Conquering Fear

Each and every person in past, present, and future lifetimes has creativity in them. We all have the power to paint, draw, sculpt, write, cook, or practice any other creative endeavor in our own way. More importantly, we all have the power to practice these arts from our mind’s eye, rather than creating a copy of a copy of something you’re physically looking at. The same goes for cooking recipes. If you change at least three ingredients, you have a brand new meal and a brand new recipe.

For many of us, the fear of not being ‘good enough’ and not being ‘talented’ at what we want to do is greater than our longing to practice any art. We don’t start to learn because we have that mindset that tells us we can’t. But, we can’t allow fear to get in the way. Most of us, when we first begin what we long to master, are terrible at that medium, and that’s okay. That’s normal, as is being disgusted by our own mistakes and afraid of our failures. When most artists look back at their old work, they crinkle their nose and say, ‘What the hell did I do? This is terrible!’

If all of us allowed our fears to get in the way of our successes, we would not have the artists we have today. It’s work to get better, and you must allow yourself to do the work in order to train yourself to learn how to do what you want to do. Without that training, and without you giving up, you will hardly get out the door into the medium you want to practice. Besides, what is ‘crap’ anyway?

You shouldn’t allow your fears to get in the way of your dreams, either. Everyone has to start somewhere. Starting somewhere, no matter your skill level, is the most humane thing you can do for yourself.

Allowing yourself to make mistakes and learn from them is the hardest part, but it’s one that must be accepted in order for you to practice any medium. For most people, everything is hard at first until you crack through that barrier and begin to understand where you need to get better and what you’re already good at. There may be no glass ceiling on talent, but that’s where growth comes in. 

If you allow yourself, no matter how long you’ve been practicing your art, you will continue to grow, and always grow, because you’ve acknowledged and understood the fact that there is no glass ceiling on talent. Once you accept, no matter your skill level, that there’s no such thing as ‘the best’ or ‘the worst’, the less fear you will have pulling you away from what you long to learn.

Once you accept this, you will only have growth.

You will only have evolution.

And, as you evolve, if you allow yourself, you will keep evolving.

This is one of those places where creativity comes in. There are many ideas that are difficult to execute, but that does not mean you should shy away from them. In fact, that means you should dive into the project, pound it out, and finish it. Anything difficult is worth doing. That’s how we have growth in the arts rather than devolution.

We can only be as creative as we allow ourselves to be. We can only practice the mediums we love if we don’t allow fear to stop us. We can only evolve as much as we allow ourselves to evolve.

Remember: there is no glass ceiling on talent. This has been reiterated continuously in this article, but it cannot be stressed enough. A skill can always be honed. An idea can always be explained. A technique can always continue to be perfected.

There is only you and your own fears — fears you can overcome.

Wouldn’t you rather create than wish you could create?

Harnessing creativity is all about listening to your inner voice and overcoming the part of that voice that says, ‘I can’t.’ It’s about telling yourself that you can and truly hearing the stories your inner voice wants to tell. It’s about allowing yourself to tell them in the medium or mediums you want to.

You’re only as free as you allow yourself to be, and everyone deserves to conquer their fear of ‘doing’.