I feel an anxiousness to complete things. Not the bad kind of anxiety… more like an adrenaline rush while waiting for the starter pistol.
I’m now constantly aware of a great desire to move forward, far enough to find myself in new surroundings.
I’ve had certain items on my “To Do” list for years. I want to be done with them. I feel they keep me anchored to goals that I’m not sure are still relevant to who I am today.
As I continue reading The Artist’s Way, I keep discovering things about myself.
Week 3’s epiphany happened during an assignment to make a list of 5 people I admire and 5 people I secretly admire. Which traits in particular do I look up to?
I wonder, was the “secretly admire” list a trick? After jotting down the names, I couldn’t decide if it’s people I admire… or envy.
If I was asked to list 5 people I envy, I would have quickly lied and said, “Oh, gosh, no, I don’t envy anyone.”
HA.
The secret admiration approach nudged me to be honest. (I’m not sure if Julia meant this to happen, or if it’s my interpretation. Either way, it was helpful.)
Looking over the traits of people on both lists, I realized that I admire people who are:
[sparkle_list list_type=”sparkle-list4″]
[sparkle_li]Disciplined[/sparkle_li]
[sparkle_li]Skilled[/sparkle_li]
[sparkle_li]Confident[/sparkle_li]
[sparkle_li]Driven[/sparkle_li]
[sparkle_li]Talented[/sparkle_li]
[/sparkle_list]
The fantastic thing is that 4 out of 5 can be a chain of “actionable items.”
This recipe of fabulousness is within my reach.
Starting now, I can actively focus on developing these traits that I admire in other people. Who knows, maybe it will get rid of my secret envy.
The remaining thoughts from the week that I loved are the following:
About Anger
“Anger is a map. Anger shows us what our boundaries are. […] Anger is meant to be acted upon. It’s not meant to be acted out.”
As somebody that always cringes away from conflict, this perspective is a game changer. Conflict is not all bad. On the contrary, it can lead to a much better outcome. Why avoid a chance to improve myself, my relationships, and surroundings?
About Art
“Art matures spasmodically and requires ugly-duckling growth stages.”
Hehe! I have gigabytes of proof of this.
“Art brings healing. But before a wound can heal, it must be seen.”
So, bring Art into the open. No band-aids. Let it breathe. It will heal faster.
Thanks for reading,
Malu
PS: Talent is subjective, and I’m still trying to determine if you can nurture it, or if you’re born with a predetermined amount and can only build skills around it. What are your thoughts on this? I’d appreciate any insight.
PS2: I bought a book stand. (Affiliate link. Read more.) It’s awesome!
5 Comments
From what I’ve read “on the internet”, we’re not really born with any specific talent, but we develop skills through practice.
Our brains are “wired” differently though, which affects stuff like creativity, and how quickly and well we can develop certain skills. For example, at the last Office Hours, with the anchor discussion I was completely lost after a while, but give me the type of problem I usually solve at work and I’m immediately in my element. With enough practice I could probably get the hang of songwriting too but it feels foreign compared to what I’m used to doing on a daily basis.
How the brain works is a fascinating subject if you want to go down a rabbit hole 😀
October 1, 2018 at 7:02 pmDefinitely a rabbit hole. Hehehe! Ayyy this comment made me want to google talent and skills and read about the different perspectives. Thanks for reading, Tommy!
October 4, 2018 at 3:06 amHi Tommy, I beg to disagree. Not to blow my own trumpt, but as an example I started playing the piano off by heart before my teens and that without practice. A quirk of mine is the more I practice the worse I get. I’m now in my late 60s and it’s still the same. “Off the cuff” is best for me. But you do make some good points.
April 2, 2019 at 5:31 amPienso que el talento pueden ser ambas, habilidades connaturales heredadas en tu adn o habilidades que vas desarrollando con el tiempo aunque es demasiado subjetivo, claro- Porque yo que toco guitarra puedo tomarlo como un talento, pero luego te veo tocar en tus videos y digo: “Ese es talento”
October 6, 2018 at 1:09 amI think you might be interested in the Enneagram. Type FOUR (which I am, with a FIVE wing) has Envy as their challenge. The Enneagram has helped me so much. (Very cool book stand btw ❤)
April 2, 2019 at 5:26 am