Conquering your fears
I think many of my friends and colleagues would agree that it is easy to fall into a rut during the creative process, and subsequently fall out of love with whatever piece they are currently working on. It happens to me all the time. Deadlines are squished or even worse strung out endlessly, and there is always someone standing over your shoulder waiting to see the latest work. The easy response is to place blame on those people who are affecting your creative process. “It was too noisy today”, “I’m just not into it”, and “I’m swamped with other things” are a few of my favorites, and in all honesty my go-tos. In reality, the real force getting in your way is fear. Fear of failure, fear of others’ perception that you’re just not that good, and fear that you’ll be associated with work you don’t believe in. Even talking about fear has become a cliché in the design community, a topic that I both hate discussing and hearing others discuss. I attribute my inability to work to apathy and laziness. Both of these are still excuses, however, based on an admission of fault rather than sugarcoated new-age attempts at rationalizing why my promises have not been fulfilled.
As we begin another year, let’s start off with a fresh look at fear. The true definition of a force or situation that rattles you, paralyses your physical ability to perform basic functions, and challenges you to emerge stronger with greater balance and focus than before.
Oh, and holy shit!