Assessing…but when does it turn to obsessing?

Assessing…but when does it turn to obsessing?

We continually assess our lives and social media can certainly keep us on our toes about how well or not we might be doing! Social media shots are merely a moment in time and the visual can be so seductive and can leave one assessing their own daily life. No one truly knows what is happening in other peoples lives and appearances can truly be deceiving or at least that is what my parents taught us so to keep us from judging others harshly or drooling over those amazing Facebook vacation adventures people post.

There are moments and periods of time when one assesses their lives as part of building their dream, working towards a new goal such as school, jobs, marriage, partners, family…the usual. Assessing aids in properly setting oneself up to create a plan and hopefully successfully seeing it through to fruition. Assessing often seems to boil down to the financial and what makes sense, what is possible and sadly, what just can’t happen. However, never underestimate the idea of plunging in and taking a risk…a good idea can reap great reward! This idea of just delving in has served many well…my own father and of course, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg least we forget Jeff Bezos (I don’t think we have to worry about their long term financial planning)! We assess everything from weekly sales flyers to the quality of our work and everything in between including our outward appearance! We assess our social media friends…truly a friend, an acquaintance, running club buddy, work associate, the competition... As we get older, as our children get older, as we become more professionally qualified, assessing not only continues to happen but it changes…it has to. Our needs, our direction, our age and sometimes health matters often dictate more reflection and assessing but I believe we all want to optimize our plan at every stage and every age…

I find it very important to assess my work while always consciously striving to strengthen my abilities, develop new techniques and hopefully the investment results in a higher quality finished piece. I constantly obsess (oops) assess my work as I write and as I paint…no exception! When do we tip the balance into obsessing? I am quite certain during that critical and necessary process of assessing my brain do-Ioops into obsessing about my paintings, my art business, my writing…isn’t that what 2 a.m. is for? Nothing like being wide awake in the darkest hours of the morning to properly put that brain into overdrive…I am masterful! After torturing myself for an hour or so more I start my actual work day…somehow painting and writing at 3 or 4 am seems virtuous and time better spent than ruminating and ruminating and ruminating…!

Assessing can be a very painful process as one faces certain realities in their life but I do believe it is a good and healthy process that leads one in a better direction...ultimately!

Need to run...someone commented on a painting I posted earlier…obsessing!