a little note about fear and creativity

Sometimes it’s just hard to be creative. There, I’ve said it. I just want to dispel any notion that somehow creativity just flows out of all artists. In fact, perhaps this is part of my own imposter syndrome - for me it has been a life-long struggle with my identity as an artist. I do have a creative mind. I bet you do too. In fact, my mind sometimes goes into overdrive with ideas. So much so that I get in my… own… damn... way. I THINK A LOT. With all the distractions, responsibilities, and temptations in life it’s sometimes hard to quiet my mind enough to turn thought into action. Anyone relate?

I’ll tell you another secret. I procrastinate. You don’t see this part of me on Instagram but it is real as heck and I’m human. I get ideas, I get excited about them, I clean my studio, I think some more, I walk the dog (Ozzy thanks me), I find a million other things to do, and then sometimes the idea just goes away. Man is that a frustrating process! Good news is that this nervous energy sometimes prompts me to do things like clean up my website and update my branding. Take a look!

I think about this process in the context of Elizabeth Gilbert’s book “Big Magic” which I’ve read a few times (perhaps to procrastinate?) She so eloquently describes procrastination as a form of fear:

“Anything you do that stops you from the work that is gnawing at you, the work that wants to be made through you, the creative project that is begging you to realize it…anything you do that blocks that is fear. It might not look like fear, but fear also has a lot of shady disguises. It can show up as perfectionism, insecurity, guilt, procrastination..all of it is something you are too scared to do.”

But to quote another fantastic and creative lady Lisa Congdon whose book Find Your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic I’m now reading:

“Fear is where the magic happens”.

It pushes us up to the edge. Could it be that I’m on the verge of creative genius? Let’s hope so!