I’ve been hearing many artists talk about art and fear lately. It’s amazing how so many of them don’t think they are true artists and even consider themselves an impostor or fraud of sorts and live with the fear that someone might “discover” who they truly are. Or something like that. I guess it’s all part of the tribulations that arise from choosing the creative process as a vital form of expression, as opposed to settling for a more profitable or conventional way of making a living. Doubts. Fear. Doubts about yourself. Doubts about what you do. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. The need for approval… And so on.
Yes, I know that this is not limited to artists. I’ve seen it in many other fields, too. It’s just human nature. Yet I believe that it is an aspect that, when left unattended, can wreak havoc in your creative endeavors, because it hides in the subconscious mind and manifests in sneaky hidden ways that may end up paralyzing your creative process.
Procrastination gets in the way of everyone, not just artists, of course, but it seems to me that because an artistic venture involves much pleasure and can be highly therapeutic, somewhere in the heart of our ego it is considered a game, or a distraction, or even a waste of time in the world of “real responsibilities.” So it gets easily pushed aside by any amount of excuses.
Anything can be procrastination and procrastination can take pretty much any form, as John Kelly shows in this creative and inspiring video:
So next time you find yourself procrastinating, grab your favorite tools and create something about it instead of letting it paralyze you and capitulating to the hidden tricks of your mind. Yes, maybe the fear of rejection will never disappear, or maybe the doubts will always be there. Who knows. But in the meantime, let’s do something fun and creative with them!