I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired by Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
Steve Jobs
‘The lightness of being a beginner”; I love this phrase. It sums up the feeling I have when I’m learning something new (once I get past the where-do-I-start-and-who-do-I-think-I-am phase 😉 ).
While ‘not knowing’ can be an uncomfortable place, it also frees us from having to follow any rules or external expectations.
We can be loose, bold, curious, playful and experimental in our approach.
We don’t know what we ‘shouldn’t’ do, so we do it anyways; often to pleasing results.
We are not yet set in our ways, so we’re open to asking questions and following new threads.
Being a beginner means there’s plenty of room for growth and improvement; improvements that perhaps come more quickly now than when we’re more experienced and have to work harder for those gains.
Having a beginner’s mindset resulted in the big pile of art work shown in the picture above. (Actually, that’s only about half of what I produced during Louise Fletcher’s 10-Week Find Your Joy course; more about that experience another day).
It’s led me to being bolder, less precious and more willing to experiment in my art. It’s reduced the pressure to ‘be good’ and instead, let me focus on my enjoyment of the process. It’s helped me to worry less about what others think of my work. And reminded me that everything we do is a work in progress.
When was the last time you were a beginner at something? Was it an enjoyable experience? What did it teach you?
xx
Tamara
Good post, Tamara!
Having started painting relatively late in life, three years ago, I expect I’ll always be a beginner. I certainly hope to be learning forever.
Me too, Lisa. It’s what keeps us young! xx