The Painting Assignment: Part II
In The Painting Assignment: Part I, we learned two main things.
1. You are the painter of your own canvas.
2. It is a lot easier to paint your own canvas than to copy someone else’s.
We also learned that I have a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. The first thing we would do in painting class on the day an assignment was due was to hang our paintings on the wall. Before the professor chose one painting for all of us to discuss as a class, we would have a few minutes to walk around and look closely at everyone’s canvas. My comparison brain was on full blast during this time:
How did that painter get so much depth in those eyes? Whoa, those highlights on that shirt look so realistic! How did this painter make that amazing color? Everyone’s painting is so much better than mine. What am I even doing in this class?
…Yes, that escalated quickly.
But you do the same thing with social media:
How did that person get so many more likes than me, especially when we go to the same school and hang out with the same people? Whoa, that scenery is amazing! How did this person get to meet that really cool person? Everyone’s life is so much better than mine. What am I even doing with my life?
Anyone youth female athletes out there who can relate?
Any adults who do this as well?
…and who thinks I should I copy the memoji and go blonde?
The third lesson my painting assignments taught me is to keep your eyes on your own canvas.
When your eyes are on someone else’s social media canvas, for instance, they are looking at someone else’s highlight reel (and it’s likely a staged highlight reel).
We can use this lesson in strength training as well. Say you are a beginner stepping foot into the weight room for the first time. Two things here. One, don’t compare yourself to the woman deadlifting way more than you can right now. You might get there one day, but I also don’t know how much she is deadlifting and why. For instance, if she is training for a power lifting competition and you are a high school female soccer player, it may not be necessary for you to ever lift that much. I can promise you though that if you stay consistent, you’ll build your own strength that will transfer to your performance on the soccer field.
The second thing to keep in mind is that a few years ago she was stepping into the gym for the first time. She was not able to deadlift all of that weight on her first day. She has been consistent and put in hard work, and you are seeing the result of that, the highlight reel. You are not seeing the years it took to for her to build up to that.
The final lesson from the painting assignment is to learn how to use other canvases in a way that positively impacts yours.
Right before I reached out to a mentor for help with building The Better Coach, I noticed on her profile she wrote, “Work Hard. Be Kind.” I did not reach out to her because that was already on my profile and I did not want her to think I copied her.
After getting over myself and reaching out, I mentioned this to her and turns out she adopted it from someone else she follows.
And I actually got it from this poster to the left I saw around that time in a CrossFit gym
None of us are reinventing the wheel. We are just sharing things we know from our experiences. That same message is going to look a little different since we are all a little different.
I do not question my ability as an artist whenever I think of the incredible amount of depth one of my classmates painted in her eyes for the the alter-ego self portrait assignment (drop a comment if you want to see my alter-ego self portrait). Instead, it has turned into something that I strive to create myself one day in one of my own paintings.
If you are located in Central New Jersey and interested in learning how to strengthen the canvas of your body and your mind, please use the form below to get in touch with me.
If you are not in Central New Jersey, but still interested in the above, please use the form below to ask me about my remote options.
Coaches! If you are interested in literally having someone help you paint your canvas, or have other artistic needs, please use the form below to ask me about my graphics and video editing services.
