Take a moment to remember this famous story from Aesop's Fables....the one about the tortoise and the hare. For those who are younger than baby boomers, that is turtle and rabbit. It is one of my favorite stories. Why? Because it has such an awesome truth to anything you do in life! This story challenges and inspires me to live by the axiom "slow and steady wins the race".
As an artist, I am challenged to show up and do the work.... to create something of value every day at my easel. In reading Austen Kleon's newest book "Show Your Work" he underscores the significance of focusing on what can be done in this day, not on what needs to be accomplished in this month or year (emphasis mine). He reasons that we can wrap our heads around the time frame of a day, but get lost in a year's length.
Kenneth Goldsmith made a statement that fires me up to think in this "one day" dimension: "If you work on something a little bit every day, you end up with something that is massive". What you do in a day adds up to days, weeks, months, and then years....a legacy of your work. In doing all this, you have to let go of perfection and just create. The problems and rough parts will amend over time. Don't wait until that "perfect" moment or that "perfect" piece of work. Just do it and do it and keep up doing it. Your volume will create value.
The following cartoon is one that my youngest son Jacob created to encourage me to keep at a steady pace. I cherish this reminder. S L O W and STEADY!
(click on photo for a closer look)
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