my husband has been a learning experience. Those who are brave enough, walk out onto the stage to be either rejected or accepted by the judges and the masses. Those who are applauded the most are not only proficient in their discipline because of practice, but with enough of that practice they have become comfortable enough with their skill to take it into unique territory. It's not just the proficiency that we appreciate as viewers, it's the uniqueness. So it is with painting. Am I practiced enough to take it in a new direction? And not just new for the sake of being new, but am I so comfortable with that brush in my hand that it becomes invisible and is an extension of my soul? Now that's stepping into the uniqueness that God wants to bring to the world. 

What we don't see on TV are the hours and years of just showing up in the dance studio, or at the piano or in the gym. There is little glamour in showing up at the easel alone day after day. Practice is a solitary place. On the TV show, we get to see that brief moment when contestants step out of the practice room to stretch their muscles. Then, whether or not their applauded, they head right back to the practice room alone. But there is freedom in the alone time to create something that the world has never seen.