Art demands end-to-end completion.

Being an artist requires us to do more than sketch. We might have a screenplay we've been working on for years or a song we've noodled on endlessly. We wait for inspiration to arrive, a prerequisite to help us finish.

I have bad news: inspiration isn't coming.

You have to show up for the work. Inspiration does not come to us uninvited.

I'll take it a step further: finishing your piece of art is not enough. Your art isn't art until it ships.

Art demands completion of the lifecycle of the piece, from sketch to exhibition.

I am guilty of this too. How many sketches, how much recorded content have I collected and just haven't shared? Enough to get me writing this piece.

The real growth doesn't happen in the sketchbook. It happens when we finish something, call it done, and let it go. The biggest lessons live in the moment of release.

The mediums of shipping our work, along with the tools of whatever age we live in, play a huge role in how the art is created and consumed. Art does not live in a vacuum. Its means of distribution are as critical a piece of the art as the art itself.

Completion puts us in the fire — and that’s where the real growth happens. It puts them in front of their mistakes, and consequently in front of opportunities to improve on the next iteration.

When we play music live, we learn all the dynamics of a show — the audio visuals, the microphones, the size of the space, the marketing of the venue, the expectation setting, all the pieces that come together to form an experience.

There is no "figuring it out" beforehand. That is the slow and incomplete path. Throwing yourself into the deep end is what will teach you to swim. Yes, there are sharks. But guess what: they can't actually hurt you. They can only teach you.

So here's my invitation: instead of sketching out a new piece, take whatever work you have and complete it. Call it done. Share it. Memorialize it. And then move on.

You don’t need a masterpiece. You just need to finish.

You may find yourself relating to your work in a whole new way.