David Murray - The Art of Being: Discovering Self and Artistic Potential through Narrative Transformation - S3E24

Imagine harnessing the power of art as a transformative tool for self-discovery and personal growth. That's exactly what we explore in this engrossing discussion with our guest, the award-winning artist, author, and speaker, David Murray. He shares his enlightening journey of using art as a catalyst for understanding his personal narrative and inner world, inspiring us to redefine our limits and create our own masterpieces.

Our exploration of art's transformative power doesn't stop there. We discuss how art instills ambition and self-determination, teaching us to take control of our lives while fostering a burning desire to achieve our goals. The conversation takes an intriguing turn as we disentangle the scientific approach towards achieving unstoppable determination presented in the book "Indomitable". We reiterate the vital role of narrative in our journey to personal transformation and gaining mastery over our craft.

Finally, we delve into the realm of personal narratives. Stories that we tell ourselves can often become our biggest roadblock.

As we close this fascinating discourse, we extend our appreciation to you, our listeners. We invite your suggestions for future episodes and guests. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a comment. We're excited about the insights and wisdom our future guests will bring to our discussion space. Thank you for joining us and we look forward to our next inspirational episode.

We look forward to seeing you succeed! - www.KeepOnSharing.com - Code - KOS

Transcript

Coach Mikki: 0:16

Hey, I'm Coach Mikki, and if this is your first time joining us, come on in and make yourself comfortable. And for those of you that do stop by on a regular basis, thank you so much for continually come by and I love all your comments, your questions and your suggestions, whether I be here on my YouTube channel or through the podcast, and thank you again for being so gracious and reaching out to all of my guests and with your comments and questions and something just to connect with them. So today is no different, because I'm really excited to have on this. You guys know I'm always excited to have on all my guests. That's why I have them on. But he is a little bit different than what I've had on from in the past and through my podcast. His name is David Murray and he's an award-winning artist. He is also an author and a speaker, and his art is to redefine your limits and create a masterpiece. So thank you for joining me today. How are you, David?

David Murray: 1:11

Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me on. I'm doing wonderful, thank you.

Coach Mikki: 1:16

So I was really intrigued with what you do, because I've had on a lot of guests that have done you know they've either been coaches or they work with people, but I love the fact that you do yours through art and that just really seems to touch so many different senses, so I'm just going to let you run with it. So tell me how you do it and how this works.

David Murray: 1:39

Yeah. So the whole background behind art is the ambition. There's a strong desire. Why do we have this desire to create? Why do we have a desire to create art? What's so fascinating about that? And to me, what's fascinating is the actual ambition behind the desire to create. So I like to use art as a medium to study that ambitious side of ourselves and the will, the determination, because creating art, as you probably know, is not an easy thing to do. A lot of people try it and immediately they're like, oh, I can't do this. But the reality is like, you can do it, but it's just one of those things that's difficult to do. And so, through artwork, I've been able to study the effects of ambition and self-determination and how to get through the challenges, through the roadblocks, how to actually strap them on like a weighted vest and use it to get stronger and more creative and to get more understanding about the world around you.

Coach Mikki: 2:54

Well, that's really interesting, because art is such a personal thing and everybody's creativity is different. I mean my experience with art, which is very minimal probably compared to yours, but I'm just going to say, if you compare a Monet to a Picasso, to modern art, to creative art, everything is a sense of expression. So I can see how you could collaborate the two with people to be able to dig down deeper inside and not only express themselves through words but also through on a canvas. Now I'm going to ask is a lot of your art painting? Is it mostly on canvas work?

David Murray: 3:36

My particular art is drawing just with pencil on paper, and it's shifted. So it started out as drawing on paper and then it became skateboarding, and then it became physical, like wrestling, and then it became speaking and creating education programs and it became understanding people Really, when you master one thing like drawing, you realize that it actually bleeds over into every single aspect of life, and that's what's so fascinating about it. So I am still an artist at heart, but I'm not making these pictures anymore. I'm actually making these connections with people and helping them understand new ways of thinking about life and the stories that they hold dear to us, because one of the things that's so hard to do in life is to see our own story. It's kind of like the nose on our face, like you can't really see it until you look into a mirror, and so I view creativity as just one of those methods to kind of take a look in the mirror of that inner world that you're blind to, and the effects of that are absolutely incredible.

