Unmotivated?

"Hide and Seek" 11" x 14" acrylic on 140lb. paper ©2016

Do you ever feel completely unmotivated? Do you feel like I did all summer, i.e. depressed and uncertain why I felt the way I did. Disappointed in yourself, and wondering why it's just easier to give up trying to do that one "creative thing" whatever it is, that you committed to do, (i.e. painting and posting regularly on your blog) but you find yourself using your spare time to watch a movie or read a book?

Do you recognize beneath that awful "stuck" feeling that you may be really discouraged and why?

Just for fun I put "why am I unmotivated" in the Google search box and eureka, among the sludge and nonsense, I struck gold.  An article by child therapist Kenneth Barish Ph.D. titled "Understanding your child's lack of motivation and effort." Here's the link to the article...

I know, I know, most of us are not kids, but what Dr. Barish had to say made sense to both my adult self and to my inner-kid-that-was. What resonated with me was this reminder that I am summarizing here in my own words...

Basically we all want to do well and feel successful when we pursue our goals, but if we can't seem to find a way to get the results we hoped for, it can lead to feeling deeply frustrated and  unmotivated to keep trying.

This simple equation said it all for me:

Motivation = having a goal + feeling that we can achieve it.

My goal...

I started this blog in hopes that I would document my path to a successful art career. I thought perhaps I could help others on the way with encouragement and sharing what I learned about creative anxiety.

+ Lack of achievement...

I had four years to try and learn how to create and run an art business and I didn't figure out how to make steady money from making art, so...

I thought I could handle a simple part-time barista job and keep up with the same level of creating art, blogging about it and building a business, but...

the reality was:
+ I was really exhausted mentally and physically when I got home from that job, especially for the first couple of months.
+ I was struggling with feelings of being a failure. What could I possibly share that would help anyone else, I certainly wasn't being successful in what I set out to do!
+ I was trying to make my first video of how I create my paintings and I found myself overwhelmed by the editing phase. I didn't have the video ready that I wanted to post, so I didn't post at all!

= Zero motivation   Stuck.

The beauty of that little equation is that it gave me a clue on how to reconsider my problem.

+Time for a goal reset.

+Time to adjust to what I can realistically achieve in the situation I am in now.

+Time to let go of complex plans and simply share what I have learned.

If you have found yourself stuck and giving yourself "lectures" for being lazy, perhaps this little reminder equation will help you too!

>^-^<
Tina

Why the title "Hide and Seek"? Underneath that sweet cat is a first painting of white orchids done from memory that I absolutely hated. I didn't even take a picture of it, but I did decide to paint over it and try again, this time with a plan in mind. I'm glad I did.

Testing colors

Final Palette

Final drawing and painting in progress.

  Trying again = Success!