Does it have to be so hard?
Painting is hard, but the suffering part is optional. Why is it that when things are hard, we pile on extra layers of difficulty? When we are not aware of our thoughts, we don't notice how much harder we make it on ourselves when we think "this painting isn't working" or "I just don't know how to paint (fill in the blank)"
In this episode I show you how painters use their very human brains for self sabotage AND I offer alternative perspectives so that you can practice on your own.
The Stories we tell Create our experiences
When my flight was cancelled not once, not twice... not three times, but FIVE times (updated 😱), and a 5 week trip turns into 12 weeks, I can tell the story of how much I miss my husband and want be home with my puppies in my own studio. I can talk about how unfair and frustrating it all is and how much it all just sucks. I'm even willing to bet that many people would agree with me.
But how helpful is that? What is a better story I can tell myself that allows me to feel and process all those negative emotions AND create a better experience?
When we fight with reality, we always lose
We fight with reality when we think certain painting skills should be easy, or that we should know this already, or that we should be in anyway different than we are in this moment.
It is not the difficulty of painting that makes it hard, it is our RESISTANCE to that difficulty that makes us miserable and creates the difficulty.
Not knowing how to do something is neutral. But when we make it mean we are "less than" or not good enough or not talented, we massively increase the difficulty level. It's like an Olympic athlete who goes out to the track and raises the bars on her hurdles, and ties a 500 pound anchor around her waist and wonders why its so hard to start, much less finish the race.
It's hard enough as it is without that extra difficulty.
But that doesn't mean we have to add even more Suffering
Imagine going into your studio and painting without that added weight.
You might see the hurdle in front of you simply as it is without making it mean anything other than: there is a hurdle in front of me.
Now your brain is freed up do what it does best - problem solve and figure out the best solution using all the data it has from all the paintings you've ever seen, the workshops, you've taken, the videos you've watched and the podcasts you've listened to.
Without the self inflicted drama, you can paint with curiosity and wonder, and enjoy the challenge of creating.
WoW Antrese- you’ve done it again- brilliant!! Just what i needed. you are so kind, caring & insightful. i hope you catch the right flight for you. ( I just listened to a podcast with the founder of Kyak & he tells the story about how he cancelled his flight on flight #11 on 9/11 and of course it saved his life.) Welcome back XoX liZ