Wabi-sabi and Me

I've learned a lot about myself today. Normally Fridays are reserved for Networking and giving myself permission to goof around on my computer. Yet first thing I did was read was Breaking Into Freelance Illustration by Holly DeWolf and realized just how much I'm limiting myself in my artistic endeavors.

Here's something that hasn't been verified, yet to me seems obvious. I have ADD.

I'm scatter-brained, my mind wanders, I can't do one thing for too long and I am crazy forgetful. Plus I procrastinate. Did I mention that my mind wanders? For years I had used this to my advantage to create all kinds of cool, interesting ideas for stories and art. Now I think all this creativity that's bloated my brain is coming back to bite me.

Since I have so many ideas, it's hard for me to stick to just one and so I think I am a superhero who can tackle them all at once. No. No, no, no! I'm terrible at multi-tasking even when its with things I love to do.

So I break all my duties into bite-sized chunks and let them spill over into the next day if I don't get to it right away. This has often frustrated me, and I've begun to wonder if I can handle the business side of my passions. Then, I learned yet another amazing thing from awesome Japanese culture- Wabi-sabi.

Yes, that is a word. It's the best word I've discovered in my life because it sums up who I am and what I believe so perfectly. Wabi-sabi is the view that nothing lasts, nothing is complete, and nothing is perfect. This can be applied to art, beauty, thinking, pretty much everything. Holly DeWolf used it to reference that Illustrators need not focus so much on perfection when working on projects or even brainstorming.

This has helped me so much today, I was able to step back and evaluate who I am and how I should approach my work. More importantly, it helped me see how to promote my own work to others.

So if you're like me and are trying too hard to be perfect, or worrying about what others will think of you, just think of wabi-sabi. It's a very liberating view to take.

For aspiring illustrators, check out Holly DeWolf's book: http://www.hollydewolf.com/book.html