Latest / This is Not Art Therapy (The Podcast) / Episode 3: Handling Rejection

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Episode 3: Handling Rejection · This is Not Art Therapy (The Podcast)

0:06
Welcome back. So this is John, my good friend,
0:10
cage fighter turned artist, Mr. Goodyear. Not
0:14
seen is a hat. He recently got a Goodyear hat,
0:17
which we're all really excited about. I'm so
0:20
excited about this hat. I am now starting with
0:24
my former co -worker, now artist slash therapist
0:29
slash co -podcaster. Yeah. Stoked to have you.
0:35
Right on. And this is not art therapy, the podcast.
0:39
It's just a podcast where we talk about art.
0:42
Talk about art and stuff that we do and things
0:44
that happen throughout the week. Yeah. This week's
0:46
episode is about handling rejection. But we're
0:51
actually going to talk about the art we made
0:53
last week, which is about rest, recharging and
0:55
relaxing. John made some art, as did I. So we'll
0:59
talk about that. John has some cool stuff to
1:03
show and share. Okay, so my first one that I'm
1:06
going to show is my ticket to relax, basically.
1:10
So it's permission slip to relax. It's pretty
1:13
simple. So I just put permission slip to relax.
1:18
And then the slogan that I put under it, and
1:20
you can put on whatever slogan feels right for
1:22
you. But the one that felt right for me, whatever
1:24
you've done today, was more than enough was that
1:28
and then I put a couple little slogans. So take
1:31
time, reflect. breathe and then look at the good
1:38
and then measure the bad but i feel like it should
1:41
have been measured the bad then look at the good
1:43
would have been a positive way to end that just
1:45
that so that's our first one yeah or our permission
1:48
strip um i really like this swirly thing happening
1:53
going on it's it's like drawing me in thank you
1:57
thank you i was trying to get some like whimsy
1:59
going with it because i kept thinking of just
2:01
writing a ticket Or like the old permission slips
2:04
that you used to have when you would just be
2:06
walking through the halls, like be like, I can
2:08
be here. I can use the bathroom. One question.
2:11
Yes. What do you mean by measure the bad? Ah,
2:15
okay. So you can measure the bad for me. So measuring
2:19
the bad for me would basically be like, all right,
2:22
we're going to take stock of what happened. So
2:25
for instance, this morning, I tore the spine
2:30
out of my art book. and knocked over my deceased
2:33
grandmother's cactus. So you're like, okay, I
2:39
was pretty upset, but I was like, I can fix that
2:41
spine of the book later. And I can always call
2:45
one of my aunts, even though it seemed really
2:47
tragic at the time, my aunts all actually happened
2:50
to have the clippings of that cactus. So like,
2:53
it's all kind of in different spots. So there
2:55
is a way for me to actually get the cactus alive
2:57
and well again. So measuring the bad would basically
3:00
be like, all right, this is real. This is what's
3:02
actually my problem. And then we're going to
3:05
work on through it. And that's where I think
3:06
I should be like, switch it to look at the good.
3:11
All right. The good thing is I'm going to have
3:13
to call my aunt. You can probably get scolded
3:15
a little bit. And then, and then after that,
3:19
it'll be fine. She'll just cut off a piece and
3:21
send it to me in the mail. I like how direct
3:25
that is with it. It's like, Oh, you know, I'm
3:28
going to acknowledge what happened, but I'm going
3:30
to face it head on. You're like fighting the
3:32
challenge. Yeah. It's yeah. You're kind of going
3:36
through it, which is really cool. And that's
3:38
so you of you. Thank you. That's, that's just,
3:41
that's, that's the way that the only way I know
3:44
how to handle it. Yeah. And so this was our roadmap.
3:48
I'm excited to see yours when it's all, all done
3:50
up. I started it off on like a multi -path adventure.
3:54
So kind of the way D &D would work. or any sort
3:57
of good Goosebumps story, you know, flip to this
4:00
page. So it starts off with like a little self
4:03
-portrait of myself and I'm pretty beat up and
4:06
tired looking. And I put fun this, fun this,
4:11
you can fill in the blanks, then job, life and
4:14
responsibilities. Along that just kind of has
4:17
like a little, the old like sort of dotted pathway
4:20
to go to it. So on there I have hooked them keys.
