Why does the idea your building upon matter?

Art Inspiration

May 26

Build and/or Neglect

“The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can. “ -Neil Gaiman

After gathering ideas from as many sources as possible and breaking down your idea into multiple parts, now it is time to build the idea to its full potential. Build your idea into something that is meaningful to you. You are all that matters when it comes to your artmaking. If you build something that is authentic and meaningful to you, others will follow. Your creative endeavor will connect with someone because someone will feel the same way. To neglect your ideas is to deprive the world of your art.

I have neglected myself, my ideas, and my art. At the age of 51, I could easily look back and regret the years spent not focusing on my own artmaking. Instead, I choose to start from where I am right and focus on tomorrow. Just recently, I read a passage in Daily Om, “Holding onto regret is like dragging the weight of the past with us everywhere we go. It drains our energy, leaving less available for life in the present because we are constantly feeding an old issue.” This really resonated with me. I can keep regretting the time I’ve neglected my art or I can get going and make art now. I only have the future to contend with and I wonder, what can I build?

“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.” -Bob Feller

What do baseball and artistic endeavors have in common here? Failure. Without failure there is no growth. If there is one thing art will teach us is that failure is inevitable and should be embraced. If we do not fail we don’t improve and move forward. Neglect however, is an entirely different thing. Neglect is not allowing failure into your life. It is stagnation. You can build upon failure. It’s a starting point. The question of “what if?” leads us down a path or around the bases, and the question “why?” takes us home.

As you work on your artistic endeavors, continuously ask yourself “what if?, and then do it. Be bold and be brave. It’s just material holding you back. If you set out on a path to make the perfect work, it won’t come. Following the “what if’s” open you up to innovation and new territory that only you can discover.

Asking the question “Why does this matter?” takes you deeper into the meaning. If you can keep following the thread by answering the question and then asking the same question again, it will lead you further toward the truth of what it is you are doing. For me, why do I paint nature? Nature inspires me. Why does nature inspire me? Nature inspires me because it is cyclical. Why are cycles important? Cycles mark time. Why does time matter? Time is limited, and I want to mark each and every moment. Time for me is marked by the seasons and the change that happens to me at each interval. The cycles ebb and flow and make me feel more alive when they arrive. It is a mark on my memory and memory is fleeting.