Laura Hollick - Soul Art Studio

Laura Hollick in her Soul Art studio. Photo by Kevin Thom.

Being an artist is an ongoing evolution. It is a life path with moments of total bliss and moments of complete frustration. When I reflect back on what I’ve learned so far, I can see some things that, now knowing what I know, I wouldn’t consciously do again. Here are the….

10 Biggest Mistakes I’ve made as an Artist

1.Comparing myself with others.

I made this mistake for years!   Comparison is detrimental to the creative spirit, it shrinks power. Being your own authority strengthen true power and unleashes your creative genius.

2. Selling before I was ready to sell.

This was a big mistake! I felt the pressure to make money so I sold art before I had fully ‘been’ with it. Now I honor my own process and let the art go when I’ve had enough time with it.

3. Lowering my prices because I was afraid no one would buy.

Ouch!  This is a painful mistake. This is more about limiting beliefs than anything.  The greatest damage comes when we let our unconscious, limiting beliefs run our lives.  The way I cleared this mistake was by investing in myself and seeking help to clear my limiting beliefs.

4. Keeping it all to myself.

I have two storage rooms full of ART!  Now I can see that this is a mistake to keep it all tucked away, I need to let my art out more.  It is easy to keep our art all to ourselves, but we need to remember we are channels for divine creative spirit, it is our responsibility to share what flows through us.

5. Assuming people wouldn’t get it.

This mistake stunted many connections and blocked many opportunities. I wouldn’t bother talking about my art because I thought it was going to be a hassel because they probably wouldn’t understand anyways. As an artist, part of our job includes educating and enlightening others about our art.

6. Feeling ashamed about the way I spend my time.

As an artist there is a lot of time spent doing absolutely nothing. I used to feel ashamed about this, because I thought I was supposed to be productive.  Now I understand how important “nothing time”  is to the creative process.

7. Skimping

Sometimes I would buy really cheap supplies because I didn’t want to waste money. Then I would be so upset when I created a masterpiece painting on a cheap canvas.  It is a mistake to skimp on your art. Now I make sure I have quality supplies for everything I create.

8. Seeking Validation

Looking for others to tell me if something was good or not, weakened me as an artist.  Only when I decided I was in charge of my own value and worth did my creativity really take off.

9. Thinking locally

My art career started locally which was a blessing. The mistake was staying local for too long.  Now I see the importance of reaching a much wider audience. The internet has made that possible and completely annihilated that mistake.

10. Forgetting the People!

Although art is often a solitary process, it isn’t complete until it has been connected and shared with people.  I made the mistake of thinking my art was just for me, when in truth spirit moves through me to serve a greater purpose.  When I forget the people, I forget my purpose.

Recognizing mistakes liberates us from them.

What mistakes have you made that you can learn from?

Today you can start fresh.  Let your biggest mistake guide you to your power and purpose by claiming the teachings it offers.

What is one mistake you would like to acknowledge and release?

As you are growing and evolving into a grander version of yourself do you feel like you are making lots of mistakes? I know I am!

This is a good sign, really it is. When you enter into new territories and expand yourself, you enter into the unknown. By its very nature, the unknown is ‘unknown’, so while you are getting your barrings you might feel clumsy in this new space, and that can breed the feeling of mistakes.

Rather than running for the hills and shrinking back to where you were before, since mistakes are embarrassing and uncomfortable and avoiding them would be easy, let’s explore what mistakes really are….

Mistakes according to the dictionary are: an incorrect idea; an error in judgment

I’d like to share a story with you which might give a new perspective on mistakes.

Two years ago I decided that in the summer of 2008, I wanted to do a nude photoshoot as a symbolic gesture to mark my celebration of loving my body and feeling empowered to be myself.

So, for two years, I studied nutrition and started feeding my body foods that would honour it; I spent hours reframing my thinking so that I could truly feel love for my body from the inside out; I did some laser hair removal (yes it is true, I did!); I went to Boot camp for getting in shape; you name it, I think I’ve done it.

Now, here we are in the summer of 2008, and guess what my nude photoshoot is scheduled for this Wednesday!

And you’ll never believe this….

I magically manifested a poison-ivy like rash on my legs!

At first I thought, this is a MISTAKE, a BIG MISTAKE! How could this happen?

I’d been preparing to step into this grander version of myself, I’d been doing everything I could think of to fully embody the vision I had for myself. And I don’t remember this rash being part of my vision.

I labeled this situation as ‘a mistake’ because it seemed wrong.

As I was thinking about it, long and hard, wondering if I should cancel the photoshoot and reschedule it for when the rash heals, I started laughing, almost hysterically! Because suddenly I got the perfection of the situation.

I had been preparing myself to love my body and celebrate being myself, and here I am, with a rash on my legs. I suddenly realized in order to fully step into myself, I have to step into who I am now and embody it completely, without trying to change it or think it should be different.

This is the perfect celebration of myself. This is exactly what I had been preparing for I just didn’t know it would look like this. What I thought was a mistake was actually a diamond sparkling with perfection.

When you truly expand into the evolved version of yourself, there are new ways of perceiving things.

That “incorrect idea, and error in judgment” takes on a whole new experience when you truly grow.

My two years of preparation really did pay off, because I am now stepping into the celebration of who I am, as I am.

This is the perfect mistake.

Think of a situation in your life, that you have labeled as a ‘mistake’ and find the diamond in the situation. It is there, I promise you!