Ever feel like you're nailing everything in life—career, family, and that sweet 9-to-5 grind—yet your passion for art feels like a clumsy dance move at a wedding? Well, grab your metaphorical paintbrush because we’re diving into the curious conundrum of being good at everything except what you love! This episode is all about why your creative pursuits often come with a side of awkwardness and how that’s totally normal. We’ll chat about the struggles of choosing art as your thing, the reality that passion doesn’t equal instant mastery, and how your past skills might just hold you back. So, whether you’re a seasoned pro or a total newbie, let’s shake off that fear and embrace the beautiful mess that is creating art!

What happens when the thing you’re best at isn’t the thing you love?

In this episode, we explore the quiet tension between competence and calling. Many creatives find themselves praised, promoted, and depended on in areas that don’t actually fulfill them—while the work they love most feels clumsy, uncertain, and frustrating.

This conversation is about giving yourself permission to struggle where it matters. About understanding that passion doesn’t arrive with instant skill, and that being “good” at something else can sometimes keep you from becoming who you really are as an artist.

If you’ve ever felt torn between what you’re capable of and what you care about, this episode will meet you right there.

Competence Is Not the Same as Fulfillment

Being good at something often earns approval, stability, and praise—but that doesn’t mean it feeds your creative identity.

Why the Thing You Love Feels Harder

What we love carries emotional weight. Failure feels personal, which makes progress slower and more uncomfortable.

The Trap of Being “The Reliable One”

When others depend on your competence, it becomes harder to step away—even when it’s slowly draining you.

Passion Requires Beginner Energy

Loving something means being willing to be bad at it longer, without guarantees or applause.

Choosing What You Love Is a Long Game

Mastery comes later. Meaning comes first. The discomfort is not a flaw—it’s the cost of alignment.

Takeaways:

• Feeling good at your job doesn't mean you're creatively fulfilled; art can feel clumsy and uncertain, but that's okay!
• Most of us are good at our careers but struggle with our creative passions; don't let that stop you from creating!
• Choosing to pursue what you love often means embracing discomfort and public struggle, but it's totally worth it in the end!
• Don't compare your artistic journey to others; focus on what fills your soul rather than seeking external approval.
• Being the reliable one at work can hinder your creativity; remember, it's essential to make time for your art!
• Embrace the beginner's mindset when diving back into art; it's about the joy of creating, not just the end product.

How do I get such great guests?

PodMatch I use Podmatch to get the best guests on the show. Check out PodMatch if you want to be a guest on other podcasts or if you have a podcast and need guests for your show. Guests from Podmatch

Want to be a guest on Create Art Podcast? Send Timothy Brien a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/createartpodcast

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Reach Out To The Podcast

To reach out to me, email timothy@createartpodcast.com I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and let's start that conversation.

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Speaking about sharing with a friend, check out my other podcast Find A Podcast About where I help you outsmart the algorithm and find your next binge-worthy podcast. You can find that podcast at findapodcastabout.xyz.

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There's a strange frustration that doesn't get talked about enough.

You're good at your job.

You're competent, reliable, and capable.

But the thing you love, the thing that matters most to you creatively, that's the one place where you feel clumsy, uncertain, unfinished.

So in this episode, we're talking about what it means to be good at everything except what you love, why passion doesn't come with instant mastery, how being naturally talented elsewhere can actually hold you back.

And why choosing what you love means choosing to struggle publicly and honestly.

Now, if you've ever wondered why your heart picked the hardest thing, which is art, this episode is for you.

Hey there, friend.

This is Timothy Chemo Bryan, your head instigator for Create Art podcast, where I use my over 30 years of experience in the arts and education world to help you tame your inner critic and create more than you consume.

That's when we're recording it.

And this episode, well, it's titled when you're good at everything except what you love.

And kind of the gist of this whole series is aimed at those of you that already have a 9 to 5, that already have a family, a career, responsibilities, and you've told yourself that you don't have time for art in your life.

Well, here's the thing.

You do.

You absolutely do.

I fully and 100% believe in it.

In this episode, we're going to talk about, yes, you're successful in all these other areas in your life, except for what you really love to do, which is art.

And we're going to try to break through some of that with some of the points that we're going to talk about.

So let's get the show on the road here.

Right?

So my first point in this episode is to tell you that confidence is not the same thing as fulfillment.

Now, when you're good at something, it often gives you approval, stability, and praise, but that doesn't mean that it feeds your creative identity.

Okay, when you're at work, get raises, you're the person to go to and all that, and you get awards.

Your kids absolutely love you.

