How to tackle creative anxiety

Being an artist is hard. No one tells you how it will be to consistently put yourself out there and hope for acceptance rather than…crickets.

But the first thing you must learn as an artist is that indeed—YOU ARE NOT YOUR WORK! Yes, I know we have all heard this from every artist who teaches or talks about what being an artist means. We all say it, but what does it actually mean, and how can you implement that kind of thinking in your everyday mindset and yet still feel connected to your work?

PERSISTENT PRACTICE

Practice. I know, not the word you were hoping to read, but it's genuinely the only thing that will help. Trust me. I've tried to get away with "training my brain" to separate myself from my art (why I thought training my brain to do anything unnatural was a practical and productive use of my time, I'll never understand). Separating yourself from your art is not, nor will it ever be the answer, because your work is undoubtedly a part of you, a big part of you. It's a very personal and expressive thing, creating artwork. 

The honest answer is there is work to be done. And by work, I mean practice. You must practice consistently putting your work on a pedestal and letting as many people want to walk by without even a second glance. Some people might even look at your work and say nothing. That's okay. That's what you want, in the beginning. Why? Because this helps to strengthen your resolve. If you can consistently do things that get your art seen like posting on social media, putting your work in local venues, creating art in the park, participating in art fairs, submitting to gallery exhibitions, etc...You will gain confidence. Not because so many people liked your art or said nice things about it. You gain confidence in the act of sharing and letting yourself share your artwork generously and without expectations from other people is the hardest part.

DON’T LET THE HATERS GET TO YOU

In the beginning, it's the sharing that will tear you down. It seems so counter-intuitive. But, sharing your work is just like strength training. It takes practice. As humans, sharing as part of a community can be a natural behavior, but sharing with the expectation of nothing in return—that's borderline spiritual. I know, that might sound —far out, maaan! (insert Matthew McConaughey here). I have firm opinions about him, but that's for another post. Anyhoo—I'll give you an example:

I once had a troll on Instagram. For a few weeks, this troll would post the same comment on every single post; it said-"...but, that isn't art!" At first, I was confused because this was a post that was doing quite well (to my newb standards), and there were many positive comments. 

*By now, we all know comments and likes mean zilch, but we'll get to that in a sec. So, I noticed shortly after that every piece I posted had this same comment. Look, I'll tell you right now—If this had been IRL, this troll would have gotten a quick and dirty art education, along with some WORDS, IYKWIM? And, if I'm honest, it took everything in my body not to comment back. But, after many hours of inner toil and incredible self-control (yes, I'm bragging, ya'll self-control is hard), I decided I had to let it go. I've learned the trolls online are just not worth the mental gymnastics. And it's NEVER healthy to try and convince anyone of your value, or furthermore the value of your work. So, I deleted the comment and moved the f*ck on.

Think about it this way, if a person came into your house and promptly shit in your living room, you wouldn't just leave it there to stink up the place, would you? 

IT TAKES TIME

But, I'll tell you, as much as I know and even knew then that this person was being nasty and their comment wasn't personal, I thought about it every time I went to hit that post button.

That was practice. It was an essential practice; to feel me sitting in that kind of discomfort without responding...it was an experience that helped build my confidence even more.

I didn't need to separate myself from my work. I didn't have to "get a thicker skin." I just needed to let it go—will there always be a FROZEN reference after that phrase, probably. 

What are the take-aways?

1- I hate to say it, but HATERS GONNA HATE! 🤢

2- Your artwork is part of you, but still, you are not your work. You don't need to separate yourself from it. But, you must learn to detach from it, at least a little. Because once your work is out in the world, your job as an artist is done. You did what artists do; we create. We are not here to convince or defend anyone of anything, even to reinforce people's opinions that feel good. 

3- Detachment from expectations only comes with practice, practice, practice. Sharing without expectation is a divine act.