Fears and Rituals

Twyla Tharp discusses her 5 big fears when starting a creative endeavor and her rituals to overcome those fears. The key is to not let those fears paralyze you. My fears are what holds me back from unleashing the awesome that is within…too much? But seriously it does hold me back from taking risks and moving forward with what I want to do a lot of times. My fears are as follows:

1. Thinking that I am not good enough for what I want to do.

2. People will laugh at me during the journey because they don’t believe in me or think I can do it.

3. People judging me and how I go on this journey.

4. Being shut down for wanting to move forward and telling me that I can’t.

5. I will lose and upset people that I care about.

Of course, I still have all these fears. Only now, they aren’t as strong. I was so afraid to have a dream because of these fears. I’ve learned to give myself pep talks and change the way I speak to myself. As Tharp says, “this is a head game” (Tharp, 2006, p. 23). She is completely right. It all comes down to your mind.

I do many rituals to help control the fear, so it does not control me. I mentioned before that I have learned to give myself pep talks and change the way I speak to myself. What I have done is I keep telling myself that I AM good enough to go on this journey. That it doesn’t matter what people think of me and what they think I SHOULD do. What matters is what I think I should do. What matters is what I think. If someone tells me I can’t do it, show them that I CAN. This isn’t their life. This is mine. Will I lose people or upset people in my life for going on with mine? Of course, but if they are meant to be in their life they will be and be your cheerleaders. It took me a long time to realize all that and change the way I think and talk to myself, but it is worth it.

For someone with anxiety I have to practice my rituals daily. That is why they call it a ritual, right? Because it’s repetitive. Writing, painting, talking and so on; helps with self-talk and changing the way you think and work through your fears. Making it a ritual will help in the long run and the better you will know yourself.

“The better you know yourself the more you will know when you are playing to your strengths and when you are sticking your neck out” (Tharp, 2006, p. 47).

Bibliography

Tharp, T. (2006). The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life. New York, New York, USA: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.