This is the moment! No THIS is! No wait...THIS is!

“This is the moment! This is the day, when I send all my doubts and demons, on their way! Every endeavor, I have made - ever - is coming into play, is here and now - today! This is the moment, this is the time, when the momentum and the moment are in rhyme! Give me this moment - this precious chance - I'll gather up my past and make some sense at last! This is the moment, when all I've done - all the dreaming, scheming and screaming, Become one! This is the day - see it sparkle and shine, when all I've lived for becomes mine! For all these years, I've faced the world alone, and now the time has come to prove to them I've made it on my own! This is the moment - my final test - destiny beckoned, I never reckoned, second best! I won't look down, I must not fall! This is the moment, the sweetest moment of them all! This is the moment! Damn all the odds! This day, or never, I'll sit forever with the gods! When I look back, I will always recall, moment for moment, this was the moment, the greatest moment of them all!”     -Music from Jekyll and Hyde

As an artist, we have so many moments of self-doubt, fear, self-limiting beliefs, negative self-talk, and self-sabotage.  We tend to give those moments far too much attention and power over who we are, how we feel about ourselves and how and when we take our next artistic step.  What if we gave the same amount of attention and power to the good moments?  You know, those moments that make you say to yourself, “Here.  Right here.  In this exact moment, I believe I am an artist.  ”

For some it could be the first time you created something, anything.  Or the first time you created something that you thought was so great that you allowed your pride to overtake your fear and you showed it to someone else.  Or maybe it was the first time you got positive feedback from someone who wasn’t obligated to say something nice.  Or maybe it was the first time you got positive feedback.  Or maybe you got through the hardest door (your own) and you put yourself out there and to your utter amazement someone actually said YES!  And by miracles of miracles you started to believe.  You are an artist.       

What are your good moments?  Are you giving them the attention and the power they deserve in your life?  Do you dismiss them or do you let them wash over you.  Do you downplay them or do you dance in them?    

This is what me dancing in a moment looks like...

This past week I taught a “Paint Your Pet” class for a local non-profit at an actual art gallery.  A real one.  With real art on the walls and everything.  Surrounded by art created by a local artist that I once had the privilege to meet and saw her as a rock star.  Who was so very gracious and kind and from then on I have followed her every move because I look up to her so much.  It was such an honor to be teaching in the same gallery space where she displays her art. 

Only that night I was referred to as “the artist.”  I was the expert in the room.  I got great feedback on my artistic ability and my teaching style, and my temperament.  The paintings turned out amazing.  The non-profit and gallery owner are interested in working with me again.  It was a moment I could have lived in forever.  And the pictures…oh the pictures from that night are awesome.  Here is just a taste…     

 

And do you know what is better than dancing in a moment?  Having the next moment happen before the first has even had a chance to start fading…

Today I stumbled across Kristal Norton’s blog and it blew my mind.  Right there in black and white.  A list of “10 beautiful benevolent journalartists.”  The titans of the art journaling world.  Many were my first teachers. My idols.  Effy Wild.  Tammy Garcia.  Samie Harding.  Jennibellie.  Chelle Stein.  Julie Fei-Fan Balzar.  Diana Trout.  Ronda Palazzari.  Leslie Ackman.  AND ME!!!  Like I said, MIND BLOWN.  And I can personally confirm that every word about me is true.  ;-> 

What an unexpected honor.  And what a tremendous gift to be given a surprise opportunity to see myself through someone else’s eyes. 

So here it is.  I've had other moments.  But THIS is the moment.  In THIS moment I believe I am an artist.  Now I just need to maintain my belief  by living from good moment to good moment and by not giving any of the negative moments attention or power. 

What are your good moments?  How can you give them more attention and power so you will start/continue to believe?