Art and Discouragement

Comparing yourself to others can be a fast way of seeing if you can improve , i dont think its healthy if it makes you feel miserable and not good enough, there is always someone better , prettier , bigger. I compared my writing and decided i was better of writing Detectives than SF , i am a terrible space ship designer , and just writing , the thing floats in the sky is not enough , if i had not compared i would still be writing stuff that made no sense , but in my Poetry , i dont compare anymore because i find Poetry a thing of the heart , and i dont use any rules. Both have growt in it , the discarding and the arrogance of thinking that i can write Poetry :laugh:

Fearlessness: To have no self-imposed limits.
Fear is that which prevents a Jedi from accomplishing their duty. A Jedi learns to let go of their fears through their faith in the Force and has no shame in admitting their shortfalls when they occur.

In my profession I am surrounded by professionals who have crafted their skill to perfection. And because I am with them there is an expectation that may be beyond what I am able to do. When I am aware of my "lack" of skill I am fearful of my performace and I start second guessing myself. And when that happens, 90% of the time I give a subpar performace. I use the Fearlessness maxim to remind me that I only have to perform to MY best ability. There is no fear when I realize I am not competing (BTW, I compete often and win) with other people. But, I am showcasing the skill set that (Codama) has prepared and crafted to (Codama's) my ability. And when I do that, I always have an outstanding (stand out) performance.

No fear in making a mistake.
No fear in coming up short.
No fear in not reaching the Bench mark
Because I have a knowing that I will do just fine (whatever your "just fine" is).

And when the performace is over, it is done.
Now I can look back at it and review the shortcomings. It's hard to do. But, don't linger on the fact that you came up short. Move on. I make neccesary corrections for the next time. and repeat the process.

I live this process EVERY day.

Do what you love because you love it.

Enjoy your gifts and remember that they are your gifts, and that gifts are not a competion. What one my find beautiful is not what another will.

My wife loves (I'm guessing) modern art. Where I see it as junk, literally. So should my opinion discourage people who make modern art? I hope not. Art is expression... do you express yourself in your medium? The love it for what it is and let others love what they will.