What being an Etsy seller is teaching me about myself...

The other day during meditation I asked myself what I needed to do to succeed as a working artist.  I'll admit that I felt a little bit cheesy asking myself a question about myself hoping that I would then hear myself answer.  But, I gave it a shot anyways.  I got a strange and unexpected answer "Marie, you just need to allow yourself space to be".  I know it sounds strange and at first I was like, "what the heck does that mean" but, I decided to give it some thought.  I began to realize that I've been forcefully and frantically trying to succeed by making some simple mistakes.

I should've just listened to Acorn, he always has something wise to say!

1. Comparing myself to others

There are so many great artists and designers out there and enjoying and appreciate their work is wonderful. I've learned that when I'm spending more time perusing artists on the internet for hours and walking away feeling sucky that I've tipped the balance.  Feeling inspired is one thing but, when the internal dialogue starts saying that my own work isn't good enough it's time to walk away...  What's that saying someone told me the other day? He who compares themselves to others always loses?  I think they might be onto something...

2. Focusing on success and telling myself  the way it should be done

There's so much out there when it comes to how to create a great shop on Etsy and it can be extremely helpful.  I tend to take in waaaay too much information to the point where I don't even know what I'd like to do anymore or how to do it.  That usually means it's time to get centered and put on some good tunes to defrag from taking so much.  You gotta stay in touch with what you're doing and why you're doing it right?

3. Not taking any breaks

It's not 1880.  Girls gotta breathe.

4. Only valuing productive time

It's been interesting to pay attention to when I think I'm successful.  I'm not an assembly line and don't really want to be happy only when I act as one.  Didn't I read recently somewhere that some early ideas about how a mechanized work force meant we could create the same amount of product in 4 hours instead of 12 and then have plenty of time for leisure?  It seems it turned into more that we would just keep outputting and outputting till the end of time and as fast as possible.  I guess that explains why most of what I view as success stems from what I learned in fourth grade social studies.  Basically, I'd like to value myself when I'm resting and relaxing as much as I value myself when I'm "productive" 

So..  I guess by allowing myself to be, means that I'll get to work and create art much more within the rhytym and flow of life rather than work and create art with an internal taskmaster who says I can never do enough.  That seems like it would leave alot more room for actually feeling creative!  We'll see...