Coach Mikki: 4:49

I love it. How many breakthroughs have you found doing this? I mean because this is like I said art is very intimate, so I'm sure that people have started. Or give me a story. Do you have a story that you can give us an example of how this is transpired and help someone move on?

David Murray: 5:05

Yeah, actually the story that comes to mind is my own personal story, because it's just one of those powerful moments where everything changes. I had a long distance relationship, so I had this really serious girlfriend and then I actually moved away, went to college, and it was a very difficult thing. But, like, during this time, I created a piece of art where it was basically for her and it was about our relationship and everything, and it didn't end in marriage or what everybody would hope that it would end in. It was one of those high school things. But when it all came to an end, I found myself studying this piece of art because one of my friends had asked me like hey, what does it mean? And I was like I don't know what it means. So I stared at it and I thought, well, must mean something. And so I stared at it and I stared at it and I stared at it and then I had all of a sudden, just a full on epiphany about my entire relationship and it was instant healing. It was instant healing and it was just.

David Murray: 6:17

It changed my life. It was like, holy cow, how does this? There's something to this. I got to keep doing it. So that's really what started an entire series of artwork and it drove that ambition through the roof. It was like I got to keep doing this. This is obviously more powerful than I ever thought, and I thought to myself that maybe nobody else knows how powerful this is too, and I can share that. And so I've been on a mission really to try to figure out what in the world was that? And then how can I share that with other people so that they can get that incredible breakthrough, that life changing epiphany, aha moment that just changes your entire narrative. When your narrative changes, everything in life changes. It's amazing.

Coach Mikki: 7:09

That's pretty deep, because we look at things sometimes through our experiences and who we are and our expectations. And I think when you, when you finally look at it and I guess I mean correct me if I'm wrong, because I'm listening and I want to hear everything you're saying is that when you see it out on paper and it's an expression of who you are and what you do, and then to have it come to you to life and make it a realization, that is very deep. I mean it's because, again, we express ourselves in our own different way and I think putting it on paper, whether it's writing or through art or through any kind of expression, really opens up a new avenue for us to understand ourselves.

David Murray: 7:49

Yeah, absolutely, and our hands have the most nerve endings than other, than any other part of the body, and so when you're painting or you're drawing or using your hands, your nervous system is directly intertwined with that action, and so it's just a, it's a belief, it's a narrative of mine that when you're doing that, your nervous system is revealing itself. It's like pouring out through the hand, and so, yeah, it's going to act as a mirror when it comes back to you.

Coach Mikki: 8:22

That makes a lot of sense. I did a couple of speaking engagements, and one of the ones that I had talked about was how we all have different fingerprints. You know, everything we touch is we leave a little bit of ourselves behind, because nobody has any other fingerprint like our own, and so when we express ourselves, everything we do, everything we touch, we leave a little bit of ourselves behind. So, whatever you decide, how you want to do, that is really up to you. How that person will will view you and see it. But I think it's even more important is how you see yourself. You know, because we're all individuals and we all have these unique gifts, and then bringing it together with art really is like an extension of the expression of who you are. So I've got to ask you the picture that's behind you, was that something that you created?

David Murray: 9:14

Oh no, actually that is a Picasso.

Coach Mikki: 9:17

Oh, from the camera it's a little blurry, so I guess it would matter yeah it's a Picasso.

David Murray: 9:25

When I was in high school, we walked into a pawn shop. I saw that thing and I instantly was like I got to have it. And the guy wanted an insane amount of money for it and I was like I wouldn't leave the pawn shop. I was like I have to have it, and so he basically gave it to me. I love it.

Coach Mikki: 9:46

It's one of my favorite your determination which leads me to my next topic, because we were going to talk about ambition and self-determination, and I really would like to, because I know you speak about a lot of different topics and also I would like to know about your books. So we got a couple of things to cover and, for those of you that do reach out, please you can find all the links and all the information to either down in the description or I'll be embedded into the podcast so you'll be able to reach out to David for further information. But how do you incorporate your artwork with the ambition and the self-determination?

