Do you long to be creative but feel fear bubbling up when you think about beginning?
You might yearn to express yourself in drawing, painting, or writing but feel anxious about doing so. Or maybe you want to dance or sing, but your body feels paralyzed. Or you might have a wonderfully creative idea in your mind but feel afraid even to try the first steps to manifest it.
Why does fear arise when you want to be creative? Do you know?
Maybe you feel you’re not skilled in the creative activity you’d like to do. Or the result might not be very good.
Maybe you worry that others may judge you or criticize your work, deeming it not worthy, not good enough, or that you are not talented.
Maybe you’re anxious about the ideas or feelings that may surface in your creative work. You wonder how you’ll handle them. Or if others see your work, you worry you’ll be misunderstood or disliked by your peers because of what you express.
You may even have memories of being criticized, laughed at, or excluded when you expressed yourself creatively in the past. And these start to rise when you even think of doing something creative. Perhaps you worry you’ll make a mistake or be embarrassed.
Fear is a natural part of being human and probably has been with us since the beginning of time. Our fear helps us to survive when we’re in dangerous situations, like being chased by a bear or experiencing an earthquake.
Yet, fear can rob you of experiencing joy in your life when it arises when you don’t need it. If we let fear control us, we’ll always be on guard and living in survival mode. When we’re focusing on surviving, there is no room for joy that bubbles up. With fear in the driver’s seat, there’s really no room for us to truly thrive as a human being... no room to be curious, to explore, discover and create.
Even though experiencing fear is natural in life, we can take control of how we work with it. We do not have to let fear overwhelm and paralyze us. We can acknowledge it, but we don’t have to let it take the lead or be the boss of us. Our external circumstances don’t actually have control over our fear. We do!
To better understand and take hold of the fear that comes when you want to be creative, follow these 3 steps.
Acknowledge the fear- Recognize that fear is arising in you. Notice how it makes you feel and be aware of any sensations in your body. You can even speak to fear directly, greeting it and acknowledging that it has come for a visit.
Explore why – Write down or speak into a recorder why you feel fear is arising as you consider the creative activity you’d like to do. What do you fear will happen? Why do you think it will? Try not to judge yourself, simply explore why fear is coming for a visit. Are you afraid of criticism, not being good enough or making a mistake? Are past experiences from childhood coming to mind? Or something else? Explore why you think the fear comes.
Take action – Once you acknowledge your fear and explore why it’s coming, you have a better idea of how to take charge of it. Consider strategies that will help keep your fear in the background and not front and center when you begin your creative activity. Here are a few that may be helpful:
Create a ritual – Creating a ritual at the beginning of your creative time will help your body relax into something familiar and feel safe. Go to your space where you’re creative, light a candle or take 3 deep breaths and then pick up a tool that helps you get started. Repeat your ritual every time.
Speak to fear – Speak or write to your fear. Acknowledge its presence and why it’s important in life. Explain to it how you’ll be in the driver’s seat when you’re being creative. It won’t be.
Schedule time – Schedule a regular time for your creative activity. Write it on your calendar – the day, time, length of time, the creative activity. When something is on our calendar, it becomes part of our weekly routine. We become more familiar and comfortable with it. It starts to become a habit.
These are 3 strategies that can be used alone or together to help you access your courage to take hold of the fear that bubbles up when you want to be creative.
We hope you’re able to act upon your longing for creativity despite the fear that sometimes comes. Learning to recognize and take hold of your fear will keep you moving forward. Soon, you’ll experience the joy of being creative, that’ll nourish your soul.
Interested in joining a supportive community of spiritual creatives, check out our Live Your Dreams FaceBook Group.
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