"my" art...

i've recently been pondering a phrase that has grown quite popular in modern culture. it is a phrase i wrote back in the early 90's. i spontaneously shared it with a friend back then, using it as an expression of the love with which it was originally created. some years later, his adult daughter used it toward him on a social media post. i was warmed that he had passed it on with love of his own, and warmed even more by her sincerity in sharing it. the phrase has since become one of those slogans used on thousands (maybe millions) of memes and wall art pieces, many of which are offered for sale on countless websites. as i pondered it's inception and subsequent popularity, i said aloud "if i had a nickel for every time that phrase was used...".
i had to laugh, this sort of thing has happened more than a few times throughout my life. years ago, when i would recognize my art from afar, i would anguish with thoughts of "why am i not making money from that?!!". i've since come to accept the beauty that is contagious ideas and the joy i've been blessed with in birthing some of them. i enjoy the flowing of art, in so many forms, as an ever emerging gift i am fortunate to be immersed in. the following prose came from a personal awakening on this...

to lash out at one who has taken your words, to label him plagiarist and thief, is to suffer as a fool who would take credit for the color of his own eyes and believe the sight they provide to be a separate, singular truth.
blind is the artist who does not see her hand as but a link in the chain of the creativity of humanity, and each piece created an expression of life's desire to flourish. 
we do not own the product of our love but are merely charged with the task of its dispersal.
so love what you do with all your heart. give your love away as if you had an unlimited supply, because you do. accept praise and payment as not separate from but a mirrored reflection of the same one love.