Part One: Belief In Yourself — You Are An Artist
If you are like me, you have a strong and sincere desire to create art, but you often find that something is holding you back from doing the work. Perhaps you are suffering from a creative block (AKA writer’s block, artist’s block, etc.) and associated artist block depression? Maybe you have a fear of allowing yourself to be creative because it opens you up to criticism or rejection? Could you be suffering from imposter syndrome? Any number or combination of these issues may be keeping you from embracing your creative self. Fear not, you can overcome these obstacles and be the artist you know you are.
I’ve endured these types of blocks and work through them to this day. In this series, I will touch on a few steps I’ve taken to allow myself to be an artist. Series topics will include the establishment of goals and habit systems, imposter syndrome, and other creativity killers. The overall aim of this series to help us stop thinking about being creative and start creating art now! In this entry, I’ll address how we so about getting our heads in the right place to create.
Embracing Creativity – My Story
I have always used art to share my thoughts, dreams, ideas, fantasies, and the contents of my vivid imagination. In primary and secondary school, I looked forward to art classes and joined the art and theatre clubs and took part in school-wide art projects and school plays. In high school, I started to think about what the future may bring. What will I do, how will I earn money to go off on my own? It is around this time that the pressure to put aside the idea of art as a viable career became the strongest. After all, there are rarely any job postings for a figurative oil painter, horror fiction writer, or actor with high school theatre experience in the local paper. These fears lead many to banish the idea of being an artist and enter the “real world” of a 9 to 5 office or retail job that probably allows no creativity.
After high school, the reality was that I could not afford college, and my parents could not afford to send me to college. So I became a retail assistant manager at the local mall. That was okay (and kind of fun) for a while, but it was certainly not my passion or my dream job. I eventually found a way to attend university (and amass colossal student loan debt) and went on to earn a bachelor of fine arts degree. Being an art major, was an essential part of my artistic growth but maybe not for the obvious reasons. I learned technical aspects of art-making such as color mixing, composition basics, the value of constructive criticism, and providing meaningful feedback.
Assignment deadlines were also an essential motivator for my creativity because a due date for a piece helped me prioritize and get to work. Lacking the structure and organization of art school is, for me, permission to put off the project I’ve been contemplating and save it for the perfect conditions for creativity. It seems the Muses are not good at keeping to a set schedule or bending to meet my schedule because those ideal moments never, ever, seem to come on MY schedule.
I knew many, if not most, of my peers, were facing similar anxieties, fears, and challenges of being an artist and panic about the idea of leaving the safe confines of the supportive art classroom and entering the art world post-graduation. We also shared similar practical challenges like juggling the high cost of required art materials, college textbooks and being able to afford food and rent. Outside of day-to-day concerns and issues, art school peers freely discussed ideas of art history, art material tips, as well as offering creative support.
The main thing I found valuable in my higher education was finding my identity as an artist and a finding community where I felt a sense of belonging. A challenge for an artist outside of an artistic community is to find like-minded peers who can keep us from feeling like we are creating in a vacuum. The internet offers many opportunities for artists from diverse locations, cultures, and artistic approaches to form a supportive community. I hope that, in time, this blog will grow into a community of creators who can come together and share our work and our, dreams, plans, struggles, and successes!
Step One to Destroy Artist Blocks, Fears, And Self-Doubts: Commit to the title “Artist.”
Acknowledge That You ARE an ARTIST
Many have a mental picture of what an artist might look like or act. Maybe they look or act like Vincent Van Gogh, or Klaus Naomi, or maybe Idris Elba? What about Amy Winehouse or Mikhail Baryshnikov? Are they what it looks like to be an artist? Truthfully, there is no way of being or dressing or personality one must have to qualify as an artist. Artists look like…you! An essential part of being creative is acknowledging our creativity, our place in the creative community, and our right to call ourselves, ARTISTS! If it feels odd or absurd to think of or call yourself, an artist, a useful tool for reinforcing your artist identity is the use of creative visualization and positive affirmations.
Creative visualization is a way to structure your thoughts to help you visualize yourself in the place or situation you desire. Affirmations are positive statements in the present tense, that you repeat to yourself verbally, mentally, or in writing. Combining your visualizations and affirmations creates a compelling internal picture of what you will be.
When you are visualizing your perfect scene and stating your affirmations, it is essential to remember that you are not “going to be…” or “hope to be…” anything. You are “a dancer on Broadway,” or you are “a painter” at this very moment!
Here are some examples of positive affirmations for artists:
- I am an artist
- I am a writer working on my next novel
- I am a talented __________ (writer, painter, actor, etc.)
- My __________ (writing, painting, acting, etc.) receive great critical responses
- I make my living as an artist
- Audiences enjoy my performances
- I support myself and my family with my __________ (writing, painting, acting, etc.)
- My one-person show is a critical success
- My paintings look lovely in the _______ gallery
- My patrons are thrilled with my latest pieces
- My first novel is a bestseller
For a great introduction to affirmations, I encourage you to set aside time to enjoy a podcast from New World Library featuring a 2012 interview with Shakti Gawain (1948 -2018) the author of Creative Visualization. The podcast is linked here (Video) and also posted at the end of this blog entry.
