Dear Friends,
Artists and creative people are not exempt from the debilitating effects of anxiety, which can trigger a cascade of emotional issues and fears that prevent them from realizing their dreams. Today's interview is with Eric Maisel, who talks about his DailyOM course, Overcoming Creative Anxiety. A prominent therapist and creativity coach, Eric shares his vast knowledge and experience to help anyone tap into their creative flow.
- Receive a new lesson every 4 days for 64 days (total of 16 lessons).
- Have lifetime access to the course for reference whenever you want.
- Select the amount you can afford, and get the same course as everyone.
- If you are not 100% satisfied, you may request a refund.
DailyOM: Tell us what creative anxiety is and what causes it.
Eric Maisel: Anxiety is a feature of the human condition. It is a much larger feature than most people realize. A great deal of what we do in life we do in order to reduce our experience of anxiety or in order to avoid anxiety altogether. Our very human defensiveness is one of the primary ways that we try to avoid experiencing anxiety. If something is about to make us anxious, we deny that it is happening, make ourselves sick so that we can concentrate on our sickness, get angry at our mate so as to have something else to focus on, and so on. We are very tricky creatures in this regard.
We are also very wonderful creatures who have it in us to create. "Creativity" is the word we use for our desire to make use of our inner resources, employ our imagination, knit together our thoughts and our feelings into beautiful things like songs, quilts, or novels, and feel like the hero of our own story. It is the way that we make manifest our potential, make use of our intelligence, and embrace what we love. When we create, we feel whole, useful, and devoted. Unfortunately, we often also feel anxious as we create or contemplate creating. There are many reasons for this. We get anxious because we fear we may fail, because we fear we may disappoint ourselves, because the work can be extremely hard, because the marketplace may criticize us and reject us, and so on. We want to create, because that is a wonderful thing, but we also don't want to create, so as to spare ourselves all this anxiety. That is the simple, profound dilemma that millions of people find themselves in.
DailyOM: How does creative anxiety show up in our lives? And what are its consequences?
EM: The biggest challenge facing a creative person is keeping the belief firmly in place that what she is attempting matters to her. A creative person's main challenge is therefore existential: we easily lose the sense that what we are doing matters, given how many novels or paintings there are in the world, how hard it is to do the work well, how difficult the marketplace feels, and all the rest. Two kinds of anxiety arise with respect to this profound existential issue: the anxiety that arises when we begin to sense that our work does not matter to us, and the anxiety that arises when we realize that our work matters very much to us (and what a burden all that mattering puts on our shoulders!). These core existential anxieties exist for every intelligent, sensitive person who has "peeked behind the curtain" and thought for herself about the nature of existence and her place in the universe. Therefore, creative anxiety manifests as: a lack of confidence in what we do; procrastination, resistance, and blockage; getting distracted easily; feelings of mental confusion and an inability to focus; physical symptoms like headaches and stomach aches; and in countless other ways that at first glance do not seem to be "about" anxiety.
DailyOM: Tell us the kinds of practices and tools you teach in this course to help overcome creative anxiety.
EM: In this course, you will learn deep breathing techniques, cognitive self-help, incanting, physical relaxation techniques, mindfulness practices, affirmations and prayers, guided imagery, stress reduction techniques, disidentification techniques, ceremonies and rituals, reorienting techniques, symptom confrontation techniques, discharge techniques, preparation techniques, and more.
DailyOM: When it comes to expressing our creativity, we often get anxious over our fear of failure and rejection. Tell us more about this experience, and how your course helps people cope with it.
EM: It is one thing to write a paragraph that you do not like, revise it, and then like it. Although pain can attach to that first "not liking," few people would consider this scenario a failure. But what if you cannot ever get the paragraph to work? Or the chapter? Or the book? This fear, which confronts beginning creators and experienced creators alike, can produce high anxiety. What exactly are the fears involved? That you will be proven to have insufficient talent, that you will learn that you cannot trust your instincts and your choices, that you will be forced to live that "other 'real job' life" that you do not want to live, and that your heart will be broken as your dreams go up in smoke. No wonder you get anxious at the prospect of a given project failing and, by extrapolation and implication, your entire creative life failing!
The main tactic to deal with the anxiety surrounding failure is to change your mind entirely about what constitutes failure. If you write three novels in a row and each one, even after multiple revisions, still has its weaknesses, do not call them failures! How brave and how spirited of you to have written those three novels! They are much more successes than failures. If you can keep as your mantra, "process" -- so that each thing you do is part of the creative process and all you can do is try your darnedest and not attach to outcomes -- you will begin to extinguish the word "failure" from your inner landscape. The way to avoid failures is not to hide but to change your mind about what constitutes failure.
DailyOM: What are two tips for tapping into one's creativity that someone could practice today?
EM: A great one is to learn about disidentification and to practice disidentification techniques. The Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli argued that people become over-invested in and identified with transitory events (like an upcoming performance or meeting with a gallery owner) and transitory states of mind (like the thought "I'm not ready" or "I'm not well") and that the cure for this mistaken identification involves consciously disidentifying. Disidentification can prove a powerful technique whose main purpose is not the "negative" one of listing all of the things that you are not, but the positive one of locating your core strength that will carry you through every situation and transitory mental state. To help this idea take hold, you can create and use affirmations or thought substitutes of the following sort that translate the idea of disidentification into useful phrases: "I am more than the part of me that is anxious"; "I am more than any mistake I might ever make"; "My body may be acting up by I am all right"; "My emotions may be acting up but I am all right"; "I write but I am not my current novel"; "I perform but I am not my next concert"; "Whatever happens, the essential me will be fine."
Some people instantly resonate with the idea of disidentification and consider it their best anxiety management strategy. One painter explained, "I've been working on a solo show and had the usual problems getting the good work to come out. I started having thoughts like 'Maybe this body of work isn't cohesive' and 'Maybe people won't accept it.' I could see how I was beginning to over-invest in the event and I told myself that I really had to detach and disidentify. The affirmation I created was 'I will keep this exhibition in perspective. I am more than this work and more is yet to come.' This helped me remember that whatever disturbing event is coming up will soon be in the past and I will still be there, strong and competent."
For a second technique, a super-simple one is exercise. After well more than 1000 studies, researchers agree that exercise can reduce your stress. For maximum effect, try an aerobic exercise such as running, swimming, or brisk walking that increases your heart rate for twenty minutes or more. If you can't manage that, even a ten-minute walk can help. Yoga, tai chi, and non-aerobic exercise such as stretching can also reduce stress by inducing a calmer, meditative state. Among the ordinary self-care techniques available to you, probably none is more important than exercise. It can also help to simply notice and write about the stress in your life. Research reported in The Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that writing about stressful experiences can not only reduce stress but can even help reduce the symptoms of common diseases such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. A growing body of research indicates that writing about thoughts and feelings can lead to improvements in immune functioning, fewer visits to the doctor, and an increased sense of well-being.
Thank you, Eric! We are all creative in different ways, and we all have to deal with anxiety to some degree. Whether you make art as your livelihood or as a hobby, feeling free, relaxed, and confident in yourself and your skills gives you the opportunity to live a rich creative life. Until next time.
Be well,
DailyOM
