Let Go. Move On

Release your art! Let go. Move on.

I remember all the times when I was younger when I used to try to draw.

Either because I made a concerted effort to learn,

or for some reason I had to draw something.

I believe a lot of people have this same experience,

You have something in mind. Or sight.

You put pencil to paper and…

No. it's just not it at all...

"I can't draw".

You put the pencil down...

Many people never pick it up again for the rest of their lives.

Why is that?

It’s not just the skill, but I believe it's the doubtless mindset constructed from incomplete and insufficient information.

Never picking it up comes from so many places -

But mostly, I believe it comes from

Comparing to those around you and having an expectation to be at their level at all times.

…For some reason

It stems from a misunderstanding of what it takes to get there.

Of course, they don’t have the experience to know what it takes.

They don't know how much work it took to be able to draw that eye like that.

You don’t just see it then do it.

But it seems that way from the outside looking in.

It also stems from something deeper,

A growing misunderstanding at a fundamental level of communication,

That every descriptive word is objectively quite subjective.

Your friend tells you “I barely studied for this test. You’ll be fine”

But you,

You who barely studied for this test doesn’t know that

They spent 3 days instead of their normal 5

And You

Started last night...

They get 90%, you get 50%.

You think they’re just naturally gifted about all the enzymes needed for protein synthesis.

Just like that, they've let go of a whole possible branch of life

That could have stemmed from trying again.

They could have been {Insert whichever path they could have chosen} artists,

But they let the unknowns and assumptions change the course of their lives in possibly MAJOR ways.

And that’s perfectly fine.

They are embracing, “Letting go” without realizing it...

That allowed them to go on to become whatever they found they were actually passionate about.

They’re out there happily living their best lives today.

All other versions exist only in “what if’s” that get momentary blips of thought on a slow night.

We’ve picked up and let go of so many things throughout life

Not knowing we could one day be experts at them.

And that’s fine too.

We can’t do everything.

There's not enough time.

At the same time, though…

Like anything else, a thing we tend to forget is that you don't just start and be good.

A part of that process of getting good -

Is intentional training again and again...

A big part of getting good is letting go, too…

Let go of that first drawing you did.

The 2nd, 10th, 100th…

Let others see your work.

Art, like life, must be shared.

Let yourself give to others.

By letting go for you.

Knowing how to let go is part of knowing how to start again.

It’s necessary and it’s healthy because nothing lasts as it is forever.

The person who let heartbreak stop them from loving again,

Is definitely not loving again.

Letting Go... Is Moving On...

Moving on, comes from understanding what it means to move on in the first place.

It’s not just waiting and hoping things will change.

It’s never that.

Moving on is actively learning about,

facing and replacing the old with new realities from your experience

In Art and in Life.

Not necessarily forgetting, but replacing what occupies your active and reactive thoughts and actions.

How do you move on?

You ask and answer yourself.

• “What actually happened?”

• “How did we get here?”

• “What does it mean that it’s done now?”

• “How does it change my day to day?”

• “How does it change my short and long term goals?”

  
  

Actively think about it all so not much can truly surprise

YOU about YOU in YOUR life going forward.

Doubt takes root in the unexpected.

It's what you fail to anticipate that shakes your certainty.

Holding onto something you're not ready to let go -

Isn't pressing pause on a process you’re not ready to happen…

You’re either moving forward or backward as time ticks on.

Life doesn’t know how to stop.

Your brain can’t stop either.

You either give it new, or it consumes the old.

By Holding on,

Over time,

You often regress in all the progress you made all the way back to

Your inciting incident.

Your initial trauma.

Your fear of starting that you had the first time.

Your self doubt,

Your inability to trust…

Moving on is replacing something that was, with something that is...

Right now.

The more we Let Go,

The more we open ourselves not only to new, but hopefully to better.

That’s growth.

When I think of life, I inextricably think of art...

I of course also think of "The End" too...

The point you just know it's complete.

The moment you let go for the last time.

I think about how people deal with those final moments.

With something as big as an entire life!

It feels impossible.

How will I let go?

But then I think…

The memories we hold onto in life

Are a culmination of countless moments that could chain together

ONLY because we could let go of everything that would’ve stopped us from moving on.

Something as trivial as putting the pencil down to find your true passion.

Or signing your name on your artwork as your last act on your masterpiece -

The final and truest act of appreciation and celebration of a life that happened and art that was created,

is letting go when it’s the end.

The Infinite night sky. Representing the infinite souls that have and will exist.

To make space for the infinity that comes next.

To do that, you will have to just…

Let Go… Move On.

___

What are your thoughts?