This is the final post about how much I loved this book. Thanks for hanging in there. If you missed Part 1 and Part 2, I hope you’ll check them out.
The book is Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative
“It’s so important to have a hobby. A hobby is something creative that’s just for you. You don’t try to make money or get famous off it, you just do it because it makes you happy. A hobby is something that gives but doesn’t take.
Don’t throw any of yourself away. Don’t worry about a grand scheme or unified vision for your work. Don’t worry about unity – what unifies your work is the fact that you made it. One day, you’ll look back and it will all make sense.” p. 72
In making decisions for redecorating our house, I have been trying to keep things unified. But what if I simply select things that I like and put it all together? Would it all look ok because they are all things that I like? Hmm.
This canvas …
… looks totally different from this canvas, but they are both about discovery and both created by me.
I think hobbies don’t necessarily have to make complete sense. The importance is in the focus and the ability to tap into a different part of ourselves. If your hobby is reading, music, yoga, photography, art, or race car driving, when you are enjoying it, you are immersed in that one activity… focused.
I have been so loving the mixed-media canvases that I’m creating because it really is just for me. I am usually not thinking of anything else. I am not trying to sell them. It’s just as Austin Kleon says… “it gives but doesn’t take.”
And maybe one day I will look back and it’ll all make sense. 🙂
Please share your response to the quotation above!
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