an artist is just a pocket translator...

i admit that i've not been terribly comfortable with the title of "artist." i've been seeing myself in a sort of process to that point. in other words, trying to practice and train to call myself "artist" in the same way an athlete trains in order to become an "olympian." but someone asked me, "what is an artist?" and i began to ponder. is it an elite group that the masses have defined as "masters?" it can't be..there've been too many artists throughout the history of man (including cavemen who drew animals on cave walls!) for there to only be a handful of artists. is it really something you train to be or is it just something you are born as? so i started to break down what qualities are common to artistic people. i know that most times, i feel similar to a pocket translator. i receive creative energy (a.k.a. messages) all the time. i may receive the inspiration to do something new or draw something or maybe even just to SAY something. then, once the inspiration is received, my soul goes about trying to transmit and convey it to others. to put it out there. and in comparing myself to others, i can see that the other artists i know are really doing just about the same thing. maybe they don't recognize it but it is actually happening that way for them. so then an artist is really just a pocket translator and maybe my whole idea of working and practicing to BECOME an artist is really misguided. i mean a calculator can't work or practice to become a pocket translator - it just is what it is. so maybe i'm an artist after all. who'da thunk?