| |
| |
|
Creativity Information |
|
|
|
Fear & Creativity
My fears are most powerful when they're simmering just under the surface of my awareness. I'm resistant to a new idea, I'm defensive about holding on to my old ways, I feel excited and panicked at the same time - these are sure-fire signs that there's some fear under there. Shining a spotlight on my fear has been the best (and only) way to get to the other side of it. "Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love" - Ranier Maria Rilke My fear is there for a good reason - to protect me. If I can have compassion for my fear, and understand what it's looking for, I'll be more ready to let it go. I've been thinking about how fear and creativity often go hand in hand. As creative artists, what is our fear looking for? What does it think it's protecting us from? In exploring these questions I decided to brush up on Abraham Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs". Abraham Maslow suggested that all human beings have the same basic needs, and that we spend our lives striving to meet them. His famous hierarchy of needs explains that at the basest level we need protection from the elements, food, water and other physiological needs. Then, we need to feel safety and security within our family, our home and in our place in the world around us. We need to feel that we fit in and understand where we fit in and how everything works. Next, we need to feel love and belonging - that we're accepted and appreciated. We need to feel competent and masterful and that we're being recognized for our talents. Finally, when all of those needs are met, we strive for the "top" level, "Self-Actualization" - to really live up to our highest potential, to feel a oneness with God, the universe and all of our fellow travelers on this Earth. For some of us, long after the needs HAVE been met, we still fear losing them and having to meet them all over again. Maybe that's why creating our art can evoke so much fear. Creativity is a direct form of self-actualization. When you're feeling fear about putting your creative ideas into motion, which of Maslow's needs are you concerned about meeting or losing? * If I commit fully to my art then I won't be able to support myself financially - I could lose everything and be penniless and homeless * If I put my creations out into the world, people may not like them - that means they won't like me, they may laugh at me, I won't fit in * If no one likes my work, I won't fit in. No one loves, understands or knows me. I'm not fulfilling a need in the world - no one needs me. I'm not serving a purpose. * If I try to create, I could make a mistake. I'll feel stupid and no one will like me. To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. - Joseph Chilton Pearce * If I go another year without trying to get my creative projects off the ground, I may never break free of my limitations, and I may live the rest of my life with unrealized potential. I may die with my creativity still inside of me. Even the fear of death is nothing compared to the fear of not having lived authentically and fully. - Frances Moore Lappe Have I missed any? Probably. Of course each of us have our own unique fears - and these are more universal ones that relate to Maslow's hierarchy of needs and to our creative hopes and dreams. A well-known acronym for fear is: FEAR = False evidence appearing real In other words, even though what we're fearful of seems very real to us, it's usually something we've made up in our heads, as opposed to something we're facing in physical form. Studies on the stress hormone cortisol show that our bodies react to our thoughts regardless of what is actually in front of us. Our fears feel VERY real. And??they're not. SARK, author of Make Your Creative Dreams Real suggests you to try this acronym on instead: Fill yourself up creatively - Julia Cameron advocates something similar with her "Artists's Date" assignment in The Artist's Way. What sparks your creativity? A long drive in the country? Making a vegetable soup? Meditation? Prayer? Explore what stops you - looking at your own unique methods of self-sabotage is a cornerstone of the Everyday Self-Care Workbook (http://www.genuinecoaching.com/esc-workbook.html), and of my upcoming book just for creative artists. Accelerate movement - Do something, anything, to combat the inertia of staying still. SARK advocates "micro movements" that take anywhere from 5 seconds to 5 minutes to complete. Those micro movements are the building blocks for our creative dreams and most importantly, get us moving!! Repeat - luckily for us, this process continues as long as we're up for it! Courage is fear that has said its prayers. - Dorothy Bernard (c) Copyright 2005, Genuine Coaching Services. Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. To receive her free monthly newsletter, "Everyday Artist", subscribe at http://www.genuinecoaching.com/artist-newsletter.html
MORE RESOURCES:
Creativity - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Creating Success All things begin in consciousness.Consciousness originates everything that is manifest. Tips on Breaking the Creative Block There's no question that creating anything is hard to do. Here are some tips if you find yourself creatively blocked. Computer In The Shop? What Do You Do Now? Have you ever had one of those days when you just feel like something is missing? ? something just doesn't feel right? like you should be doing something but you can't remember what?Well, I had one of those days recently? my computer was in the shop for a minor repair. Ahhhhh! What was I going to do?Ok, so I planned to take my computer in for the repair. Stress VS Creativity Now when I use the term "creativity", I mean the kind of states of mind and body where thoughts and ideas flow freely; where there is a STREAM of data information that comes clearly from a very different place than one might normally inhabit and which translates smoothly and perfectly into colours, visions, sounds, patterns, movements, actions and resolutions.These are very beautiful states, very precious; this flow of "creativity" is nourishing, enlivening and one can do so many things for a long time without feeling in the slightest bit tired; when it is done, one is happy, very much at peace and delighted, too. The Secret of Intuitive Intelligence The word intuition comes from the Latin word intueri, meaning "to look within." Webster defines it as "the power or facility of attaining direct knowledge without evident rational thought. Learn A Life Skill TODAY! Did you ever watch your grandma knitting?Wasn't it boring? Didn't it seem to take forever?Most of us live life in the fast lane.Who needs to buy balls of yarn, search for patterns and spend - heaven forbid - the next three months making a jumper, when we can buy one in the high street for next to nothing. Is Your Team Suffering from FWTS? Who do you know who is feeling stuck, under-performing, or dealing with frustration and upset?These folks might be suffering from FLAT WORLD THINKING SYNDROME! (FWTS)"Flat World Thinking Syndrome" is the number one issue standing between predictable performance and breakthrough performance. Allow me to illustrate. Improvisation in Life and the Arts: What I learned from Free Play by Stephen Nachmanovitch Can you be an artist while you're washing the dishes?In this article I share some of my learning and impressions from a chapter of the exceptional book, "Free Play", by Stephen Nachmanovitch.This subtitle of this book, "The Power of Improvisation in Life and the Arts", speaks of bringing the improvising we do as creative artists into our daily routines and interactions. Top Five Reasons to Cultivate Your Creativity Cultivating your creativity is more than spending time with a hobby or performing and displaying your work. Cultivating your creativity takes time, awareness and deliberate action. Mindfulness and Poetry: Delicious Word Awareness Everyone's a poet.Of course, everyone's a critic, too! This means that there are plenty of opportunities to heighten our awareness of words and how we use them. 20 Ways to Keep Your Writing Inspiration and Creativity High When stressed or blocked it is wise to make a change so thatwe don't stay in that place. Yet, many times we forget someof the simple things that we can do for ourselves, quicklyand easily to bring our inspiration back and increase ourcreativity. Creativity Management and Team Size Effective team structure is critical when managing creativity and creative output.It appears that many individuals are effective alone - Einstein, Marco Polo etc - however, what is usually overlooked is that these people often collaborated regularly. 5 Ways to Enhance Your Creativity We're born creative. However, this innate characteristic becomes buried as we get older. Art of Creation with Attention Attention is the greatest creative power in the world. If you command your attention, you command your creation/life. Forget Thinking Outside The Box....GET Outside The Box I happened to overhear a conversation the other day between two men?Young man has started learning about real estate investing. He has read books and attended seminars put on by some gurus who make more money selling information about real estate investing than they do investing in real estate BUT at least he is taking the initiative to learn more. Creative Drought For the past several hours, I've struggled with this week's message, the words, "what will I write?" screaming in my ears. I've felt like the princess who promises her first born child to the little man named "Rumplestiltskin" if only he will spin straw into gold. Achieving Limitless Creativity There are many out there who wish to help individuals achieve limitless creativity. Such a noble endeavor to help fellow man; some creativity coaches are indeed working to set out simple principles which can help any individual get to that space. What Open Stage is Teaching Me About Life After many years of performing as a vocalist, I switched my focus to my training and work as a music therapist. I love sharing my music with my clients with special needs and it continues to be an incredibly rewarding field of work. Make Yourself Creative: Two Easy Idea-Generating Methods Here are a couple of exercises to force yourself to come up with some brand new ideas. These methods can be used to give your business an edge, to overcome creative blocks, or just for fun - to prove to yourself that you can have some great ideas. Creativity Management - Finish What You Start Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
