(Ouch. I debated about posting this. But it’s tough love. And I might be talking to myself, too. I hope it’s useful!)

Humans are intrinsically lazy. That’s the way we’re hard-wired. We’re highly motivated by dopamine to keep doing what brings us a tingle of reward, and we’ll do it with the least effort possible. Why climb to the top of a tree and try to catch eagles from the sky when you can sit on your bottom under the same tree and pick easily-reached, sweet, juicy berries? We naturally minimize risk and effort while maximizing yummy rewards.

Doing anything more complex when there are berries ready to be picked means that you are going to face resistance. You know that feeling. The dull ugh in your soul that keeps you from getting out of bed or doing anything that you don’t really want to do, but know that you must. Resistance is the natural wiring that makes us prefer picking berries (ooh! another one!) to chasing bears (ugh, it’s haaaard).

Of course, we also evolved with brains that give us choices. We KNOW that there are rewards for putting away 15 bags of groceries or scrubbing the soap scum off the shower walls or folding 6 baskets of laundry. We work with others to build complex systems and infrastructure that keep us safe and allow us to lead good lives. But when you don’t readily see the easy path? You get that ugh feeling. And if there are metaphorical berries ripe for the swiping/picking, you’ll nosh on them every time. (Ooh! Another one!)

So this means that we default to taking the path of least resistance. We pick up our phones or watch TV instead of being creative. And even if we do plop our butts down in the art chair, we naturally go for the easy rewards. We do things that don’t require thinking, risk, or creativity because those things are haaaaard and don’t give us the berry-like rewards that quick results do. It’s really easy to get into the trap of making the same type of thing in a different color or just going through the motions of a project tutorial that another person has planned out. We take shortcuts because we see the result faster. And our brains convince us that it’s the right decision! But that’s no way to grow your art.

As an aside here, there’s nothing wrong with what I call “TV knitting”. Mindless creation that allows your mind to wander and requires no active concentration. Diamond painting, coloring, zentangles, and many simple crafts are in this category. We ALL need activities like this. They’re imperative when we need to rest our minds. It’s a quick way to enter the flow state, which has a lot of benefits for mental and emotional well-being. Never begrudge yourself this type of activity!

But that’s not art. Art is risky. Hard. Complicated.

You can also enter the flow state when making art. But it takes a while to get there. Resistance will find lots of reasons to make you prefer any berries within reach. You have to be uninterrupted. You have to be refreshed. You can’t be full of berries. And then there’s the evil illusion of ‘later’.

Lazy berry picking is easy. But it won’t get you anywhere. You’ve got to chase down the bear (of art). And it’s haaaard. But so, so worth it.