Go Ahead, Make Art :: a lesson in accepting + doing

Have you ever felt intimidated, awe struck, envious, like you didn’t have what they have when it comes to making art?

If so, you get that those feelings can stop you dead in your tracks and leave all your beautiful paints + fabrics + paper + pastels untouched. For years. You don’t make art.

Yes, we know it’s fear. But do you know what to do when that fear arises?

It’s not so obvious. Well, it is obvious, but it requires two things that can be tricky to get the hang of:

1. Accepting
2. Doing

Accepting is a skill

that improv actors and comedians along with yogis everywhere, develop. Turns out, artists need to work at this skill too. Accepting allows us to meet the difficult or unexpected moment and not get stuck. When we don’t want to accept what is we waste a lot of energy. We rationalize why we shouldn’t lift a paint brush, or try and draw our hand or (oh my gosh, no!) call ourselves artists. Accepting requires us to not know how, to be afraid, and, to try. Accepting says YES! as it leads us into doing.
Doing is where it’s at when it comes to being an artist. Doing whips us out of dream land and into the hear and now. Doing creates bold marks on paper and shows us it matters that they are shaky or cautious or true.

Doing offers us feedback that can guide us if we accept where we are and what we see.

Your fear most likely won’t go away any time soon but the secret is that it doesn’t need to.
The next time you smell fear coming close, greet it. Think to yourself, ah yes, you again. Then, go ahead and make art.
Blessings!