Growing As An Artist

Likely only able to speak from personal experience and opinion, there's so many ways to get to two places as someone gifted as or preserver to be an artist. Weathering the storms that come with itersonal and outer challenges and settling into complacency. It probably might mean the difference between someone that does it for the enjoyment alone or as a profession of some kind, but it's quite known how hard it can be. The first and biggest battle is finding your reason and motivation to continue. If not, we quit, we stagnate and settle where we know we could do so much more. No one can push you harder than yourself and disciplines, habits and practice keep many going. Just like anything we try and improve at. Doubt can be severe, off days can mount on top of it all and there's no easy way to make it out. Each person has that something that gets us through or maybe we make it out finally before that happens, fortunately.
Another is motivation by others. Or even discouragement. To me, honesty is the biggest thing that will help anyone, be it acquaintance of a peer, friend or family. If you can't be honest about their strengths and weaknesses, you're doing no better than them in their slump. You also have to be open with those willing to listen about where you need to improve; seeking a critique one-on-one before taking on a community of fellow artists. You HAVE to have a thick skin to hear what you don't like or want to or else you will never make it as a professional or even dare share your work with others. Failure, error, learning from it is where perfection comes from or at least the knowledge of it to reach your goals. Have a good support system that will build you up and also be honest; doesn't matter if an artist or not. Non-artists may not have technical skill or knowledge, but basics are often missed that anyone can notice or at least bring to mind.
To me, support is more than a like or fav, but someone that will tell me what I'm doing wrong if they spot it or I ask for their opinion. That helps me get better, just the same as someone liking a picture of my pizza I make doesn't make me a better cook. Even if someone is trying to do their worst in bringing you down, maybe what their saying is true as well, but believing you can get past and grow is going to outweigh any harsh words given.
There's also the truth that life situations may require doing something else rather than our passion. It's hard, painful, but that doesn't mean in those quiet moments, no matter how sparring, that time to create will do more than lamenting the days when having a whole or even half a day to devote to it.
Taking care of ourselves is most important of all. If you can properly put thought together or ruin your body to the point doing art is impossible, where the risks worth it? Again, like any sort of training/practice, we have to take care of the instruments that drive us or just like a machine, it will break down. Not maybe, will. Long hours devoted to art shows passion, but even that has its limits. Proper rest helps those trying to get in shape, so does it shapen up the brain at the same time. Diet plays an important role in brain function, the central unit that our creativity sparks. If so bogged down by external forces that slow it down or diminish it, then likely things will be shortened various ways. There's so much more I could say and go into, but I think I've gotten out a lot of the thoughts I've considered myself and know of.

A lifelong endeavor is a winding road with the best and worst in store, yet anything can be said to be the same. Even if I feel like I've given up on something, I'm sure to devote myself to something else in its stead. That way, somewhere down the line, I'll come back to what it is I want to try at, be that a passion or hobby.