All this week, I’m sharing excerpts from a book I published a few years ago. It’s called The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey. It’s a short, fun read for all kinds of artists, particularly for writers.

Here’s today’s excerpt from the chapter, “J is for Just.”

Every artist wonders if their work really matters in the vast scheme of things. With a few billion people in the world, can one person’s creative contribution make any difference?

Yes! I know it’s a cliché, but art can change the world. Of course, not all art changes the world, and a lot of art changes it for the worse. But art has the potential to make a positive difference.

You should never say, “It’s just art.”

Are you just an architect? Ask Isidore and Anthemius when they laid down the blueprint of the great Hagia Sophia and said, “We think we can do this.”

Are you just a painter? Ask Michelangelo after he put the finishing touches on the Sistine Chapel.

Are you just a writer? Ask J. R. R. Tolkien after he wrote a little book that began, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

Are you just a musician? Ask the Beatles after they appeared on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964.

Are you just an actor? Ask Meryl Streep after receiving 19 Academy Awards nominations (and 3 wins).

Are you just a dancer? Ask Michael Jackson after he performed the Moonwalk on Motown’s 25th anniversary special in 1983.

Are you just a filmmaker? Ask George Lucas about May 1977 when he flew to Hawaii during the premiere of his new space movie because he was sure it was going to flop. It was a little film he called Star Wars.

It’s never “just art.” In God’s economy, there are no “justs.” He gave you a specific set of creative gifts to use at this time and place in history. You’re one of a kind! If you don’t do what you do, it won’t get done.

So don’t think of yourself as “just an artist.” You’re so much more.

You’re a dreamer.

A doer.

A thinker.

A creator.

A visionary.

A leader.

A risk-taker.

An unlocker of potential.

And a thousand other things.

But one thing you will never be is a “just.” And you will never make “only art.”

If you ever hear someone say, “It’s just art,” they are correct in one sense—it just has the power to change a life. It just has the potential to inspire a child who will one day do some extraordinary. It can just make grown men cry, give hope to the hopeless, and change a person’s entire perspective.

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “Having once found the intensity of art, nothing else that can happen in life can ever again seem as important as the creative process.”

Every movie, every song, every poem, every innovation, every feat of engineering, every courageous voyage, and every leap forward for humanity was the result of the creative process.

It’s only art, and it only has the power to change the course of history.