The Rewards of Commitment
Every September and January I teach, “Drawing: The Right Approach”, a class for total beginners (though all experience welcome). At the start I suggest that the four most important things for learning to draw are practise, a desire to learn, a place and/or tools to work with and commitment.
Commitment is maybe the trickiest one of the four things. It means deciding ahead of time to stick with something, through the unforeseen ups and downs of life. It means doing something despite sometimes not feeling like it at all. However, it is only by persevering through difficulty and lack of motivation, that we can learn how a commitment will become truly rewarding. It’s only by getting past a fear of failure or lack of motivation, that I can keep creating new or significant paintings.
Starting a new commitment can be very tough (apparently, eighty percent of New Year’s Resolutions fail by February). It’s hard to make changes or establish routines or figure out a new pattern of life. There are false starts and stops.
Sometimes I’m motivated to commit to something, for example, exercise, because I know if I stop, how hard it is to get going again. Over time, I might start to enjoy the rewards of a commitment, such as feeling in shape, or creating a good painting. It gets easier over the long term to stick with commitments, because there are the memories of things going well as well as knowledge and habits to lean on.
On the other side of the coin, not all commitments are perhaps wise. If I feel too much internal resistance about something, I try to consider my reason for a certain commitment. Maybe it’s just not important enough, the right fit for me or motivated by the right reasons. It’s ok to change a commitment.
Of the commitments I have in my life, the most important is my marriage; but there’s also painting, exercise, the environment, journal writing, this blog. Maybe I am someone who loves to commit to stuff (why I am writing about it). However, after many years of following these commitments, I see how what I decided to commit to ended up shaping my life and who I am. It makes me think that I have had some agency over how my life goes.
A solid commitment is linked to feeling a sense of purpose. It is a chance to improve at something – something that helps us engage with life and give it more meaning. A commitment can be like a rock that stays steady through rising or receding waters. And looking back, I think it wasn’t always what I decided as much as my commitment to a decision that made the difference.