The One Hundred Day Creative Challenge: Day 18
I’ve had two surgeries in the last month. The scars from the first one are beginning to thicken and into scar tissue. The latest ones are quite raw,but they’ll heal.
Our creative injuries need healing too. The scar tissue they produce can restrict us and hold us back from creative health. We all have creative injuries. Think back to when you were a child and someone told you your drawing didn’t make sense or the joke you told wasn’t funny or the way you danced was weird or the story you wrote so enthusiastically received a big D- and was covered in lots of red pen corrections.
Some of these injuries were brushed off and others have thickened into creative scar tissue that has caused us to lose our creative voice.
At times we are silenced by shame and fear and vulnerability.
Have you ever had an experience where someone made an off-the-cuff comment that made you feel stupid or lacking in talent. A comment about your appearance? Your singing voice? Your writing? Your drawing? Your music?
Did that comment stick with you and cause you to shut your creative voice down?
As a twelve year old someone told me my bum was massive. I walked around school for the next couple of years with a jumper tied around my waist or a bag casually draped over my butt to hide it.
I’ve had people laugh at my childish attempts at drawing.
I’ve had heaps of embarrassing moments where I felt as if something had sucked my voice out of me. Moments where I wanted to crawl away and never be seen again.
Some of those hurts have healed. Or I’ve grown tougher and not allowed them to hold me back.
BUT … there are still a couple of things I hold onto that I choose not to let out. I will never draw for anyone unless they’re under five. I will never sing out loud unless I’m alone or in a large crowd where my voice is not going to be heard.
This year I spoke at a TEDx event and despite my fear of public speaking, despite my self-consciousness, despite my past embarrassments (my creative injuries) I didn’t let them stop me from doing my best. I cringe when I watch this, but it didn’t stop me speaking other events during the year.
Please don’t let your creative injuries block your growth as a creator.
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