Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Healthier Inner Dialogue - Expectations

Do you sometimes look at your creation (whether it be a painting, a recipe, a crochet piece, an essay, whatever) and think that it kind of sucks? Then someone sees it and they're all crazy for it (sincerely it seems), and you think - what the heck? How was I so off about this piece?

I think I might have come upon a reason. When you conceive of your art piece, you have a particular vision in mind. Seldom, oh so seldom, are you able to actually reproduce exactly what you have envisioned. So even though your piece is awesome, you can't see it that way because in your mind it isn't as good as the vision, and therefore a failure.

It might be helpful to think of our art (again, in whatever form that takes) in a more loose fashion, more organic, less stringent and right or wrong. Initially when I began to paint I found this to be next to impossible. My pieces were tight and forced and not at all what I had envisioned.

So I stopped planning them out and a funny thing happened,...I was much happier with the end result. I focused more on colours and going with the flow and my pieces reflected the ease and creativity.

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I know that just recently a couple of my bloggy friends were not going to post certain projects because they thought they weren't good enough. Sometimes it is helpful to run it by a fellow creator to get a less biased opinion. In these cases, the projects were fabulous and well-received.

Do you find that your inner critic has a loud voice?

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5 comments:

Tina Bradley said...

This is one I continually find to be a personal challenge: the issue expecting certain outcomes. I guess the good thing is--I know expectations aren't the best avenue to go. xo T.

Kei said...

Great post! I am so guilty of expectation lol Love the quotes you posted :D

Magic Love Crow said...

Excellent post Terry!! I have always said to be free with what you create and never force anything! I find when I force something, it's yucky! So, if something isn't clicking, I put it away and come back to it! Hugs ;o)

Tara @ Suburble said...

Oh, my expectations can sometimes really take the fun out of being creative. I love that Shakespeare quote! And because I have a teensy little bit of a control issue, it makes 'letting go' that much harder.

But I'm getting better... and I'm learning how to call things a "craft fail" and move on. ;)

Mindy said...

I'm ALWAYS critical of anything I make. I pick it to pieces and, if it's a gift, have to talk myself into actually giving it to the person, afraid they'll think it sucks. It's not a fun way to be.