Creative Courage
How I Tackle Fear In Sharing My Creative Work
Date: Thursday, January 11th.
Time: 1:31 PM
I haven’t mastered the ‘creative courage’ mindset but I have made progress.
Everyone is creative but through conditioning, our connection to it dims.
There are so many examples.
An artist with a portfolio of work sitting in drafts or storage. The entrepreneurial person who is afraid to speak up in meetings. An actor or singer who performs within the four walls of their home. Anyone with a talent that is…hidden.
This post is speaking to:
Someone with an idea but allowing fear to block them from following through. (me not that long ago)
The creator who is sharing but not seeing a tonne of traction, and is doubting their work.
The individual who has built an audience and wants to evolve their art but is afraid it won’t land.
As the wise writer, Ryan Holiday, states;
Life happens in public. Get used to it.
In the context of creativity, the path that your light shines is witnessed in the instinctual ideas that arrive in your mind.
Think about when you were a child. If your mind's connection to that part of your life is blurry, take stock of the next child you interact with.
The idea of “this is wrong”, “uncool” or “not how it's done” never crosses their mind.
There is no outcome or goal that they aim to achieve. The concept of a goal makes no sense to them.
What they understand clearly is that an immense amount of joy is found in the doing.
They follow whatever spark of creativity their intuition generates without fear of judgement.
A child can take the most mundane object and turn it into a medium of immense joy.
If nobody followed their creative light, we would never evolve how we live.
What seems strange and ridiculous becomes part of the norm all because one person possessed the courage to follow through on their instinctual creativity.
Look at cold therapy, for example.
Five years ago, if you saw your neighbour submerged in a steel stock tank of freezing water during the depths of winter, you would say that person was crazy.
— Now that is the norm, and by the standards of the mob, you are almost uncool if you don't participate.
This exemplifies the erratic nature of thoughts and perceptions.
If you rely on trends or what’s “normal” to lead your creativity, your joy is at the mercy of others.
It's like being a designer in fast fashion. — You can never keep up and your creations will quickly become irrelevant.
Creations that derive from intuition are timeless.
Where courage fits in this picture is in following through on those ideas.
If you don’t act on them, somebody else will.
That vision or dream you’ve vividly imagined will be lived by someone other than you.
Take them from the inside and turn them into an external form - painting, writing, music, whatever it may be.
By projecting them outwardly, energy converts to matter.
Continue to work on them until they are something that you like.
Once you have done that, the need for courage reduces.
— If you are intrinsically satisfied with the creative work you've done, other people’s opinions won’t matter.
As long as your creation comes from a good place and you enjoy the process— that is enough.
Your creativity is a mirror for the person who consumes it.
Not only is your work a creative process, but it can also be used as a valuable marker for consumers.
If your creativity incites judgement or negative reactions from the consumer, it shines a light on the negativity within and informs them that they have personal work to do.
This is not a suggestion to create harmful content to test the spirit of others.
Content of that nature does not derive from your essence in the first place.
That kind of content comes from a place of ego and pain.
Creations that arrive through the channel of consciousness are untainted. Further demonstrating why they serve as a yardstick for people to measure their spiritual development.
The process is simple:
Do what you love.
Create things that you enjoy.
Work on them till you’re happy with the outcome.
Share it.
The upsides are limitless.
Your work impacts the lives of others
You find a fulfilling career
You spend your time doing what you love
If people enjoy it and find it valuable… fantastic.
If they don’t, no problem.
— Life is in motion.
We are always moving along, so move to the next initiative.
Work on it. Enjoy it. Repeat the process. Simple as that.
I’ll leave you with a short poem I shared a while back on courage.
Courage Is Up For The Fight
The path ahead is yet to appear.
The waters are muddy.
Nothing is clear.
Never seeking promises.
The unknown cannot dim its light.
Like David vs Goliath,
Courage is up for the fight.
Live Free,
Niall
Readers Reflection
What are you not doing due to fear of judgement?
Take stock of your answer. Then take action.
Lovely read. I'm pretty introverted, so I fear being judged if I don't strike up a light heart conversation in busy places. Like in grocery stores or airports or in line for a cup of coffee. When I am rushed, I try to remember Hebrews 13:2 KJV. lt reminds me to slow down and be generous with conversation. maybe it is the midwest in me that cannot help it, but I try to always tell people to have a nice day =)
Too often, I get caught up in the pressure to produce something other people will "like" - your words have brought me back to center... to heart... and reminded me that when creating from authenticity and meaning, the rest will fall into place. Thank you so much.