4:25
So that would basically be like something that
4:28
I do when I get home is I just put my feet on
4:30
a hook. And from there, I can really just choose
4:32
my own adventure, a .k .a. I can go to the couch
4:34
for five minutes. The first thing that always
4:38
does happen is I ended up petting my dog. So
4:40
I put my dog with a little pet me sign underneath
4:45
it. Then you can scroll down the path 15 to 20
4:50
minutes sitting on the couch. take frank for
4:54
a walk go outside and enjoy nature we roll on
4:58
through maybe with a phone call to my sister
5:01
or have a little bit of weed or enjoy some good
5:06
music either way you can do all of these things
5:08
in different orders and it gets a great result
5:11
either way yeah so so that was that was my little
5:15
map for how to rest relax and recharge it's very
5:20
emphasis of ritual I think so. Oh, I forgot the
5:24
last thing. Well, the most important part, yeah,
5:26
was the actual, the finishing of, so where all
5:32
this goes, so we're not just running in circles,
5:33
would be 7 .30. Little picture of me looking
5:36
sort of, yeah, I'm ready. And then I wrote like
5:41
a little slogan. I don't know if you can read
5:42
it. Nope. Okay, like, let's go. I want to see
5:47
if you still hit like a bitch. Okay. Okay. Yeah.
5:53
That's like your morning mantra. Yeah. That's
5:56
basically it. Yeah. Right on. I like the similarities
6:00
between your last one and mine. I will show you.
6:07
I'll tell you a little bit about how I started
6:10
it. I painted the background first. It's pretty
6:15
big and it's framed, but it's not in the frame
6:17
right now because. I had to work on it right
6:22
before I, it's technically not done, but we can
6:27
work on it together. Oh, thanks. But it's got
6:30
some similarities for sure. Yeah. I also chose
6:35
the map, the rest recharge relaxation map. And
6:41
I collage. So the background's painted, which
6:44
I don't normally do. There's a piece on top and
6:47
this is all collaged. You can't really tell how,
6:52
like it's not quite separated like a collage
6:54
normally does. So I tried to have the things
6:56
kind of blend in from one thing to another. But
6:59
again, quite done yet. Walk me through it. I
7:02
can zoom in. I can zoom in. This looks awesome.
7:05
Beauty, beauty. Okay. That helps. Okay. So very
7:09
like fantasy map -ish. I have a few different
7:13
places. One of them is called Meditation Mountain.
7:17
We have Creativity Canyon, Snack City, which
7:20
is probably my favorite. There's Art Cove, Self
7:24
Observation Station, Camp Journaling, Beach Bliss,
7:29
Connection Village, Nature Trail. Yeah. Oh, those
7:34
are so good. I think I like each one of those
7:37
ones. Yeah. I want to add way more layers to
7:40
this, but I didn't give myself enough time and
7:43
kind of did this very last minute. I love the
7:48
girl who's on the lounger. Yeah. So she's on
7:53
the beach bliss or she's in camp. I can't read
7:56
that word. Camp journaling. I don't know why
8:00
she's chilling in journaling because you can't
8:03
necessarily super chill when you're journaling.
8:05
It's pretty much an active process, but yeah,
8:07
very. nature chills that's okay and it's not
8:11
your handwriting by the way I think we've mentioned
8:13
it before I'm super dyslexic so you're gonna
8:15
hear if you stick with us I guarantee you my
8:18
lifetime promise is I will fudge up regular words
8:21
yeah no I anyways I don't have to get into that
8:24
but I hear that yeah um so yeah that's that was
8:28
my art and I'm really glad at first I was like
8:31
oh I have art homework I have to do this and
8:33
then once I got into it I'm like oh I'm I'm actually
8:36
getting into this I like it I'm glad I encouraged
8:38
myself to make art yeah grateful that we can
8:42
do that together as well honestly it's a neat
8:45
way to keep on track like you have your own regular
8:47
projects that you're doing and then you're like
8:49
oh cool like it's uh like I haven't been in school
8:52
for a minute So like, this is kind of like, I
8:54
have to get this done for Miss Linnea. We'll
9:00
make you write lines. We can't disappoint our
9:03
fan. Hi, mom. We can't disappoint her. We have
9:12
to do our one or two projects. They're going
9:16
to want to see it. Whoever you are, we appreciate
9:18
you. Right on. I think this will transition nicely
9:24
into our theme this week's theme of rejection.
