Sewing seeds of progress

Guess what this post is about. Hint–see image below. Oh, research is a wonderful tool for procrastinators.

And this has been going on for a ridiculous amount of time; creeping forward at a sloth’s pace, reading all those books - and more - and it’s still pretty hard to know where to start.

So I bought another book! Art, Money, Success by Maria Brophy arrived yesterday and looks very promising (though ideas are more do-able for painters so far).

I was all set to get cracking this summer then realised I still didn’t have the clarity of goals I crave so the impetus crept quietly away. Again. Why do we do this?

Artists have many more opportunities now than when I was at school. The old ways are changing and yet, with the internet providing instant knowledge and instant communication, it’s also a double edged sword. So much data we’re overwhelmed with options and opinions, and so many people ‘out there’ that we feel insignificant and unable to make an impact in Web 2.0.

What comes through from reading art forums is that an enormous hurdle for many artists is a lack of confidence in their work and a lack of worth as individuals - it’s very sad that many admit to cringing at the thought of asking people to pay for paintings they’ve spent days or weeks on. Artists, like everyone else, deserve to be paid well for what they do if they’re good at it and people like the work, don’t they? They do. Yes, they do.

So what does that mean for someone starting a new (art or other) venture?

Gather your data by all means, but focus more on what you need right now to take the next step. You won’t need or be able to do everything this minute but be ready and willing to act when opportunities do arise –and that’s psychologically ready as much as skill-ready.

It’s important to have a vision of where you’re heading but not essential to know exactly how you’re going to get there (not having all the answers inhibits you from taking any action – I’m guilty of that one). Things will become clearer as you start moving cos when you’re inventing your own life there are no well-trodden paths to follow; you have to hack out your own.

If you don’t yet know what you want, remember that as a child, you dreamed without limits - until the grown-ups got to you. Well, now you’re the grown up and you can dream even bigger things, but it takes practice. I’ve been surprised how hard this one is. I carried ‘art isn’t a proper job’ messages for years and ‘oh, I’ll just start small’ thoughts after that and then wondered why I had little enthusiasm for anything. There’s no momentum in micro scaled visions. Now I’m getting better at expanding my ideas, I’m making plans and starting to think ‘hey, this could be pretty exciting!’

You don’t have to stand out in huge crowds–find a small circle of people who are likely to be interested in what you do, move around in their habitats and make connections. Go where your audience specifically is rather than advertise everywhere and hope they spot you.

I reckon it’s not that we don’t know what to do. It’s that we lack the belief that we can do it. We fear putting ourselves in the public eye because we can’t visualise ourselves as one of the successful people.

That’s what procrastination is about - not feeling ready to act because the goals and the path aren’t clear enough and compelling enough to sweep all the doubts into the bin where they belong. This is the real work - build an image of your future that excites you so you can’t wait to get moving. Your self-image will begin to change if you quit calling up your old thoughts and instead, focus on who/what you are aiming to be. And be patient with yourself. It’s a bit like Windows updates – sometimes they don’t all download first time or they mess up your computer when they do. Just…aim to be better than Windows!