Live for what you love

I was walking to a local park last week and I saw this just around the corner from where I am right now and it sums up, truly what I believe people must do in their lives. If you have ambitions, and aspirations - and I firmly think everyone should have those, then it is your duty to make sure you carry those ambitions out.

Live for what you love.

Dreams are there to lift you up, to give you something to focus on - you must defy the belief that you can't reach for the sky, it can be done.

People are only brilliant because of their resolve to find solutions to problems, and indeed everyone you admire will have achieved this in their lifetime, with their own willpower and desire. You must propel yourself with your dreams because no one else will do that for you - be the person who said I did, not I will.

Why Tom, are you rambling on about this? Read on, I'll explain!

I saw this two weeks ago as I walked down New Walk, it stretches for a considerable length and there is always something to catch an attentive wandering eye. This gave me mixed feelings, it made me smile but it also frustrated me equally, as it reminded me of something people tell me with great frequency.

I wish I could draw like that.

I wish I could paint like you.

I wish I was good at art.

Everyone of course, has their own strengths, but you can't be self defeatist about something you wish to achieve, if you truly do want it. I paint and draw because its something I've always had, I don't know why this is, but I have from the youngest age always had a desire to work figuratively, be it with crayon, pencil or paint.

It is, for me a need in the truest sense of the word, I must paint - if I don't then I become increasingly agitated and I feel repressed. This doesn't mean everytime I paint it's a joy, often it's exasperating, nevertheless I am and will always be in love with it. In our first year of study at De Montfort we were told if we 'weren't coming out with crap, then you're doing something wrong'.

This is true, you need to make mistakes in order to progress. As I said earlier on, people are only brilliant because of their resolve to find solutions to problems.  Perseverance and understanding are paramount to this.

Passion is a huge driving factor, this should go without saying yet people who want to know how to do x, y and z often fail to comprehend that practice requires a huge amount of time and effort. They feel they're doomed to never being good at art, because they're firmly set in their minds that people are born with talent. 

I think talent is just a predisposition to something, an inclination to want to do it and so practice doesn't become taxing, it's natural. If you start this process from an early age, it isn't frustrating because you mature with practice and age. If on the otherhand, you start in your mid 20s, it may very well be taxing for you to begin with because you're very much aware of what others around you can do, and what level you are on compared to them. Don't be disheartened, as with anything it requires a knowledge of what you want to achieve and study of how best to do this.

The largest blockade to your goals is often your mindset, if you wish to do something - stop wishing and begin tackling it, head on.