FIGHTING FEAR

I almost didn’t post this.

I almost didn’t post this because FEAR came up to me this morning with a list of things that were “more important” that absolutely had to get done today and there simply wasn’t enough time.

Fear is a liar.

Then Fear came back as a sly soothing voice in my head and said—“you don’t need to post on Fridays –really, just start off slow- don’t kill yourself- you need to take care of you first- give yourself a break”.

Fear is clever.  Don’t trust it.

Fear followed me as a running dialogue in my head my entire jog this morning.  Annoying.   Just as I started believing and justifying putting off this post, I began to see past fear’s newest clever mask.   I stopped and looked directly in fear’s ugly face while it continued to try and bully me into defeat.   I shook my fist at it.

     NO, FEAR- YOU WILL NOT GET ME TODAY.  I said it in my head but I actually did shake my fist at the air. I’m sure a handful of other joggers at the park now think I’m crazy. It’s ok- some things are worth minor embarrassment.

 So, this is my declaration to defeat fear: I’m calling you out FEAR.   I’m not running anymore.  

Fear doesn’t ever go away, and it will come after you too but we can defeat it. It’s universal and it haunts us all.   It comes up every single time I make something which is pretty often.  But every time you stand up to it- it loses power. And standing up is worth it.  It is worth it.   Making stuff is life.  The ability to create is our birthright as humans.

I hope you get inspired to create more and that it might help you to know that it’s scary for everyone.  Every artist I know thinks they are terrible—especially the really good ones- but they do it anyway- because it’s worth it.   They’ve managed to find a way past that voice inside that says “I suck” or they’ve gotten really good at ignoring it.  It is totally worth the effort, making new stuff is always worth it.

You don’t have to be a painter, writer, musician, actor, or dancer to be creative.  You could make anything!!   Make a hat for your dog out of popsicle sticks or a tech company that sells custom algorithms.   I’m serious. Just make something. It’s about “the making” and – I think your dog would love that.

So, Let’s not wait for necessity to breed the creativity in us- do it now- create new things, ideas, potions, ways of doing things, and structures in the world. Clearly the old ones aren’t working.   We need your stuff.  Everyone’s.  Believe it.  The possibilities are infinite.

Here are a couple of books about the creative process that have really helped me:  I found them pretty substantive- not overly fluffy or too “self-helpy”. .  not that there’s anything wrong with that. . . 🙂

•         The Artist’s Way    by Julia Cameron
•       The War of Art    by Steven Pressfield

 ***How do you handle the struggle?  Or avoid handling it?   I’d love to know– tell me about it in the comment section. . . . .