I recently went on a date with my husband. When you have four kids 10 and under this is cause for great celebration. On this particular date, we finished dinner early and did not want to go home before the kids were in bed decided to go to the bookstore and look at some magazines. There may also have been Godiva chocolate cheesecake involved.
While I was indulging in chocolate cheesecake drinking my water, I pulled The Great Discontent‘s magazine from the racks. I had recently decided to participate in #The100DayProject and wanted to see more about the group that started this insanity. creative project. The theme of this issue was “Hustle”. Admittedly, I only had time to skim the magazine but what spoke to me was how hard each artist had to work to get to where they are now. So often I have deceived myself into believing that becoming a professional artist is a matter of “being discovered” and that I have to “get lucky”. Right place, right time sort of thing. It was refreshing to hear how each of these artists worked hard to get where they are now, and how each opportunity built upon each other.
My friend Priscilla Tallman at “Tallman Happens” recently wrote about “momentum” and how it related to her time as a volleyball athlete and more recently how it relates to her career as a writer in her article “Momentum is Shifty: Follow It.” She says:
“We train. We perfect movements and skills. We condition. We believe…Momentum is powerful…But it’s not forever.
If you don’t work, there is no momentum.
Momentum does not just show up because you are lucky or because you think you deserve it or by sitting on your hands.
Momentum is the result of work.
In working on #The100DayProject, I can see the work. True, tangible, hard work. Each line I draw is like the vacuum lines on the carpet. Reassuring evidence of hard work. Follow me on Instagram @estherbeler and you’ll see it too.
In the meantime, here’s last week’s momentum . . . er . . . work.
Day 8, Drawing Burn Out.
Day 9, Ready or not!
Day 10, Slow and steady
Day 11, Momentum
Day 12, Just keep moving, even if it’s only a few lines
Day 13, Finally feels like it’s looking like something
Day 14, Day of Rest. Taking a break doesn’t mean don’t create.