9:29
Rejection or handling rejection. Yeah. You were
9:32
pretty excited to talk about this based on this
9:35
week's enthusiasm. What's up with that? I don't
9:38
know. I think I got tons of experience with rejection.
9:41
That's probably why. Unfortunately, I win the
9:45
rejection of politics sometimes. I feel like
9:48
we all. have that main character issue where
9:50
you're like this is only happening to me and
9:53
this has never happened to me and uh i it's so
9:57
i'm like a middle -aged man now which is scary
10:00
and spooky to think about it i'm 35 middle -aged
10:03
all right so um yeah i just i've i think i've
10:08
been through a fair amount and it's funny to
10:11
watch some of the younger guys in my life go
10:14
through some of the same things like actually
10:17
the other day I was talking to a friend of mine
10:19
and he's like a young actor and like he looks
10:23
like the rock with hair he's a beautiful man
10:25
and uh and she's and he was like really upset
10:30
that he like he had like booked a commercial
10:32
and then it didn't fall through didn't pan through
10:35
and I was like hey I've literally been in your
10:37
same shoes like I was asked to be a model for
10:40
some things and like I've done a few commercials
10:43
and and then they just never get made or like
10:47
you get told you're booked a gig it's gonna be
10:51
awesome and then like you make the mistake of
10:53
telling people that you're gonna do this and
10:55
I think that's what he may have done and so like
10:58
I actually ran into him and I was just like hey
11:01
bro like how are you and he's like my girlfriend
11:04
isn't talking to me and I think that like I'm
11:06
about to like not get this this acting gig and
11:09
I was just like oh dude don't worry it happens
11:12
like it's happened to me and i'm fine but at
11:14
the time time frame this isn't like you're just
11:18
like this is the most crippling thing that's
11:20
ever happened by people just rejecting like what
11:24
you think i'm like man it could be a lot like
11:26
you know like they might not have money to make
11:27
the commercial it just you might not be the right
11:30
fit for the commercial but like you can't it's
11:33
hard for you to not take it personally so like
11:37
i was like oh my god i was like this kid i was
11:39
like weird I was like, we were meant to meet
11:41
right now. I was like, it's fine. And we had
11:44
a good chat about it. It's hard for it not to
11:46
suck immediately the second it happens. Do you
11:50
know what the toughest pain is? I don't know.
11:54
All of them? Current. That's always the worst
11:58
one. Oh, yes. It is genuinely the worst one.
12:02
Like, you know, I've broken my leg, my arms,
12:06
my chest. But if I stub my toe. Like, that's
12:10
not going to hit me in the long run. But if I
12:11
stub my toe, I'm like, oh, my God. Like, no,
12:14
no, no. Nothing could be worse than this. And
12:16
you're like, okay. Five minutes later, you just
12:18
take a seat. And you're like, that was kind of
12:21
embarrassing. Like, that took the wind right
12:23
out of my sails. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I've never heard
12:27
it worded like that before, but that's, and you're
12:29
like, what's the worst pain? I'm like, that's
12:31
kind of subjective pain. It's hard to really
12:34
measure that sort of thing. It's like, it's obviously
12:36
not the worst pain. Somebody is going to come
12:38
along and be like, our one listeners, like I
12:40
was hit by three cards. Yeah. It's hard not to
12:43
compare ourselves. It's hard to basically just
12:47
be like, take some sort of like a real rejection
12:50
and be like, it wasn't me or it wasn't my time.
12:53
yeah tough to deal with yeah one of oh we forgot
12:57
to share about the art directives but one of
13:00
the art directives was rewriting or was it rewriting
13:04
or reframing rejection the idea of right like
13:07
thinking of an experience where we were rejected
13:10
and turning that story into a fairy tale I think
13:14
that's a that's a wonderful idea yeah and the
13:17
way you had said something of just going from
13:22
that immediate felt sense of this is about me
13:26
this is very personal to this just wasn't me
13:28
like to to be able to pivot that is kind of the
13:32
the vibe of this art invitation the other two
13:37
one of them is called rejection space or it doesn't
13:41
even have to be a space it could also be a thing
13:43
so create either a space or a thing that can
13:45
help you in holding or feeling that sense of
13:50
being rejected. And then the last one is rejection
13:54
evolution. So you know how we were just talking
13:58
about how that immediate felt sense of rejection
14:02
sucks. And I guess in the, the ultimate goal
14:06
is to move through that and realize that it wasn't
14:09
for you. So what does that, what happens in between
14:12
that immediate reaction and that desired reaction?
