I woke up one day and could suddenly do this đ± *BLATANT LIE with a teeny smidge of truth*
As an artist, one of the most common things people say to me is âI would love to be able to paint/draw but Iâm not artistic!â. As a yoga instructor, the phrase I hear most is âI would love to do yoga, but Iâm not flexible!â. In our world of social media and instant gratification we are swamped with images of success- stunning artworks, flawless handstands, before and after images which show incredible transformations. In the context of our own, real life those images and goals feel intangible. Even more so when, in reality, we barely have time to do the dishes, get enough sleep or make a salad, let alone make life altering changes to our daily life.
What these images donât show is the journey of often painfully slow and minuscule steps forward as well as gut wrenching leaps backwards. When people see my art and say they wish they were talented, I jokingly reply that all it takes is millions of hours of practice and gallons of tears…though this isnât a joke. This is how I learnt to paint. In my opinion, I still have millions of hours and tears to go before I get to where I hope to be.
The images here are of my first attempt at oil painting and after my first attempt at mermaid pose. Yup- first attempts. Neither is perfect, but neither is too darn bad for a first goâŠI literally woke up and could do both of these things with out realising itâŠBut before you jump to conclusions, this is not because of natural talent or ability. In both cases, it was because of the hours of foundation work I had put in while simply living my life and doing the things I love doing.
I picked up oils after years of working with watercolour and graphite. I had worked hard to develop my sense of colour, perspective and mood in my art. I had built a relationship with how paints, lines and shadow impacted the voice of an artwork through watercolour and had countless failures that landed in the bin.
I had always wanted to try oils but thought that was for ârealâ artists and they would be too hard for me. I was utterly surprised that all the same principles of painting applied to oil paints. I had already worked hard and learnt the foundations, so the only new thing I needed to tackle was how oil paint moved and how I needed to move it. This painting wasnât a fluke with a new skill and natural talent, it was a continuation of my existing skill and a desire to expand and grow as an artist.
It was a near identical experience with my mermaid pose. Over the last 2 years I have been building my yoga practice. I attend classes and workshops regularly, have my own home practice and also teach classes. My focus when approaching asana has been around bringing my mind into alignment and feeling the impacts of the various poses on my mental state. I never had a pose I was âaimingâ for (though crow pose still alludes me!). On a random Tuesday, I attended a lovely class which unfolded quickly into lots of hip openers, which I was happy for. My hip flexors, quads and hamstrings are often tight (whose arenât?). As we were cued to find mermaid pose I assumed I would be attempting it with no success⊠and next minute, there I was! And it wasnât too difficult, even though I could feel spaces were tight and there was room to go deeper another time. Again- I woke up, and I could do it. But it wasnât an out of the blue, one off sudden accomplishment. It was a continuation of all my work and effort that meant my body was in a place where that range of motion was within it’s capacity.
As I have reflected on these experiences, I have come to appreciate that striving relentlessly for something isnât the answer to achieving goals and building a life worth living. If we engage mindfully in things we love and enjoy, giving ourselves kindness to simply exist rather than push and pull ourselves into âshouldsâ and âshouldnâtsâ we will find ourselves naturally making process which is inline with our dharma, or our natural calling and purpose. Or, in more secular terms, we end up doing things and getting good at things which we actually want to spend our time doing.
It can be scary at first to step back and slow down. This is the exact opposite of what we are told will lead to success by society. At first it feels like we are being lazy or not doing enough. All things take time. ALL things. So if it will take time, why not enjoy the process and energise yourself rather than run yourself ragged till you break. I have found that this approach has gotten me to where I want to be quicker because I haven’t had to stop, start, burn out and retrace my steps countless times. And the bonus: It may even land you with a surprise skill that you suddenly wake up with on a random Tuesday.