ugly doodles are still art
Today I sent my friend a drawing of us as elemental fairies. I enjoy doodling but it wasn’t that great. The hands looked absurd! Actually, it was all absurd haha. And yet, this came as a reminder that anything you’re not good at is something that you are learning. Practice is the only road you can take. But the joy of doing it is what will keep rewarding you when you show up. That is, unless self-doubt creeps in. You look at the mistakes and internally cringe. So what? Is it the end? That’s why you gotta tell yourself the truth. If you stop practicing, those mistakes will never have the chance to turn into something new. If you aren’t good at drawing hands for example, the only way to get better is to keep drawing ugly hands. Sooner or later, the self-doubt will be swapped with confidence, with knowledge, with experience. You’ll notice a detail that wasn’t there before and make a lot of progress. Be honest with yourself and be realistic about it. Find a balance between patient observation of what you can improve and celebrating something you created. Believe in yourself; that means you can absolutely admit to yourself when you make horrible mistakes and failures. This isn’t about glorifying flaws and ugly doodles or normalizing mistakes. It is about accepting that they are part of the process. Keep in mind what you can improve and learn from it. Harsh criticism won’t encourage you as much as the always-present opportunity to do better, if you allow yourself to get there. Even if insecurities get inside the mind, I can tell my inner child that I’m just one drawing away from getting better at it. You see? These beliefs can have a hold on us until we allow them, until we find a new perspective and decide to say “you know what, I know what’s true in my heart regardless!”. Also, what might look ugly to someone may be beautiful to another. I’m writing this for all the inner children of adults that are still holding back from doing what they once loved, for whatever reason. Make ugly doodles and have a laugh about it! Turn all those mistakes into art, that’s what life is about. It was never supposed to look perfect from the beginning but arise like a crescendo in a song without end.