Let’s be honest here. Lots of people dream of being artists, but it’s only certain kinds of people who truly become dedicated, serious artists.
And the way they become dedicated serious artists is as simple (or as complicated) as this:
By DECIDING to.
Dedication, passion, intent — that’s what it takes. And those things just don’t happen by accident.
No. You make a choice. You put in the work. And not just for a day or two, but over the long haul.
You set some things aside, and you begin taking other things very seriously.
What kinds of things do you give up? Anything that doesn’t nurture the kind of artist you are hoping to become.
What kinds of things do you begin taking seriously? All those things that reinforce your identity as an artist. All those things that spark creativity and nurture your imagination. All those things that consist in either creating art or at least thinking about art. Might just be envisioning artwork you’d like to create, or studying artwork you love, or writing in your journal about ideas you hope to bring to life someday.
Often it involves putting your artwork out into the world. Like all of the hundreds and hundreds of amazing artists in our “AWAKE” group — getting their art into galleries, staging exhibitions, seeing their work published, selling prints and canvases and book cover designs, winning prizes and obtaining honors for the work they create:
https://prophotoshopartistry.com/awake-successes
But that takes dedication. And intent.
And putting in that kind of effort over the long-haul clearly takes a certain kind of mindset.
How do you become an artist like this? It’s actually pretty straightforward: You learn your craft. You work at it. And along the way, to do that, you pay real close attention to where you spend your time.
Someone once asked celebrated novelist William Gibson how he managed to turn out such a prolific stream of complex, intricately crafted books, articles, interviews. His answer was simple, and he really didn’t see it as anything special. He replied, “I just don’t watch television. The time everyone else is spending watching television, I spend writing.”
For him, it was that simple.
When someone tells me they want to be an artist — and I mean really want to be an artist, want to live an abundantly creative life — I can cut to the chase real easy:
“Okay. Let’s see your journal. Or show me your calendar and how you’re spending your days.”
Understand me here. It’s not that you need to spend all of your time actively pursuing your art or honing your craft in some way. And there’s no reason you can’t watch some television. (Though I’d prefer you pick up a book.) Everyone needs down time. Everyone needs periods of time to allow their creative ideas to simmer.
What matters here is where MOST of your time goes each day.
And on this score, your calendar or daily schedule will reveal much. (Are you making room for largish blocks of time to devote entirely to creating art? Or not?)
Your journal, if you keep one, will reveal the rest. (Where is your mind most frequently when you’re not actually working on your art? What are you thinking about? What kinds of projects are you planning?)
It’s a simple enough test.
In the end, if you wish to live a more exciting artistic life, you must be willing to become the kind of person who actively creates an exciting artistic life.
Be that person.
And understand: The default life is not like this. The default life is mostly muddled and scattered and distracted. Not much of anything creative or original happens in the default life.
An artistic life is different.
And living that kind of life really is simply a matter of choice.
It comes down to this: A dedicated artist creates art every day, makes time for it, thinks about it and studies it and makes room for it by putting aside the clutter and distractions that would otherwise steal away the time and attention being an artist requires.
Are you willing to become that kind of person? If so . . . then you can enjoy that kind of life.
Doesn’t come with any guarantees.
But it’s an exciting life. One you can build for yourself.
It can be incredibly invigorating. And the rewards can be immense.
I hope you will choose it.
And live into that choice a little more each day.
– Sebastian
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