Proper Words of Caution
Lynn Powers, of Creative Catalyst, offers these words of caution, as she calls them, to artists:
Years ago, an instructor pointed out that more women than men attend [art] workshops. He then pointed out that more men than women enter shows. He wondered why that was. It was not due to lack of talent. I believe it’s because women are generally taught to be more cautious than men. This caution has spilled over into an arena where it has no place.
In other words, you have the talent, ladies. The proper words of caution, when you are considering whether to enter your art in a show, are “Throw caution to the wind.”
Byron Katie, life coach extraordinaire, tells us never to expect love, appreciation or approval. They have to originate from within, because until you have appreciated, approved of and learned to love yourself, it is impossible to offer these rich gifts to another. Desperately seeking them from another only reveals your own lack. You cannot offer what you do not own.
It is time to drop the curtain of caution you have raised around yourself and your work. It is a great relief to abandon comparing yourself to anyone else, because if you don’t need anyone’s appreciation or approval, comparison is a pointless exercise. Focus, rather, on learning from others. And lavish yourself with love. Approve of all that you have experienced and attempted. Appreciate what you have become. Display it with joyful abandon: it is your gift to the world.
The wild freedom of these realizations is staggering.
PS: You didn’t really think I was going to urge you to be proper, did you?
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