Toss a coin. Success or failure? Which side do you
want the coin to land on? Most of us would cross our fingers, arms, legs, or
even our eyes in the hope that the coin lands on success. We’ve learned to
think in terms of polar opposites: black/white, funny/serious, good/bad, Yet
success and failure trot together side-by-side, not as a tag team with one in
front and the other behind.
Fear of failure and fear of success also move
together. If we fear failure or success, we pit one part of our psyche against
another, sabotaging our creative expression. By examining and learning to work
with the fears in our creative lives, we can move forward more smoothly. We
need to practice treating them as friendly neighbors rather than enemies.
American mainstream culture puts a premium on
success. It conditions us feel that if we fail--if we don’t measure up to what
society defines as success--it means that we’re unworthy. In America success
means bigness: “Big profits.” “I hit it big.” “She’s HUGE (as in a phenomenon)”
Buying into this belief is a surefire road to creative sabotage.
What are your personal fears about failing? Take
time in a quiet place to reflect on this. Make notes on what you discover about
your beliefs. You don’t have to share them, so be honest with yourself.
Now take a look at your fears of success. Do
you feel overwhelmed by the idea of being successful beyond your wildest
dreams? Does the thought evoke fear that you’ll be unmasked as an imposter?
Again, reflect on this question and take notes on what emerges.
Compare your lists of failure and success. You might
find that they aren’t as different as you thought they would be. So toss your
imaginary coin again and visualize it landing on its edge. No finger-crossing
necessary!
In our next post (3.5) in our Fie on Fear! cycle we’ll discuss finding new ways to relate to our fears. We’ll then close this cycle in our third post by helping you define your own success. Why not make success safe, comfortable, attainable?
In this "Creative Catalyst"
column for the SCN blog, we present each theme cycles in three posts: first, a
keynote, followed by two posts to develop the theme. Our first cycle defined
working creativity and regular practice. The second 3-part series looked into
creative cycles. Our third cycle set the groundwork for working
productively with fear. Our fourth cycle delves more deeply into our creative
fears. See the Creative Catalyst archive at: http://storycircle.typepad.com/scn/creativity.
Column written by Janet
Grace Riehl of St. Louis in collaboration with Stephanie Farrow
of Albuquerque.
Pose questions about
practical creativity; give ideas for future cycle themes; and join in the
dialog in the comment section below.
If you’d like to see previous articles in this series, go to http://storycircle.typepad.com/scn/creativity/
1)
Buy our new audio book “Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry and Music” at
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/
2) Catch-up on Janet’s
internet audio book tour at http://is.gd/1zIwQ.
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