Your.

Your spouse is totally in love with you.

Everything is going good there.

But that may not feed your creative identity.

Okay, that.

That.

That spark that's inside you.

It's hard for me to describe it because I think it's a little bit different for everybody, but for me, there's a spark inside me.

And, yeah, I can be good at all this.

Other stuff, but there's something more that I crave, just a little bit more personal.

Okay, I'm good at all this other stuff.

I mean, my day job, you know, I do financial wellness training for folks.

I am not a certified financial planner or a certified public accountant.

I. I'm interested in that stuff.

I'm competent in it.

A lot of the programs that we use at work, I'm competent in it, but it doesn't fill my soul.

I mean, yes, I love turning on the light bulb in people's minds about a topic, but I would rather do it through art, Rather do it through music, through writing, through painting, that stuff.

I'd rather do it that way and make people go.

But that's what I do to pay the bills.

And it's fine to pay the bills, and we all need to pay the bills.

But it doesn't necessarily fill our soul the way art does.

You know, with art, you may not get that instant approval.

You may not get the economic stability that your job brings.

Nobody might like the stuff that you put out there.

You may be like me and you paint like a four year old on crack.

That's kind of my running joke.

But I'm happy with the stuff that I paint because it makes me feel good and other people around me seem to enjoy it, so it makes them feel good too.

Am I the best painter, the best writer, the best musician?

Absolutely not.

Not even close.

Not even close.

You can probably classify me as a beginner in all these things, but the joy I get from it and how it fills my soul when I do it.

Man, if I could bottle that and make millions of dollars of it, I'd quit my job tomorrow and just do that.

But I know that right now I can't.

It's a little bit too chaotic because I have responsibilities.

If I did that, my wife would go through the roof and she would be right to.

She.

You would absolutely be right to.

So that's why the things that I stay competent in my work stuff.

I keep it at a certain level, but I realize it's not going to fill my soul.

It's the art that's going to fill my soul.

So just keep that in mind when you're thinking about creating some art for yourself or for those around you.

All right, my next point is why the thing you love feels harder.

Why does art feel hard?

You know, maybe you haven't gone to art school, maybe you haven't been formally trained and you go to the art galleries on the first Friday when it's Free to go in there to.

To your galleries.

We call it First Friday here in Fredericksburg.

But maybe you go to the galleries and the museums and you appreciate that.

Or you go to a play or.

Or a live play or some concert or something along those lines, and you see the people that are doing it, that they've been trained in doing it, and they've been doing it for years, and that is their job, that is their career.

But then you look at your stuff and you go, man, how do I compete with that?

I can't compete with that.

You don't need to.

You just need to create art that fills your soul.

And if other people pick up on it, fantastic.

You never know what an audience is going to pick up and run with you, truly.

I mean, you can know your audience to a certain extent, but you don't know what's going to go viral or go big or whatever the kids are saying these days.

The things that we love carry that emotional weight.

Okay?

When you create a piece of art and you throw a lot of emotion into it, let's say it's a painting.

I don't care if it's a Roth.

I'm not going to compare it to a Rothko, because for me, Rothko's, they look very basic.

But once you hear the story behind the paintings, then you're like, oh, my God, it's hard rendering some of these stories that he has.

But don't compare yourself to somebody that's doing it professionally, all right?

Be in a competition with yourself.

Don't do that comparison game.

And when you put something out there in the world and let's say it fails, don't take it personally.

Here's the reasoning behind it.

You are doing your day job, quote, unquote, day job, and you're good at it.

You're really good at it.

And you've been doing it for years.

And you got.

You got the skills.

You developed the skills to get good at it.

And maybe you pushed art in the background and now you're bringing art back out.

It's not starting over.

You're not starting from zero.

You have some of the skills that you had in the past.

It's just you had a pause and you're going and you're continuing on.

And that can feel hard because.

Because your competence level will be at a lower level, and you'll expect yourself to be at a higher level.

Don't be so hard on yourself, okay?

Don't be hard on yourself.

Because when you get back into art, that journey is going to that progress, and the improvement is going to take some time.

It's going to be slow, and it's going to feel really uncomfortable.

It's going to be like your first day at your job when you get to know everybody and find out where the bathroom is and where the water fountain is and the break room is and where the best parking spot is.

It's gonna feel like that, but then you get comfortable with it.

You get into a good routine, you learn what skills you need to improve upon, and then you're rocking it out.

All right, don't do the comparison.

And be gentle with yourself.

Be gentle with yourself because you're getting your.

If you've never tried art before, then you're getting into something brand new, and that can be scary and uncomfortable to start new things.

