How Much Time Do You Spend on Fear?
When it comes to our creative work, do you ever think about how much time we waste on fear?
How much energy do you send spend worrying about worst-case scenarios? For me, that scenario would be public humiliation and for my imposter syndrome to someday ring true.
Fear used to literally keep us alive.
By staying alert and on our toes, we avoided certain death by animal attacks or rival tribes. Back then, fear was worth our time. (I'm no anthropologist; I've just read a lot about the root of generalized anxiety.)
When I examine my fears and anxieties through this lens, I feel silly. By harboring fears of failure and humiliation, I'm not protecting myself from death—but I am killing my creativity.
The other day I wrote about how I'm working to reframe my fear of failure into a healthy anticipation of mistakes. I shared that, when I embark on a new project, the very first thing that crosses my mind is all the ways in which I could fail.
It's completely and utterly exhausting.
My amygdala thinks it's preparing me to face or escape danger and or deal with stressful situations, but all it's doing is wasting my precious creative energy.
Sure, the project could be stressful, but it's only when I face and work through that stress that I can welcome brilliant new ideas.
I'm working on changing this protective habit, but in the meantime, I've decided to use it to my advantage: I'll tally the potential for failure as a means of getting it out of the way.
"Okay, so X and Y and Z can and probably will happen. Instead of trying to avoid these or beating myself up for not being perfect, let's welcome these 'failures.' Let's put 'em behind us and welcome the lessons that accompany them."
Creative anxiety is real, but instead of wishing it wasn't or berating ourselves for not "being better," let's make space and remember that we are safe, capable, and able to create in spite of fear.
This post was written as a part of Ship 30 for 30. Read the original essay on my Twitter.
