The First Step
- 17 hours ago
- 2 min read
Last year, I took a step that may seem crazy or non-sensical. I decided to draw and publish a blog post every day. Why?
I wanted to move myself from the place where I had arrived after years of being without a center, without a workshop, and while not homeless, without a home.
It’s so easy to fall into the routines that make common life bearable. And my response to my lost years… 7 long years that passed so fast… was to take massive action in order to move something inside, something that would help me find the discipline and flow that had become a memory of my old self.
I did not complete a full year, mostly because I pushed myself so hard that in the end I was so exhausted that I had to stop the obsession. But the full half year that I committed to my 2-3-4 hours nightly practice, created a bridge that helped me cross back to my center.
Most people won’t take such an action, and I don’t think it’s necessary to be so radical. I did it because I needed to change fast, immediately, and recover before it became too late. I had worked hard to gather all the elements (a home, a workspace, a new mind), and I wanted my art back without delay. And going back to drawing, the most basic and the beginning for most artists, was the way to create seeds for paintings, think visually, put my hands to work, train my whole mind and my whole body for the subtle action of soul-making.
It was a symbol for me, a palpable signal to my being that it was time to move in the direction of my dreams and away from the inertia of my commitments.
I think this is the first step for anyone who wants to claim their creative freedom: to take that symbolic step into the practice of the dream.
If there is a desire in one’s soul, something unfulfilled that must emerge, even a small perforation will allow it to push through.
Pierce the self-tied straighjacket that impedes the work of the soul.
I didn’t quit anything, not my job, not my bad habits, not my routines, even thought I was often tempted and I often attempted to quit everything. The only action I took was to move positively and symbolically in the direction of the person that I envisioned for myself.
I invite you to take that first small action step.
What is a symbol of your practice?
How will you build the bridge that leads back to your own center?
What is that first decision that you must make to act?
