If you're on the path towards creating something meaningful, there's no doubt your work has been inspired and influenced by other passionate people doing the same.

One of the best parts of doing meaningful work is the tendency to attract others like us, often surprising us with unexpected opportunities to connect with like minds. Everyone—even the absolute rockstars of your world—appreciates that kind of real connection. 

I've been consistently surprised by the responsiveness of role models who have inspired my work, when I summon the courage to just reach out and say "hey I like what you've done."

Find time to reach out and share a moment with someone who has inspired the work you're after. It's a good opportunity to go back through your Tumblr / Twitter / Pinterest / wherever to reconnect with the ideas that influence your thinking.

I spend a lot of time thinking about the tensions of pursuing creative work—there is always uncertainty, and doing meaningful work requires you to make choices between many equally viable options. One of the first images that I ran across as I was thinking about these tensions is pictured above, from a series called Color Of Beats by a photographer named Yanzhou Bao. This series and much of his other work makes beautiful use of soft lighting in pinks and blues—a contrast sometimes elegantly subtle, sometimes perfectly tense.

I took a moment to tell him so just after writing the above challenge, feeling that while I may hear back or I may not, the act of taking the time to articulate why these things resonates is itself whats solidifies our vision and resolve.