WHY AREN'T YOU DOING YOUR ART?
Humans are creative creatures. Period. Everyone is born
with a unique creative talent. Your soul knows exactly
which creative gift you came brilliantly equipped to
contribute to the planet. I suppose in a perfect
world, we would all grow up free to express our passions;
with parents encouraging us all the way to truly be our
unique little selves. But a perfect world would be
boring, so the Universe spices things up by making it more
challenging than that. Our caregivers and society
encourage us to 'become' something that will pay well, or
push us to a career that they wished they had had, or,
worst of all, tell us that what we are or what we want is
wrong or crazy, impractical or impossible.
That might work except for one thing; your soul never
forgets what you came to do, and it doesn't stop reminding
you with that little nagging feeling.
So many of us grow up and find ourselves living a life
that doesn't feel quite right. Maybe we hate what we're
doing, or if we don't hate it, we don't feel like we are
contributing to the world in quite the right way. If we
are doing what they told us we 'should' do, why aren't we
happy? They wanted the best for us; we wanted the best for
us, what happened?
What would you really like to be doing? Huh? Come on, you
know, deep down.
It may not be art, it could be world travel, studying a
foreign culture, saving the whales, whatever, you
know what it is.
Now, if you think I'm going to recommend that you quit
your job, abdicate all responsibility, and go paint in a
commune, forget it, I'm not. But since your
responsibilities don't take up your whole life, how much
time do you spend on soul stuff? Not on church or
charity, but good old creative, in-the-zone,
flow-experience, soul stuff?
Because we are such creative beings, we come up
with some pretty clever excuses for why we can't pursue
our heart's desire. Here are some of the ones that I have
used and heard:
I don't have time.
If I drag all the supplies out, I won't get to work on it
long, then I'll just have to put it all away, it's not
worth it.
It's stupid.
I won't earn any money from doing it.
I'm not good enough at it.
I don't have room.
I want to visit Peru, but I don't know why, so that's just
crazy.
My family wouldn't approve.
What I want to do changes over time, I never stick with
anything, I end up feeling like a flake.
It's not a productive use of my time.
My soul tells me I want something, but I don't know what
it is.
Am I ringing any bells?
Ok, here are some responses to the excuses:
I don't have time
- A good life coach can help you inventory your
life, revealing that you do have the time.
If I drag all the
supplies out, I won't get to work on it long, then I'll
just have to put it all away, it's not worth it.-
Who says it's not worth it? This is Soul Food
we're talking about, aren't you worth it? There is
also lots of room for possibility thinking here; ways of
organizing supplies to make them easy to get in and out.
It's stupid
- Do I hear an old voice here? Who exactly
told you that?
I
won't earn any money from doing it - So? How about
the value of joy, peace, happiness? If you allow yourself
to dive into it, how do you know there won't be some
financial reward down the road? You can't know that.
I'm not good enough
at it - So not doing it is making you
better? And who is this for again?
I don't have room
- A little possibility thinking can remedy this one
as well.
I
want to visit Peru, but I don't know why, so that's just
crazy - Sounds like old voices afraid of anything
adventurous. Why do you have to know why? You'll find out
once you get there.
My family wouldn't
approve - My guess is your family loves you
enough to get over you making them a little uncomfortable.
Besides, once they get used to your new behavior, they'll
be fine.
What I want to do
changes over time, I never stick with anything, I end up
feeling like a flake - Sounds like you are
a "Taster". You are interested in a number of things and
you know just how much you want to experience of each of
them. Awesome!
It's not a productive use of my time - Who's
defining productive? Wouldn't your heart and soul find it
productive?
My
soul tells me I want something, but I don't know what itis-
Congratulations for being so in touch with yourself! You
can figure this out. Start with this: What did you love to
do as a kid? As a teen? What's fun now?
Did you see your excuse on the list? Do you have a really
good one that isn't. (Email it to me and I'll try and
blast it away as well.)
What is the ultimate goal here, really? How about adding
more creative, happy hours to your life? Instead of
nagging, that little voice is singing!
Here's the bonus: If you give yourself this gift, how you
feel about your responsibility tasks can change for the
better as well.
Enjoy!
