I have offended God and mankind because my work didn’t…

“I have offended God and mankind because my work didn’t reach the quality it should have.”

Leonardo da Vinci – on his deathbed. Maybe.

Ok I couldn’t verify whether da Vinci said this or not but if you know any artists this totally tracks. I appreciate that even da Vinci felt this way. I mean, I don’t want *any* of us to feel this way, but it’s nice to know how similar we are.

I felt this way at 20, I feel this way at 47, and I’m sure when I’m 70 I’ll still feel the same. I can’t believe how much time I spend thinking bad art thoughts. Stuff like:

“This isn’t good at all, I’m going to have to redo this.”

“I can’t submit this, this is terrible.”

“Do they know I can’t do this?”

“Why did I think I could do this?”

“What are they going to say when they see I can’t do it.”

And on, and on, and on, and on. You’d think in talking with other art friends and professionals that they’d have tips to eliminate this talk, but it seems collectively like we can’t eliminate it; we can only ignore it and be thankful.

Thankful that we’re here.

Thankful that we can do anything.

Thankful, that despite da Vinci’s quote; maybe we haven’t offended God with our work.

Thankful that we can do all things for the glory of the Lord.

Hat tip to @charismatic_calvinist for the quote. 🙌🏻