14:16
Because I'm sure there's little things that happen
14:17
along the way. So what would that look like?
14:20
yeah how does it evolve over time it hurts less
14:23
I'd find like I don't know what was what was
14:28
your first job rejection oh god that's a good
14:31
question um oh I what I can remember was before
14:39
I you know started my business I was trying to
14:42
be an art therapist and like sent out my resumes.
14:46
I must've sent out like 50. I had a few job interviews,
14:50
but no one wanted to hire me for whatever reason,
14:53
which is fine. I had one of the worst job interviews
14:58
I have ever had in my life. I don't want to say
15:02
I blacked out because I very much remember it,
15:04
but I kind of had a panic attack, but tried to
15:06
talk myself through it and pretend like I was
15:09
having a bad time. And whatever I was saying
15:11
was not making sense. It was the reason I got
15:16
so nervous is because two of the people conducting
15:18
the interview were psychologists. And I was like,
15:22
oh, you guys know a lot of stuff. And I immediately
15:25
was like, oh, I can't do this. You know, I'm
15:29
just some art therapist. I basically didn't feel
15:32
like I was worthy enough to do the job. And I
15:34
probably, you know, I knew the answers to the
15:37
questions. I think I just like totally freaked
15:39
out. And it was like. I was so bad at embarrassing
15:42
when I think about it. But also, yeah, that sucked.
15:46
And I felt so cringe for like three days. Oh,
15:49
yeah. It sticks with you when you close your
15:51
eyes. I've got a night time's worth of those.
15:55
Yeah. But ultimately, I ended up making my own
16:00
job. So it was for the best. But I didn't know
16:03
that at the time. I was just like, oh, this job
16:04
I really wanted. But I failed miserably in the
16:07
job interview. it was the perfect job if i had
16:10
this job my life would have been perfect yeah
16:12
and you're like not not really yeah exactly like
16:18
i can speak on that with like basically most
16:21
stuff like from school to like to relationships
16:25
to just to work and like i'd say like with school
16:29
like starting off very young i was really dyslexic
16:32
and would constantly be in the bottom half of
16:35
things but like it made me look at how how to
16:39
pass classes in a different way and then with
16:42
like relationships oh god you know you meet somebody
16:46
and you're like this this this right here this
16:48
is perfect it could never be better than this
16:51
and uh boy boy oh boy were you wrong and i'm
16:57
glad those things didn't work because i just
17:00
would have been stuck in those boxes you know
17:02
and like it leads you to meet other people you
17:05
learn how to just put up barriers or not barriers
17:07
but like just yeah you put up your boundary and
17:10
since then it's like you have you find less people
17:13
but the people that show up are fucking bomb
17:16
yeah versus like when you're younger you're like
17:19
whatever this happens so this will work and I
17:22
hope my friends like this person versus like
17:24
no like this is this person like I've got these
17:28
rules and whatever and like I fit them they fit
17:31
you and you just roll from there you know I feel
17:35
like that the concept of comparison comes up
17:40
a lot of like, if I got rejected for this grant
17:44
or whatever, and then I see who does get it.
17:47
Yeah. It's that immediate comparison of like,
17:50
in this very specific situation, this person
17:53
is objectively better than me. That comes through.
17:56
That shines through real good. Like when you
17:57
would see somebody, Timmy was like better than
18:01
you and beat you and got first place. You got
18:03
second place. We grew up with weird coaches in
18:08
a very competitive wrestling world where, like,
18:10
I remember I had this one guy, and he's like,
18:12
his father goes like this. He got second place
18:14
at a really, really top high -end tournament.
18:17
And his father goes like this. He's Russian,
18:19
and he goes, And I was like, he's in grade 10.
18:26
Like, he's going to be amazing. He's going to
18:29
be one of the best wrestlers that this country
18:31
has ever seen. And he's only in grade 10. It's
18:34
his first year. But that hyper -competitiveness
18:37
led us to just be these, it would either make
18:41
you or break you. For him, luckily, it made him.
18:44
He became a doctor, came second in the world
18:46
at University of Wrestling, and was just a phenom.
