The more present you are for every brush stroke, for every color, the less you are attached to the outcome.

There are infinite decisions to make during the artistic process, which might seem too challenging for someone who is already indecisive. But there are infinite opportunities for meaningful mistakes. A meaningful mistake is when something you had planned suddenly takes a different direction. It’s not really a mistake, but we’ll call it that because that’s usually how it feels in the moment. If you calmly allow your artwork to follow a new direction, you are practicing non-attachment. In yoga, this concept is abhyasa and vairagya - steady effort in the direction you’d like to go, yet non-attachment to the outcome of your efforts. You can relate this philosophy to all other decisions you’ve made. There must have been a time when you thought you made an accident, yet something wonderful happened due to that meaningful mistake.

Attachment to the outcome of decisions only causes suffering. When we attempt to consider every outcome of decisions, this causes anxiety. When we regret past decisions, this causes depression. When we allow space in our minds for things to change, this creates joy and freedom.

As TKV Desikachar explains in The Heart of Yoga,

”This notion of constant change suggests that we do not have to be discouraged…

if things go badly, they can always change for the better.”

You are responsible for the infinite decisions you make, so make decisions that feel right to you.

But no pressure, if you must turn towards a new direction, there are infinite opportunities for joy on your journey.

The joy we are seeking already resides within us. Enjoy the process.

My mentor Camille always says,

”Nothing lasts forever.”

Even the masterpiece you spend months to create won’t last forever. Hopefully it will deteriorate and return to the Earth.

So create art for the joy of the process, not for expectations, and then adapt this philosophy to all other practices in life. The more present you are, the less you are attached to the outcome.