I have been wanting to do a Cert III in Visual Arts for many years as I wanted the formal education that comes with it. As I moved to many different places working I looked for this course. Unfortunately I either was working full time or the place was too for away from me to get to. I never let this get to me though otherwise my mindset would have been soooooo bad.
From previous blogs you will have seen that I moved to Sydney from the Sunshine Coast as there was nowhere to live up there in my budget. My intuition is so spot on because where I live there is a TAFE (Technical And Further Education) a short bus trip away that is the main TAFE for Creative Arts.
I was a bit worried about the cost as it was a lot. I love living in Australia because the course ended up being free for me due to my circumstances.
The first term was Painting, Drawing and Photography and below are 5 things that I learnt from term 1 that can be applied to life
Don’t Put Off To Till Later What You Really Want To Do To
As I said I could have done this course for many years as I travelled around and yet I didn’t do anything to make it easier to do the course. I made excuse after excuse. Looking back I can now see all the ways I could have done the course and yet put it off.
There are times in life that we want to do something and yet we put it off because we either think we can’t do it, it’s too hard, people tell us it is silly, we are told we are being selfish as we are not thinking of others, or we might be told that we will never make money from our “hobby.”
When we allow what others think or say to influence us, then we won’t do what we want to do. This could be leaving a job that you dislike, starting a business, or going back to something that you really love like painting. It can be extremely hard, when there is so much influence in our life from others, to take the steps needed. I won’t tell you what to do. All I ask is “What is it costing you to not do what you want to do?”
Speak Up Early
If you don’t feel you are getting what you need than speak up early. I know this can be extremely hard when it comes to family, friends, and our work. We have beliefs, thoughts, fears and patterns that can stop us from speaking up.
In my course, I struggled to speak up earlier than I eventually did, because I thought I was meant to be taught the basics. In one class I didn’t speak up until about week 4. When I finally did things got slightly better although I ended up doing a lot of my own research and study to help me in that particular class. I am not bad mouthing anyone because it was a lesson that I needed to learn.
After I spoke up things did start to change. When we are going to speak I come from a place of response, not reaction. A response place is a much more calm place where you can make clearer decisions. Where as a react place is where you are filled with adrenaline and your brain doesn’t work in a way that is conducive. Reaction is more for emergency than for life and business.
Before you speak up, take stock and decide whether it will be helpful or not. We must always put ourselves first and yes I know this goes against everything that you have been told. I will tell you this. If you don’t put yourself first I can tell you from experience that physical, emotional, mental and spiritual are affected and they all continue to be affected until it becomes a real problem. Things like burnout, anxious symptoms, and physical symptoms happen when you always put others before yourself. It is not going to be easy to start speaking up and yet when you do you will see changes instantly. Take that first step now.
Keep An Eye On Your Work Not Others
When I started my business I kept looking at others and trying to be them. When I started the course in the painting and the drawing classes I did look at others and saw how they were more advanced than I. I struggled for a few weeks until I took stock and went back to the fact that I am a beginner. This helped a lot especially in how much I improved especially in the painting class. You can see below the paintings I did from the first one to the last. I am really proud of my improvement.
When you keep looking at others and not keeping an eye on your own path it affects your mindset, beliefs and you also don’t stand up for yourself when you need to. I needed to stand up for myself quite a few times in this course which was helpful for me as I have learnt how to do this in a way that is more of a win/win than a win/lose.
Whenever you notice yourself looking at others, take a couple of deep breaths and stop. The look at why this has happened. The more that you do this the more that looking at others becomes less and less. We compare ourselves as we are taught we are not good enough and others are better. This is so wrong and I want you to really believe that.
Rest
After starting this course I thought I could continue like I had been. Well the Universe laughed at me. I discovered that if I didn’t rest that day after I had finished the three days at TAFE then I was going to be put to rest. I didn’t like resting on the Thursday as it was a weekday and I prefer to work on my business during the week. It took a few weeks for me to accept that I needed to rest otherwise I would get nothing done in the whole week.
I do like resting as I know how important it is as in my career I worked so many hours whether in my paid job or when I volunteered. This time though it didn’t feel right. I felt like I was letting myself down by resting.
We all need to rest and I am not talking about a 20 minute rest. I am talking about a full night’s sleep. Now I know that this isn’t always possible as circumstances happen as they have for me. If you don’t address this though it will affect you in big ways including physically. When you can, rest. It may mean that cleaning only happens every second week. So what? Does it need to be done every week? I have a friend that has a list so she is able to do a small amount of cleaning each day. Yes, she does live in a unt and yet this technique can be applied to a house as well.
Again I will say rest. It is important for you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
It Is Okay To Put Things On The Backburner.
I run a small business and I wanted to keep doing everything that I could and yet that didn’t happen. I have put a lot of my business on the backburner and I am okay with that. I still put out content on social media, blogs and my podcast. I am also rethinking my business because I will be doing a lot more study in the future as I will want to go all the way through to a PhD in Visual/Creative Arts.
I honestly don’t feel guilty about putting things on the backburner because it is important for me to do this study.
If some of your things you want to do need to go on the backburner for you to do what is really important please don’t feel guilty about it at all.
Final Reflections
You are on this earth for a reason and if you don’t follow your passions, rest, put yourself first etc then it can come with regrets.
I don’t regret anything although there are things I wish I had done earlier.
Put yourself first, do what you want to do. You deserve to live life to the fullest and that means following your passions.
This is my favourite out of all the paintings