BELIEF IN SELF.…three words filled with intense emotion. Do you believe in yourself as an artist? If you believe in yourself you can do anything……sounds simple doesn’t it! How do you do this? Where do you start?
As a teacher I watch this lack of belief in every workshop. Students that are accomplished, students who desire growth and those who come hoping they can find that “special place” where creativity lives in their heart. In almost every workshop there are students who create paintings I wish I could have created. Yet, the majority of these students feel they are not artists as they lack that “belief in self”.
It doesn’t really matter where this belief comes from.…a teacher telling you Flowers are Red ( Harry Chapin wrote this song that tells about a little boy and school…look it up, it is great), a friend laughing at your attempt to create, a parent telling you art is play so start doing something serious. Those events are gone but the memory lingers on and before you know it the passion to create has been placed in a plain vanilla box and put on a very high shelf in an imaginary closet.
Let’s face it….there will always be those people who love telling you what you cannot do. Let them have their say and move on…they mean NOTHING. So how do you start believing in yourself as an Artist. Here are three ways to grow into yourself.
1. Mentally begin to see yourself as you’ve always wanted. If it is as an artist then see yourself as an accomplished artist. Oh, you say, this is impossible. I can’t do this as I would be lying to myself. Eleanor Roosevelt said it best..”Fake it till you make it”.
2. Replace an “o” with an “e”. Tell me how it feels to say I get to go into the studio and finish that painting” rather than I’ve got to go into the studio and finish that painting”. When you get to do something it is exciting but when you’ve got to do something there is a sense of dread. Say a sentence that uses get then the same sentence using got and see how you feel. Try doing this on a task you don’t enjoy and I bet your mood changes about that task.
3. Write down what you want to accomplish. Do you want to take a workshop? Start a new style of painting? Read some art books? Talk to someone you wish to mentor you? Put these on a post-it note and make a decision to do one of these things in the next four weeks. Then DO IT !!!
The key here is ACTION. When we take action there is a sense of control. Control over our lives is a wonderful feeling. Sometimes we forget we are in control of our thoughts and feelings about ourselves. Belief in yourself is yours to take so take it and run all the way to your desires.
Let me know if this helps.