For quite sometime I have been feeling slightly disorderly with my two hobbies. I often feel like a huge misfit. How can someone be so talented with a paintbrush yet be so athletic at the same time? The two just don’t seem to fit together.
In my college fine arts classes I always felt like a fish out of water. Everyone would be in edgy and fashionable clothing and there I was in sweats & Nikes drinking a protein shake. I didn’t fit in aesthetically but my talent in art and design would generally surpass those around me so I was never necessarily discouraged.
On the other hand the gym was becoming a place that felt more and more like home and where I belong. At first I did fit in there -I was your typical female cardio queen whose physique stayed the same. After a few months of serious weight training I achieved a desirable physique but no longer “fit in” with the crowd. Now I stand out and I’m damn well proud. I am one of the only young females who attends my gym on a daily basis and dedicates serious time and effort to my workouts AS WELL as my nutrition.
For the longest time I couldn’t see how something as relaxing as painting and something as demanding as weight training could be on the same persons’ list of favorite things to do. These are simply polar opposite pastimes. I even found myself hiding gym jargon from art speak. In other words, I wasn’t truly being myself because I always kept one side of me hidden. By doing this I feel incomplete and it makes me wonder if there is something wrong with me. I know it sounds silly but the topic truly bothers me. I feel uncomfortable when I talk about fitness to the artsy type or when I talk about art to fitness freaks. I always get strange looks and reactions and it doesn’t make me feel good!
But the more I think about it the more I see how these two polar opposite hobbies actually correlate. In the gym I add muscle here and decrease fat there and slowly create a body that is aesthetically pleasing. In the studio I add paint here and decrease saturation there and slowly create an image that is aesthetically pleasing. The weights are my brushes, nutrition is my paint palette, and my body is my canvas.
In both of theses realms of my life I stand out. I am noticed without trying to be noticed. And I am just now starting to embrace it. It’s what makes me.. well, me! I am an artist and I am a gym rat. A painter and a sculptor, if you will.
So regardless of what your hobbies and strengths are, no matter how far off they may be, Don’t let anything stop you from being you!
