Just start.
It does not have to be good.
In fact, it probably will not be good.
At least not at first, anyway.
But if you do not start, it will be nothing.
You will have done nothing.
Do something.
Make something.
It is going to be ugly.
The creative process is not pretty.
Make something ugly until it is not ugly anymore.
Just start.
“I enjoyed doing this at a specific time in my life, with a specific group of people, and under a particular set of circumstances. Things have changed.” -Anonymous
One of the challenges of working with or for someone else is that they may change. Their direction or focus may change. If we are talking about a company, leadership or even ownership might change. The economy or individual financial circumstances could shift suddenly, forcing people to to look at stabilizing, growing, or downsizing. Unless we are the ones steering the ship, it is highly unlikely that we will have much say in when or how any of these variables affect us.
On the other hand, we may be the ones who change. We may lose interest in the what we are doing or who we are doing it with, or our interests may shift to something new. The values or priorities we once had might evolve as we get older or as our life’s circumstances become more complex. Our financial, emotional, or physical needs may shift over time. We may have new opportunities that, if passed up now, may never come again.
There are an infinite number of variables, many of which are uncontrollable and unpredictable, but, one thing is certain, either outside or inside of us, something is going to change. How we deal with these changes will determine whether or not we are successful on the other side of them.
We can choose to resist the change, fighting back against it with all of our will and might. This may work for a while, but change is a funny thing. There is too much of it and it is far too unrelenting to resist forever. On the other hand, we can choose to go with the flow or roll with the punches, as it were. This may work for a while, but eventually the change will become overwhelming, overtaking us and changing us into something or someone we are not.
There is a third option, however, and that is to create our own change in ourselves and in our lives, so that we are ahead of the unknown and above the wave when it crashes.
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.
-Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body, Severna Park’s Holistic Chamber of Commerce, and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
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If you don’t like the palette you have been given, create your own, but then make something with it.
Too often we find ourselves dissatisfied with what we have, insisting that if we only had more or if we only had something different we would be happy. The problem is that, if we actually get the thing(s) we are pining over, more often than not, we are still left dissatisfied and wanting something more or something different.
Consuming or collecting, except in specialized hobbies, are not ends in and of themselves. A musician who has mastered a multitude of skillful scales, chord changes, and riffs must, at some point, put them together if he or she is to actually have a song. A martial artist may have dozens or hundreds of techniques in his or her arsenal, but, without sparring or competition, they may never come together in a useful way. Likewise, an artist’s palette means nothing if he or she does not actually paint with it.
At some point, if we are ever to wrest satisfaction or contentment out of this life, we must take what we have and actually do something. If we want to break the cycle of emptiness, collecting and consuming simply to find more dissatisfaction, we have to stop seeking, even if for a moment, and create something. Then, if we wish to actually make a change in our life and the world around us, which, by the way is where joy and meaning are found, we must share it.
We must be prepared, however. What we make may not be good enough… yet. The secret is to keep creating and keep sharing until it is. We must become masters of our palettes, and we must be generous with our work until, one drop at a time, our unique contributions begins to change the world around us. As this takes place, we may find that it was never really about the palette anyway.
“As in life, so too it is in budo. As in budo, so too it is in life.”
-Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body, Severna Park’s Holistic Chamber of Commerce, and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
“Not using your gifts is not benign. It metastasizes.”
—Brené Brown
Watching my daughter paint or draw, and listening to her tell stories makes me think back to when I was a child. I had a vivid imagination and I loved to draw. Every day, I would come up with new ideas for superhero characters and I would do my best to bring them to life on paper, one after the other, again and again. Drawing, witnessing my imagination become reality on paper, was an amazing feeling. It was like tapping into my own, personal superpower. Then, one day, I stopped. I cannot remember why I stopped or when, but I imagine that it was around the time I began participating in team sports.
I had no interest in sports and, as a result, I was terrible at them. Even writing this now, I am overwhelmed by the confusion and sadness I felt from being so clearly out of place on the field. I would rather pick flowers in the outfield than play baseball. In soccer, unable to pay attention, I walked around in circles until the game was over. At lacrosse practice, I was horribly bullied by the other players, perhaps in an attempt to motivate me, but I doubt that was the reason.
I did not know how to care about this thing that was so clearly important to others. Eventually, I found a group of friends who were into what I was into: music, comic books, and skateboarding. Regretfully, I never really got back to drawing though. I would doodle here and there, covering my notebooks with my favorite bands’ logos, but my skills had atrophied from lack of use. Fortunately, over time, I have found different ways to express myself creatively, ways to give myself my life back.
The need, that drive to create, does not die, but we do if we ignore it. That is why I cherish every painting my daughter paints, every story she tells, and every imaginary creature she conjures. Not everyone is gifted with a vivid imagination. It is my job to help her to keep, to develop, and to share that gift in whatever way it happens to manifest.
“As in life, so too it is in budo. As in budo, so too it is in life.”
-Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Meditations on God 