It’s the first day of a new month and you know what that means.  It’s time for a shift in our focus and a renewed commitment to strengthening ourselves as creatives.  Before we move ahead, though, I want to review what we talked about last month and make sure we’ve accomplished what we set out to do.  Our March commitment was to focus on needs – our own as artists, the needs of our fellow creatives, and those of our creative community.  We talked about asking for help, the importance of setting boundaries, and how we can pay it forward by asking others in our community how WE can help THEM.  Needs are a fundamental part of who we are and we made plans this month to ensure we get them met in order to enable our own success.

So, let me ask you: how have you committed to getting your own needs met? If you haven’t already, I encourage you to take some time today to think about developing consistent check-ins with yourself.  This way, you can make sure your actions and creative pursuits are staying in line with your own artistic needs. It might not come naturally at first, but the simple repetition of a task is often enough to instill it as a habit, especially when you feel the benefits.  Once checking in with yourself becomes routine, you should find yourself in a consistently healthy headspace. Remember: it is one of your most important jobs to continuously monitor your own well-being and make adjustments accordingly.  Do you have check-ins established for yourself?  If you’re struggling with ideas for what might help, here are a few suggestions:

·  A daily check-in might be a reminder on your phone that goes off at noon to make sure you take a break and eat lunch.

·  A weekly check-in could be taking the time to deep clean your brushes and palettes.·  An artist date can be a monthly check-in. Anything that lets you take a moment to regroup, assess, and maybe even revamp your creative processes. Or at least just gives you a refreshing breath.

Customize these as needed! You know yourself better than anyone else ever could. Determine your needs, find ways to meet them, and stay on top of them. And don’t forget, I am always here to help.

Once you are keeping your needs top of mind, ensuring they are consistently monitored and met, you should be able to achieve your creative goals with greater ease, right?  RIGHT.  So where do we go from here?

In April, we are going to be focusing on overcoming the fears of being seen.  We will face those together, head on, and then dive into talking about ways to actually get seen as an artist. There are a million different ways to do this nowadays.  I’m going to teach you all about the most effective strategies and the best part is…you won’t even have to leave your house to do it! We’re going to dig deep. We’re going to work hard. We’re going to learn. We’re going to get noticed. And we’re going to have fun.

Our instinctive human nature is to run from fear, not towards it. Putting yourself out there is SCARY, but if it doesn’t instill a bit of fear, it’s probably not worth it. I’m not talking about overwhelming, life-threatening fear here. Just some healthy fear to get you growing and learning. Fear comes in all shapes and sizes. Maybe you’re nervous to finally bite the bullet and sign up for that pottery class you’ve been wanting to try. Or maybe you’re panicking about putting your art on display for hundreds of people and opening yourself up to critiques. No matter what you’re afraid about, all fears are valid. Think about what your fears are today because it’s my mission to help you overcome your fears this month and I want you to be prepared.

Do you remember that need hierarchy I talked about a few weeks ago? Without meeting your most basic, fundamental needs as a human, you wouldn’t be able to achieve your goals as an artist.  This is why we had to focus on those last month, to make sure you are well taken care of and ready to achieve.  If you are still struggling to meet your needs, there is no way you will be mentally ready to step out of your comfort zone, to face your fears and be seen.  Does that make sense? I’m so excited for everything I have to share in April and I can’t wait to help those of you struggling to get out there and shine like the stars you are.  Make sure you’re following me on Instagram @esma_kirim and subscribe to my Youtube Channel because I am busting at the seams with content to share on this topic and, to paraphrase Aerosmith, you don’t want to miss a thing!