Don't get lost
If you haven’t picked up on it yet from my previous posts— just a little over a month ago I took on the challenging task of becoming a full-time artist. Within the first couple of weeks, I quickly lost my way because I was looking too far into the future and not putting enough importance on making art. I just saw the whole process as needing inventory ASAP. When I say inventory, I mean paintings or similar types of work. I couldn’t get there fast enough. Battling with depression and anxiety, it really didn’t take much to push me over the edge. It was only after constant reassurance from my wife and friends did I realize the importance of taking things one day at a time. In my previous job in IT, I could plan a lot of things months into the future, so I was attempting to bring this same methodology into my art.
Until just a few days ago, I was going 50 different directions at the same time and accomplishing very little, and becoming more and more frustrated with myself. I was being very stubborn and thought that I knew best. By taking things one day at a time now, I choose what I need to do for the day and do it. If something interrupts me, I take care of the interruption and go back to what I was doing, all without getting frazzled. Worrying about what’s next before you even have what you wanted done for today is not the way to work. It may work for some artists, but not this one. Other artists may make things look too easy, but you have to remember that they probably have years of experience on you. There’s a quote that says “Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.”
When you’re ready to just let things happen, a lot can happen. At this point, I not only found myself becoming happier, but things finally started to go my way. I sold my first painting last week and I also officially got my first invitation to show my work at an art gallery in Louisville. A short note about the gallery— I can’t overstate the importance of friends, or friends of friends, and so on. The more relationships with people that you can build, the better your chances of getting to where you want to be. I know it’s still very early for me, but a friend (previous co-worker) actually introduced me to some great people at the gallery I mentioned above. I also have a few other things ‘in the bullpen’ that I’m hoping will pan out, and once again, all because of friends.
The path to your success and happiness is going to take time. I keep forgetting again and again. I constantly have to remind myself to just take it one day at a time. What might have happened yesterday doesn’t matter, and what might happen tomorrow doesn’t matter either. It’s only about what I’m doing right now. Just keep your eyes on the goal and don’t let your mind (or work) get too far ahead of itself and you’ll probably find yourself being much happier and accomplishing a lot more without the stress.