Why I stopped making my art (and what got me started again)

I don't know about you, but 'achieving' is a big part of my fundamental values.

Having something to show for my however-many-years-on-this-planet I have, feels really important to me. I don't necessarily feel like I need global domination 🙃  but I do want to feel like I made my mark y'know?

I want to feel like I WAS HERE.

I want to know with my full chest that I used my true 'gifts', I lived my life on my terms, and I didn't knowingly compromise on either. Or 'waste' either too.

And as much as I had a really successful creative career before leaving full-time employment 10 years ago, as much as I got paid (and paid well) for my creativity, as much as I got to make my mark through other people's businesses, I knew deep down that I was compromising.

I knew I wasn't using my true gifts.

I knew I wasn't living my life on my terms.

I knew in a lot of ways, I was 'wasting' both.

Maybe you can relate...

I stopped making my art because;

❌ I thought getting recognition in my design career would be enough.

❌ I thought making good money and having financial security would be enough.

❌ I thought buying my dream 4-bedroom house in Dublin would be enough.

❌ I thought having a decent holiday every year would be enough.

And it wasn't through greed or wanting 'more more more'. It was the realisation that more of any of those things just wasn't IT at all.

But I thought I was 'doing it right' – so why did it feel the opposite to that? Why did that feel nowhere near enough?

⭕️ Because I'd built a life based on the belief systems of my parents, peers and society, not based on me and my intuition.

⭕️ Because I'd learnt to be a martyr and repeatedly ignore my own instincts and needs, so I could avoid rejection and maintain the illusion of safety from prioritising and pleasing others.

⭕️ Because my coping mechanism became burying an almost spiritual pull to build my own creative dream (which had been buried for decades may I add), and just choosing to help others build theirs instead.

⭕️ Because I was an artist needing to express myself at my core, and I hadn't once let myself live as one.

I stopped making my art because my identity, my beliefs, my thoughts, my feelings and my actions were pre-programmed to – not because it wasn't meant for me or I couldn't be successful at it.

And I'm pretty sure if you're reading this far – your beliefs, thoughts, feelings and actions were pre-programmed to stop you making your art too, not because being an artist wasn't meant for you or you can't be successful at it.

(In fact, you've probably shown already that you're capable of success doing something that's not 100% you. Just imagine how successful you might be doing something that IS 100% you).

And the really exciting thing is – coaching exists to help you with exactly that.

Coaching exists to shift your identity, beliefs, thoughts, feelings and actions (and inevitably your reality as a result).

Coaching exists to help people create change, perform at their highest and live out their true potential.

And if people at the top of their game like Beyoncé, Oprah and Obama have a coach to help them get where they want to be, why can't creatives like you at the top of your game have a coach to help you get where you want to be too?

Coaching is what got me making my art again.

Coaching helped me;

1️⃣ Become self-aware and cognisant of how I'd inadvertently created my compromised, art-starved reality (this post might be a slice of this for you)

2️⃣ Become acutely aware of my fundamental values and needs (so I could quite easily identify which felt 'missing' and unmet)

3️⃣ Work with my unconscious mind to shift my identity to that of an artist (which meant I could integrate creating back into my life without a shred of guilt, and without having to burn everything else down)

4️⃣ Work with my conscious mind to identify the protective beliefs that had held me back and created my thoughts, feelings and actions up until that point (so I could begin the process of rewiring them)

5️⃣ Take different actions to get different results (and they’re actions I just wouldn't have been taking on my own without a coach).

In short, coaching is one of the unsung art forms in the creative world, and I'm on a mission to sing it and share it with as many creatives as my circle of influence can reach.

Have you ever had coaching? Or is it a completely new concept to you? DM me over on Instagram or LinkedIn and let me know your experience x

Big love and creative magic,

Kerry xo