18:50
So it's a double -edged sword. But is he okay?
18:53
I think he's doing good. He has an amazing wife
18:58
and a cute as heck dog. And I think for our generation,
19:02
that's made it. Okay. I was mostly speaking psychologically
19:05
because. Oh, who knows? We're all a little different.
19:10
But also I realized that my perception of humans
19:15
can be skewered because so much of my time is
19:19
spent listening to people's struggles as a therapist.
19:23
Yeah. End up getting this kind of very struggle
19:27
centered way of viewing like a small. of humans
19:33
in the world. What this did bring on, well, one
19:36
thing that comes to mind when I think of rejection
19:41
is how the art community is very good for helping
19:47
me face rejection. Yeah. Of like applying for
19:53
art grants or submitting art for art shows or
19:56
just there's a lot of opportunity for rejection
19:59
and there's so many good artists out there. that
20:02
it's gonna happen a lot and I think me 10 -15
20:08
years ago often would often cry or like feel
20:14
really bad if I didn't get chosen yeah but it's
20:17
just it's kind of a numbers game and it ends
20:20
up getting easier yeah it does you just kind
20:23
of have to take these things head on and that
20:26
seems to be your way of approaching things And
20:30
I think some people have a tendency to either
20:33
avoid. Avoid seems to be a popular one, I think.
20:38
I see that. And I don't understand how. I mean,
20:41
I don't know. It's just kind of like the way
20:44
that I was sort of put into things where it was
20:48
like, you have to see what's coming next. And
20:50
I think that comes along with moving. Okay, yeah.
20:53
Like, yeah, like constantly adapting to changes.
20:56
And I find with art, basically. I've been okay
21:00
with like getting immediate feedback from pretty
21:03
much everybody. And I think that it's worked
21:05
out really well. Cause like I do take in things
21:08
like sometimes somebody will say something and
21:10
in my mind, I'm like, okay, but I think I'm just
21:13
going to keep doing it that way. You know? And
21:16
that's, that's okay. Like I think to get those
21:19
types of feedback, those types of rejections,
21:21
like I remember I was working on a set of t -shirts
21:24
for a company and basically like I'd put in all
21:28
this time and effort. and so the way that you
21:30
would present things is like you kind of have
21:32
like your good one you're okay maybe we'll feel
21:36
this one out and then something just kind of
21:38
out of left field that you're like all right
21:40
i'm not sure but like it's here but i'm not even
21:43
gonna bank on this one because i put all my eggs
21:46
into this one basket that i've been working very
21:48
very hard on and i remember basically being like
21:51
here's my and i did like this big showcase for
21:54
like the the shirt right they do the one that
21:56
i'm selling but you also have these other ones
21:58
yeah i remember the guy basically being like
22:01
just sort of like brushed right by mine and he's
22:04
like he's like nah that one's garbage like just
22:07
like literally was like nah i don't like who
22:09
who came up with that and i was like oh and he's
22:13
like who made this beauty and i'm like all also
22:18
me but like not i didn't put anything into it
22:21
but he's just like i love it and i'm like really
22:23
like i i was like i was like this this is not
22:28
this isn't the one right and he's like and he
22:30
showed it to like his whole team and everyone's
22:32
like this is amazing and i was like what about
22:34
this one and they're like it's crap i was like
22:36
oh fuck like that that was my yeah i'm okay with
22:41
it but i was like okay sometimes you just gotta
22:43
swallow your pride and be like i guess i was
22:44
wrong or i guess i was not in the right and even
22:48
though i had this idea that i'm like I make you
22:50
this kick -ass shirt. You like this. And they're
22:53
like, nah, we don't even like it a little. Like
22:56
here's the, here's the one that you put like
22:58
two seconds of effort in, but they're like, this
23:00
one rocks. That really speaks to just how different
23:05
people's view of art is. And it reminds me of
23:08
something you said earlier, or you were talking
23:11
about sports. Very, I know that's a very, very
23:14
thing. um of in sports there's like a definite
23:18
winner and a different i don't even want to say
23:19
loser but that's it is winners and losers winners
23:24
and losers we can say non -winners but that sounds
23:27
longer and worse losers over a pass you get it
23:31
you get over a pass yeah i'm a non -winner non
23:37
-winner yeah um this so there's a first a second
23:41
like it's very clear but art is not that art
23:45
can be an A plus for one person. And then, you
23:48
know, everyone's going to have different strokes
23:49
for different folks, you know? Oh yeah. Yeah.
