10,000 hours

I've been thinking about the many blog posts and editorials I've read about "10,000 hours" being the amount of time and work someone has to put in to truly master a skill. 

Van Gogh was a master, and I think he probably did put in a solid 10,000 hours.  He worked himself way too hard, though. 

Me...I've always had trouble with what Robert Genn calls "stickability".  That is, being able to continue working on a single skill 'till it's mastered despite all obstacles, setbacks and distractions.

I love to garden.  I love to sew.  I'm obsessed with growing my hair out to my ankles.  I have kids at home, a
husband who likes to eat now and then, too many pets, and am constantly worried about money.  Okay...me and everyone else.  But I don't feel I accomplish a third of what many other people do.  And I mean average people, not the driven and strident like Van Gogh.

I also tend to spend a lot of time fighting with my environment.  I want to sit and paint...first, I have to find a place.  Then I have to gather all the stuff I need.  Then I have to actually sit down and do it...and that's usually the hardest part.  I sit down, someone needs me.  I sit down, I have to get right back up.  I sit down, someone knocks on the door, the phone rings, the toilet overflows, the dog starts barking.... Yeah.  And if that's not enough, just wait 'till all those things happen right in the middle of a nice, flat wash.  :(  I've ruined several paintings because someone just can't wait 'till I've finished.

But...that's not the whole issue.  I know a lot of it is commitment issues.  As a child, I was not raised to see things through.  My parents certainly couldn't.  If anything took longer than three days to accomplish, all bets were off.  My father walked away from his jobs more often than anyone I've ever known.  He just couldn't stay with something if anything more attractive glittered in the distance.

Anyway...not here to whine.  Rather, here to try to figure out ways to put in the time.  I've been painting for about five years, but probably haven't put in 200 hours.  I let anything and everything get in the way; from simply "I'm not in the mood" to "I have no inspiration" to...you fill-in-the-blank.