The other day I was talking about re-trusting myself, as an artist that is. I don’t think about much else, so I wouldn’t know how else to apply that concept.

So I started to read that book by Shaun McNiff I mentioned, Trust the Process, but I didn’t have much time to get very far yet. Still, I have assimilated quite a lot from it already, which is not surprising. I am very spongy when it comes to reading anything that has to do with art-related “self-help.”

It doesn’t really get going until the second chapter however. I think the first chapter more or less embraces beginners and people that have the desire to be creative and either have had doubts about starting, restarting, or have even been traumatized about making art at some point in the past. I think that happens more times than not! I know it certainly did for me. Believe me, I really have no idea what pushed me on through those many times I was put down for my work, or even for the desire to make art at all. This is often the case for tons of young people whose families are just not supportive of the arts. It’s really sad.

The crux of the book is to trust the process of making art, not necessarily to trust yourself. Not yet anyway. Maybe it will touch on that. I don’t know. All I know is that while I was reading it, my mind was slightly wandering off and had a quick thought: if I can’t trust myself by now, I should just pack it in!

Don’t worry. That doesn’t make me want to “pack it in.” that makes me want to forget about the concept of thinking that I don’t trust myself! Maybe I do.

Maybe I am just too much in my head, and with having bipolar and the depression that comes with it, there’s something that I often forget. Duh! You forget that things (feelings) are temporary.

Soooo…much ado about nothing?

I say yes.