Every day I get up and work on building my skills as an artist. I’m a born communicator - my father will tell you I came into this world already talking. All my life I’ve communicated verbally, but the endlessly missed piece that I longed for was the ability to communicate visually too. I’ve been working towards that goal for the last couple of years, taking classes as I’m able, learning from books, and practicing on my own.
Now I’m living the long-held dream of waking up every day and going to work in my home studio (in a corner of my bedroom). I sit down at my desk and show up for myself and my dream of being an artist. I’m taking classes to bolster my development and am learning how to build daily routines and ongoing practices as a working artist.
Especially in these last couple of weeks this discipline has been fueled by the faith I have that I can make some difference in the world with these skills someday. I feel acutely that it is my task to work hard at building my skills as an illustrator for some future, not yet known, purpose - so I work on drawing exercises day after day.
But underneath the faith there have been feelings of desperation and hopelessness. In feeling hopeless about current events, I desperately sought the only solace and hope I could find - which was to pour myself into my art practice for some future purpose I can’t see but believe to be there. But a shift in perspective, thanks to a visit with a friend, helped me replace those undercurrents of desperation with hope.
She shared a quote with me from one of her colleagues:
“The work we do is a prayer for a better world.”
I already had strong faith in the pursuance of my work - that was unwavering. But now, instead of fueling that faith with desperation about all that I cannot control and hopelessness about all that I fear, I will seek to fuel my faith with hope. Instead of desperation I will center myself in the contemplative practice of imagining a better world and the role I can have in building it. The work will look the same - showing up at my desk day after day, building skills and workshopping concepts - but the energy behind it will be one that is of growth and hope instead of mere survival.
Is your work* a prayer for a better world? I’d love to hear more about how your work intersects with your hope for the future.
*In case this needs to be explicitly stated, your work is anything that you value and devote yourself to routinely, whether paid or not. My work as an artist is unpaid, but no less needed or valuable. The same may be true for you too.