Learning from procrastination

Procrastination or absence of creative flow?

When I decided to sell my oil paintings online, I had so much enthusiasm for doing so I dove right in. I did countless hours of research into everything from how to set up my online store on Squarespace (my favorite website platform) to finding the resources to create high-quality prints (giclées), shipping and bookkeeping/taxes. It all came together in a matter of two months, and by the end of 2023, I was live and ready to sell and promote my original art.

It all fell together easily and the journey of building it and standing it up was incredibly enjoyable. It helped me discover one of my passions: the act of bringing something to fruition. The act of completing a project. Oh, that’s where it is for me. What a satisfying experience, the journey of making something.

A self-imposed goal, however, was to have at least ten pieces on my site before I go hard at marketing and promoting my work on social media and wherever else I can build my audience. What I didn’t anticipate, however, was the level of resistance I had toward getting behind the canvas and paint.

Yes, I do have a full time job that I derive a lot of satisfaction and steady pay/benefits from, which is a great backdrop for my eventual goal of selling my art full time. However, I recently discovered there’s something else that is still missing from this new venture I’m obviously still in the process of bringing to fruition.

Then I stumbled across this video, where an artist talks about the experience of painting. About halfway through, however, he points out how he has difficulty starting. That rang a big bell for me as I also feel this level of procrastination when I have a window to paint and I find a dozen other things I need to do (seems like all of a sudden they have a sense of urgency that delays my painting).

So I labeled it procrastination and started making myself feel bad for not working toward my goal of completing ten pieces for my online store. It became about something else which made it sour in my stomach and degrade the experience and the joy of painting.

Finding the creative flow

Have you ever expressed or assigned excuses to not moving something you’re passionate about forward? Like taking a class in a particular interest of yours? Or researching something that you’re curious about?

Was it a form of procrastination or something else?

When I stumbled across this video, and listened, I started thinking very differently about my self-proclaimed state of procrastination—which is what I labeled why I was reluctant to get in front of the canvas and work.

Now, I think differently about painting because I know it’s not procrastination but the absence of creative flow. This realization was incredibly helpful in getting myself back on track and in front of the canvas to paint.

Tricking the mind

As a result, I’ve discovered a simple trick that gets me into the energy of creative flow, and you’re gonna laugh at how simple it is: touching my art supplies. Yup. That’s all it takes is for me to touch my brushes, open up the palette and squeeze out one paint color. Once that happens, it’s like trying to start a cold engine in a Pennsylvania winter. The engine won’t turn over until I give it some gas with a few taps of the gas pedal and patience—opening up the flow.

Once it turns over, such as once I get a few supplies laid out and moving, it warms up and runs great. At first the tailpipe spews white smoke as the pistons warm up, but eventually I’m flying down the highway on my way. The creative flow returns because I’ve been there before, that familiar place, that familiar energy I love to swim in.

So give this video a listen. Relate to the artists’ revelation as he takes in the wisdom of Abraham. How does it resonate with you? How can you trick your mind into stepping into your passion? Or maybe you’re still figuring out your passion…stay tuned as I will speak to creative flow more in my next post.