Knowing Yourself
Knowing Yourself
Taking on a personal challenge or beginning a new habit can exciting. Just think of the possibilities! The change! And then, old habits show up. One thing that can help with learning that new skill or practicing the new habit is to be aware of what you already do. Be willing to have some stumbling on the learning path.
I've had more free time recently because I finished up my Amsterdam Dailies. One thing I've been wanting to do is to pare down my collection of chocolate bar wrappers. I collect them so I can draw them. The pile is a bit out of control though. I like to be fairly tidy, so I came up with a mini art and house-cleaning challenge for myself.
For one week, I will work on one wrapper a day, limit my time to about 30 minutes and see if I could get the essence of the wrapper design down on the page. One session per wrapper and the end of it, the wrapper goes out.
At the end of this mini-challenge week I wanted to have seven drawings done and have the pile of my wrappers be seven less. Repeat the week challenge as necessary over time.
Last night was my fifth drawing and my fifth wrapper. So far so good. Except that I went on auto-pilot. I enjoyed my drawing. I loved the wonky lettering. The colors were wonderful. The shapes not very complicated. And when the timer went off, I was not done.
Figuring out how to draw and color a complete picture in a short period of time is a skill. What a challenge!
If time is not an issue, I’m good at paying attention to details and rendering fairly accurately. For my mini challenge though, I have to experiment and try new things. I need to mix things up. Maybe I use fewer colors, use only pen, skip some details, work on a smaller piece or only a part, try mostly paint and little ink or pencil, use pencil instead of paint, or something else entirely.
Sharing this story is not to say that you can’t or shouldn’t continue to do the things that you enjoy and are good at, or that you need to beat yourself up if the new skill isn't smooth from the start (please don't). Rather, it’s being aware of how you usually approach things and figure out what parts of what you usually do will work and what new strategies to try out. Keep at it and be gentle with yourself.
What’s a challenge or habit you’ve taken on recently? What are you learning?