I’ve been taught all my life that trying to be an artist is a waste of time.
It is, however, the only thing I am really good at. Naturally, this has formed a duality inside of me: how do I exist under the social constructs of capitalism as a person whose product is deemed as ‘useless’ or ‘pointless’ by the mysterious powers that be? If you can’t make money at it, why bother pursuing it? Or if you do make money at it, it’s not a real job and you ought to give up.
I fought with myself for a long time about what it really meant to be an artist. The answer lay, of course, in changing my beliefs.
For a long time I taught a class called Not Your Typical Watercolor Class, wherein we created magical abstract flower paintings and nebulas. The idea was that anyone can paint — even if you’re just splashing things around, playing with color, and allowing yourself to try something new.
In class, I like to go around the room and ask people what their creative practice is. This normally gets me a lot of blank stares, because people think being creative is synonymous to being a world-renowned, award-winning visual artist.
It isn’t.
Being creative simply means making something out of nothing except what’s already inside you. Once I explained this, the self-proclaimed ‘non-artists’ started giving me the most brilliant answers: cooking, raising my family, making people laugh.
And in that moment, I learned so much. As someone who’s always dabbled in drawing, writing, painting, and theater as a way to express myself and heal, these answers blew me away. You don’t have to be a genius with a pen to be an artist: you simply need to live in the mindset of creativity.
There’s nothing stopping you, except Perhaps the fear of being seen trying, and failing. But failure is essential to growth!
Once that fear was gone for me, the results were incredible. One day I’d be using my training as a theater artist to write a silly little play and produce it. The next day I’m a painter and try my hand with acrylics or oils. The day after, I play with makeup, or sing a song, or draw my next tattoo, or try making up a new recipe for dinner.
Whatever it is, I now know that I don’t have any obligation to be “good” at what I’m doing. I just have to be myself, believe in myself, and love myself through all the healing that comes with a creative practice. If people see me fail, that’s okay. My show flops? I’ll write a better one. My art doesn’t sell? Time to paint another! Get back up and try again.
The most important thing you need to be an artist, is the belief that you can do it. Your story is important, and the world needs it. The world needs your perspective because nobody has seen or done or heard all the things that make up you. However the creative spirit comes out of you, know that you are an artist! Keep going!
You’re brilliant, clever, wise, talented, and have everything you need inside of you. Once you realize that, you can change the whole world.
I believe in you!