People have tried to define instinct for centuries. We all have it. We all trust it. Sometimes. We tend to be better at trusting it when it comes to other people than ourselves. Your child asks to go out and it just doesn’t feel right, so you say, why don’t you play monopoly instead. You enter a dark parking lot and you feel like you are being followed so you rush into a brightly lit store instead. Scientists call that the natural instinct for self-preservation.
Instinct exists on many levels; one of them is creative instinct. You possess it. You need to learn to listen to it and trust it. It isn’t easy, but it is what will make your art (and your soul) sing.
The thing about instinct is that sometimes it seems like it makes NO SENSE! Years ago, I got hooked on rubber stamps. Now for years I have done my own designs and I can draw anything I want to paint. Why stamps? Well, out of that has come a renewed interest in collage, getting involved in a couple of e-groups that have been tremendously inspiring, and a better understanding of design. It also introduced me to a new style of design and collage I would have never found without it.
Now I know why I bought that first rubber stamp – even though I can’t remember what even drew me to stamps in the first place. Instinct. I needed to learn lessons that those stamps taught me to better my art.
Instinct also plays a part in design. Lots of people tell me that they don’t know when to stop when they are working on their art. Trust. Instinct. Listen to yourself. If you don’t, you keep piddling and ruin it.
How do you find your instinctual voice? Listen. Listen hard. Trust that it is there. It IS there. Do what it tells you to do, even when it seems like it makes no sense.
You can actually practice instinct. Next time you are driving someplace ask yourself “will I find a parking space in the front row?” Listen to your gut. If the answer is “no” (and don’t let pessimism drown out instinct’s voice), ask yourself “will I find one in the second row”, etc. until you feel like you have the right answer. Don’t get discouraged if you get the answer wrong; keep trying it until you get better. At the grocery store, ask yourself (in advance) if something will be on sale. At a sporting event, ask yourself, in advance, which team will win? Listen to your GUT. Trust.
Like any muscle, instinct gets more powerful the more you use it.
“The more risks you take, the luckier you become” – Sara Ban Breathnach