This is a letter from me to me—from me to you. Don’t be disappointed when you discover that we haven’t done what you expected from us. 

I’ve always thought ahead about what I’m planning for the future, but I didn’t comprehend the actions I would have to take to go where I aimed. Drawing the bowstring doesn’t mean the arrow will hit its mark, so drawing the bowstring was the most I ever did. I was a kid who succeeded—who never had to work that hard. This resulted in a dreamer, not a doer. I thought about starting a business so I created a website. I thought about starting writing a book but so I created a list of story ideas. I thought about making paintings and selling them online. There are no products to put on the website, the list stopped growing, and there are no paintings to sell. I have no achievements other than surface-level compliment fishing through small efforts that got me nothing except for a bit of an ego. My achievements may be lacking but I have lessons for you. 

I’m an artist; I view life as a painting in progress. Something I notice everywhere is that many don’t see a bigger picture, but instead get hyper-fixated on one seemingly significant section that they refuse to let go of until they self-destruct trying to make it perfect. They erase, then they draw, they erase, then draw, erase, draw until it becomes a raging loop of doing the same action over and over again. You are a victim of this. Calm down. Find a different way. Clear your head.

In art, always work smarter, not harder. This is a rule to live by. Sometimes people may finally manage to fix that piece of their art and find that it did not have the right proportions or the right color—maybe it even made their work look worse. Don’t dive right into the details. Don’t go straight to step 5. Don’t start on a good copy without planning. Draw the easy basic shapes first; figure out what goes where. Draw the proportions next, determine the relationship between each object. Put the dark colors on first; this will aid in finding the true color of the painting. I know you’re always eager to jump straight in and excel, but I’ve learned to never rush this process because not everything is that simple. Do not assume that I have discovered it all, I’m still drawing my proportions and my art teacher is still reprimanding me the same way he is to you. The people around you will paint at their own pace, some are slower and some are faster. Some might still be planning while others may already be coloring. Release your worries and guilt, you’ve given me eyebags. You are not falling behind. In the end, everyone will end up with the same result: a life they have lived and a finished painting.