Your creative spirit is calling… Pick up!!

Sometimes, we need to hear our own advice…and then actually apply it.

I want to share a lesson that I’ve learned that seems to be pretty obvious, but when you’re in the situation and it concerns yourself, it might not be so obvious anymore.

That’s why I’d like to remind you (and myself) that we’re not perfect when we’re just starting out, and this is part of the beauty: the process. I learned this lesson when I reclaimed my passion for drawing.

I felt a deep desire to draw, to somehow combine my writing with drawing, to learn how to draw.

Did I think I had any talent? Nope.

But, I used to looove drawing when I was a child. Immersing myself in this other world. Living stories as I drew.

For example, I remember, watching old American western movies with my Oma (my granny), in Germany of course, while drawing horses and dreaming about becoming a cowgirl one day…

Like most of us, I stopped drawing when I got older.

Then, when I tried it again as an adult, it just didn’t live up to my expectations (but how could it, if I skipped years and years of practice?).

So, I concluded that if I’m not able to draw really well right from the start (without any practice, without reference, without any knowledge of drawing rules or techniques), then I should quit, leave it to others.

But over time I realized how unfair this kind of thinking actually was to myself. I mean, you would never say this to somebody else, but you’re saying it to yourself? (That’s mean!)

On my way, I learned that in order to improve and get good at something one has to practice. We say in German, “Es ist noch kein Meister vom Himmel gefallen,” which means, “No master has yet fallen from the sky”!

Obvious, right?

Yet I notice when it come to ourselves, we often make this error in reasoning and stand in our own way of our creative pursuits. At the same time, we always encourage others to keep practicing.

And I don’t just mean drawing - this applies to anything you dream of doing “some day.” Even though you don’t feel like a pro (yet), and even if you’ll never be, there is value in taking on the challenge, because of the simple fact that it makes you happy. I find that the joy lies in the practice anyways, and in developing, and improving.

The bliss is the actual process and progress.

Whether it’s dancing, making music, writing, painting, crafting, handwork, cooking, acting, photography, whatever. You know what it is for you. Yes, you do!

But as adults, we’re not supposed to play. We’re supposed to be serious and professional. It’s children who can try things out and not be perfect, and get away with it.

But who makes the rules? You do!

Yet it’s so easy to get discouraged. Because we’re vulnerable when it comes to what really matters to us, especially when we feel we’re not good at it, and so we decide to abandon that creative passion we’re holding deep in our hearts, and might have never even given it a try.

But it’s still there, isn’t it?

And, you know, it is there for a reason. It’s a part of you that wants to be expressed and will nurture you. It’s there to help you grow, develop, and connect with yourself (and maybe even your purpose). You never know where it will take you.

Are you telling yourself that there’s no necessity, or this is just a waste of time (or even better: you don’t have the time) or you’re not the best anyways, so why even try?

Silly passions, you can’t reason with them. They simply stick around.

The truth is, if you avoid them there’ll always be that little empty, yearning place in your heart. But when you go with them, trust them, you’ll be invigorated, happy, a playful child again in your heart. This is the spark that gives you the strength to be a serious adult for the rest of the time. We need both sides, I truly believe that.

We all need playtime to stay sane!

So, think about it: what is your secret, sad, and locked up creative passion? What’s been there for a long time, but had to take the back seat, because of “more important adult responsibilities” and other random excuses? What can you do to free it? I bet it’s as easy as making a phone call or an appointment, googling something, sending an inquiry email, checking the library catalog, picking up a paintbrush, a pencil, a pen…. I mean, you could probably start right now.

Share it with me. Leave your comment below. I’d love to hear your story!

Yours,