“You’ve won when your dreams have broken through your fears.”
—The Minimalists
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Giving Space to Deviations
Allowing a little flexibility in our systems of order and discipline
By Jacob Matto
Many of us enjoy setting up systems for ourselves.
Whether the reason for them is because we want to run more, read paperback novels over digital media, or be increasingly present by meditating daily, the why behind our systems generally tend to source from honest and goodhearted motives.
The problem that arises within many systems-building, however, is that the system can inherently be too rigid due to one thing: the lack of accounting for deviations. When those ‘sudden change of events’ come into the everyday, when that variable called life gets thrown into the equation, we are not prepared. And because we don’t account for these changes to happen, we generally don’t deal with them graciously.
Let’s say that a person who wants to eat healthier has set up an unknowingly rigid system. One day, they succumb to the pressures of purchasing a single donut during an outing with a friend. The remaining thoughts of the day for that person, unsurprisingly, can be understood as:
“Well I ate a donut this morning so my entire diet is ruined for the day.”
They feel their system, even if the feeling is only temporary, is dismantled.
Of course, a single donut shouldn’t make a massive dent in anybody’s diet but it may seem to be a major defeat at the time because eating a donut wasn’t a part of the plan. It was a deviation and there was no space for that to happen.
Now, I don’t call for us to embrace these deviations and give up on our personal goals and systems, not at all. But I do want us to accept that indeed they will happen, and to not be so hard on ourselves when they do arise.
I’ll finish with a brief story.
Many years ago, shortly after the undefeated baseball team I was on lost their first game of the season, my grandfather told his distraught grandson this:
‘As a man in his twenties he had landed a job laying brick walls for future enterprises. Day after day, he would stack bricks and fill cement in between. Over the course of four years, he seemingly perfected the craft. He became one of the fastest bricklayers in his county. Yet every now and then, when he wasn’t giving the brick placement proper attention, the brick would leave his hands and fall two stories, only to shatter into dozens of pieces. “Oops”, he would say, and then promptly continue on with his work.’
“And hey” he said as he lifted my head, “the wall was still there.”
And so just as the force of a wall will not be hindered from a single brick being placed wrongly, just as the single loss in a game doesn’t mean the end to your sports career, your system shouldn’t falter because of the single deviation that presented itself.
Give your system flexibility, allowing it to maintain its focus for when things evidently go south.
The Searching Artist
Finding art that moves you
By Fonny Stone
When looking at a work of art, we often experience a sense of awe. But everyone has their own interpretations of art and the function it brings into their lives.
For me—a digital artist—art is a way of expressing words that I am not able to speak. It has always been a form of expression that brings joy and peace into my life. It took me a long time to finally find my style as a digital artist; the journey included paper drawings, discovering computer graphics, and examining the role that it plays in my mind and how I can visually deliver that to the world with meaning.
Through minimalism, I was able to understand my style of art. After college, I began to hoard over 400 different artists’ works on my computer—numerous files containing different styles that I wish I could emulate. There were so many ways of designing that I dabbled in everything I could put my hands on. After spending years with digital clutter and looking back at my body of work, I soon realized that I had no identity in the world of art and no intentional message. I immediately took a hiatus from everything and everyone to find myself and understand the function I wanted art to play in my world.
During my hiatus, I deleted the digital clutter that I had struggled to let go of. I had been attached to other artists’ identities and was scared of where I would find my inspiration. I took time away from designing and began journaling about my fears, what inspired me, and what I wanted to achieve through my work. After finding myself again, and starting on an empty canvas, it felt amazing to pull from my own imagination and get excited again.
This process involves simplification and zeroing in on that aspect of art that is truly important to you. It’s not always straightforward, as every person experiences their style differently. But by making small intentional changes, your style will surely find you.
For the searching artist, a great way to begin the process is to first eliminate distractions and find a quiet space to sit in silence. Think about the first time you got completely excited when you experienced a certain form of art. Where was it and how did it make you feel? Since that encounter, think about how you’ve slowly begun to bring that form of art into your life. What purpose is it bringing to you and how is it beginning to shape your world? Once you start to take time out for yourself to live fully in your imagination, get excited about what excites you, and dance with that type of art, you will find your focus.
Creating mental stability is the key to jumping into a flow state with art. There is beauty in patience and in minimizing what does not serve you—together, they will help you learn and create what speaks to your soul. Through this, you can take your gift as an artist to the next level.
A Little More of Less
A few other articles we think you might enjoy…
Soulful Simplicity by The Minimalists
7 Proven Ways to Break Your Cell Phone Habit by Joshua Becker
Why I Don’t Save Journals or Other Sentimental Items by Courtney Carver
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