Today I’m challenging you to be an artist—even if for just five minutes. Oh relax. I don’t mean for you to suddenly become a “professional artist.” (Heck, by definition, I’m not even a professional artist!) What I want is for you to adopt the Artist’s Mindset for a few minutes.
What is the Artist’s Mindset? It’s the mindfulness of creating something out of nothing. Well, almost nothing. A person with an Artist’s Mindset will take a hint or a suggestion of an idea and stretch it, turning it into a completely new beast of its own. This is done with deliberation, not simply because the inspiring moment appeared by chance.
This short exercise will help give your Artist’s Mindset a little workout. Take a look at these doodles. Right click to copy the images and then paste them onto a word document so you can print it out (or if you are mobile, copy something similar onto a sheet of paper). Or, if you want, create your own. Close your eyes and scribble a bit.
Now look at the doodles from all different angles. Rotate them and see if there is a view that can be turned into something interesting. Go for it. Add lines, shading, embellish with curls and zig zags. Create something new out of a hint of an idea. Don’t worry about how silly the outcome. The process is what is important. Pay attention to what it feels like to be in the midst of the creative process.
We have “doodle” opportunities around us all day long. The question is, do we use the Artist’s Mindset and make something out of them? My challenge to you is to recognize the opportunities today, apply the Artist’s Mindset, and take action to create a result out of the opportunity. That is living the Artist’s Mindset!
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