23:52
Yeah. Absolutely. So like, I, I totally get that
23:55
where something's like, yeah, this, this is amazing
23:58
to me. And you're like, really this one? Yup.
24:00
I was like, okay then. And you know, yeah, just
24:04
roll with it. I was working at a restaurant a
24:07
few years ago and in that. And for one month,
24:11
I had my art up on the wall. And it was just
24:13
a random collection of a whole bunch of stuff.
24:16
It didn't really have a lot of things, themes.
24:19
It's just a collection of art. And I had one
24:22
of my favorite paintings I've ever done is a
24:25
set of legs crossed. And you can see the back
24:29
of someone's head. And it's essentially like
24:30
someone lying down with their legs up. Very bright
24:32
red. It's this tall, skinny. painting I absolutely
24:36
love it and it was a friend of mine's their favorite
24:39
art piece um and they've actually since died
24:41
so I I particularly um I was serving someone
24:45
who was sitting right next to them and come up
24:48
to the bar and ask for his bill and I was like
24:51
oh can you remind me where you're sitting he
24:53
might not have even been sitting in my section
24:54
anyways that doesn't matter but he was like oh
24:56
I'm sitting there next to the ugly painting And
25:00
I kid you not, there were two other co -workers
25:03
around who were listening to this. And I just
25:05
thought it was funny. And I was asking him questions
25:08
about it. Or I might have said, like, oh, that's
25:10
my ugly painting. And he felt so awkward. He
25:14
had his foot in his mouth. He's like, well, I'm
25:15
not really into art. And he felt really bad.
25:17
And I was just like, you know, 10 years ago,
25:20
I would not have handled this well. But now I
25:22
just think it's funny. Oh, man. Just calling
25:25
things ugly as hell. Oh, damn. I'm glad you took
25:28
it that way. yeah that's so tough to basically
25:31
just be like next to the ugly oh somebody said
25:34
my shirt was ugly I think like I don't give a
25:37
fuck I'll still be like oh damn that hurts that
25:40
does hurt you know but and that kind of reminds
25:43
me this one thing I've learned through either
25:46
art therapy school or being an art therapist
25:48
is to whatever people say about you is generally
25:52
less about you and more about their own perception
25:55
and existence in the world oh yeah If you look
25:59
at the meanest bullies in your school or wherever
26:01
you were growing up. Your work or your. Oh, my
26:04
goodness. Like, if you look at what their home
26:06
life was like, there's probably a reason they're
26:09
going to knock your books up. Yeah. And same
26:12
with him. He's probably just sitting at his coffee
26:14
trying to, like, apply to the next job or dealing
26:17
with whatever he's doing. Yeah. And it's just
26:20
like, how can I slightly take this out on anybody?
26:23
But also, my art is not for everyone. You know,
26:27
some people are going to love it. Some people
26:29
are going to hate it. That's just how the art
26:31
world is. I like, I like this. I like the one
26:34
that you have with the bear and he's like, hi,
26:37
nice to meet you. And I love you. It's, it's
26:39
witty. It's quirky. And it's funny to see somebody
26:42
take a look at something and basically be, I
26:45
want this snippet and I want to add it with this
26:47
snippet and just that be it. Cause like you appreciate
26:50
it, whatever picture. Yeah. You know, like you're
26:55
not just. not just looking at one or two things
26:57
like you're taking multitudes of things to put
26:59
it together to make one again so it's like they
27:01
can either individually tell their own story
27:04
or like you can add them together and it makes
27:07
another and then you add another piece and it
27:09
just adds it just kind of just all folds or you
27:11
make two and you put them together makes no sense
27:14
you put three together no sense but then you
27:16
put that fourth or fifth piece in there and you're
27:18
like now i'm starting to see something here so
27:21
like it At first, somebody might just be like,
27:24
yeah, you just copied and pasted and put like
27:26
that. You're like, that's a layman's way to put
27:29
it. Sure. But as somebody who's been drawing
27:32
and sees things all the time, I do enjoy your
27:36
style. Thank you. I mostly do collage. Maybe
27:41
like 90 % of my art is collage. And it's almost
27:44
made me feel like an other in the art community
27:48
in that art. And I know this not to be true,
27:52
but there's this like painting and sculpting
27:55
that's art. And if you don't do either one of
27:58
those things or drawing, of course, like very
28:00
traditional. So if you do something textile based
