The other day I painted. I got out my old watercolor paint from school and just started. I didn’t have any fancy equipment. I didn’t follow any tutorials or tips ( like ‘how to create the most awesome watercolor painting ever’). I just sat down, put on some happy music and started painting some flowers. The finished picture probably looked like something my little brother could have drawn as well, but that’s not important. I had fun.
So, what am I trying to say here? Very often, I sit in front of the computer, looking at inspiring Pinterest boards, wishing I would do stuff like that as well and my life looked a little bit like these pictures. What’s funny is: the things I’m pinning aren’t really hard to achieve. There’s coffee, baking, books, paintings, walks outside, fun with friends, nothing extraordinary.
Instead of spending my days pinning now, I have started just start doing exactly these things now. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be fun. My finished cake doesn’t have to look like something you could photograph and then put on the internet, as long as it tastes good. I don’t want to continue stepping away from not doing things I’m not as good at as I would like to. There’s no other way to than doing things to learn them.
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What about you? What are you only wishing for instead of doing? And what’s keeping you from doing it?
this is fantastic advice, stop pinning start doing :)
Great post, Hanna! I completely agree – let’s find inspiration from creating, not just consuming :)
painting is one of my favorite stress relievers. such a great reminder we all need to step away from the computer and ‘just do’!
Great post Hanna. I’m the same way, looking at Pinterest, reading other blogs, thinking about where I want to see my blog go or what type of business I may want to start…and making endless lists! But I don’t always “do” the things that I write down or bookmark. Just for fun, I’d like to take out my watercolors or markers too – and illustrate some fashion figures. That’s what I used to do back in college, before I got a full-time job designing kid’s clothes (everything is on the computer these days). I think what holds me back from sketching freehand again is the fear that my sketches won’t look very good! You’ve convinced me that it’s ok if they aren’t perfect!
This is such a great post! I am exactly the same, but now after reading this I have the get up and go I needed!! Thanks for sharing :)
Hanna’s Places is a green lifestyle magazine written by Hanna Ulatowski. It’s all about slowing down in a fast-paced society and finding ways to live a more sustainable, simple lifestyle.
March 7, 2014
I completely agree! I’ve also started trying to push myself to actually try the things the I really admire other people doing — for me, it’s usually calligraphy and hand-lettering. Good luck with the watercolors — would love to see the finished product sometime!