What happens when you surround yourself with greatness - defining success

It's been a long time since I've been creative on the Internet. It's been a long road rebuilding my life and career, growing, organizing, coalessing, digesting.  But, the time has come to give back again.  Edgar Garcia, Felicia Day and the Guild, online friends, real life friends in church and  all the great people I work with at CDW, my family, they all have taught me some very important lessons about being a creative professional and what it takes to be a success. The formula is simple, but, like doing a workout, difficult at the same time.

First of all, what success is not:
* Being famous
* Being rich

Success is:
* Becoming more and more proficient at what you love
* Expressing yourself through your art consistently and effectively
* Blood, sweat and tears
* Self discipline
* Organization
* Surrounding yourself with good people that pull you up and don't drag you down
* Fighting and overcoming your own personal demons
* Always, always upping your game
* Humility and a positive attitude
* Giving as much as you take
* Having fun
* Forgiving yourself when you fall down and having the courage to face your failings and correct them
* Shielded vulnerability.  When you create something, you put yourself out there.  Having healthy boundries lets you protect your core but at the same time be exposed.  Good friends and a healthy inside/outside boundary prevents drama and enhances beauty of the end product, like granulating sugar or preparing a great meal from raw ingredients.
* The ability to take constructive criticism and reject destructive criticism and the ability to discern the difference.

This, along with a good deal of love, both for yourself and others, lead to success. I get this now. It's the reason Felicia Day signs all of her emails 'XOXO Felicia' and why Edgar Garcia wants everyone to share in his Year of the Edgar.  It's a healthy, outgoing love to be shared with anyone who wants a piece of it -- the type you'd find on an Olympic sports team or in the best work environments. It's a modus oparandi, and it can change your life.