You just can't control this ...
Today's newsletter comes courtesy of Jerry Seinfeld. This morning Instagram served up a clip of an interview where he was discussing the philosopher Marcus Aurelius (of whome I know absolutely nothing).
Jerry said that reading Aurelius's Meditations helped him understand the fleeting nature of the physical world. He said (paraphrasing) "everyone will soon be gone, and everything you worry about will soon be gone."
Aurelius apparently concluded that all we can do is concentrate on getting better. Anything else is a waste of valuable time and energy.
Apologies to anyone who actually studied philosophy because Jerry may have greatly simplified or butchered this. But I love his interpretation anyway. He went on to say that he simply can't worry about negative comments or people who don't like him because it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. All he can do is keep getting better at his craft.
I'm currently teaching an amazing group on my free Creative Reset course. Perhaps you are one of them (this newsletter goes out to many people, some of whom didn't join us).
These artists are amazing me with their willingness to try new things, push themselves, and share their struggles with honesty and vulnerability. One of the struggles some have shared is the fear of what others think of their art.
But here's the thing... you can never control that. Nothing you could do, no amount of improvement, no amount of technical prowess, no amount of critical acclaim could shield you from people not liking you or your art.
Try to think of one person in the world who is universally loved.
You can't because she doesn't exist.
And if we're all going to be gone soon anyway, what does it matter?
I also want to add another idea into the mix because this helped me enormously.
It's never about you
People's reactions to you have nothing to do with you. They are carrying their own baggage, beliefs, biases, and fears and they are projecting all of that onto the world.
One person might look at you and see an inspirational artist making amazing work. Another might look at you and see an annoying wanna-be who can't paint for toffee.
Both are seeing a projection. Neither are seeing you.
So, what other people think of you is just none of your business.
Once you realise this, it unlocks so much. You are free to paint what you want without fear of what anyone says. You are free to promote your work proudly, knowing that some people won't like it (and not giving a fig about that.)
You are free to simply live your life, without fear, because you understand that none of it is about you anyway :)
So if you are feeling worried about the judgment of others, try these two ideas on for size and see if either of them help:
1) In 100 years, we'll all be dead so who cares?
2) It's not about you. It never was.
That's it for me this week. I'll see you again soon - have a marvellous creative week :)
Love,
Louise x