In art and life, don’t expect to produce masterpieces every day.
We are so hard on ourselves. The times we live in don’t help at all.
Produce and Produce More
There is enormous pressure to produce. If we buy into the myth that we must constantly be productive, we rob ourselves of the pleasure of slowing down and enjoying the pleasures of everyday life. We also take away the satisfaction that can be found in learning.
The first step in breaking free from this pressure is to recognize the brainwashing that we live with. Advertising has the job of making us discontent with what we have. Advertisements would convince us that life is worthwhile only if we earn more and therefore can buy more. Hogwash.
We are not machines made to produce endlessly without rest. Too many folks buy into the myth that we are. There is so much fussing about being more productive. This makes life about as fun as walking on little plastic blocks. And we wonder why there is so much depression.
Instead, think about the things that are truly treasures in life. A smile from a child. A hug from a friend. A peaceful moment by the side of a lake. These have nothing to do with achievements, and everything to do with enjoying life. These are not about to earn you money; one byproduct is peace. Advertising does not profit when we focus on these.
To prioritize peace is a radical life-affirming rebellion against the world we live in.
Monetize
It’s sad when a student new to art asks me how long it will be until they can sell their art. They have absorbed the myth that their art is not worthwhile unless they make money from it.
Making art is so much more valuable than dollars! Creative flow has the potential to heal and lift the spirit; to bring us joy. The older I get, the more I understand; that you can’t put a price tag on that.
Taking time off from earning should not be a luxury, it is the way to be fully alive. As important as it is to pay the rent and buy the groceries, I hope your world encompasses the understanding that there is more to life than that. And my heart goes out to those who have jobs with long hours leaving little time or energy for anything else. This is hard on so many levels.
Study and Learning
To study is profoundly underrated. With so much emphasis on quickly producing an end product, we have been taught to undervalue the time spent on study. This has potentially horrific results. There is a downgrading in the products produced without adequate study and even more significant, is the emotional toll on those forced to live this way.
When art students are told to stop expecting every painting they do to be a masterpiece, a visible profound relief settles in. It is like taking the proverbial elephant in the room off their shoulders. It sets them free to do studies to learn from. They are freed to get into creative mode, which is most naturally play mode. The joy begins there. Ironically, the art tends to improve more quickly there too.
The same can apply to life. For too long I expected perfection. I mistakenly thought that the flowing river of life should stay in tidy banks and not splash about. Ha!
That didn’t go well.
I finally grasped that so much of life happens unexpectedly and much of it is simply learning experiences.
Learning to laugh about the messy splashing and even appreciate a few waterfalls makes life more fun.
Giving up fussing over unrealistic expectations helped me bob to the surface in this ever-changing stream. Life is about learning and growing. I can happily swim in that. I love that the learning never ends. The more we know, the more we know we don’t know. That’s exciting!
Don’t fuss — this is where creativity lives.
Writers, let those words flow freely without censor then, step back and see if it is worth continuing. Only if it seems worthwhile, go back and start to tidy. It’s also totally okay to call some writing a learning experience. That is NOT a waste of time. It doesn’t have to be a finished product for you to learn from it.
Allow yourself time to play, experiment, and learn. Give the end product the finger while learning. This is the heart of creativity.
Painters, get the color down quick and rough over the whole canvas so you can see the main shapes and forms and check that the bones of your composition are good. Stand back from the painting and think about the values of your main big shapes. If you are unhappy with them, you will not be happy with your finished painting no matter how lovely your details may be. It doesn’t have to end up as a finished painting to learn from it.
Give yourself time with your paint to play, experiment, and study. Use your good-quality supplies to learn how they behave. This is NOT a waste of paint.
In summary, try not to fuss. When we fuss less, we find more room for learning, growing, and being creative.
Leave Some Mystery
There comes a moment to hone that writing or painting and reach for your best. Just don’t jump ahead to that too quickly. And even then, one last thought…
Fussy perfectionism in art can lack an important ingredient — it doesn’t leave any mystery. Leaving some things hinted at rather than fully explained in a story or a painting allows the viewers’ imagination to play too. This is sharing the fun, a nudge for the viewer/reader to be creative as they fill in the blanks.
It’s ok not to explain everything, in art and in life. It’s ok not to be perfect. Leave room for the mystery.
Don’t fuss.
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