⋘ Everyone Starts Small ⋙

A post by Kaya for the FFC.

Life is often portrayed as a competition. People strive to be the best in a particular area, and tend to compare their work to others' and get jealous, or discouraged because the other person may be more experienced then them.

People aren't amazing overnight.

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Yes, a person may be talented, but a talent is simply a spark, that if tended to and added on to, can form a blazing bonfire. Just because you have a natural talent doesn't mean that you're automatically great at whatever you're doing.

For example, all of the amazing artists you see in this amino today with perfect anatomy and shading started out with wobbly sketches that slightly resembled what they were trying to draw. With practice and devotion, they turned into who they are today.

Same goes with writing, and baking, and crafting, and sports, and singing, and dancing, and everything else you could possibly think of.

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Naturally, you're going to be better at something you enjoy doing rather than something you do for fame. Most of the people who get featured are kids with a ion for what they do, and they tend to be the best.

Think about it: would you rather learn from a teacher who teaches for the paycheck or from a teacher with a real love for their subject? My health teacher teaches health because when she was my age, her dad died from diabetes because he didn't take care of himself. After that, she was determined to be as healthy as possible and help other people be the same way. She's one of my favorite teachers, and I have never learned more from one class.

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Everyone learns and grows at their own rate. It may take one person a week to learn how to shade and another person a year. It all depends on the person.

Don't get frustrated at your speed. After all, slow and steady wins the race. If you're a fast learner, great! If not, that's totally and absolutely fine. Your rate of learning DOES NOT effect how well you can preform a task.

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As I mentioned earlier, jealously is common and often causes discouragement. Jealousy starts if you compare your work to something else.

If you feel yourself start to compare, stop yourself! Unless it's a tutorial, comparing does nothing except for cause destructive thoughts and actions. Many times, things such as art theft and bullying starts with jealousy.

I can tell you from experience, comparing makes you feel like crap. When I was a newer artist, I used to look at the entries already submitted of an art contest before entering. I would often think, ''Gee, all these amazing digital artists are ing. I'm never going to win.'' Those kinds of thoughts prevent you from doing something you love. So don't let them take control of you!

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Don't be discouraged that someone else's work looks better than yours. With determination, practice, and ion, you, too, can rise to the top.