don't think about art: just do your thing

there are no rules to making art, except this: do your thing, and do it everyday.

when I first started taking my creative pursuits more “seriously,” I remember the immense, paralyzing pressure I felt to be good enough. I wanted to feel good enough before I even began, as if good enough would give me the permission to begin, and yet, being insufficiently good enough would hinder me from starting. it was a cycle of paralysis. I was living in New York City, where everyone seemed artistic and creative. the mountain of “artistic achievement” felt insurmountable— and my dreams, very small and commonplace.

for a long time, I felt this imposter syndrome. I didn’t dare call myself an artist or a writer. I studied creative writing in college, but my writing was nothing like that of my peers, nor anything similar to that of my noble-prize winning professor’s. and so, I tried to write more like them. for years, I abandoned myself, and my own nascent voice.

during that time, I tried to fit my art into the boxes that were laid out before me. I saw the hoops that culture and society had built for us, the medals and recognition that they give us for having jumped through them, awarding us for finally being a real “artist” making real “art.”

forget the word “art,” and just do your thing

but as time passed, very slowly, I came upon the realization that the words “artist,” “art,” “writer” — none of it meant anything. just because a book was published, a painting was hung in a gallery, a grant was given — what did it mean? does it matter, in the end? can our society (or any gatekeeper) quantify the value of art, the impact it has on your soul, and the heart and souls of the human beings around you? can you ever measure, in accolades, how much you have moved people?

don’t try to be an “artist”

when you try hard to be an “artist” or “writer” or “musician,” the label of that identity becomes a box. it suffocates your spirit — the creative spirit, which does not want to be in boxes. it does not live in accruing prestige or status — those things are simply their social byproduct.

they are nice things to have. but they do not nourish the essence of your spirit.

so, I challenge you to be more than that. don’t try to be an artist, simply do your thing.

your thing is that which feeds your soul

what is your thing? what does it mean when people say, “you do you, you do your thing?” I think that thing is what we can spend our lives discovering, and rediscovering.

so many of us don’t know, don’t dare ask, because we are too scared. too afraid. too limited by cultural conditioning, by the excuses that crowd our heads.

but certainly, if you’re reading this, I know you have an idea. no matter how nascent, you have an inkling of your thing. call it your music, your writing, your art, whatever. it doesn’t matter.

what does matter is that you do it. everyday. that you’re committed to discovering it, for yourself.

what do you do which allows you to lose a sense of time and place? to enter a zone beyond this world, to connect to your truest self, your body, heart, mind and soul?

what nourishes you? what makes you feel most present with yourself?

how can you nourish your highest, fullest potential — the you that feels most alive — and when you’re ready, share that with the world?

it’s not doing, it’s being

actually, the title of this post should be “being your thing.” when what you do is an extension of how you be — then you know that you’ve found your resonance, your alignment.

may we all discover and rediscover our being, everyday.