28:02
or if you make collages, it's almost seen as
28:05
this lesser form of art and more into like crafts
28:09
or whatever. So I'm always. You're the bad boy
28:12
of the art community. But I've not always felt
28:16
connected in the art community in my own town,
28:18
which is weird. That's fine. yeah we can like
28:22
it's funny you would think because i feel like
28:24
that's a space that like in the art world you
28:28
just want more people to be doing stuff yeah
28:30
absolutely yeah like i mean it's not like there's
28:35
a whole lot of people out there doing art in
28:38
any form really like it is is like with today's
28:42
society with how much people need to move and
28:44
be working and doing other things side hustles
28:46
plus holding down regular jobs just if somebody's
28:50
like hey i got time to see if i see a snippet
28:53
here a snippet there a snippet there and i want
28:55
to make something with that then let them just
28:58
do that like i i kind of feel sort of the same
29:02
way when it comes to paint versus i guess there's
29:04
gangs we've got we've got art gangs and this
29:07
is the way that i'm because i'm still new at
29:08
it just figuring out okay it's the pen boys like
29:12
the guys who like sketch stuff with pens like
29:15
versus like the guys who are using like paint
29:19
and using like what do they call it the knives
29:21
or whatever to like i'm sad yeah yeah so they
29:24
paint with a knife so they're just like like
29:27
doing real big big chunky pieces and i was like
29:30
that's really expensive so i'm like i'm not gonna
29:34
get into that and when i first started my journey
29:37
there was no way i was putting paint on my couch
29:39
it just wasn't happening except for the time
29:42
my sister got high and i would try to do bob
29:44
ross that was okay First of all, he's a maniac.
29:50
Bob Ross. Oh my God. Have you tried to do a Bob
29:52
Ross painting? I don't think so. Not my style.
29:56
Dear listener, try like your homework. One other
30:01
piece, side quest on the regular homework is
30:04
if you got it and you got the time, try and do
30:07
a Bob Ross painting. You can go to the dollar
30:10
store and you can pick up. sheet paints it'll
30:13
cost you like maybe five bucks to get yourself
30:16
like a little book and the paint set try and
30:19
follow along with bob ross it's crazy he moves
30:23
at a militant speed he's not waiting for anybody
30:26
don't try and go ahead of him because that's
30:28
what i try to do that's what i try to do it was
30:31
a disaster we tried to be like i think a good
30:33
a good tree would go here and we're like no uh
30:36
-uh just follow follow bob don't deviate from
30:41
the plan And you're going to end up with a beautiful
30:43
piece from Bob Ross. Did we have I know there
30:46
are some questions we had. I wonder what your
30:48
hot take is on this. The idea that rejection
30:51
can stop us or encourage us or maybe a third
30:55
thing. And it's never just like this is always
30:59
this. It's exploring a time when rejection either
31:03
stopped you in your tracks or encouraged you
31:07
to keep moving. I think rejection. just like
31:11
bruce lee says you gotta be like water okay you
31:14
got you can't be like you can fit into any container
31:17
you just gotta flow through with whatever so
31:19
like say that door is closed on you you can't
31:22
just wait outside that door that's just not a
31:24
solution like if you like if like whether that
31:28
be with a relationship there was somebody in
31:30
there like i don't want to be with you you're
31:31
like well i only want to be with you that will
31:34
not work no matter how bad you want that if there
31:39
is a job where they're just like yeah you're
31:41
not qualified or you just didn't get it or somebody
31:44
else got it you can't sit outside there you have
31:47
to go on and move you have to move and start
31:49
doing something to sort of build to build to
31:53
the next level rejections do only make you stronger
31:57
they make you like they help you be that resilient
32:01
and like you can see by being rejected in your
32:04
past you're like okay this won't work like these
32:07
are things that are areas that i need to improve
32:09
and you either do or you don't and and if you
32:12
when you do uh build up and improve you're going
32:16
to be far past the place where you thought you
32:18
wanted to be you'll be overqualified i'd find
32:22
yeah for the positions you were looking for like
32:24
is when it comes to like you made your own practice
32:27
right versus being like trying to ask for somebody
32:31
to do to ask for like to permission to work there
32:36
