Doubt is what holds us back.

I have no doubt that doubt holds us back from achieving our dreams.

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doubt and fear

Dreams can be elusive, and you might have a vague idea of what your dream is about. If you have an inkling that is GOOD! So many people don’t have any idea of what their dream or passion is.

Achieving a dream can be fraught with doubt and other pitfalls, but the easy part is to JUST START where you are now.  Say you want to be an accomplished painter and you know you feel great when you paint, but something holds you back.

Fear create doubts. “I’m not good enough.”  “I can’t paint well enough.” “I never went to art school so I can’t be a painter.” “People don’t approve.”

Sounds familiar?  But who cares?  When you start something, you might not have any idea of where you’re going, but buy some art supplies that appeal to you. (Most likely, you already have some dusty stuff hidden in the closet.) Dust that stuff off and bring it back out.

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Despite the doubt, just start.

Once you have started and made a commitment to pursue your desire to become a painter, you will find that the next step on the journey will reveal itself.  It’s as if starting sets off some kind of unseen magic.

You will make some ugly art and you will make some great art, and the PROCESS is what makes things interesting.  Everything you do will teach you to take the next step. Art, by the way, is an endless exploration so even if you are a painter for 60 years, you still have more to explore. That is a great thing!

Other passions might not have that longevity factor.

You will be working on yourself as you follow your passion.  Everything we dare to do helps us to discover new depths and gifts within ourselves. That is another gift that happens when we dare to step out of our comfort zone and try something new.

By all means, take some painting courses to learn technique, but know that the true creativity is inside of you. Don’t become a copy cat. Be brave enough to forge your own path even if there is lots of resistance. That might never go away, but you can make friends with it and DO IT ANYWAY.

Resistance meets me every morning in the studio, but what the heck is new with that?  Nada.  Old record of fear keeps playing in my mind, but action takes me beyond that and into the space where magic happens, or not. I still gain experience that is valuable.

How to find your passion if you don’t know what it is.

Think back to when you were a kid. What did you do then that you enjoyed? I enjoyed crafts (paperdolls,) reading, and the outdoors.  Art making has traveled like a red thread through my life.

Think of some job you liked or had a knack for. It might have been a summer job when you were young.

What do you have a knack for?  Writing? Numbers? Decorating?  What do your friends ask you to help them with if anything?  Do they often say, “You’re so good at this.”

If you like more internal things like reading, maybe you can try writing a book.  What if you like intuition and meditation, all internal experiences? Maybe you can teach that to people.  What if you love to cook? Maybe you can specialize in some type of cooking and write a cook book?

The possibilities are endless.

Maybe you like to speak, to lead, to teach. The online world is filled with endless possibility to make your mark and help many people.

Find your passion, START doing it.  Take one step at a time, and when hurdles show up (as they will,) deal with them one at a time. You may have to do some internal work to get past feelings to inadequacy but in the long run, you will stand VICTORIOUS, and who knows, your paintings might be worth millions (once you’re dead, haha.) It’s all in the process, baby.

Kick the doubt to the curb and tell it stay the hell away!

xo

Maria

P.S. I have an art and intuition ecourse coming up. Art as Oracle 2 starts on June 7. You can read all about it HERE.