"Fear"

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Or

"The first duty of man is to conquer fear; he must get rid of it, he cannot act till then."

Thomas Carlyle

Either way you look at it, the idea is always the same. Fear is what you make of it. There is no fear, only an emotional response to perceived danger, but most of the times that we humans feel fear... there is no "real" danger. Real fear is hanging by one arm off of a cliff, Being attacked by a grizzly bear, or waking in your house to find it being engulfed in flames. This is fear that we rarely feel these days. Our new fears stem from social interactions. We call it nervousness. This is a purely learned reaction. One that you the artist are meant to overcome, in your own way and at your own pace. Some will say you have to take the big leap but if you’re like me, you like to wade slowly into the pool and get a feeling for it first, before you can submerge yourself.

Now don't get me wrong. I feel it too. Fear; can at times be as real as it gets. There are all these new things I am trying to implement right now that are scary to me. Who really knows if any of it will pan out, but it is the journey I am taking that makes all the difference. Isn't it? All these new avenues and directions I am learning to access are of course, feeling me with feelings of dread and discomfort. That twitching in your spine that tells you to stop and think about it. That tries to control your actions and sets up the fight or flight response we all get from time to time. Well I am choosing to fight. Or at least give it my best shot.

Things I am trying that are completely new and scary to me.

• Contacting newspapers with a self-written press release and a bio.
  
  
• Looking into outings and other events where artists can sell their works.
  
  
• Approaching galleries and talking with the owners to see if they have any interest in my works.
  
  
• Connecting with restaurant owners about hanging works if they have space available.
  
  
• Engaging with fellow artist and trying to find likeminded people.

For me specifically... I find that anything having to do with public speaking, to be the most troublesome. I don't always do well in situations like that. As well, the mere thought of success can make me a bit anxious. Nobody really wants their existing lifestyle to be greatly altered from comfort to uncomfortable, and that can get a little overwhelming for me personally.  But you have to press on. I will start enter works into contests or maybe even doing live demos one day. Who knows where this can all lead?

We can only be scared if we let fear bother us and fear isn't real. So nothing bothers us.

What if anything scares you about being an artist? Do you, like most artists, feel that you might not be good enough yet? Or think your art just doesn't fit in? Or anything else?

 I welcome all comments and suggestions as to how you might deal with your fears, or success stories of overcoming your own individual fears.