Creating Daily

Breaking a Family Curse

watercolor and oil pastel on handmade paper

Recently, I was scrolling through Instagram, and I came across one of my favorite abstract watercolor artists @zebrakadebra. She'd posted some pieces she'd done combining oil pastels and watercolor. I thought they were amazing. Inspired, I ordered some Caran d'Ache™ oil pastels (forgetting for a moment that I have fought with oil pastels before, and I lost).    

They finally arrived (deliveries up here in Island Falls would test the patience of that guy in the Bible - Job), and I dug in.

I quickly remembered the great Oil Pastels VS Me battle that took place way back then.

My fight with oil pastels was one that I couldn't win because it wasn’t really with oil pastels. It was with perfectionism. I wanted to make BEAUTIFUL things. RIGHT NOW. I wanted to make BEAUTIFUL, PERFECT things that everybody - me, you, and every other single person in the entire world - would find beautiful and perfect.

Impossible.  

So I quit (as I’ve quit many many things in my life). There was no sacred practice, no intuitive practice, no practice at all.  Oh, and any play that might have happened was trampled on too. No practice AND no play.  

If I thought about it enough, I'd be sad. How many days did I miss out on playing with oil pastels (and numerous other nifty art tools) because I couldn't obtain perfection? 

Fast forward to today — to now.

I'm a different person than I was 15 years ago. I have a different sense of what it means to create... As a sacred practice, an intuitive practice...just A Practice.

Perfection is no longer my goal. I’m dedicated to the act of daily creation.

It is one of the most important things I do. It connects me to the ground. It connects me to my intuition. It heals me. Sharing it with people allows me to break the Perfectionism that's been a curse on my family for generations. 

If you are interested in beginning a daily creative practice and would like to be witnessed and cheered on by a supportive little circle of folks, I’d love to see you in the Falcon and Acorn Nest on the Mighty Network. Join now for $2 per month, and get access to our Creative Circles: Creating Daily and Haiku as well as other open Circles in the nest (by request). Register HERE.

oil pastel and ink on handmade paper