on making room for joy in your art – a creative journal spread
There are more and more who have the means to live and less and less who have meaning to live for
Viktor Frankl
One of the great things about my commonplace notes is that it serves as little reminders of what I consider important in my life. This quote, I remember while writing it down, made me realize how important it is to remember that whatever I think I own in my life, is not really mine to keep and is not mine to be proud of. It is a gift given to me to take care of, to improve and nurture. I am just a steward and therefore, I should look after these gifts that are entrusted to me with great care.
I am currently reading the book “The Happiness Paradigm” by Richard Eyre. It was a chapter about having the mindset of stewardship and how it can help us enjoy the simple joys in life.
If we are weighed down by all of our selfish desires and pride, it can be very hard for us to enjoy life and find the beauty in simple things. It can be hard for us to truly be happy with other people’s accomplishments because we constantly compare and pressure ourselves to do better. To quote the author: “When we are encumbered and heavy with the pride and weight of too much, it is hard to be moved emotionally or to find room or time for simple joy. It is easy to be moved if we are light”.
In this social media “era” and as someone who loves to make art and get inspired by art, it can be very difficult to not compare your own work to other artists that you follow. It can be very easy to envy someone of their accomplishments, their level of skill, their growth and when that happens, we tend to look for ways to blame others, ourselves, our circumstances etc.
We reach a milestone and it makes us happy but only for a while because we are now looking for the next goal/milestone to accomplish. We somehow always have to ask for more.
There’s something so freeing, at least for me, about knowing and believing that we do not own anything on this earth. Whatever we have: material things, our skills, our desires and passions in life, our visions, relationships — these are all given to us to hone, to love, to learn, improve and grow. I agree with the author that our task here on earth is to be the stewards of the gifts that are given to us. Our role as stewards is to take care of these gifts, to show respect and gratitude to the one (for me, this is God, for you, it might be different) who entrusted these all to you.
If you are finding it difficult to find the motivation to improve on your craft, maybe you need to change your perspective on why you need to do what you do.
Is it because you want to increase your social media following, or to give honor and respect for the tools, time, wisdom that you’re given? When I remove this sense of ownership to the things that I do, I find that it allows me to be more gentle with myself, with the way I approach making time for art.
The honor is not for myself but for someone greater who believes that I deserve all these gifts, that I am capable of doing a great job! That idea is more comforting, encouraging and gentle.
I think I would much prefer this over the feeling of not being “good enough”.
Thanks for reading and I truly hope you found something valuable along the way. Stickers and stationery used on the journal spread listed below:
- Stellar – main stickers used
- Midnight Garden washi tape – bottom dark blue washi tape – already sold out, I am using the last roll (lol)
- Moments of Stillness – cute bear sticker
- Stay Stoic Collage Washi tape by Sunny Stoic Studio – top washi tape
- Calm and Serene Washi Tape Set by Deco Art MNL – green script washi tape (top)
