I am an artist. Wanna see my art?

Another week has passed, and here I am writing about art again. What can I say? I’m in an “artsy-fartsy” phase right now.

In fact, I am an artist.

I was encouraged to say that by Michelle Armas, my art teacher for the week. One of the key principles she shares with her students is: “You don’t need anyone’s permission to call yourself an artist.”

I participated in Michelle’s program, Paint Week, which encouraged us to play and experiment with materials without pressure. Interestingly, she moved us through the paintings pretty quickly, which meant I didn’t have much time to overthink. That made the process so much more enjoyable and my results better!

Michelle shared so many lessons about painting that also apply to life that I couldn’t wait to share them with you. They weren’t exactly new to me, but boy, do we need reminders, don’t we?

1. Set an intention before you begin.  
When I teach yoga, I often ask my students to set an intention. I set intentions for my day and sometimes before a difficult conversation. This class reminded me how powerful this simple practice can be. An intention is about how you want to show up—and that matters as much as anything else.

2. Get comfortable with “allowing”.

You don’t have as much control as you might want when painting with watercolor because it’s, well…watery. So much beauty comes from simply allowing  it to move how it wants to. When I was in yoga teacher training I learned the expressions that it is important to balance effort with ease, will with surrender. Whew! That feels hard sometimes. 

3. Speak to your inner critic with loving kindness.
In coaching school, I learned to give my inner critic a name. It creates a little distance, so when it pipes up, you can say, “Okay, Mike, I see you’re getting loud because you want to keep me safe, but I’ve got this. You can calm down now.”

Michelle added a twist I’d never considered: your inner critic is part of you, so you don’t want to be mean to it or cuss it out. Even that part of you deserves some tenderness.

4. Growth happens through practice.
In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to get impatient and want to skip steps. But there are no shortcuts. There is practice. It’s why I dedicated an entire chapter of The Joy of Thriving While Black to its importance. We get better by doing the thing—again and again and again. 

5. Inspiration and clarity come from ACTION.
Prolific writers, artists, and creators know they have to keep showing up—to the studio, the page, the canvas—whether they feel inspired or not.

Sometimes the muse is waiting for you. Sometimes she arrives after you begin.

You just have to start.

Believe me, I don’t always feel inspired to write to you every week. I made the commitment in advance, so I sit my butt in the chair and write. And somewhere along the way, something usually shows up.

Paint Week exceeded my expectations, largely because of the mindset Michelle taught alongside the painting techniques. I played. I experimented. I created without needing everything to be perfect.

And I’m excited to keep painting.

Because, after all, I’m an artist.

What might become possible if you gave yourself permission to play, practice, and imperfectly begin?