Fear is the Mind-Killer

The creative life is, at its heart, the continuous overcoming of fear. I'm afraid of so very many things:

Maybe this is the best idea I've ever had 

 And I'll ruin it 

  Or after this there will be no more ideas at all 

 Maybe my work isn't any good  

Maybe this isn't even as good as anything I've done before 

 Maybe everyone will laugh at me 

  Or whisper about me 

Maybe it's been done before, and far better 

Maybe my work is confusing 

 Or predictable 

  Or stupid 

Maybe it's boring 

 Or self-indulgent 

Maybe I'll get terrible reviews 

 And never work again

Maybe I don't have what it takes 

 Maybe I'll never succeed 

  Or I will and I'll burn out 

 Maybe somebody will hate it 

  And hate me.

I am not a special snowflake. These fears are not unique to me. To the contrary, I'm pretty sure these are the precise fears facing every writer, every filmmaker, every sculptor and photographer and painter and composer, in this century and all others.

In late 2001, a new proverb sprang into existence: "If you don't (insert action here), then the terrorists have won." It's a common joke, to this day. Haha! The terrorists win if you don't have another plate of nachos!

The heart of it, though, is a true thing. There are a lot of ways to make a choice -- convenience, money, desire. At the end of the day, fear is a pretty poor decision-maker. And yet sometimes, we allow fear to keep us from doing the work we love.

So what? So what if you try and you fail? Failing is a mark of honor; a badge of courage. The only shame comes when you stop trying to do, and do better. This year, during Heroes Week, I realized that the common thread in my heroes was fearlessness; not that they have no fear, but that they don't let their fear call the shots. They keep working anyway. It's an endless battle, and you will never win, but the only way to lose is to give up.

Every day you let fear keep you from the work, the terror has won.

Keep working.

Comments

[the slackmistress]

/agreed. But I also agree with this one:

"The terrorists win if you don't have another plate of nachos!"

[@netwurker]

failure = the new win, according 2 the current [info]streams i move in [ie i keep running slap-bang in2 both scientific + experiential evidence 4 the notion of failure = ultimate success].

...on a personal note, i guess i'm bull-headed [or just stoopid/lucky enuff] 2 disregard standardised markers of failure/success polarisations + just do wot i do. some hate it, some less-than-hate it, some really get in2 it: + i keep plodding along, creating becos it is [in its moments] gorgeous + thrilling + terrifying.

[ oh + http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/search/songs/?query=Fear%20is%20the%20Mind-Killer ] :)

[marcus]

Interesting you come up with that now, I just put down some notes for a motivational speech for my students on monday, because they´re stuck in their project work for exactly the same reason.

Instead of being afraid of failure one should be afraid of not having tried.

[Andrea]

@slackmistress: You and me, both, honey.

@netwurker: Yeah, it's a real shift from the way I'm used to thinking... if you aren't doing any failing, maybe you're just not trying hard enough? Pushing your own envelope? Something?

@marcus I hope your speech goes well. ^_^ It's something that's been on my mind a lot lately, though. I'm finding myself paralyzed into not writing because I'm afraid nothing will live up to an imaginary and self-imposed standard. But it's stupid and unproductive for me to think that way!