13th May 2021

Not too long ago I came close to a burn out…There was just too much spinning at once, all important things, or so I thought. My tread was running out and I was running dry, my body was shaking, and I knew something had to change right away or it would be too late. Crash and Burn.
“It’s like being an addict to work.”
“You have to take the time to recognize your past experience, traits and habits in order to understand what they have attributed to the reasons why you push yourself to this point of working so hard. You also have to recognize the symptoms of an overload and when you’ve got too much on your plate.”
“You have to set time aside long enough for you to move far enough away from the current pattern.”
This was the advice I receive from two of the course leaders from the Fine Art department of HKU. They were both speaking from personal experience.
“You’ve got to kill some of your darlings.”
“Learn to say no.”
“Trust that things will go on without you.”
“Give attention to the things that make you thrive.”
“Step back and look at what you’ve created and are doing. See and understand what is evolving and happening.”
“Pass on responsibility and ask for help at least one time per day.”

Since then, I’ve been making a conscious choice to invest in this advice, and it has given me more calmness, clarity and steadiness in my daily life. By taking the time to do these things I was also able to fully comprehend what Janwillem Schrofer meant when he used the term autonomous artists in his book Plan & Play, Play & Plan Defining Your Art Practice.

“Positioning yourself: Positioning means finding a place for yourself, establishing what position or positions you want to take up, what role do you want, where and for whom? It means taking control and not leaving your positioning to others.” Pg.21

“I was please to read: "The curator, the participants and the public agreed that autonomy was the chief element for a successful project, in the field of art and well as that of design. It is better to listen to the landscape and its inhabitants and include that information in the development of a project, but, in the end, you must follow your own ideas and fascinations to achieve powerful work." Pg. 23
"In general, the term autonomy implies self-reliance and independence. It is used with respect to liveability in the sense of structuring and giving substance to life; orchestrating day-to-day events yourself."

“An autonomous person attempts to pursue things that are of importance or value for him or her, and in that way to follow his own path through life." "Autonomous people look critically at themselves and others and determine what they consider to be good or bad useful or useless. To think about and question such matters is part of autonomy. In that way it can be possible to eventually follow your own path of life.” Pg. 35

“Advice: replace autonomy as often as possible with 'personal core' and 'knowing where you stand and what you stand for'. No-one is entirely independent and completely self-reliant; autonomy is an important, but relative term. Autonomy is worth striving for, even if the beckoning horizon will always be out of reach. I would prefer to ban the terms autonomous artist and autonomous art, and only associate autonomy with an inner, personal core quality: autonomous thinking.” Pg. 26 – 37

Janwillem Schrofer, Plan & Play, Play & Plan Defining Your Art Practice. Pgs. 21, 23, 26-37.