Use your doubt to fuel your work.

We are all harmed in one fashion or another, on various levels. Some of us admit our harm, talk about our pain, carry it around with us like a Siamese twin. Others bury it at varying levels of their "self" sometimes knowingly, willingly, and other times the pain is so strong that their mind blocks the very idea that the pain ever existed. Some harms are imagined but the pain they inflict is just as real. Just because a fear is irrational doesn't make it any less real. And then there are many people who have been harmed, admit it, work through it or find their own way to go around it, and move on with their life. But in each instance, in each person's lifetime, we have all been harmed and we have been shaped by that harm. You cannot be alive and be any different. How you choose to let that harm affect your life is entirely up to you.

I have been harmed by a lot of negative talk in my past. Now I try to twist the negatives into something positive.

A few of my favorites:

Quit wanting more out of life.
* * * When I ask for more out of life there is more life IN me
* * * There is much the world can teach me and I am an eager pupil.
* * * I can only move forward by making a move.

Why aren't you ever satisfied?
* * * I am constantly evolving into the person I want to be
* * * I am always learning and growing.

You're too emotional.
* * * My emotions are the tools of my trade and help me lead an authentic life.
* * * Sharing my emotions with the world helps me cultivate a unity with others that brings authenticity to my work.

I've met people who said they had no doubts and fears but I'm not sure that I believe them. As creatives I believe we NEED those doubts, that uneasy feeling in the pit of our stomach to push us outside our personal safe zone and into the realm of more possibilities with our creativity. One of my favorite quotes about this comes from the book Art and Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland. They say, " Fears about yourself prevent you from doing your best work, while fears about your reception by others prevent you from doing your own work."

Use your doubt to fuel your work. It isn't easy. But it is powerful and honest and encourages growth.

Write on right now,
Susan