How one simple question by a child changed my life
Some years back, I was talking to my daughter at night and I asked her, “what do you want to become when you grow up?”. She was 9 years old back then. I wanted her answer to be something offbeat, something that she actually wanted to do, something that was not impacted by the grown-up life issues. And she replied, “I want to become a musician”, I was kind of relieved and happy that she said that.
Children usually know what they want to do, I think it’s the grown-ups who keep steering them in the wrong direction.
But her simple question caught me off-guard. She asked, “you are already a grown-up, so you must have become what you wanted to be?”
It was an innocent question, but it stirred something deeper in me. I couldn’t sleep that night.
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First, let me paint a picture for you for what I was doing for over 15 years:
I was working with IT companies as a freelance writer. In simple terms, my job was to attend corporate meetings and create marketing or communication content based on the discussions held. I used to write content for their websites, blogs, presentations, marketing material, and so on. My job was to transform corporate jargon into something that resembled English.
At first, it felt like I was living the dream — it was the time when internet was new, websites were new and businesses were creating content for the first time. There was a lot of freedom initially.
I was crafting words, telling stories, shaping ideas into something tangible and personal.
But as the years passed by, it seemed like I was stuck in a loop. Each day, I was handed a set of keywords, a specific tone, a target audience, word count, and a deadline.
IT jargon and structured formats became a part of my life.
Added to it was a fake sense of urgency that plagues the corporate world. When the client used to say that they actually wanted the work “yesterday” for the brief that they gave “today.” And on which they were planning to sit for the next month without giving any feedback. I felt like I was always running, but never reaching anywhere.
Anyways, so I was earning well, everything was stable, and overall things were going great. But finally, the day came when I couldn’t anymore. I clearly remember that day, when I had an assignment to submit, I sat on my chair, opened up the document on my computer and kept staring at it, thinking what’s the point of it all? What am I doing? And I just couldn’t write even a single word, I stood-up as if a spring was attached to my chair and decided that I couldn’t do it anymore. I hoped that I would never sit on that chair again.
The contentment I used to get from writing content was replaced with stress, monotony and a feeling of hopelessness.
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So, coming back to my story…
If, 35 years back, someone had asked what I wanted to become when I grow up? I would’ve confidently replied that I wanted to become an artist. But since I grew-up, I had not paid any attention to that calling. Whenever, I came across an art exhibition or event, I always thought to myself “I can do that too.” I moved from one stage to another, doing fairly well professionally and at the home front, being satisfied with my life, but why did I always feel that something was missing. I could not put my finger on it.
I decided to take a sabbatical, and explore other skills I was interested in.
But what now?
It was a difficult decision. I decided to quit my stable source of work but what was next? Frankly speaking, I did not know at that time. I took it as a break from work. I just thought that I have worked hard enough for many years and it was time to take a break and focus on things that I liked to do. I had not picked a brush or painted anything for years, so now was my chance to reignite lost passions. I did not put the pressure of making art my “next big career”, I just started. I did not have any expectations. My only aim was to learn and create.
The turning point - The beginning of a new phase of my life
I simply started painting. Looking at pictures that I liked and tried to paint them. With each painting I made, I learnt new techniques, gained knowledge of art material, added something unknown to my muscle memory and got that sense of achievement after completing a painting.
What is the biggest motivator for human beings? What is it that keeps us moving forward?
The answer in my opinion is “self-growth” when we see an improvement in ourselves, we are highly motivated to work more dedicatedly to become a better version of ourselves.
I started painting almost every day without feeling the pinch or burden of doing something I didn’t want to do. Of course, I felt frustrated often. Doubted myself and my skills. Those were the times when I started learning even more through YouTube or through other artists. I did not have an end goal or deadline in my mind and that made the process very pleasing.
I came across a new medium called “alcohol inks” and it immediately captured my attention. No, you don’t have to be drunk while painting with alcohol inks 😊. It is a way of working with inks where we use pure alcohol instead of water for diluting the color. Since, it was a completely new medium, the whole world was open for experimentation, there was no precedence, nothing to follow, no rules. I remember the initial days of working with inks. I couldn’t wait to paint; every day was more exciting than the previous. I painted 5-6 pieces daily, experimenting, exploring, and learning through my own observations.
“When experimenting with alcohol inks, every day felt like a mad scientist’s lab—without the lab coat, but with plenty of colorful explosions.”
I also started posting my art on Instagram. And, fortunately, people liked it a lot. It was fresh it was something that they had never seen before.
Wings: Embracing my Artistic Identity
I slowly started getting enquires for selling my art and for teaching it. I started displaying some of my works in exhibitions and gave demos in front of people. It was all completely new for me.
And then one day, someone asked looking at one of my paintings in an exhibition, “who is the artist?”
And that’s when the reality sunk in, self-doubt disappeared, happiness beamed through and I proudly declared, “Yes, I am the artist.”
Since then, there’s no looking back. I opened my own art studio, I paint almost daily, I have taught 1000s of art lovers through workshops and courses, sold 100s of paintings, exhibited all over India.
From “I can do that too” to “I did it”… “and still doing it” and “will keep doing it”
“Creativity is like a secret superpower – to turn mundane into something magical.”
Lessons Learned
Art can bring you closer to self-realization only if you are willing to give it a chance and follow what comes to you naturally, rather than doing what others are doing. It’s during the process of “flow” engrossed completely while painting, that I find myself at peace. I would give up any job, to catch that feeling of nothingness -- When thoughts disappear, when noises fade, when senses merge and art flows naturally.
I think, my art is deeply influenced by the constraints in the business content writing world, and that is way I always enjoy free-flowing paintings where I do not paint within the lines. It’s always loose, abstract and has movement.
But I have realized that to follow a creative pursuit requires a few more things (and some of them are boring):
Take away the profit mindset: Let’s be real for a moment. You can’t have the burden of earning a living when you are starting your creative journey. Everything you paint, won’t sell. So, just like when you start a business, you know that you won’t be earning profits from day 1, it’s the same with art.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint: Consistently and dedicatedly showing up, doing the work and displaying it so people can find you – is the way. It’s very much like hiking. When you begin, you feel breathless, your legs ache, you wonder if you should’ve even come for the trip – but as you warm up and develop the muscles, you start to enjoy the scenery, and smell the fragrance of nature, and once you reach your destination – all the pain seems to disappear and you just enjoy the expanse in front of you. That sums-up the range of emotions pretty well.
Invest in yourself: When people buy art, they are buying a piece of you. You are your brand identity and to grow your brand, you must do all that’s needed. You’ll need to learn the ropes, do the marketing, make videos, share your thoughts, invest in yourself.
Focus on your craft: Invest in that studio, invest in those professional art supplies, learn from the best artists in the world, keep improving and honing your skills because nothing else matter. It is when you are completely in that zone you will think of art 24x7.
Transformative power of art which leads to self-discovery and fulfillment
It is a risk worth taking. You can always go back and get a corporate job, but I am telling you that if you have that “bug of creativity”, it is best to take that risk now than feel incomplete later in life thinking that “only if I could’ve done that…”
Life is too short to spend it doing something that doesn’t light a fire in your soul and inspires you to be the best version of yourself.
Find Your Wings: Embrace Creativity Amidst Uncertainty
No matter your age, you’ll always wish you started younger, but today is the youngest you’ll ever be again.
So, I would like to leave you with a question that you could ask yourself:
“What would you do if you had no constraints, no limitations, and could pursue your wildest dreams?”
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