We've all been an amateur at something, at some time...
I remember the very first workshop I took. It was a gift for my 25th birthday.
I shouldn't have been surprised, coming from my parents, who sent me to art school at Munson Williams Proctor School of Art before I was 10 years old. I shouldn't have been surprised that they would give me such a gift, since their unspoken message to us always was that we were capable of doing anything we set our mind to. I remember my Dad's exact words growing up, 'you're better than average', this was a reference to his grandfather being a land baron in Austria, but also gave him a sense of pride that his children were born to 'do well'. Still, I was pretty scared to be going away to a workshop where I wouldn't know a soul and I was probably going to be in the midst of everyone in the world who was a better artist than I was.
So, last week, I was thinking about something I've been putting on the back burner for quite a while. I've mentioned before that I was working on a book, right ?
Well, I've compiled pages and files and thoughts, but there was one thing I couldn't get past. Namely, why would anyone be interested in what I had to say - and what made me think that I could do this ?
And then it happened, last weekend in midst of one of our busiest days at the studio, I woke up and said 'I can do this - I have something to say'...and really, I got so excited, it's all I could think about all day.
And you know what starts happening when you focus on something...
There is a Zen saying that applies here: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” That night I met someone who had just had a book published and offered help if I needed it, and emails started appearing in my mailbox from authors and the list goes on.
Every artist faces fears and negative self talk regarding their creative abilities.These concern lack of knowledge and lack of confidence.
So if you have an obstacle that's stopping you from going for something you want, focus your positive thoughts on it, instead of all reasons you can't do it and
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