A common theme amongst artists is negative self talk. Not embracing where we’re at with our art right now. Wishing things were different.

Often, our self talk sounds something like this:

I should have committed to my art sooner.

I should be better by now.

I should have a more impressive resume by now.

I’m never going to get any better, no matter how hard I try.

Nobody likes my work.

It’s all part of that starving artist mindset I discussed a few weeks ago. We’ve all been there. Personally, I feel this way a lot, but it comes in ebbs and flows. In the beginning, the negative thoughts would run on a constant loop - especially the one saying I should have started sooner.

I was 28 years old when I got back into making art. I’m now 34. I was still young when I got started, but I wasn’t straight out of college either. I spent my early to mid- twenties working in an office as a graphic designer, not making any art in my free time. In all those years working an office job, I would beat myself up for not returning to my art. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t find the energy or motivation.

Currently, I have mixed emotions. Sometimes I’m delighted with my work. Other times, I think about how much time I’ve invested, and I wish I were further along in my journey - better, more established, more well known.

As a group, we’re pretty tough on ourselves. However, I’ve witnessed the peace that comes with accepting where I’m at. When I’m at peace with my journey, I make better work. With hindsight, I see I was supposed to start making art exactly when I did. Up until my late twenties, the rest of my life was too demanding. While that sounds like an excuse, I don’t think it was. When I think of my twenties, it makes me tired. We were busy trying to buy a house and pay the bills. My 9-5 job left me with no creative energy. Until I made some life changes, I didn’t have any juice left in my tank. And art takes a lot of juice. While I’m still envious of artists who went to art school and started young, that wasn’t the plan for me. If I’d taken that route, my art would probably look very different. I often wonder if more formal training would’ve made my art look less like me. My graphic design background turned out to be instrumental in getting my art shop off the ground. Editing my artwork and versioning files felt like a breeze.

No matter where you’re at with your art right now, you’re exactly where you need to be. Trust the plan. I believe art is connected to a higher power. It has to be. Where else does it come from? By that reasoning, everything that happens along our art journey is divine intervention.

Maybe you’re at the stage I was six years ago, and haven’t made art in years. You probably beat yourself up, especially when you see artists on social media who make it look easy. My best advice would be to try to clear space in your life. Then, see if the art comes. That’s the best you can do. Just set an intention to make room for it - mentally and physically. It’s possible you’re just in a phase of life where now isn’t the time. As long as you don’t submit to the idea that it’s never going to happen, have faith it will happen when the time is right.

Maybe you’re in the group that’s been making art part-time for years, but you want to be a full-time artist. You’re already further along than most. To me, this is the most exciting part of the journey, because there's so much to look forward to. You have so much potential, as long as you’re able to get out of your own head.

Or it’s possible you’re a full-time artist like me, and you think you should be better by now, given how many hours you’ve put in. Well, today you’re the best you’ve ever been. That’s what I tell myself when I get down. If you’ve cultivated a regular art practice, you’ll be better every day.

Monet didn’t take painting seriously until his forties. Van Gogh didn’t go to art school until he was 26. Stan Lee didn’t start drawing superheroes until he was 44. JK Rowling didn’t publish her first Harry Potter book until she was 36. Georgia O’Keeffe lived to be 99 years old, and she did her best painting in the last decade of her life.

The point I’m trying to make is that we all have our own journey, and it’s toxic to compare ourselves to others. Today is either your day to get started, or not. To make art, or not. The negative self talk doesn’t need to be part of the equation. There’s no rule that successful artists need to be on a specific track by a certain age. In fact, I challenge you to be one of the artists who breaks the mold, who inspires others that it’s never too late. It’s human nature to feel like we’re behind in life, and I don’t think that ever goes away. It’s the reason humans have made progress since the beginning of time. It doesn’t justify bullying ourselves, or belittling where we’re at right now. Instead, we can use this feeling for good - as motivation to propel us forward.