Pencil drawing and why engage I in it, enjoying the moment of the here and now

I started sketching about a month ago. At first it was a way for me to visualize my bonsai material but as I progressed I realized that I enjoyed the art and have even watched lessons on you tube which is very helpful especially the lessons on principles of sketching. 

How does it benefit me?

no need to beat yourself in the head

I have the tendency to overthink. I think about work, future, family, religion etc.I guess everyone thinks about these thing and more and only the insane are exempt form these anxieties. and when I doodle and draw ( or play the guitar) these negative thoughts are replaced by something else, relaxed concentration. 

Another thing is that my pupils seemed to be impressed by my drawings. Of course they are easy to impress and I'm not fooling myself into thinking that I'm going to be a professional artist or something but impressing the pupils is an asset when it come to teaching MAPEH. I gained more authority, another way to put it.

Now, whether I'm good at it or not, is a question I will not even entertain because once that thought entered my head the interest will be lost. I think the goal of an activity is to enjoy the moment and the journey, It should not to be about being good at it, or to be the best or not all, these thoughts are  joy killers and could be depressing if the expectations are not met. There are a lot of people who gave up what they are doing because they feel they are not good at it, or they loss enthusiasm because someone else is doing better than them, learning faster than them, or worse someone told them they are not good. But that should not be the case. It's all about enjoying the experience and cultivating the interest, nothing more.

I'm fascinated by trees

The best way to do it is to engage an activity with no expectations, nothing, tabula rasa, and from there discover from within if you're into it but don't give up just because you think you're not good at it. It's all about interest and your interest should not be frustrated by failed expectations.

How many times have we heard people say that the real race is against the self and not really against other people but to tell the truth, that is also bull. I mean, you don't have to have a race with anyone not even yourself, It's all about enjoying the moment.

I heard a music teacher say that the inner struggle of learning the classical guitar is the idea of not enjoying the here and the now of the moment. Joy is lost when the learner thinks that he/she should have been better now, should have improved but instead of thinking that way, why not enjoy the moment and the music.

So, don't punsih yourselves, do good and beautiful things because you enjoy and surely you'll be rewarded like I hope I would be, but then again, I set no expectations.