Do you put your art in a box? This journal page, written several years ago, was the result of recognizing that I held limiting beliefs about what my art was and was not. This realization was not a simple “ah ha!” that led to instant change in my belief system. It was however, an important turning point for me as an artist.
Old beliefs are hard to overcome. It doesn’t matter whether they are beliefs we hold about family, religion, education, or our own abilities. I had believed, based on past experience and other people’s opinions, that to be a successful artist you had to have a single focus. What’s your “thing?, ” people often ask. When my “thing” began to change into several different “things,” I wasn’t sure how to identify myself as an artist anymore.
Luckily the realization I had, and allowed myself to process via this journal page, began a healing process. Eventually, I was able to overcome those limiting beliefs about art and about myself as an artist. I now express myself freely in many different ways with a variety of mediums.
What are the beliefs you hold about art and artists? I invite you to explore this idea in your journal – use pen, markers, crayons or paint. If you notice any limiting beliefs pop up, see if you can re-frame them. This seemingly simple process can be the beginning of major creative healing.
Love & Blessings on your creative journey!
Jeniffer
October 13, 2017
this is a really direct piece of sharing about something that many of us experience when we spend much of our life creating and developing skills in the process .
It would be so much easier if we could wrap ourselves up in a nice neat box , tie with a ribbon and present ourselves to the world as this or that . Some of us are way more complex and are making to try and understand what we are as we move through this world . We make because it is an action rather than just think and think and wonder , Ware actively seeking to make sense of it and in the process we become “artists” as we work with what we feel ,see, and uncover of our BE ing
October 15, 2017
Hi Anne. Thank you for your insightful comment. Your final line in particular speaks to my heart, “in the process we become ‘artists.’ I have spent this past weekend at a silent retreat fully immersed in BE ing! What a lovely comment to come back to.