December 12, 2024
Is feeling excited about your watercolor painting a bad thing?
Feeling excited about your watercolor painting will not help your artistic journey in the long run. When you are excited, you only see the good in your art and you feel pumped up, high, but that feeling is linked to its opposite: you set yourself up to feel depressed at the same level. What helps you is feeling inspired. You feel at peace, and you see the positives and the negatives at the same time.
Where does this idea come from?
I learned this from my coach, after an experience that had nothing to do with watercolor at first. I was at an in-person event with entrepreneurs who were speaking in English. I'm used to speaking in French, but during that weekend I gave them feedback about themselves, because they were in a hot seat.
Everyone was telling them "you could do that, you could do that." I listened, and at the end I told them what I felt about them. Some of them heard something they weren't expecting at all. Out of context, it could have seemed very harsh. But they thanked me. One told me I had cut through the noise and gone straight to the point, and that now he could see a pattern that kept repeating in his life. Another told me I had seen some blind spots in him.
What happened when I got excited?
When I saw that, I was so excited. I thought I could only coach people who want to do watercolor painting, and suddenly I realized I could also coach entrepreneurs and business owners, and even in English. I didn't need to limit myself to the French language.
A few days later, I wasn't so sure anymore. I felt so connected to my watercolor students, and that is what I really want to do. Coaching business owners could maybe be another activity to earn more money, but it didn't resonate with me. So I talked about it with my coach.
What is the difference between excitement and inspiration?
My coach told me something that is so important for me: there is a difference between feeling excited and feeling inspired.
- Excitement is when you see something in your art, your business or anything else that looks so good, such an opportunity, that you only see the good in it. You feel pumped up, you feel high. And this feeling has to be linked to its opposite, which is depression. As soon as you feel excited about a project, you set yourself up to feel depressed at the same level. You don't see the cons, the drawbacks, the weaknesses, only what will be great and amazing.
- Inspiration is a different feeling. Excitement is a very high energy feeling, but when you are inspired, you feel at peace, because you can see the whole picture. You see all the negatives and all the positives of the same thing.
What does inspiration feel like when you paint?
My coach asked me if I could recall a moment where I felt inspired but not excited. I told her: yes, just this morning.
I was painting a bridge in a town, and I wasn't at ease with this painting because it was so complicated. I was struggling to plan it, to envision the result. But at the same time, I knew I could do it, and I wanted to do it.
Then I started to paint, and I knew there were as many pros as cons in the execution. I could feel the watercolor slipping from my hand. I couldn't execute it exactly how I wanted. And at the same time, I had to let it flow, let it go. It was really difficult and really great at the same time, to feel that I had to dance with watercolor.
She told me that just by hearing me speak, she could tell I was inspired when I paint, and inspired when I teach watercolor. But when I talked about coaching business owners, I was excited, because I saw the opportunity without seeing the negatives. The doubt I felt a few days later was my subconscious reminding me that maybe it wasn't the path I wanted to take. After the excitement came a low, to rebalance it.
This was so powerful for me. Now that I can see where I am inspired instead of excited, I know which path I have to take.
What should you do if you feel excited about your art?
If you feel excited about your art, be careful. Beware of all the things you don't see. Ask yourself:
- What am I not seeing here?
- What do I miss by being so excited about my art?
The goal is to see the negatives and the positives of your art at the same time. This gives you power, because you won't be high again, but at the same time you won't be depressed again about your art.
Why do we sometimes feel miserable about our art?
This is the reason why we can feel kind of miserable or depressed about our art sometimes. We envision something that is not the reality. It's a dream outcome we are so excited about that we completely forget the rest: the day-to-day life and all the negatives associated with that dream.
FAQ
Is excitement the same as motivation to paint?
No. Excitement is a very high energy feeling that hides the drawbacks of what you want to do. Inspiration is calmer: you can struggle with a painting and still know you can do it and want to do it.
Why do I feel low after being so enthusiastic about a painting project?
Because excitement is linked to its opposite. The higher you go by seeing only the good, the more you set yourself up to fall to the same level.
How do I stop swinging between high and low about my art?
Look for what your excitement is hiding. Once you see the cons as clearly as the pros, you stay at peace instead of going high, then low.
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