David Murray: 10:21

It's a wonderful question. So first I'd like to start with the terms. So the defining term of ambition is a strong desire to do or achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. And then the definition of self-determination is the process by which a person controls their own life. And, if you think about it, artwork really merges these two things together, which is so the thing that makes it so difficult and the thing that makes it so amazing, because it teaches us something. First you have to have that strong desire, and what is the strong desire compared to just merely having a desire right? And then there's the process by which you control your life, or in R is like hey, what's that process where you control that pencil? What's the process where you control the paints? What's that process that you go through to create a masterpiece? And what's the difference between creating a masterpiece and creating something that you're just like, okay, wow, I never want to sew that to anybody.

David Murray: 11:34

So art is like the perfect marriage of these two things. And then you got to also figure out who are you going to listen to and who are you going to take instructions from, because if you've ever worked with an artist, they don't want to pay attention to anybody's instructions. Right, it's their process and it's theirs, and they control it, and we're inherently aware of how much control we have over our art. And so it's this perfect, perfect concoction to say, maybe I can humble myself a little bit and their art looks like the kind of art that I want to make. So I'm just going to step back and let go of my ego and I'm going to do what they say, or do the things that they do, and then you end up this is amazing and it's shocking, I know, but then you end up growing and you end up getting better, and so it's really this dance between you want to do it your own way, but you still got to be coachable and go and get information and take other people's advice, and it's what a journey that is, you know.

David Murray: 12:41

So back to the strong desire part. That's really the breakthrough point is how strong is the desire? How strong is the desire to get to where you want to be, to create that masterpiece? And that's really what the whole, entire full life force is all about. It's about maximizing that desire and maximizing the determination behind it, because when you maximize that just getting a little bit into the book that I wrote, indomitable.

David Murray: 13:20

How to increase that energy comes from the story, the narrative. The narrative that's what's going to break that energy and produce an insane amount of desire. And from the desire you're going places, because with desire you're going to break through the obstacles. You're going to look at the terrible things that you create and they're still going to sting a little, but with that strong desire you just toss it to the side and you go again. You're not going to get discouraged, whereas you know if your flame is dimmed and I'm just not measuring up, something's just not right here when there's no desire, when something goes wrong, it's done. It's just going to extinguish that fire. And why are you going to continue after that? So it all comes down to the narrative.

Coach Mikki: 14:19

Yeah, well, that's what life's about anyway. I mean, you think about it. If you're passionate about something, you really don't see the obstacles, you'll blow right through them, you'll go around them, you'll go over them, no matter what, if you've got that strong enough desire. But, like you said, if it's something where you don't feel strongly about it, it's going to dwindle. And doing it through art really makes a lot of sense, because you've got to look past. I guess, like life, you've got to look past the mistakes. You've got to look past the things that weren't exactly a masterpiece, whether it be in your life or a piece of art, and still go through it, because the next thing you create or the next thing you do could be different. It could change not only you but the direction that you're going in and be able to build as a person. I love the fact that you do it through art so people can actually see as an extension of a growing process that's within themselves. And so tell me a little bit about your book.

David Murray: 15:15

Yeah, so Indomitable was basically my thesis statement. I've written four books and when it got down to the book Indomitable, I really wanted to talk about the scientific method behind getting to that area in life where you know nothing can stop you. And the great thing about artwork is that you can do it behind closed doors. Nobody can see you fail. That's also kind of the thing that makes art. How do you say it? It's just really hard to show and illustrate what we're talking about Because it can happen behind doors. You know me failing in private for you know a decade where no one sees the terrible drawings I don't want you to see. And then when I start producing something that I worked really, really hard for, Now I can show you, I can put that on display and people think, oh, you're just really talented, You're born with that gift. That's what everybody always thought about me, that I was just naturally gifted and naturally talented. And it made me so angry growing up because I was like you don't see the hard work that goes on beneath it. And so Indomitable is really the scientific method to say you know, this is really how you get mastery, this is really how it works. And crafting, piecing these little pieces together and then giving demonstrations of the variables behind that attitude, and so one without the other does not lead to that transformation. People are always setting goals and then failing to achieve them. And it's like why? Why do I look around and like 98% of people are setting goals and then two weeks later they totally forgot about it and they don't care.

