The story I’ve heard is that in the 1960s, when Chuck Close was painting over-sized, photo-realistic portraits, a critic tried to discourage him.

“Galleries and collectors don’t want these portraits. No one is doing this kind of work.”

Close was undeterred. His reply was something like, “Good. I’ll be the only one.”

And indeed, Chuck Close became famous for his giant portraits.

* * *

Finding ourselves alone, or out on the edges ... that can be a good thing. There, we have space to grow. Space to make marks that are our own.

By contrast, the center is crowded. It’s hard to be noticed by being more in the center than everyone else.

But the edges? The edges are great places to explore. We might even find a voice that we can call our own.