On challenges

And the need to create

Yesterday, February 13th was day one of the 100 Day Challenge. If you’ve never heard of it, well, it’s 100 of doing something creative and posting online under the hashtag #The100DayProject. I joined the first time in 2020, it started in April that year, and it was a great thing to do during the first months of the pandemic and the lockdown. Then, I worked with sketchbooks, and if you follow me online, you may remember some of those sketches and drawings. I joined again last year, but life got in the way and I did about 39 days working with rocks and embroidery.

I hemmed and hawed for a while about joining this year, because … do I need another challenge? No. Not really. The past year has been an entire challenge with all the work put into bringing Create2Flourish out in the world. Challenge to learn about the business end of things, a challenge with new-to-me technology, a challenge to create artwork that is inspiring, a challenge to create a hub that’s inviting, a challenge to create content that’s interesting, motivating and that will move you forward. You get the idea.

So NO, I do not need another challenge, but … last night I joined. I am committed to working on something every day for the next one hundred. I started with my rocks and embroidery last night, because I still have an idea that I want to explore further, so I will work on some of those. I may also work on hand-stitching a couple of pieces that need to be finished; it may be working with paper; it may be quilting some pieces; it may be some mixed media. But it’ll be something of some sort for the next 100 days and hopefully further than that.

A challenge gives you purpose and holds you accountable, especially if you post online. You start to wait for posts to arrive to see who’s doing what and you notice if they don’t post. So accountability is huge for me. Maybe nobody else notices if I don’t post, but … I do notice if I don’t post and that matters to me. A challenge gives you an opportunity to stick with one technique and explore it for 100 days, which means that by the end of it, you’ll be way more familiar with the technique than when you started.

The need to create

And this brings me to discuss that NEED to create. Have you ever questioned your need to create? I have thought a lot about that lately: what drives me to create work even if I am not paid for it. Why do I keep doing it? What pushes me to do it? For me, it’s a simple answer: I need to do it, I am not sure what I would do if I didn’t have work to make, ideas to develop and to explore. I know that nowadays we post online and people comment, leave a like, a smiley face, a heart, that’s affirmation and validation that you are on the right track. I learned that we need to balance that need for our work to be received well with just producing work because it came into our heads and our hearts and we just need to do it, to put it out there. Even if it is not received well. Even if it is not successful.

I’ve been creating a lot of work lately, work you have not seen. It’s as I mentioned above, content, a hub, artwork for that hub, and lots of things that nobody will ever see. But I keep doing it because eventually it’ll be out there in the world. And hopefully, I’ll get the validation I so want when you register for the Create2Flourish program. Regardless, I’m being me in everything I do; I stay true to myself, I stay authentic, and I stay humble.

Remember: the best you is the real you. That authentic space inside each of us is where all art comes from. So give what you have to give. Don’t imitate. Innovate. We need you to be you. Carl Jung said it best: “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are”.

Be safe, and keep creating.

Ana