Creative Cross-Training PT. II

After months of talking about wanting to do pottery, I finally signed up for three months of classes at the community centre. I wrote earlier this year about creative cross-training. (I originally found out about this concept on the 99U blog). Beyond writing weekly, this is a first experimental attempt at seeing what happens with creative cross-training. 

The pottery studio feels magical to me. Coming from a space that is almost purely digital, I feel like a kid working with my hands again. My ritual is to leave my phone in the locker and be 100% in the room. I spent last Friday morning practicing my throwing on the wheel and then came back the next morning to do it again. Needless to say, I'm hooked. I made four bowls: one chunky one, one with a huge slope, one with beautifully straight sides, and finally one that I think I would enjoy eating out of everyday. 

In my first class, our instructor dropped some bombs about pottery. She let us know that in her experience, most people find pottery very difficult because they can't let go of the judgement in the process. Most people have also never done anything technically the same as pottery. It's so different. So why are we so judgmental? 

Boom. 

Why are we so judgmental? 

I've been thinking a lot about judgment, especially in my work. As with most people, I'm incredibly hard on my work.  Like in pottery, I've still got so much to learn in film. So why am I judging so critically? 

I'm learning to let go a bit in pottery. To let the clay shape itself. To enjoy the feeling of getting into flow. To allow myself to become a beginner again. To let the mistakes be the marks the artist leaves behind. It's everything and so much more people say about the art. It feels so good to be a beginner again. 

When was the last time you felt like a beginner? Have any of you tried out creative cross training?