Quotes From a Professor That’ll Spark Your Inspiration
My painting professor’s painfully inspiring comments.
During college I had a professor who had a way with his words. He tended to speak his mind and spark creativity in his students. At times, he made me cry, pissed us off and was overall mean. Other times, we looked between the lines of his harsh jargon and found meaning within it. This professor was the kind who said what needed to be said to light a fire under our unmotivated asses. The pandemic pushed us into a small shell of confusion and his directness led us into the light we didn’t know we needed.
You are too mentally ill to make art.
Alright, this one is messed up. It was something this teacher said to one of my close friends, and at the time, what he said was not okay. After some months and my own personal therapy, I realized what he might’ve been trying to say. Being mentally ill is a showstopper. On the one hand, it can fuel creation and be an incomparable outlet. On the other hand, it can literally stop the show; mental illness can put a block in the road we call passion.
Unfortunately, when we struggle with these conditions, we inhibit traits like guilt, shame, procrastination, obsessions, binges, perfectionism, and the list goes on. These characteristics hold a person back if they don’t have methods in place to cope already. When a person gets to a certain point in their journey to contentedness, they begin to feel a shift in their current all-consuming qualities. Attributions such as creativity, clarity, curiosity, adventurousness and playfulness come creeping back in.
Now, I do not think there is such thing as “too mentally ill” to make art. However, the meaning I found behind his words was that sometimes our mental illness can dampen our passion and motivation for doing what we love. Instead of focusing on what’s wrong with yourself, focus on what’s right and maybe you’ll create something awesome.
You must search for inspiration, it will not come to you.
This time around, what my professor said was straight up mind-altering. He opened my eyes entirely. Before he said this, I thought my lack of motivation was my problem. I thought it was my fault that I wasn’t as creative as I used to be. I thought I had lost my imagination completely. What he said was one of the moments my life changed. An unforgettable motto that I have since passed on to friends and family, and I hope to pass onto you, too. Finding inspiration helped me to quit my shitty job, travel throughout Europe and start chasing my dreams. It led me to where I am today. That place is a wonderland of ideas, art and passion. A place I didn’t think I was capable of reaching. This is not to say that creative ebbs do not happen, they do. Being an artist means having non-creative moments, and that is totally natural.
I would like to add something to what my profound prof said; embrace your creative lulls. This also is not my original quote, it was the wondrous Erykah Badu. In a YouTube video, she talked about how important it is to use this downtime as a breather to meditate and relax. It can be hard to not feel as if we must be productive 25/8. If we do overindulge in these ultra-productive lifestyles, we burn out quick and our inspiration ends, making it damn-near impossible to retrieve. That being said, take your moment to chill out, recharge and get ready to go at it once again. Whether you go exploring to a new location or relax and meditate, inspiration does not come served on a silver platter.
Don’t stop adding to your creation until the last possible moment.
When my professor said this, it was in reference to creating a piece of art. I would like to take it to the next, dramatic level and say it applies to everything. We have all been told at one point in our lives that we must try our best at anything we do. This quote is of the same caliber. In terms of art, adding the final touches is more intense than it sounds. We must take a literal and figurative step back at incremental moments throughout the project; it is part of the artistic process. Little changes here and there add up to a beautiful masterpiece. That also means we can tweak our artwork on the ride to the exhibition. Hell, I’ve changed up a project seconds before turning it in. It may not be noticeable to the viewer, but to the creator it is of utmost importance. It lets a person sleep good at night knowing you put in every piece of effort possible.
This can be a wonderful analogy for life as we know it. Looking at what we are doing from both near and far lenses helps to paint a picture of what exactly is going on. It can be a way to further ground ourselves and focus on what we may be trying to achieve. It has been said before that we can never stop working on ourselves. Things happen to us humans on a day-to-day basis that change the ways we view, think about, and act in our individual worlds. Living this truth and pushing our boundaries results in progress within our being that may not be obvious to an outsider. However mute it may sound, it is essential to do this for yourself. It proves to you that you are worth every second of this endeavor. Little changes add up to great feats of awesomeness.