David Murray: 17:04

Well, it all boils down to that narrative, and so that's what Indomitable is all about is about taking a look at yourself, taking a look at your narrative, which is almost impossible to spot. So it's also about being able to even record that narrative and see it for what it really is. And we're so convinced that our story is true, we're so convinced that the story that we believe is real. There's so much evidence like we see all the evidence every day, because our brains are obviously designed to create that evidence and then attach to it, so that we're automatically taking action, because our brains can only focus on so much at a time, right? So all these things have to be automated so that way we don't walk out in front of a bus. You know, we need to survive, we need to live our lives, and so all these things are automated so that we can focus on the dangers and stuff like that.

David Murray: 18:00

And so, really, it's really about how do I notice that story that's going on in my head, how do I notice that story and humble myself a little bit, to shift the narrative, and how do I have the ability, how do I gain the ability to track that narrative, the consequences of that narrative?

David Murray: 18:22

And so it's really a scientific method of going here's the narrative, here's the behaviors and the desires that come from the narrative, and then, with enough energy, there's a breakthrough. So that's really what that whole entire book is all about, and I created a whole bunch of tools that help people to uncover that narrative. And a lot of times I'll sit with people and I'll be like hey, just tell me your story. And I'll sit with my journal in my hands. And the reason why I do this is because if I put the worksheet in front of people I've done this several times I put the worksheet in front of them like, All right, tell me your narrative. They're like I don't know what to put. It's like, really, we just talked for 30 minutes and you spilled your entire life story and you don't know your narrative.

David Murray: 19:09

That's how hard it is to see. So I'll put the tool in my hands and I'll say, Okay, you tell me your story. And they'll say Boom, and I'll pause. I'll pause them like, Stop, I got to write this down. Write it down, and so I'll put their narratives in the boxes for them. And then we can go through the story. And it's amazing, when you ask people to put their narrative into writing, how quickly it just disappears. They cannot see it. And when you see that from several times over, you're like Okay, I already knew coming into this that seeing your own narrative is a difficult thing to do. Now I know it's impossible. So you definitely need tools and you definitely need help.

Coach Mikki: 19:54

Yeah, we all roll on a journey. I mean, we all have experiences, we all have things that have happened in our lives. So you know, to let go or to even move forward. You're right. I think a lot of times that's how we get stuck. You know, we get stuck with going Well, what am I going to do with this? Or what do I do now? Or you've been like you said. You've been telling yourself the same thing for so many years that you don't recognize that you even do it anymore and you allow it to become your everyday actions, your everyday life, where within us, we always have the power to change. But I love the fact that you you take and you pick it apart and then itemize it so people can understand exactly what they need to do and where to go with it. So how do you do this? Like, how do you incorporate this with the art? I mean, once somebody discovers the direction they want to go and they have their narrative, then where do you go from there?

David Murray: 20:45

That's a really great question. So the art is really just a niche way to speak to people through a way. I know how I don't always want to forever stick to the artist niche, but it's where I started. I have a deep, deep passion and a love for that and I love meeting other artists and talking with them and developing relationships with them. So it is, it's just a niche, that's all it is, and it's just a way to tell the story of what I'm teaching to people who I already know how to communicate it to, and really it's a way to by doing the artwork, it's really a way to take control of your own narrative and reauthor your story.

David Murray: 21:35

So a lot of, a lot of people don't realize I should say a lot of artists. A lot of artists don't realize that their narrative actually is their art, and so when we break it down and we study this narrative, we can actually study like, hey, where are you losing some of your power? Because for me as an artist, the biggest breakthroughs are the ones where the art talks to me, and the even better ones are when the art is so magnificent and special and unique and masterful that it's not speaking to me, but now it's speaking to the viewer and I've seen somebody look at my artwork and totally break down in tears of joy and they're just bawling their eyes out and they're going. I don't know what is happening. This never happens to me. I don't know what this is. That's incredible and for me, my mission is to show artists how do you do that? How do you get somebody to look at a picture and feel something so deeply that all of a sudden, they're on their knees and tears are flowing? That's powerful. That, I believe, is an artist's dream come true. You want people to be impacted by your work.

