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| photograph by Renee Griffin |
“Feel the fear and do it anyway.” – Jessica Swift*
This quote grabbed me by the collar and shook me to the
bones. Not because it’s particularly
poetic, but because I recognized the visceral truth in it. I will not presume to speak for others, but
can only speak of my own experiences.
Close inspection of those experiences made me realize that if there is
no fear it is because I am entrenched in my comfort zone.
It is so much easier to walk the worn path than to blaze a
new trail. But that worn trail will
always end in mediocrity. I have no
qualms singling out mediocrity in the world around me, but daring to decry my
own is difficult. It’s so much easier to
blame others- work, school, kids, little wild fires that need immediate
attention. But what truly perpetuates
mediocrity is fear: fear of failure,
fear of discomfort, fear of criticism, fear of the unknown.
I read Jessica’s words and the critic within heard the
challenge. I will embrace the fear and
then, do it anyway. In the spirit of
pushing my limits and quieting that dark doubt that fear induces, I bought a new set of water colors and
ordered the ink sprays I’ve been secretly coveting for the past six
months. And just to make sure that fear
itself hears me, I will invite you to view my creations.
Don’t leave me hanging though, I want to hear from those of
you who also hear the challenge. What
are you inspired to do despite the nagging fears?
“Queen of Fork ‘n’
Cork” is one of my earliest forays into mixed media artwork. I created it at the culmination of a very
ambitious collaborative effort to raise money for our elementary school . The canvas was a gift from several of us to our fearless leader,
and I hope she doesn’t mind that I have shared it here with you.
Whatever you feel inspired to do this week, I hope you find
beauty in the process. While undertaking
the daunting task of staining our new wooden fence this past week, I set aside
the irritation that stems from tedium to appreciate the beauty around me. The Bermuda is waking from its winter
slumber, the forsythia have donned their spring attire, and the Bradford Pears
have exploded in a shower of white. So
don’t just feel the fear, feel the beauty.
Photograph by Renee Griffin.
Very well stated as usual Renee. You do such a great job of making us think about the bigger picture.
ReplyDeleteI love that quote. There's this great book called Art and Fear that you'd love and we had to read in architecture school. It's about how the creative process is so much tied to thinking we're terrible and not really artists, then doing it anyway. As soon as I get it back from my other writer friend, you can borrow it. Yesterday the verse I wrote down to memorize was "I have trusted in the Lord; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" I was thinking how so much stress/worry about my book is really fear- "What if I fail? What if people hate it? What if people laugh at me?" But really, what can man do to me? They're not going to put me in jail or kill me like they do in some countries, for what I believe. What am I worried about? Reputation? So I'm going to work on when I start worrying saying that verse outloud! :) I need all the help I can get! Love Bradford pear picture. I love those trees with all my heart!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you again Charity. I will definitely put the book, Art and Fear, on my list of reading. I hope my humble scrawl on the cyber-wall does inspire you to pick up your pen and throw yourself out there. If we support one another we will be invincible!
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