— The most common excuse for not taking up art (or writing, or playing the piano) is “I don’t have enough time.”
We tell ourselves we will take it up later, “When my schedule frees up,” “When the kids are back in school,” or “When I take care of all this stuff on my list . . .”
But these are just things we say to ourselves.
* Maybe because we allow our perfectionism to get the best of us (it’s so much easier to daydream about a perfect performance ‘someday’ than it is to knuckle down now and put in the work to get better).
* Maybe because we’re afraid that we aren’t good enough (somehow thinking we will get better automatically if we just wait long enough?)
* Or maybe because we convince ourselves that we need a completely free schedule (hours and hours and hours of free time without distraction or obligation) in order to properly pursue our craft.
But the truth is, even the very best artists only work a few hours a day on their current canvas, novel, song, sculpture, collage.
You don’t need a fully free 12-hour day.
You don’t 8 hours. Or 6 hours. Or even 4 hours.
You really only need a couple of hours. Or even an hour here, hour there. Heck, half an hour here, half an hour there.
If you are waiting for your social calendar to clear up, your to-do list to be all checked off (spoiler: it never will be), and nothing but a vast delicious sprawl of days ahead of you entirely free for you and your muse . . .
Well, you’re going to be waiting a long, long time.
Years maybe.
So why wait for all the stars to line up? Why not just dive in next time you have a spare 15 to 30 minutes?
You don’t have to complete a masterpiece in one sitting.
You won’t complete a masterpiece in one sitting.
But you do have to sit down and make a little progress each day.
The good news is . . . that’s enough.
That’s all you need.
~ Sebastian
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PS: The featured image on this post is by AWAKE artist Jill Johnson. She crafted this not in 15 minutes, nor in one perfect dream day … but over the course of many, many days, using the Mixer Brush and other brushes in Photoshop. This is how most art happens. An hour in the morning, a few hours late at night, strung together over time. This is how you create great works and how you become better — a little at a time, over time.