"I don’t really think of myself as an artist."

That was the response I made to a friend telling me that they loved the painting I did during a “Paint Your Pet” event with Willow Gentry on Monday evening.  I really love to try new art forms with complete abandon.  I am always delighted when I like what I create, but it is really about the experience for me rather than the product.

You see, even though I create jewelry and pottery that people like enough to buy, I still don’t think of myself as an artist.  Even though I have taught and performed dance internationally, creating my own dialect and publishing a DVD, I still don’t think of myself as an artist.

I am currently getting certified in NLP, neurolinguistic programming, with the Alchemy Institute.  I am learning some amazing things that I can’t wait to share with my coaching clients.  One of the most important things I have learned is that my reality is created in my mind.

Hmmm, my mind remembers one instance in high school when “being an artist” was equated to “being able to draw.”  I am not even sure if it was a message that I got from the teacher, from other classmates, or from my own brain trying to make sense of the art class I had been so excited about taking.  I only remember that I knew that I would never be successful as an artist because I couldn’t draw. 

The brain is a wonderful, crazy organ. One of the most valuable things I am learning in NLP training is that to process so much information coming in through your senses, your brain deletes, distorts, and generalizes information.  It makes sense.  Everything we experience is filtered, chunked, and processed so that we can understand it better. Of course, information is lost in this process.  It is a constant game of telephone even if you are playing with yourself. Further, this process of filtering is impacted by many factors including your mood, beliefs, identity, and more. 

Driving home from the art class with Willow, I realized that my identity is different than how I previously defined it.  I am an artist. 

What identities can you let go of?  What identities can you claim?   How have your identities been formed by old narratives that you can let go of?

Want to learn more about The Alchemy Institute where I am doing my NLP training?

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