The 'I Am An Artist' Challenge

Day Three

#callyourselfanartistchallenge

Hello artist friend

For today's task, we're going to flip your focus and redefine your terms.

If you struggle with calling yourself an artist, I can pretty much guarantee it’s because your definition of it comes from outside ‘rules’.

It's likely a combination of any or all of the following

• history {especially if you identify as a woman}
• the prevailing culture
• what ‘everyone else’ thinks or does
• what your family and friends think
• what that tutor at uni said
• what people are doing on Instagram

...and so on.

The fears that come up tend to be things like, ‘what will they think?’, ‘what will they say?’, ‘will they like it?’. 

Artist friend, it’s time to discover what you think.😊 

I know this can feel hard, especially if you haven’t given it a lot of thought before, or given validity to your own opinion.

Go gently with yourself, and just start investigating what feels True for you about being an artist. Check for resonance in your body as a guide.

For example, instead of, ‘an artist has to have a degree’, try out ‘an artist is someone who expresses themselves through art’.

Instead of, ‘an artist is only an artist if they sell their work’, try out, ‘an artist is an artist whatever they do with what they create. The creating is what makes them an artist’.  

Test out the thoughts, see if they need tweaking to feel more in alignment with what feels true inside you, irrespective of what ‘they’ might say.

Keep coming back to these and tweaking and adding more as they come to you.

Try this:

Draw two columns on a page in your notebook.

At the top of the left column write: What they say. At the top of the right column write: What feels true to me.

Likely you’ll fill up the left side quickly! That’s fine. Just see what you can put as an alternative to each one in the right column.

It can be something very vague at first. Just get your toe in the door of seeing this differently.

If it helps, think about how there are many different kinds of artist, just as there are many different kinds of lawyer, or different kinds of doctor, or different kinds of parent.

For bonus points, consider these questions:

🎨 What’s YOUR version of being an artist?

🎨 What old rules or stories are you still living by?

🎨 What's the story you tell about yourself and do you like it?

🎨 What does being an artist look like on YOUR terms? {Because if it doesn’t work for you, you won’t get to be an artist.}

Woohoo! You're doing so well!

Tara

PS. If it feels like your newly created definitions don't hold as much weight as thoughts like 'artists have to sell their work to be considered artists' {which, by the way, is a very common thought and entirely untrue!} - just notice that and keep refocusing onto your truths. 

You absolutely can continue to use the limiting definitions you've been using all this time, but since none of them are actually facts that could be unequivocally proven in court with no exceptions, and all they've done is hold you back or exclude you, think about whether that serves you.

{Hint: It doesn't! And your opinion is as valid as anyone else's, especially when it comes to your own passion or life's work!}

PPS. If I can get away with calling myself a creative encourager as part of my job description - which I completely made up and isn't a 'real job' - you can absolutely call yourself an artist!