The Awe-manac: A Daily Dose of Wonder

The Tolerance Muscle

Dear Creative Friend,

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
~Confucius

I'd like to propose another kind of tolerance that will make your creative life easier if you buy into it. If you don't, good luck.

Once I decided creativity was going to be my life, I knew I had to either develop a "tolerance muscle" or be among the 85% that gives up on their dreams because of an unrealistic expectation of accomplishing things quickly, easily, and the way those things look in their minds.
(hahahaha snort haha).

Creativity has another plan for us. She says, this isn't about getting your way immediately, it's about searching the depths of your soul to muster up devotion to a process who's rewards go far beyond your acrylic landscape or chapter four in your book. Perhaps the world never showed any faith in you.... do you have the strength to show faith in yourself by showing-up for your creative call? Showing-up if not for the product, for the process of being true to yourself? Don't worry about showing-up perfectly - do it as inconsistently as possible if you must.

To stay on the path of my passion I got to tolerate my ineptness, blunders, inadvertently published typos, and the fact that my painting and writing didn't look like other people's stuff that I liked a lot. I got to tolerate projects taking three and four times as long as I planned, hitting walls, looking foolish and coming face to face with my ugly shadows. I got to tolerate my habits of procrastination and continually starting something new without completing anything. I got to tolerate people not liking me, thinking I'm strange, unsubscribing from my newsletter, not "getting" my art. I got to tolerate proposals getting rejected and once, I got to tolerate ripping up my favorite painting because I was looking at the wrong side.

If you're a warrior, you've tolerated these things too. And changing the language from "I had to tolerate ..." to "I got to ..." makes it clear that it was an honor to do that for myself.

Self-love is required to stay the course and in that love you discover an unmatched contentment which is a light for the contentment of others.

Creativity reassures you that when you passionately persevere through the tumult of detractors, the reward is far beyond the painting and the piece of writing. Creativity awards you with a strength, self-respect, and confidence that applies to every area of your life, breaking limitations, presenting a new perception that widens your existence beyond what you formerly knew what was possible. You are awarded with a faith that you can get through anything and share with the world your brilliance.