The Artist's Eyes by Jenn Lee

This post is a little off the beaten track from my usual posts, but a topic I think is blog worthy. The topic is about overcoming obstacles and keeping momentum even when you are faced with challenges that try to stop you in your tracks.

You always hear someone you know or even yourself say, “This year has been the worst!” or “Could this year be any worse?” Doesn’t it seem like a constant recording that is replayed every year by someone or everyone? Well 2011 has been my personal year of challenges. I’ve spent the whole year dealing with health issues (don’t worry, I’m not going to draw this out into a personal pity party) that have left me in a wheelchair…hopefully temporarily!

My challenges have affected my ability to work with my sculpting or paint at my easel. At first it left me depressed, frustrated and feeling like every ounce of creativity was being drained out of my soul. But you know what? I found an alternative way to challenge my creativity. I’m not giving up on my sculpting, nor my painting, but finding other creative outlets that still challenge me and allow me to still use my creative/artistic energies until I can get back to the others.

The most difficult thing to do for anyone is to find a way to get around our personal challenges. Whether you have a full-time creative job, a part-time creative job or only a few hours a week to designate to your creative side…overcoming challenges of time constraints, family life, personal battles or whatever may be your obstacles can and must be met. As a whole, we find happiness in our lives by doing what we love, our passions, our interests, our outlets.

So I end this short blog post with a challenge for you readers….try and find some time to do something creative. Don’t let the challenges in your life get in your way. Regardless of your artistic or creative outlet, find ways to overcome whatever obstacles or challenges meet you…it’s a creative challenge in itself, but a challenge worth doing….in this artist’s eyes.