Be Alive... draw! drAW! DRAW!

A new day, a new drawing! Drawing is a great human activity; I'd like to do it more often. However, sometimes obstacles assert themselves to defeat the urge to draw. Today I have one particular obstacle in mind.

Any idea what obstacle I am talking about? You might be surprised, because the obstacle itself is essential to the activity of drawing.

Curious? Well the obstacle is the brain, my brain in particular.

My brain sometimes doubts my ability to draw, and I think to myself, "self, maybe today's drawings will not be very good."

Weird, huh?

My brain says, "let's not draw if the drawings are not going to be perfect." That's bad.

Now I am not saying that my brain always defeats me from picking up the pen, but sometimes it does.

I suspect the way out of this dilemma is to realize that the act of drawing itself is more valuable to me than any products that may result from the act of drawing, i.e., "my drawings."

I started this thought and this post out pretty innocuously, but in fact I think this insight is rather profound.

The lesson for me is that drawing is a perfect opportunity to be "alive in the moment," to be fully "present." Isn't that what I want? Isn't that a better outcome than having in my possesion "some good drawings?"

For me the answers to these questions are yes, and yes. I would rather "be alive in the moment" than to "have some good drawings."

How would you answer these questions for yourself, for whatever activities are important to you?

Now brain, step aside, I have some drawing to do! (One thing though brain, don't go away too far; I still need you, even for this.)

Back In the Saddle!

I am a machine! A biological machine, but still, for the purpose of exposition, a machine.

Like any good machine I have different gears and drive trains that whirl and twirl, meshing smoothly for the most part, but sometimes grinding, and at other times just plain old "getting rusty."

All this to say that my art gears have been idling for a time as I focus on other grand schemes. Hence no posts recently.

Regardless, I have drawn and posted once again. This picture includes a special cameo appearance of my index finger; isn't that special? My finger demanded credit, saying (in silent finger talk) it would not cooperate next time I wanted to dial a rotary phone if I didn't make the mention. With so much at stake, I acquiesced. I mentioned my finger. I hope that by so doing, I avoided, an arguably, only-very-remotely-likely-event.

At least my narcissistic machine finger is happy.