On any given day I have a thousand project ideas rolling around in my head, but I am more often than not waiting for them to come to full realization before I do anything about them. Don’t do that! As an artist who is also a perfectionist, I find that this is a constant battle. Is it right? Will they like it? What’s everyone else doing? Are they right? Maybe I shouldn’t start until I am sure. I repeat. DON’T DO THAT!

A lot of the books that I have been reading lately hold the advice of “just do it!” Don’t sit around and wait for motivation or the right moment, don’t worry about the rules, just do it. In the “Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” Mark Manson talks about starting with action rather than motivation. Acting on something can lead to inspiration and then ultimately (if you’re met with success) the motivation to keep going. He includes one quote from Parkwood that says “even if you don’t know what you’re doing, the simple act of working on it will eventually cause the right ideas to show up in your head.” In the book, this is directed at normal every day life things, but it spoke directly to my art and my list that continues to grow on a daily basis.

Another book I read recently, “Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered” (always good advice) has similar life advice that I immediately applied to my art life. At one point in the book one of the beautiful authors Georgia Hardstark writes “it doesn’t have to be perfect, just fucking do things!”.  Karen Kilgariff also says “we barely get any time on this planet, don’t spend it pleasing other people.”

I have a lot more to say about these topics, but rambling on about each one would slow down the “do your art” motivation I am hoping this post will inspire. Keep an eye out for more related posts in the future.

Basically, what I am getting at is don’t wait until your idea is perfect, or even worse, someone ELSE’S perfect. Just get to it. Carve out 15 minutes in your day, put medium to medium and do the thing! Don’t worry if you’re doing it “right”, or if it’s how you’re “supposed” to do it, just go for it. This is a talk for me as much as it is cheerleading for you. I have to remind myself of these things every. single. day. My list of projects won’t do themselves. So get going!