Demolishing And Discarding Discouragement

Something that I have found to be universally true amongst most (if not all) artists, is that we tend to be our own worst critics.

One day, we feel pretty good about our work.

Then the next day, we go to some art exhibit or a concert, or we watch a documentary or read a book about some great artist, or whatever -  and WHAM!

Instant discouragement.

Can you relate with the feeling of leaving an art exhibit half inspired and half discouraged?

Have you ever watched or listened to something that someone else created, and felt like you just didn't measure up?

Do you feel that there's just just no way you'll ever reach the plateu that you know you're capable of reaching, if only you had the time, resources or support you'd need to get there?

Well, I'm going to let you in on a little secret...

It's all in your head.

I'm serious!  This is all about the way we perceive ourselves, or what some would call, our "self-image".

I once read a book about starting a career in music called Beyond Talent, by (I forget, I will find out and update this later).

In this book, the author poses a riddle, and it goes like this...

What do you call a student from an Ivy League Medical School who graduates at the bottom of their class?

A Doctor

Point is, no matter what you think about how you do or don't measure up to other artist's, you can still be an amazing artist in your own right.

For every artist, there are going to be a slew of people who love your work and another slew of people who wish you would just quit already.

This even happens to the best of the best.

All I'm saying is that it's all a matter of perspective, and if you're just trying to be realistic, that's okay - so long as you don't use your "realistic" outlook on things to beat yourself up and make yourself feel like less than others.

I do this all the time, in fact, I did it TODAY.

Something I haven't shared with you yet, is that I am a songwriter.  Well, I was listening to some music by various artists earlier, and I just kept thinking, "If only I could write songs that are this good."

And then I snapped out of it, because I know that comparing myself to others or some ideal example of what I wish I could write like or whatever - is ALWAYS a losing battle.

I definitely think that we need to have realistic perspectives about our work, but only to the extent that it is going to help us continue to evolve, grow and improve along the path.

There are a million other ways to keep ourselves from becoming discouraged, but I hope that this post was a useful starting point - I'll probably get into this more at a later date.

Off I go - I'll talk to you soon!

Eddie