The Easy Way to Be Brave
Art is such low stakes. Nothing depends on me getting a painting just right, not even my happiness! No one's life depends on what I make. Nothing bad is going to happen if I don't make art. And yet…
Sitting in front of unfinished work, unsure of what to do next, will sometimes absolutely paralyze me. My chest gets tight, my brain goes blue-screen, and suddenly all I can hear is the Wii theme song on loop.
No one's getting hurt, but my body doesn't care. I freeze. You might think this is a really strange response to have, but I'm willing to bet I'm not the only artist who gets locked up like this.
Though it isn't this way with every in-progress piece. It's a phenomenon unique to stretching my creative wings. And I hope to always be stretching myself in this way from time to time, so the paralysis and brain-freeze aren't going to be going away anytime soon.
The other night when this happened, I decided to do what I usually do when my brain freaks out - though I've never done this with my art before. I grabbed my journal and I decided to use the magic words "What if…" and "I Wonder…".
I wonder what it would look like to use these two pieces, one on top of another.
And what if parts of the background were collaged with tissue paper that had text and monoprinted leaves on it?
What if the central painting had a plant and/or flower on it that overflowed out onto the background?
The simple act of wondering was enough to break through the bizarre fight/flight/freeze response. Before I had even finished jamming on what this piece could become, I was moving things around and getting ready to follow through with the ideas.
Easy, right? I hope you'll give it a try, either with a journal or a buddy who is willing to sit there, smile, and nod their head while you bounce your "What if"s and "I wonder"s off of them in. The magic is in tricking yourself into feeling like you've already done the hard work. In the moment, it can feel impossible to get past the mental block and fear of getting it wrong. But pushing your mind towards accepting that something could happen, anything could happen…by getting your thoughts flowing in a more enjoyable direction, your actions can't help but follow.