Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Patience: Tuesday January 12

It takes time to create strong foundations. Failing to allow patience into a process develops guilt and frustration because we have unreasonable expectations of results. Thinking that you are going to paint a masterpiece the first time you start to paint is wildly unrealistic and unhealthy for your process of learning this new skill. It would take many years of hard work on top of what natural talent may exist to become a proficient and respected artist.

It can also be a cop out if we say, "That is too hard! I could never be that good." Not being graceful and patient, giving yourself permission to face the process, always leads to certain failure.

Where do you find you have perfectionist tendencies or visions that keep you from being patient with yourself?

Prayer: Pray that God would show you areas where you have unrealistic expectations, esspecially those that you might not know about.

1 comment:

theo said...

Boy, this blog entry hits home. That's what I admire about the artists I'm friends with. They have more grace and patience with their work than I do in my left-brained world. If something doesn't work, rip it out or paint over it - start over - no big deal! That's what I'm trying to learn from them, and why I'm taking the Artist's Way this quarter. Perfection or unrealistic expectation can actually lead to paralysis. I think it's because the art, music, drama, poetry, etc. expresses, no matter what - whether it's perfect or not - it is the expression of that moment in time. There's fulfillment with all of it, I'm told.

Writing this blog comment does that for me, but a professional letter or e-mail? No way - has to be edited, re-done or deleted many times. Perhaps the unrealistic expectation is to control the results, not the process or activity. Hm, want to hear others' thoughts on this topic. Good one!