Author: LocalArtsandMusic

  The underlying principal to enjoying your work and your life is enjoying yourself. That means more than being carefree. This literally means enjoying the space inside your mind, heart and body, not things of the external. Think about your internal dialogue, is it polite and enjoyable or are you constantly ridiculing yourself and others? Pay close attention to this and make sure it’s enjoyable, make it fun and kind and funny. Say things to yourself you wish people would say to you. Crack the jokes you would crack with your best friend.

You see, 100% of how we experience life comes from within, our inner dialogue and which feelings we CHOOSE to adopt and explore. Don’t like the way you are feeling? Choose another emotion. Don’t like the way things are going? Choose to experience it in a different way. Felling sad or heavy? Think of something funny and light hearted. Feeling weak and tired? Think about something that makes you feel strong and allow yourself to feel that strength and energy. You are the master of your internal world, it is your sacred domain, do not allow it to be anything but exactly what you choose it to be. You have no control over the outside world but, when you take control of your inner world and how you choose to experience things, you will find the outside world never was that important.

Now, go out there and be awesome, be creative and be grateful and happy. If something is not going the way you prefer, simply assume it is going in such a way that will lead to a better outcome than you had anticipated. THIS IS THE KEY TO EVERYTHING! You don’t need to know why or how, just know that it is and in time it will be revealed. How you experience things is 100% your choice and sole responsibility, this will not only determine your happiness but also your health. Stop choosing feelings, thoughts and experiences you don’t want, simply select another feeling and do what you love with the most noble and honorable intentions and of course a sense of humor, you will never fail!

As artists we love what we do, which is AWESOME! Some people have nothing they love to do and it wreaks havoc on their life and health. However, when you love what you do, you tend to do lots of it, often too much. When we burn the candle at both ends, it is impossible to stay fresh and inspired. What we once loved becomes a drudgery and task. To stay fresh and inspired you must force yourself to break routine and engage in other activities. I tell my friends to write their own eulogy and the things that you hope will be said at your funeral are the things you need to be doing on a daily basis. Seriously try this and you will see, you are living a more fulfilled and productive life and it will show through your work.

  We often take for granted the brilliance of our own inspirations after time and begin searching for something more. We look to our past works or other people and artists to see how our works size up. While this can at times be helpful, it is often more detrimental than we are aware.

Stop comparing your current work to your past work and the work of others. We all have different motor skills, different levels of consciousness and comprehension, different materials and different ideas, this is what makes the world of art so diverse and surprising. Be that part of this world that you are and accept it with a sense of humor and love. When you are grateful and appreciative for your skills and inspirations, more will come to you with greater ease. It’s like this; no one wants to go where they are being ridiculed and not appreciated, creativity and inspiration works the same way. If you want more powerful and creative works you must stop being so critical, it inhibits the evolutionary process. When you stop criticizing and comparing your work suddenly you stop criticizing others and yourself, and you will find the flood gates of productivity and inspiration will open for you.

Please see, you are NOT your work. Your work is simply something you do and lets be honest, there are a lot of unproductive things you can be doing so, you should be proud of all of your works. Proud and content knowing you’ve invested your time in a well intended way, to better your world or at least make it more intriguing, this in and of itself is a noble cause. Allow your art to be what it is and appreciate it for that. Serving the creative process is a noble cause and the only way progress is ever achieved. Your work is a service to those who will experience it and an example of the respect an honor you have for the gift of creativity. You are NOT your work, you are simply an instrument of inspiration dutifully serving a noble cause. In this way you not doing a service just for yourself but for humanity.

When we have expectations of outcomes, we ruin the experience. You’ve heard it said and it is true “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.” For many artists once the piece is created and complete, it’s all over and we are back to square one conceptualizing the next project. Realizing this will help you to understand when we are working on something, we are fulfilled and in our highest form. When we have nothing to work on, we are longing and seeking. Slow down and quite looking at the end game, keep your eye on every nuance of the process, revel in the magic of inspiration and the transformation of your work. When you enjoy and love your work it shows in the end product, focus on loving and enjoying and the results will speak for themselves.

Ok, so you’ve had a creative movement and put in some work. What’s next? Most of us at some point begin being critical as we become desensitized by our own efforts. What was once a great idea we now ridicule and take for granted.

A skill seldom spoken of is being able to hold true to your vision with laser sharp focus and unwavering commitment. That doesn’t mean working until exhaustion and damaging your health over a project. That means staying connected with the idea and inspiration that you had when you began. You see, inspirations are gifts from Creativity, we must be grateful and serve this inspiration and move on. Keep it simple and always appreciate what comes through your creative works, somewhere in this world there is an artist unable to articulate and serve through his works.

 This may sound over simplified but don’t underestimate the power of self-care and your ability to deplete your health during the creative process. Artists are notorious for self-neglect. we’ve all the seen the cliche artists smoking cigarettes, with greasy hair, drinking coffee or booze, balling up papers and throwing them in frustration. This doesn’t have to be you! Making sure you are getting at least 8 hours of sleep each night and high quality raw foods will increase not only your energy but enhance the clarity you need to make your visions reality.

Go to your local Mom and Pop health food store, ask the staff to suggest a quality multi-vitamin and a full spectrum mineral. Grab some grey Celtic sea salt and take a teaspoon daily with water and get lots of healthy fats, these are brain foods. If you do this, in no time your brain will be firing like never before, you will have mental clarity and begin to more effortlessly perform and create.

Oh yeah, I know this is not going to be a crowd pleaser but, without some form of exercise that challenges your capacity, you will never operate at full potential. Just do it and you will see. Try some planking, or walk or whatever simple things you can, with what you have from where you are! Look online for no equipment workout ideas.