“Nothing great has ever been achieved without enthusiasm.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

When it comes to anything, but especially to artistic creativity, spiritual teacher and self-help author Eckart Tolle says, “enthusiasm means there is deep enjoyment in what you do plus the added element of a goal or vision you work toward.”

There is a special kind of enthusiasm in the joy of creating art. It comes mostly from submerging yourself in the process and the sheer exuberance of creativity – not worrying too much about getting it right, just GOING. And yet for most artists, Tolle’s “goal or vision you work toward” is super important as well.

So making art isn’t always JUST about precision and skill, nor is it just about playing – there is it’s all of these fueling the drive toward a single goal, a particular painting or kind of painting you feel passionate about that fuels your making. Hold that framework lightly, Tolle suggests, but do hold it. The right mix, for you, of skill, play, and vision (your goal) provides “a certain degree of what we might call structural tension” that “supercharges the enjoyment.”

Matt Ryder, oil, “Light Show”

“Enthusiasm knows where it is going, but at the same time, it is deeply at one with the present moment,” he says, “the source of aliveness, its joy, and its power.” That’s a great way of looking at the balance of forces involved here.

In my experience, it is all too easy to tip the balance of that joy. When we become too invested in the outcome (and who doesn’t?), we lose touch with the pleasure of doing, just being in the moment, which we all want and need. I mean, who doesn’t love those moments when we’re deeply into our craft, whisked away for hours at a stretch, buoyed by the flow of creation?

The hardest part of this is letting go of wanting it to be a certain way: “when you want to arrive at your goal more than you want to be doing what you are doing, you become stressed,” Tolle says. “The balance between enjoyment and structural tension is lost, and the latter has won.” Ouch.

As I wrote previously, the root of the word enthusiasm comes from the ancient Greek enthusiasmos or en-theos, to be filled with a god. I love the idea of being the vessel or facilitator of something rather completely responsible and in total control – it takes some of the pressure off, and maybe this is a good way of holding the “goal or vision” lightly enough so that it doesn’t derail the flow.

Matt Ryder, oil, “A Delicate Balance”

We don’t have to generate it all by thinking about it; enthusiasm comes out of how you approach what you’re already doing. You become open to enthusiasm by having a goal but holding it lightly enough to be open to anything. Maybe we find it by first getting our hands dirty, making lots of mistakes, and fixing them just enough to still be excited about seeing what’s going to happen next.


Enjoying the process AND working toward something awesome and exciting – that seems to be the sweet spot. “At the height of creative activity fueled by enthusiasm, there will be enormous energy behind what you do,” Tolle writes. “You will feel like an arrow moving toward the target and enjoying the journey.” But it’s even more than that. Enthusiasm enables you to make better work than you know you can. Enthusiasm begets inspiration, and allowing yourself to be fully inspired is the ultimate secret to making strong, exciting art.

If you’re interested in learning to paint joyful roses Matt Ryder will fire your enthusiasm. Check out his teaching video here.