When fear inhibits creativity
Fear is merely an obstacle on the path to success
Internal dialogue
What is holding you back?
~Fear.
Explain.
~I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable.
Fuck it. It is precisely the discomfort that will resonate with them.
~But I have to live with them, work with them, raise them.
Are you responsible for their discomfort?
~Um…
Is the thing you’re creating harmful or hurtful to others?
~No.
But it makes them uncomfortable?
~It might. Probably. Maybe. I’m not sure.
Since when is their discomfort your responsibility?
~I guess it isn’t.
Your creativity is your gift. You have a responsibility to explore this gift. When you choose to share it, you take a risk by exposing your deepest, most authentic truth to the world.
Maybe someone out there will be inspired by your creativity. Maybe they won’t judge or criticize you but enjoy your creative endeavor. Maybe they’ll read it, buy it, consume it, wear it, love it.
If you concern yourself with how others receive your creative endeavors, you’re inhibiting yourself by disrupting your creative outlet.
Recoiling in fear after you finish your thing - the words, the pictures, the handmade craft, the lyrics for a song - keeps the world from getting to know you. You remain undiscoverable, quiet, buried in the unknown where you feel safe, perhaps, but also bored, uninspired and stalled
You are letting them - whoever they are - inhibit your creative endeavors.
Fear of judgement and critique is real. How you deal with it is up to you.
Putting yourself out there increases the risk of being judged and criticized, but there is another element you may not have considered, at least not until you’ve taken the leap of faith.
What if they ignore you?
Which is worse?
Being judged and criticized, or being ignored and remaining invisible?
Ask yourself:
How many people create art, write books or sing songs to an audience of few or none?
I sold my erotica ebook to twelve people. I took a leap of faith and published it with Smashwords where it sold twelve copies and then stalled. I stopped advertising it until one day I moved it to Amazon. Fear kept me from setting up a marketing strategy to get the book out to the correct target audience. It continues to sit on Amazon where it remains unpurchased and ignored.
Have I stopped writing? No. Have I stopped publishing?
Well…
This is why I’m writing this post. To remind myself, and you, to keep taking the leap of faith. I may not write much erotica today, but I write other content.
I have learned a key lesson as I continue my journey in the (self)publishing world.
By letting fear control your creative output, you are diminishing your own value.
Unearth those words from your secret files and journals and publish them for all.
Dig out your art and showcase it to everyone with pride.
Serenade the world, not just your pets, with your most precious lyrics.
Wear your handmade items with confidence in public.
Celebrate your creativity!
If you don’t, who will?
They can’t celebrate you if they can’t find you.
Transcend beyond the comfort zone and push those boundaries. Let’s see where it takes us, you and me both.
💌