If you have done some in your past and you took a pause and now you're getting back into it, it's going to feel weird at first, but you'll be able to do it.

Just like riding a bike.

Absolutely.

It's like riding a bike.

You can do this.

All right, we're going to talk about the trap of being the reliable one.

Now, if you're like me.

Yeah.

You rock at your job.

You are the bomb at your job.

People come to you and rely on you to do your job with the competence that you already have.

Your family depends on you.

You're the rock for your family.

I'm the rock for my family.

I have to show up for them each and every day.

I don't get a day off.

I have to be at on point every time.

All right?

And that's good.

It's great for your ego.

It's very great for your ego.

And that can be the downfall when it comes to your art.

Because everyone's depending on you and you can't fool around and you can't have fun.

At least that's what goes on in the back of my head.

And my wife always makes sure that I get out of the house on Friday and go to a poetry reading or go do something fun.

She demands that I do that.

She's like, get out of here.

Go do something fun.

Please, for the love of God.

And I do.

I'll go out to a poetry reading or maybe I'll go out and see a movie by myself or go do something along those lines.

But that being the reliable one can really impact your creativity and your art in a negative way.

I want you to be reliable.

I don't want you to slough off on your job.

I'm not telling you to do that.

But when we get caught in that ego boost and we go.

And we don't have that in our art, we're getting that same ego boost.

It's.

It can put a damper on your creativity, because then you're going to be like, well, I'm no good at this anyway, so nobody really cares, so I'm not going to do it.

Well, I mean, you're listening to a podcast on creativity, so obviously you care.

And that's why I'm here.

It is to bring that out in you and to encourage that and to help you ignite that spark for yourself.

So, yes, being reliable is a good thing in the business world, in the family world.

But let's make sure, again, we're not doing that comparison.

Like, we're not comparing our stuff with other people, with professionals who have been doing it for years.

I don't compare my stuff to that.

I mean, yes, I like the music that I make, but do I dare compare it to John Cole Coltrane or Miles Davis or Jimi Hendrix or Leonard Cohen?

No, I'm not going to compare it to that.

Because they were doing it for a long time and it took them a long time, and that's what they focused on.

That was their job.

My job.

I do financial wellness training for the agency that I work for, and I try to be the best husband I can be and the best father I can be and the best friend I can be to my friends.

That's.

That's the jobs that I do.

But I make sure that the competence that I have in those jobs, I'm not comparing it to the competence I have in my art.

I'm always trying to improve my art, always trying to educate myself with it.

But I'm not comparing those two with a career versus my art, because they're apples and oranges.

They're not the same thing.

The career, so that way I can support my family and myself.

The art is so I can support my heart and my soul.

So your passion requires a beginner's energy.

Just think about the things that you've started to learn and you were excited to learn, whether it be with your career, being a family person or what have you.

But, you know, when you learn something for the first time, you get excited about it.

Maybe it's for your jobs.

That way you can get more money.

Hey, good for that.

I'm excited for that for you.

Excellent.

But this passion with our art needs to have that beginner energy.

And if you go into it With I'm an expert at this stuff.

Then it becomes old hand doesn't become a challenge.

And I happen to like challenges.

I. I play video games because I like the challenge.

I.

Sometimes I'll play black ops, Call of Duty black Ops, and get schooled by a bunch of teenagers on that game.

But it's fun, it's a challenge.

Sometimes I school them.

It's great.

So you gotta have that beginner energy while you're developing your.

While you're following your passion, not even developing it, but just following your passion.

There's going to be new things that you don't know about that you didn't get trained in, that you have no formal training in.

Nobody's mentored you or anything like that.

That's fine.

There's ways to find that information and to go out there.

The acrylic paintings that I've been doing for the past couple of months here, I went out there and found somebody that was doing it.

The art Sherpa, her stuff was still out there on the web, so I could watch it and learn from her, even though she passed away.

And I was excited, and I still am excited about it.

As a matter of fact, there is one specific painting that she has that I have done.

I'm working on my third version of it, so I think that's pretty awesome.

Even though she's passed away, she's still impacting somebody's life.

And yeah, it's a simple painting.

It really is.

When you look at it, it's very simple.

But you know, what makes me smile makes me go.

I can do that.

The people that I've given the first two versions to absolutely love it.

And other people that I've shown the first version to, they're like, can we get that?

Can we get a copy of that?

And I'm like, yeah, absolutely.

Let me personalize it for you for what you want.

So we got to have that beginner energy.

It's okay to have it.

It's okay to be new at this stuff.