David Murray: 22:47

So how do you do it? Well, we start with that narrative and we're going to reauthor the story, because anywhere that you're not accepting responsibility for something placing blame on mom, placing blame on dad, placing blame on school, placing blame on anywhere that's dimming that fire and anywhere that fire is dimmed, that masterpiece gets stuck inside of you. It's not going to come out. It can't because there's just not enough force, there's not enough energy, there's not enough willpower, there's not enough passion. And so when we go back and we study this narrative, when we unlock some different perspectives because your narrative is true, it really is true. The narrative that we see every day is true, and all we need is is somebody to help us go. Well, isn't this true about that story as well? And then the lights go online. Oh aha, and now you can take responsibility. Even if it's just 1% more, now, you can just take more responsibility.

David Murray: 23:47

Next thing you know that Responsibility makes that fire rise up a little bit more and the artwork comes alive. It shows it, because you can't, you can't hide it. You know where that fire is dimmed. It's gonna come out in the artwork. It's gonna come out in your podcast. It's gonna come out in the books that you write. It's gonna come out when you're talking to your friends. It's gonna come out when you're dealing with people, when you have problems in your life, when something goes wrong, when you want to make a change, when you want to achieve some kind of goal, that Fire, if it's big and it's and it's alive, or if it's being shut down and extinguished, it has to show and you cannot hide it and you'll never be able to hide it. So the only solution is to say, well, hey, how can I make this flame bigger? And I love using artwork for that, because it's just, it's such a powerful medium and If you're already doing art, then we can go through one narrative session and boom, suddenly you made the best start of your life.

Coach Mikki: 24:52

Wow. Well, we have got a few more minutes and I love your. Your passion For what you do is is such a gift, because you give people an opportunity to to express themselves and open up and Be who they are and realize that they're stronger than they think. So, even though you and I'm gonna say it because this is why I want to have you on it's wonderful when you're helping other people find their gift and their strength, but it's always a pleasure for me to have someone like you on my podcast, because I see that you're true and genuine To what you do and who you are, and you're making a difference in the world, and that's that's. That's an amazing thing. David, I really am gratefully took the time to come by and and visit with us and share your gift. So, with that being said, I'm gonna let you wrap up the end. Is there anything else you'd like to share before we? We have to wrap it up.

David Murray: 25:50

Yeah, I want to say to you Thank you so much for having me on. This has been a wonderful experience. I hope that we can do this again in the future To your listeners if they're looking for some practical tips, you know, just Look for your narrative. You talk about it every day and All I can say is just once you just start to notice. Just try to notice the words coming out of your mouth. When you're talking to your friends, your family, your, your narrative pours through. It pours out in words like yeah, I'm not patient. Oh, oh, there, it is Just noticing it. I'm not creative. Oh, there's my narrative there, it is Just noticing it. Gives you the power to change it. I.

Coach Mikki: 26:37

Love it. Thank you so much and, as you guys know, it will all be down in the description. It'll all be embedded in the podcast. So I highly recommend that you reach out to David and find him To go further and check out his artwork. It's amazing. And if you want to work with him now, david, do you work through Virtually to besides in person?

David Murray: 26:59

I do yes okay, great, great.

Coach Mikki: 27:02

Well, thank you so much for being with us today. I really enjoyed having you and, yes, I absolutely Want to have you back on with me.

David Murray: 27:09

Great, I love it.

Coach Mikki: 27:11

You know where to find me, I'm sorry, you know where to find me.

Coach Mikki: 27:16

All right. You guys, thank you so much for being with me and thank you for being here and again, stopping by on a regular basis, and please Reach out if you have anybody else you'd like me to have on. That helps you, because I'm here for you again. You know we're all trying to make a difference and become better people and be who we are. You know, as you guys know, of this, it's on this side I have to do, because it's backwards. The most courageous thing you can do is be yourself. Please go down to this subscription and leave a comment, or reach out to David and this is your first time joining us if you feel compelled to subscribe because we got so many more great guests coming in. I love you guys, see ya.

David Murray: 27:53

Bye everybody.