What is Stopping You?
Tell me your excuses and I will tell you why they are BS
I have spent the last year and a half attempting to create a specific style for my abstract paintings. I have spent that time figuring out how to use color, paint, markers, and my hands to generate unique pantings that convey motion and allow the viewer to feel what I am creating. I have spent the past few years creating a body of work that is going to allow me to go to multiple art shows while also hanging paintings in a local coffee shop for the month of June. I have spent the past year renovating and setting up an art studio and gallery in the town where I live with my cousin. I have put a lot of time, energy and money into my hobby because I want ot to be something bigger than just me creating for myself.
Now, I am not suggesting that creating for yourself or for the good of creation is bad. If that’s you, go for it! For me, creativity and art is something that I do not just want to make, but I also want to share with others! I hope to create pieces of art that will endure and make their ways through peoples homes and families, touching people and making them think about what they see for years to come. I am attempting to create a creative legacy that lives on after myself in a way that will change people for the better and make the world a better place. And it is NOT easy!
It’s funny, I talk to people at art shows or in my studio and they will say something like, “I’ve always wanted to paint,” or “I used to sculpt and been wanting to get back into it,” or “I want to try something like that.” My response is always, “Well, you should!”
I know that there are always reason NOT to get out there and create the thing that you can create. There are always “blockers” and “limitations” that prevent you from doing what you want to do. I am here to tell you, I have seen and fought through them all. If there is a voice in your head listing the reasons that you can’t paint or sculpt, or sing, or write… Please tell it to kindly shut up and read on, because all your reason to NOT do the thing you want to do are nothing but BS.
Top reasons that people do not create
I’m not talking about “getting out there” and selling art or publicly sharing what you make, here. I am talking about just making something because creating is in you. I am talking about creating because you feel better when you do so. I am talking about the BS excuses that we all use to stop ourselves from talking the small steps that allow us to express ourselves.
Reason #1 - I don’t have the time/energy
Yeah, there are very few things in this world that are as finite as time. No matter how you look at life, it sooner or later runs out. We all have a limited amount of time in a given day and a limited amount of energy to work in that time.
I understand how we can look at a day and say, there is NO free time for me to pursue creativity, here! I get up in the morning, exercise, eat and then I am off to work. After work I have to run by the store and get home to make dinner for the kids, then I gotta put them to bed and, if I am lucky, I will have a little time with my spouse or some video game time before I head to bed. I totally get that… BUT… if you were to burrow down into your schedule, I believe you can find a little time in there to pursue creativity. You might not have full days available, but I bet you can find a couple hours per week! I know, it’s fun to hop online with some friends and play a game for a few hours, or plop down on the couch to watch the latest episode of Last of Us, but is that feeding you the way that your creativity would?
I know, Netflix and chill is the goal and you deserve that down time and it’s been along day/week/month… but when you get to the end and look back at your life, what will make you feel better about your life; how you watched every single Harry Potter movie five times each, or the book you wrote on weekends and evenings? Is being ranked in Fortnite going to last longer that paintings that you did and gave to friends and family as gifts?
Your call… but if you say you don’t have time to feed your creative needs, but spend an hour per day on social media, then I call BS!
Reason #2 - I can’t afford it
I get it. Having a dedicated art studio costs money. Buying an electric potter’s wheel and 20 pounds of clay is not cheap! If you want to create, it is really hard to do it from nothing!
Guess what, though… You probably have means to support your creative habit right now, but don’t want to admit it. Just like the “I don’t have time!” excuse we just dismantled, you probably have a little disposable income available to get you creating. Have you ever noticed when you read about someones suggestion on how to better manage money or save or cut expenses, they always go after your coffee? I need my Starbucks! Why should I stop getting my coffee on the way to work three times per week? Well, because a cup of coffee brewed at home costs around $0.45 while the average coffee shop drink is closer to $5.00. I am NOT saying quit coffee, but if you were to only grab Starbucks once per week rather than three times, you could be putting almost $10 per week toward art supplies.
$10? What kind of supplies does that buy? The cheap ones! It is SO easy in our society to see things online and think that you need the very best. If you are trying to prevent budget limitation from stopping your creativity, then cheap beats nothing every time! If I were to hop on the website for the premiere art supply company right now and look for an 8”x10” canvas, I can get one for just under $60… then I have to include shipping, so let’s say around $65. With our $10 per week of coffee money, I could only afford one small canvas every 7 weeks or so. Alternatively, I could drive up the road to Hobby Lobby and grab the same size canvas for $5.49, plus tax.
Also, nowadays we have things like Tinkermills that give everyone access to shop tools and 3D printers and potters can rent time on a wheel or a kiln. In the past there was definitely limitations on certain creative outlets because of hardware or space requirements. More and more these limitations are being torn down as amazing local businesses make it easier to explore creative pursuits like never before.
If you are using money as an excuse, I might have to say BS once again. I know, local hobby stores are not high end, and you might end up painting in your garage or closet or borrowing time at a local art co-op, but creating on the cheap with what you got feels SO much better than using that excuse and not creating at all.
Reason #3 - I don’t know how
I believe that there was probably a time that claiming to no know how to do something was probably a good reason to not do it. There was probably a time that if you wanted to start painting you had to take a class or know someone who would show you the basics… Like… in the dark ages… before Bob Ross was walking you through painting step-by-step.
Let’s be honest about this… claiming ignorance is straight BS nowadays. Never before has there been so much opportunity to learn available to everyone all the time. You are reading this article while connected to the internet. That same internet likely gives you access to YouTube. You have the ability to watch and learn from a near unlimited number of creatives that share their art and their creative process!
Plus, part of the creative process is all about exploring and trying and even failing! history is full of people who tried and did not get it right on the first try. go watch videos to read about the thing you want to do and then try it. Fail at it, then try again. Too often our society believes that success is binary; you do it right or you do it wrong, and that’s it. The truth is, if you do try something and don’t nail it on your first try, you have learned a valuable lesson and will be better the next time you try. Failure to do something perfect is not the end, it is a step toward mastery.
Reason #4 - I’m too old to start that
Did you know that Stan Lee was 39 when he had his first “successful” superhero comic published? Martha Stewart dod not publish her first cook book until she was 41. Samuel L Jackson did not have a decent sized role in a movie until he was 43! Heck, Colonel Sanders did not start selling fried chicken until he was in his forties!
Yeah, there are probably some limitations… maybe you aren’t going to make it as an interpretive breakdancer if you are in your 70s, but it is ridiculous to use your age to not try. Fact is, there are a lot of good reasons to commit yourself to creativity when you get older. For many of us, being established in life means a steady job and a secure place to live. For parents, having older children means more time available to pursue art or creativity.
The truth is, not doing something because you did not start yesterday is BS. You only have today. You cannot change yesterday and there is no guarantee that you get tomorrow. If you want to do it, do it now.