You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Discarded Notions' category.
Burn: There’s not enough time in the day.
Replace with: There is time for getting everything done that needs to be done today.
Burn: I just don’t know enough other working artists, so I will never be networked enough to be taken seriously or to get my work seen.
New Statement: I will stengthen the connections I already have and create opportunities to forge new connections.
Burn: I will never be organized enough to ________ (fill in the blank).
New Statement: I am willing to work hard and build better habits to get organized.
Somehow this doesn’t feel like a strong enough statement…
Burn: I need to have a complete, new body of work before I can let anyone see it who might want to display it.
New Statement: I can use and show the strong work I have completed as a springboard for creating new work!
A parenting philosophy I have adopted and used with variable amounts of success for many years is “put it in a positive statement instead of negative” when crafting rules and limits. Obviously, the idea behind it involves being clear about what behavior is expected and desired, instead of dwelling on the behavior I want to prevent.
EXAMPLES
‘No jumping on the top bunk’ versus ‘walk on your knees and sit down on the top bunk.’
‘No running into the street’ versus ‘hold hands with Mama when you cross the street.’
‘Stop screaming and whining and driving me crazy’ versus, ‘go outside and run around the house ten times.’
Anyway, I guess this is really what’s behind discarding notions. I have some desired behavior for myself…
Here’s a bunch to get started, and I encourage visitors to leave comments to burn and replace:
Burn: There’s not enough time in the day.
Replace with: There is time for getting everything done that needs to be done today.
Burn: My ideas can’t possibly compete with elite, successful artists and writers.
Replace with: I have abundant, high-quality ideas and the ability and discipline to bring them to fruition.
Burn: I haven’t looked at enough art or heard enough music or read enough books to possibly fit in with the well-connected creative arts world.
Replace with: I can speak intelligently about what I have seen and heard and read, and I have the ability to look critically and intelligently at new pieces I encounter.
Burn: I will never make any money making art.
Replace with: My money is out there, I just need to go get it. (Thanks for that one, Laurie)