It's a.

Okay.

We need that energy, and that energy is going to sustain.

So now we know that, hey, you're successful at work, you're successful in your social life and your home life, family life and all that.

Great.

Let's get better at creating art for ourselves that fill our soul.

And guess what?

You're not going to do it overnight and be done.

Because once you start doing one painting, one song, one poem, One dance, you're going to want to do another one and another one, and it's going to keep on growing and growing, and there's going to be dry spots, there's going to be patches where you're not creating anything, and that's perfectly fine.

But what you're doing is you're looking at the long game at some point, hopefully, I hope for you, you retire from your job, from your career, and then that way you can spend more time with your art.

See how that works?

When one is waning, the other is waxing.

Wax on, wax off.

I feel like Karate Kid here for a minute.

But we gotta think about our art in terms of the long game.

Not.

Not quick fame and fortune.

If it happens for you, Fantastic.

Great.

I'll only take 10% because I'm gonna say that I inspired you to do it.

I'm kidding.

Keep all your money.

I don't need it.

I do.

But, hey, that's neither here nor there.

But make sure that you're taking a long view of this creative journey.

Not.

I'm just going to create things for a week or two and be done with it.

No, do it for the rest of your life, because for no other reason, think about this.

You can give with the art that you create.

You can give it away as birthday gifts, holiday gifts, or just whatever day gifts to your friends, families, and loved ones.

There you go.

And you don't have to go to a store or anything like that.

You just keep on doing that each and every year.

And those gifts are going to be probably the most touching gifts that your friends, family, and loved ones receive.

So if for no other reason, do it for that reason.

All right?

And hopefully you live a long life and you can give away a lot of gifts.

So think about it in terms of the long game, not what you can quickly get out of it.

All right, well, that's all I have for you today on this episode.

I am so happy that you joined me here for this.

We have busy lives.

We do.

And you're great at everything else in your life.

Why not really get good at something that you love to do, which is your art?

You know, it's a gift you give yourself.

It's when you feel your soul, when you feel your heart, then it's easier to fill these other areas in your life.

And again, when you retire, and I hope you all do, because I know I'm going to.

Then the career goes away, and then the arc can come full into your life and really enrich your life some Great artists didn't start until late in life after they'd raised their kids and had careers and other things in other areas.

There's a lot of them that are out there.

Grandma Moses is one of them.

She didn't start painting until her 70s.

I'm 53 at the time of this recording.

I'm glad I didn't wait till my 70 to start painting.

I'd rather get my 4 year old on crack era out of the way.

But I hope this something inspired a little something inside of you and it just fan that spark just a little bit more for you.

So again, thank you for watching on YouTube or listening to this on your podcast app of choice.

Really appreciate you coming in each and every episode and listening to me.

If you'd like to get in contact with me, reach out timothyreateartpodcast.com and I'd be happy to read those emails, find out what you think about the show, what you'd like to see more of, less of.

If you want to be a guest on the show, show ideas that you may have, whatever it is, I invite you to go ahead and email me on that or just tell me how you're doing on your journey.

I would love to hear that as well.

But definitely if you got something out of this, my ask is that you share it with a friend and then that way they can get something out of it.

Especially if they're kind of in the same boat with you and you know you got a great career and all that and you don't want to rock the boat on that stability.

There's ways to get around that, there's ways to do it and we talked about that here today.

Speaking about sharing the show with a friend, I do run another show and it's called Find a Podcast About.

You can find it at Find a Podcast about xyz and over there I help my listeners find their next binge worthy podcast and outsmart the algorithm.

Give it a look.

See, you might find your next favorite podcast there.

It's called TKB Podcast Studio.

You can go to TKB podcast studio.com I help my clients lead through the noise with quiet professionalism.

I help them with their podcasts.

If you've ever thought about starting up a podcast, talk to me about that.

I can show you how to do this.

Again, I'm not the smartest person in this room and there's only me and you here, so that should tell you something.

But I am smart about podcasts so let me give you a hand with getting your podcast started up.

I'd be more than happy to do that.

And I have my portfolio of all the stuff that I've been working on lately, so check that out for yourself.

TKB Podcast Studio.

All right.

That's all I have for you on this episode.

I want to thank you again for listening.

And go out there, tame your inner critic.

Create more than you consume.

I'm not saying don't.

I'm not saying don't.

Be reliable.

Be reliable, but go out there and create some art for somebody.

You love yourself because you deserve it.

You do great in all these other areas of your life.

Make some art for you.

Fill your soul.

I'll talk to you next time.

Sam.