A few years ago I had a bit of an epiphany while painting. I noticed a pattern where on Day One of a project, I was excited and enthusiastic. But on Day Two I was reluctant to work on it, and a bit intimidated. I really had to push myself to continue. Once I got started again, I figured out what I needed to do to finish the painting. It was the lack of a plan – the not knowing where to pick the project up – that intimidated me. The diving in on Day One without a plan didn’t scare me at all. It was fun! Why was this?
On a whim I googled “astrological sign traits” for Aries. I’m not that into astrology, but I couldn’t believe how dead on the description of Aries (on Huffington Post) was.
“Aries motto is “Ready, fire, aim!” It may be backwards for others, but you’d rather figure out what to do while you are doing it. Impulsive actions, however, can bring you your share of trouble. While others are gathering information to make informed decisions, you are already on your way. As such, you could suffer from false starts. In fact, you Aries are so good at starting things that you can be off onto your next project before completing the previous one. As you Aries mature, you learn to slow down your reaction time in order to think about the consequences of your actions.”
Wow! That totally describes me! Whenever I am assembling something and hit a snag, my husband will say, “Did you read the directions?” Of course I didn’t read the directions! Who needs those? (Obviously me, that’s why I’ve hit a snag.)
At the time my solution was to figure out a plan before stepping away from a project. Three years and many paintings later, I still don’t do much planning. I’ve embraced the “figure it out as I go,” at least in regards to my painting and general creativity. I still experience that Day Two reluctance, especially when I’m working on a subject that I’m less confident in, like painting figures. But, I have learned to force myself back into a project. Once I start I’m back in the zone and finishing a painting is so sweet!
Check out your sign’s traits on Huffington Post. Select your sign, and scroll down to “about the sign.” Let me know if anything rings true for you and your creativity.
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This was a fun read, Eileen! I don’t really put too much store in Astrology either, but, I went and looked at the link out of curiosity. I am a Virgo and this much rings true about me and my art, ” There is no substitute for hard work. No rest is worth anything, except the rest that is earned.” I do always feel like I should be doing something significant or else I don’t deserve to play, it’s the old perfectionist drive that I struggle with and it can also be a huge productivity killer if you can’t leave something alone until it is ‘perfect’! I do need to ‘play’ more in my art, but, somehow the results are so often not very satisfying! The up side is that the same thing helps me work on the things I struggle with and take on challenging subjects in my art.
I’m so glad you enjoyed and looked into your sign’s traits! More and more I think we each have to embrace the way we are and the way we naturally work, but slightly tweak the parts that get in our way. Before I really committed to producing finished pieces I was starting and abandoning projects all over the place. Actually the first month or two of my creative resolution, I was pulling out all these old canvases and finishing them. Previously I think I was afraid to ruin them. I learned how good it felt to finish no matter what the result. And on the flip side my eagerness and excitement – and lack of planning – allows me to jump into projects that might be over my head. Once I’m in there I have to figure out how to swim. It is interesting to think about!
I love astrology, it is a life long interest of mine! Happy to know you found some useful insight into learning about your star sign and understanding more about the creative process on a personal level. Lovely post, thanks!
Thanks so much I’m glad you enjoyed! Thanks for visiting 😀
What a fun post to read! I love astrology and many times have used it to navigate the auguries of life. Glad it helped you Eileen!
Thanks Deb, glad you enjoyed reading. It was shocking for the description to be so spot on! 😀