Making Things vs. Making "It"

Watercolor triptych, I like to sit on the floor and work

  As I approach age 30 (next month) I've been giving a lot of thought to what I want out of life. I've been working on identifying my true self/voice and that which is me following the crowd and going after what I am "supposed" to want. I have started to think about what my goals are as an artist. Recently someone asked me what I'm going to do to get some of the major New York galleries to notice me. "Because that's what you're trying to accomplish as an artist, right? You're supposed to get your work into those galleries."
  My response was that it would be nice, but it's not at the top of my list. Quite honestly, I just want to make things. I want to make things, share them with others, and hope what I've made brightens their day a little. Is that terribly unambitious of me?

Oxumbas, watercolor cutouts assembled on my altar

  So far my "biggest" moment as an artist came when I was part of a show in Bed Stuy Brooklyn that was curated by my friend Nakeisha. We had just finished installing a bunch of my drawings. A young woman on her way from night classes in the building stopped to take a look. She turned to me beaming, and said, "can I give you a hug?" That's the best and most meaningful review I've ever gotten. I want people to look at my work and see themselves, and be reminded of the light that comes from within.
  So I am just making things. I have no shows lined up (I get asked that a lot) and I'm not currently responding to any artist submission calls (an appalling number of them now charge fees for submitting work, whereas a couple years ago it was very few)

Shell Goddess to symbolize rebirth. She has a 4 ft train of yarn with found goose feathers attached

  For now I am content with making things in my bedroom and sharing them with folks online. That will change when it's supposed to. I've shown my work quite a bit in all types of places over the past few years, and now I feel it is time to incubate, and play with some new ideas rather than pushing the direction of my work towards the next show or venue. It's easy to get sucked into painting for shows and what people want to see, and right now I'm trying to hear the sound of my own voice more clearly.