A Single Point Of Focus

Scattered rays of sunshine unite to a single point of focus, it is then that the fire of creation is ignited.

I find myself scattered at times – seemingly a thousand things to accomplish and having no idea how to do it all – because ultimately, I want to do it all, and do it well. I create structure and schedules but where is my mind before, during, and after I perform each task? With the last one accomplished, and the next one coming, I find myself at times somewhat exasperated. I do well in taking care of business and since I have taken on blogging, social media, drawing, investigating, learning, and sharing – I have been thrilled with this new world and my journey of creation, exploration, discovery, interaction, and acceptance, my efforts flow superfluously and thus exhaustively. I am further drawn into it – “meeting” my blogging brothers and sisters, reading into their souls, about their lives, enjoying their wisdom, discovering amazing artists, absorbing their visual interpretation of fantastical creatures and worlds manifested from their mind’s eye, and learning new things from great talent and minds alike. The more I learn about what is out there, the more that calls to me, the more I want to do, the more I do, the less I give to the more that I do. So, here’s the reality of it. When you (meaning I, we) give little attention and effort to many things, the result will reveal as such.

Struthless shared a video on this subject. After years of incessant complaining about not being able to accomplish similar success as Marc Schattner and his wife, Marc sat him down and said, “Campbell, do you know what your problem is? One day you write a song, the next day you write a poem, and then the third day you do a drawing, and none of it adds up to anything. All you are doing is adding a single brick to million different houses and you are expecting that one day it will magically become a mansion.” That’s probably one of the most brilliant things I’ve ever heard anyone say (or at least heard someone say that someone said). So, what was he to do? “Draw the same thing every single day…and do it for a year.”

Struthless further explains this theory about focus from Casey Neistat’s point of view. Casey Neistat stated, “You can do ten things to the first degree or do one thing to the tenth degree”. We’ve been sold that we need to choose quality over quantity. But how do we achieve quality without purposeful consistency through continuous focused effort? Quantity leads to quality. This methodology is interchangeable with Jono Dry’s journey from when he drew his first series of eyes in high school and subsequently continued to do so to this day. Through the mass creation of his eye drawings, he produced art of exquisite mind-blowing detail – from his quantity birthed quality. Only focus will provide you the rewarding gift of an exquisite piece of art, a masterfully written piece of writing, a skillfully executed golf swing, a painstakingly crafted garden, or a gracefully nurtured relationship.

If you think about it, you have to admit, whenever you have focused your efforts – the results were quite satisfying, to say the least. And when you focused your efforts consistently over a long period of time – the results were mind-blowingly uplifting and satisfying! A consistent focused effort most often gave you hope that you could be exceptional at almost anything – and if not, at the least made you realize that with practice came great progress.

My journey began this week. I decided this method was one to follow although I fretted that it would surmise to be a somewhat boring and tedious one. Needless to say, I begrudgingly started drawing…a meerkat, of all things, every day.

I somewhat missed the mark. As I drew, the point was lost altogether. My focus – the MeerKat, was drawn every day but again my focus became somewhat scattered with 4 different versions/styles.

I need to gather my scattered rays of sunshine (the different variations of meerkats) to a single point of focus (one style). Here is where my brain, my creative side has trouble with focus. I’ll continue on this path and hope that I can narrow my focus – I believe it will come and if it doesn’t come soon enough, at least, I’ll be learning something new that further enriched my soul and mind’s eye.

Although you and I may not equate to a Struthless, Casey Neistat, Marc Schattner, or Jono Dry – yet; as of now, we can build upon our skills and talents and be the best we can be at whatever we choose. Let’s focus on our one thing, every day, and see what comes of it!

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And remember, express yourself in any way that brings you joy and relief and share it with the world. You don’t owe it to anyone but yourself. Stay happy, healthy, safe, and happy graphics, my friend.

Graphic Design (verb): the ultimate trust enhancers, content simplifiers and organizers, efficient and effective information communicators, emotion evokers, and cognition captivators.

https://www.youtube.com/user/caseyneistat, @Casey

@JonoDry

Struthless, @ObscureWarrior