Daily Reminders for Daring Creatives: 3 Gems of Wisdom for Struggling Moms and Aspiring Artists

Are you a busy, tired mom who was once dynamic and creative, but now you feel yourself disappearing as you scramble just to get through the days? You can’t help but feel defeated as you watch other creatives pass you by?

Are you an emerging artist who has big dreams and a wild heart? Who desperately wants to achieve everything the world has to offer, but you’re terrified you don’t have what it takes? You’re afraid that kind of success belongs only to other people? 

I have felt these things, and often still do. My journey has been long and slow, punctuated by successes I never imagined and lows that crushed me…making me embarrassed for even trying in the first place. 

Through it all I have become a stronger person with the kind of depth and wisdom that makes me proud. I often think about what advice I would go back and share with my past self -- advice for anyone fighting for their creativity. 

I’m picturing myself on a particular night exactly 11 years ago. We were poor students in Berkeley, living with and caring for an elderly woman with dementia full time in exchange for free rent. I’d just given birth to our first son only three months prior. Painting had been one of the casualties lost in a life of caregiving. But on this night, I was hunched over the coffee table in our dark living room, working on a painting, finding my way back.

After months away from the studio, a friend had commissioned this painting for his wife for Christmas. I was ecstatic and TERRIFIED of messing it up. I questioned every move. Painted and removed it. Gold leafed and sanded it away. I didn't know what I was doing really, but I was drawing from something inside myself. 

This image of me crouched on that living room floor makes me emotional. Up late at night with baby asleep, muddling through a creative process I had mostly accepted giving up forever. In these quiet, shadowed moments, I discovered for the first time that painting was an essential part of who I am. That art was a non-negotiable. That despite everything working against me, I really was going to fight for this thing. And every day since I have done just that.

This is the girl I picture when I think back to where my journey really began. I love her. I thank her constantly for having the courage to pick up those brushes and step into the scary unknown. 

I see this girl in so many other women and creatives who are in a tangled web of motherhood, trying to grab hold of some reminder that their creative soul is still in there somewhere… flickering… longing to be ignited. 

This is the girl I want to go to and share the gems of wisdom I’ve unearthed in the past decade. I want to save her from the pitfalls and free her from the binding and unnecessary pressures she creates for herself.

If I could offer her just three gems, it would be these:

1- You have what it takes to persist--and persisting is all it takes. 

Simply keep going. It will be ugly at times, vulnerable, and will always be inconvenient. Just keep going. You are going to thrive. 

Persisting is the difference between those who ‘make it’ and those who don’t. You can’t know the exact means or opportunities that will lead you to your ultimate destination. You likely can’t even fathom what your ultimate destination might be! Your path will unfold little by little AS you take small steps forward, not before...and it is taking you somewhere magical! 

2- There is no timeline for success. 

You have your entire life to paint and find your way in the artworld. Don't rush the process, especially in the early years of motherhood. Relish these years. Give yourself grace. There is time enough to become everything you are meant to be.

Think of your art career as a hundred year plan, because hopefully you will be creating for your entire life. There will be seasons when you have the additional time and experience to make all the paintings and do all the things. Today, you are laying the groundwork for her--building her foundation. And ensuring that foundation is built slowly, securely, and sustainably enough to last a century. This is done by prioritizing self care, healthy relationships, and your own intuition.

3- You have nothing to prove. 

Make art because you love the process, not because you need to know that you are worthy. Not because you need validation. Create what makes your heart sing, and everything else will follow. 

We often mistake ‘success’ as a sign of worth. We think selling paintings or launching businesses will finally prove we belong, we are special, we are good enough. This is a dangerous game because it’s an endless one, with the goal posts constantly moving. You have to decide that you are already worthy, today, exactly as you are. Outward success should only enhance your joy, not make your joy dependent on it.

When you love the creative process...really love it...it shines through in your work and radiates in all you do. This love and internal motivation will take you farther than some regimented, prescribed recipe for supposed success.

Take a deep exhale. Let your shoulders relax. It’s going to be okay. There is time to become all you are meant to be.

Sending Love

Denise

I summarized these daily reminders in a cute single-page printable for your studio wall!
Click the button below and I’ll email you a PDF!