There is a concept in business or I guess life that I really
subscribe to. I think its brilliant, a little outside the box and something I
have to stay focused on to combat my inherent yearning to plan every little
detail of everything even though it may not be relevant yet. That idea is “Ready, fire, aim.” Heard it
before? Ohh ya? Did you? Or did you hear “ready aim fire” and are suffering
from a bout of dyslexia at this exact moment?
I love this because it reminds me that you can’t plan everything! At some point you have to start making moves and executing or you never will, you’ll just be there pointing your metaphorical gun forever trying to line up the perfect shot, but spoiler alert, the perfect shot is never going to come because nothing’s perfect silly. Sometimes I get psyched out thinking about how I can’t plan something that may or may not happen in a few months or a year that’s contingent upon a bunch of other things that also may or may not happen before then. And that’s just ridiculous. For example, once upon a time I was sitting at my kitchen table in Maui at night doing research on Alexa’s Makin’ Waves Grand Art tour 2014 and it hit me, “oh my god, I don’t know anyone in Chicago, how am I going to find someone to watch my dog in Chicago?” Like is this really a relevant thing to get stressed out about in November 2013 when I wasn’t going to be in Chicago until June 2014? No, absolutely not. And of course it worked itself out but that’s just one ridiculous example of me having my neck feathers all ruffled by something that I shouldn’t deal with until ive already “fired” because then I can readjust my aim accordingly.
So painting is exactly like this and I deal with the “whose going to watch Beans next year after I get my agent and am traveling all over the world as the first ever ‘Art Icon’, the one the only alexa caskey (okay, well there are 2 on facebook and the other one is a canine cosmetology student in Michigan??? Wtf is that??)? toxic noise of my mind” every day. But the “ready fire aim” school of thought really helps me because I can get intimidated by a huge project, but you know what? I don’t have to do the whole thing all at once. You’ve just have to have a clear idea and make strides towards it and redirect as you go. Every brush stroke isn’t going to be perfect but that’s the beauty of painting, ya just paint over it! So with this big ole’ triptych that I’m in the midst of right now, I totally stressed out about it because its big and epic and going to have a lot going on, but I just have to break it down and take steps towards the end goal. First paint background, then work on turtles. The turtle doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to get closer to perfect each time I paint it and eventually it will be. And now to the spotted eagle rays etc etc.
So I guess what I’m saying is if you’re intimidated by a something big, or something new or something small or whatever, employ the idea of “ready fire aim” and it really takes some of the pressure off. Just approach with somewhat of an idea and start going in that direction and readjust along the way. Simple right? How wants to take a painting/life lessons class with me? Haha
I love this because it reminds me that you can’t plan everything! At some point you have to start making moves and executing or you never will, you’ll just be there pointing your metaphorical gun forever trying to line up the perfect shot, but spoiler alert, the perfect shot is never going to come because nothing’s perfect silly. Sometimes I get psyched out thinking about how I can’t plan something that may or may not happen in a few months or a year that’s contingent upon a bunch of other things that also may or may not happen before then. And that’s just ridiculous. For example, once upon a time I was sitting at my kitchen table in Maui at night doing research on Alexa’s Makin’ Waves Grand Art tour 2014 and it hit me, “oh my god, I don’t know anyone in Chicago, how am I going to find someone to watch my dog in Chicago?” Like is this really a relevant thing to get stressed out about in November 2013 when I wasn’t going to be in Chicago until June 2014? No, absolutely not. And of course it worked itself out but that’s just one ridiculous example of me having my neck feathers all ruffled by something that I shouldn’t deal with until ive already “fired” because then I can readjust my aim accordingly.
So painting is exactly like this and I deal with the “whose going to watch Beans next year after I get my agent and am traveling all over the world as the first ever ‘Art Icon’, the one the only alexa caskey (okay, well there are 2 on facebook and the other one is a canine cosmetology student in Michigan??? Wtf is that??)? toxic noise of my mind” every day. But the “ready fire aim” school of thought really helps me because I can get intimidated by a huge project, but you know what? I don’t have to do the whole thing all at once. You’ve just have to have a clear idea and make strides towards it and redirect as you go. Every brush stroke isn’t going to be perfect but that’s the beauty of painting, ya just paint over it! So with this big ole’ triptych that I’m in the midst of right now, I totally stressed out about it because its big and epic and going to have a lot going on, but I just have to break it down and take steps towards the end goal. First paint background, then work on turtles. The turtle doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to get closer to perfect each time I paint it and eventually it will be. And now to the spotted eagle rays etc etc.
So I guess what I’m saying is if you’re intimidated by a something big, or something new or something small or whatever, employ the idea of “ready fire aim” and it really takes some of the pressure off. Just approach with somewhat of an idea and start going in that direction and readjust along the way. Simple right? How wants to take a painting/life lessons class with me? Haha
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