Do you give yourself enough credit?

Do you give yourself enough credit for what you do?
Creating art requires us to think outside the box, whether it’s about the objects or elements we select, how we use our supplies, or the way we assemble it. It requires us to creatively combine unrelated thoughts and materials with nothing but a vision of what we think we’re going to create or believe we can create. It takes a leap of faith.

Do you give yourself enough credit for what you create?
I’m not talking about how good of an artist you are, I’m talking about the fact that you sit down and face the blank canvas, paper, etc.! Creating anything takes courage; it takes belief in yourself to know something, even if you feel that you don’t know enough. I think it says a lot about the human spirit of each and every person; despite the unknown, we know we must move forward, no matter the fear or anxiety, we must create art…and so we take a leap of faith.

Do you give yourself enough credit for what you know?
We show our humility and our sense of humanity when we put our art out to be seen and make ourselves vulnerable to others’ opinions and criticism. We are at our most fragile when we display what has come from inside our hearts and minds, and we show our belief in humanity when we do; believing most will be honest but not brutal. It takes courage to be able to hear what someone has to say and not have it reflect how we feel about ourselves. We must believe in ourselves enough to know what we know, and we must believe in ourselves enough to take that leap…

So I ask you again…do you give yourself enough credit for what you do?

thanks to all of you who have left such positive and encouraging comments here…

Posted on Thursday, July 7th, 2005 at 8:10 pm. Filed under: Blog, The Crafty Girl, collage & illustration, musings RSS 2.0 feed.

3 Responses to “Do you give yourself enough credit?”

1. Carolyn says:

   07/08/2005 at 4:27 am

   I am really becoming a fan of your site. Your post was exactly what I needed to hear today. BTW, I have you bookmarked.
   Cheers,
   Carolyn
2. Hanna says:

   08/19/2005 at 2:59 pm

   Hi Kelly,
   thanks for the links to your two posts on creativity from my post on the subject! Thanks!

   I really enjoy reading it, and thinking about your questions. I think I give myself lots of credit, but I’m of course just starting to learn about creativity and art. It’s just so great fun!

   take care!
3. --erica says:

   07/14/2007 at 9:21 pm

   i’m finding this and you just now.. (published in artful blogging)

   I think this is the wonder of blogging.

   Words leaping through years..touching people.
   thank you. I needed to hear today what you wrote two years ago. I will come back to it again and again.