you started building your own and now like the
32:41
linea of like five years forward is way overqualified
32:47
for the position you were trying to get like
32:48
you know now yeah yeah this reminds me of an
32:53
art practice i can't i don't know who i learned
32:56
this from it might have been a friend might have
32:57
even been a client uh writing letters to your
33:02
future self. And the way, so if I wrote one today,
33:06
I would give myself a specific date in the future
33:09
of when to read it. And I would just write in
33:12
the present tense as if I'm writing to someone
33:14
I care about and talking about all these wonderful
33:16
things that have happened between now and then,
33:18
but talking about them as if they're already
33:20
happening or if they've already happened. And
33:23
it's really cool to... see these layers of okay
33:27
I'm opening this now and Linnea from a year ago
33:29
thought I was going to be here and it's fun when
33:32
it aligns up it's fun when I totally missed the
33:34
mark on things it's fun when new things come
33:37
up and I couldn't have even predicted them so
33:41
yeah and this fun little practice I've been doing
33:44
for the last year or so and I highly encourage
33:48
it have you ever done this I don't know if this
33:50
is just me being weird but like if you're ever
33:52
a little high or maybe even drunk or you know
33:56
or just feeling like super grateful for the places
33:59
you are in your life closing your eyes opening
34:02
your eyes and basically be like hey past self
34:04
this is where you're at now i was like i hope
34:08
you can see this is where we're at like because
34:11
it's like you might just be on the couch and
34:13
looking at the back of somebody else's head and
34:15
being like huh if i had shown me in 2016 not
34:23
so long ago now but like if you're looking where
34:25
you're at who your partner is where you live
34:28
what your life looks like their head would explode
34:31
that guy that guy was supposed to be a soldier
34:34
and be with this particular partner for their
34:37
whole lives now you're like whoa you're all these
34:41
different things because the path kind of kept
34:44
rolling yeah so yeah i don't know have you ever
34:48
done that or is that just me i like how yours
34:50
is in reverse It sounds like it's really about
34:56
grounding in gratitude, which is always a good
34:59
thing. I was with my gardening shears the other
35:02
day and I was just clipping some hedges there.
35:04
I was trying to make them round. Nice and round
35:07
hedges. I was clipping them and then I just had
35:14
this weird PTSD moment where I was just like,
35:19
I didn't think I was going to live to be a gardener.
35:22
oh like you're like where the hell did that come
35:26
from yeah you're like you're like my god you're
35:30
like now you're out here just like worrying about
35:32
the shapes of hedges life is freaking crazy yeah
35:37
like from all the bad scenarios or whatever's
35:40
happened in your past to basically be like warming
35:42
up to do a cage fight to clipping hedges they're
35:45
like like we are different animals now wow yeah
35:49
yeah One of my favorite art therapy directives
35:53
to do is what I call a transitional self -portrait.
35:57
And it encourages someone to reflect on different
36:01
stages of their lives and to look at themselves.
36:04
And then once all the little figures are made,
36:07
if that's where you get to, you can have them
36:09
have conversations with one another. It's super
36:11
cute. That would be dark if it needs to get dark,
36:15
but it can be fun. Oh, my God. I think that's
36:18
something I'm going to do. Ooh. Man, should it
36:23
be a five -year? Five -year increment? Whatever.
36:26
It doesn't have to be. Whatever it needs to be.
36:28
I guess I'll probably, I don't know. Different
36:30
eras. Bro, 19 to now. Yeah, why not? I don't
36:36
think I told you what we're doing next week as
36:38
our theme. What's up next week? Meaning. Okay.
36:43
Or like meaninglessness or meaningfulness or
36:46
meaning in general. John and I are going to make
36:49
art about that theme and talk about it next week
36:52
instead of doing the different week things because
36:55
we were getting confused. And I don't know why
36:58
we didn't originally do it that way, but anyways.
37:00
We're learning. We're growing. Yeah, exactly.
37:03
We are growing. Listen to us, listener. We promise
37:06
next week it will be. We will have this ironed
37:11
out and there will be no more kinks, I swear.
37:14
No, I'm kidding. The road to perfection. yeah
37:18
chaos one thick soda at a time right on all righty
37:23
we'll see you then everyone okay adios amigos