Is Art for You?
I firmly believe that EVERYONE should be doing something creative. Hobbies extend your life, stave off dementia, and boost quality of life by reducing stress, exercising the brain, and giving one something rather more pleasant than the daily grind on which to focus.
I see a lot of people on the interwebs who have picked up art recently (maybe in the last five years or so) and are finding themselves frustrated, bored, or just simply not enjoying it. If one is completely focussed on the end result of their endeavour rather than the process, it's perfectly natural to feel this way. What one needs to do is find a way to enjoy the process, or find something else in which one does find the process enjoyable.
I recently watched a video by Chelsea Lang*, an alla prima oil painter and mentor on Youtube, in which she talked about "what you want to do" vs "what you'd like to have". If what you'd like to have is a portfolio of beautiful art and an Instagram account with 100k followers but actually sitting down and putting in the pencil/brush miles is not want you want to do, then art might not really be for you.
*Chelsea Lang is awesome, I'd really recommend checking her videos out.
I like eating food; homemade, unprocessed, healthy food comprised of organic vegetables and high welfare meats, but I do not like cooking. What I want to have is not the same as what I want to do. Even though I enjoy eating what I make, it's a chore I would happily do without! I will never be a chef, nor will cooking ever be a hobby. To believe otherwise just because I enjoy the end result would waste my time and reduce my quality of life.
I believe that the single key thing to show you if a hobby is you is whether or not you enjoy the actual process, rather than just the end result. Do you enjoy the feeling of sweeping your pencil, pastel, or paintbrush across the surface? Do you enjoy mixing and applying colour? Do you enjoy the peaceful rhythm and mindful counting of knitting? Do you enjoy choosing words and structuring sentences for your writing?
Hobbies and creative pursuits are all about the process and the journey. The end result is a benefit.