You don’t have to be convinced you ARE what your affirmations state or your visualizations see. Remember that these are tools for setting the right mindset that will help you become comfortable in your role as an artist.
Step Two to Destroy Artist Blocks, Fears, And Self-Doubts: Be Mindful of Your Artist Nature
Nurturing Creativity
Buddhists have a concept called “Monkey Mind” which is a delightful way to imagine the crazed thoughts, feelings, doubts, joys, memories, to-do lists, forgot-to-do lists, and all the other types of self talk we all experience. Mindfulness is a practice of quieting and focusing our mind on the present moment. Monkeys in our mind love seeing a quiet space to play in and will attempt to swing through the vines of your consciousness. I know there are times when I am working on an art project, I will find myself thinking of the dishes in the sink, or wondering if the garden needs watering. Random ideas will be swinging from one thing to another with no discernible rhyme or reason. Rather than trying to ignore these frantic monkeys, it is best to acknowledge them and acknowledge their presence and recognize they are fleeting thoughts. They are not an immediate concern that deserves our time and attention. Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, advises us to address distractions the same way we would observe a leaf floating past in a gently flowing stream.
In us, there is a river of feelings, in which every drop of water is a different feeling, and each feeling relies on all the others for its existence. To observe it, we just sit on the bank of the river and identify each feeling as it surfaces, flows by, and disappears.
— Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step
Mindfulness is another practice that can help keep us on our creative path. It is a form of meditation and has been shown to have real, measurable benefits. Mindfulness focuses on the present moment by focusing on our breath. By observing that as we breathe in, we are present in the moment, and as we breathe out, we are aware that we are alive. Karen Kissel Wegela Ph.D. has an excellent outline of how to practice mindfulness in Psychology Today. In short, you begin a mindfulness practice by following these steps:
- Find the time and place where you can practice undisturbed
- Find a comfortable place to sit, preferably cross-legged on a cushion on the floor, but in a chair is okay as long as you can sit upright without slouching your back.
- Relax your hands in your lap
- Lower your eyelids but don’t shut them all the way. Keep a soft focus in front of you without worrying about where you are looking
- Imagine a string running through your spine and head that is holding you in this upright position. Hold this steady position in your back and allow your front to be open. Calmly observe how you are feeling and how your body feels in this posture.
- Observe your breathing pattern (as it is, do not exaggerate or force your breathing). Feel the air as it flows through your nostrils and become aware of the rising and falling of your chest.
- If you like, you can count your in and out-breaths. I am breathing in 1, I am breathing out 1, breathing in 2, breathing out 2, until you reach a ten count.
- While focusing on your breath, be aware of the rest of your body and the thoughts (monkeys) that arise.
- Observe the feeling and thoughts and allow them to drift away. Don’t try to shoo them away; just let them dissipate.
- Some teachers suggest you note these thoughts with an internal note of “a thought arose” or even a friendly “hello, passing thought, I acknowledge you.”
- Remember that the idea is not to banish thoughts. You want to observe and, in time, recognize that your monkey mind is fleeting and the ideas that surface will probably disappear as quickly as they arose.
- When you finish your mindfulness session, thank yourself for taking this time to observe your thoughts and your breath and taking the time to recognize that you are alive.
When we are mindful, we show up for our lives; we don’t miss them in being distracted or in wishing for things to be different. Instead, if something needs to be changed, we are present enough to understand what needs to be done.
— Karen Kissel Wegela Ph.D.
Putting Step One And Step Two Together
Warning: Don’t Become Attached!
Where visualization and affirmations focus on the future, they are in the present tense. Mindfulness is a recognition of the conditions we are experiencing at that moment. The future and the past are to be out of mind. The two practices, which seem to be working towards opposing goals, can work together. Mindfulness and visualization/affirmations work to formulate a firm understanding of the here and now and the ideal future. We cannot attain the perfect future if we are not willing to understand, appreciate, and formulate the attitude and habits we need now. The key is to avoid attachment to the future or, as Shakti Gawain, explains in Creative Visualization, we must “go with the flow.”
Going with the flow means holding onto your goals lightly (even though they may seem very important) and being willing to change them if something more appropriate and satisfying comes along. It is that balance between keeping your destination clearly in mind and yet enjoying all the beautiful scenes you encounter along the way, and even being willing to change your destination if life starts taking you in a different direction. In short, it means being firm yet flexible.
~Shakti Gawain
TO DO LIST:
Give These Exercises A Try:
Workshop Your Affirmations: Write down a few affirmations about your creative practice, and a few about your identity as an artist, and a few positive statements placing you in a desirable scenario.
Examples:
- I am writing 1000 words a day
- I am an artist
- My one-person play opened to a packed house
Repeat to yourself and let the affirmations sink in. Notice any feelings or reactions you experience and keep the responses in mind as you formulate a set of personal declarations to repeat regularly. The best affirmations are short and direct and ar personalized to you.
Introduce Yourself to Mindfulness: Follow the instructions in the linked Psychology Today article or pick up a copy of Peace in Every Step. After doing the exercises sketch or write your thoughts about the experience on a piece of loose or scrap paper, observe them, and then pop them in the recycle bin and let them go.
Coming Soon!
Part Two of the “Destroy Artist Blocks, Fears, And Self-Doubts” series will focus on Creativity Systems and Habits
