Creative Self-Sabotage: How To Prevent The Perfect Murder Of Your Creativity
As we go through our lives creating, there are many obstacles that we come across.
Some of these are external obstacles that we can see a mile off, and take evasive action to prevent them having too great an impact.
Then there are those other barriers to our creativity that are a little harder to see.
Sometimes they even slip under the radar completely and before we realise it, we’ve hit a creative wall. We feel creatively exhausted - out of ideas, lacking in motivation and stuck in what feels like setting concrete.
It’s almost like our creativity got murdered while we slept.
So what happens? Who are these silent assassins of our creativity, and where do they come from?
The reason they’re so dangerous is they come from the place we find it most difficult to watch for and guard against.
The come from within us.
These various forms of creative self-sabotage are able to commit the perfect murder. They kill our creativity from within. There are no witnesses, and barely any evidence.
But if we look hard enough, there’s always something, some clue, some pattern.
So here’s a few of the most common self-sabotage suspects and how to spot them. Take a look at this gruesome line up and see who YOU recognise:
1. “Lucky” Eddie Moreno.
Favourite Saying: “Don’t Push Your Luck Sweetheart”.
Murder Technique: After a great flow of creativity, you feel you’d better slow down as you're scared your weekly quota or allowance of creativity might suddenly run out.
How to stay alive: There is no weekly quota. The more you create, the more you’re able to create. Your mind, your whole creative being, loves to create. As you create more it gets used to creating and grows and evolves.
2. Macho “Responsibility” Bentez.
Favourite saying: “We all got responsibilities, take care of yours”.
Murder Technique: You tell yourself you can’t spend so much time on your creative projects. There are other people around you to take care of and consider. Your creativity is not a priority.
How to stay alive: We all deserve the time and opportunities to create and develop our creativity. Even if you spent just 15 minutes a day creating, it keeps you evolving. And, when you create, it makes you happier and gives you more energy to take into the other parts of your life.
3. Tony “Heartbreak” Colletti.
Favourite saying: “Doll, save yourself a whole lotta heartbreak”.
Murder Technique: You feel whatever you create there’ll come a point when you’ll be disappointed. Either you’ll feel you could’ve done better, or someone will reject your work. You think you’ll save yourself the heartbreak by not even starting.
How to stay alive: Disappointment is a part of creating. When we find something isn’t what we expected and we carry on anyway, it makes us stronger, wiser and more able to deal with the next unexpected situation.
4. “Car Crash” Kenny Valentine.
Favourite saying: “Sweet cheeks, I’ve seen prettier lookin’ car crashes”.
Murder Technique: You tell yourself you shouldn’t make such a mess when you create. You should be getting it right more easily. If you were truly talented you’d create perfect masterpieces the first time, time after time.
How to stay alive: The fun of creating is in the mess, in the playfulness, in the experimentation. If you never scribble over the lines or blow a few wild notes you’ll never create anything exciting or stimulating or fulfilling.
5. Alfredo “The Duke” Torrentes.
Favourite saying: “Hey who made you the duchess?”.
Murder Technique: You feel you shouldn’t get ideas above your station, you should know your place. Who are you to think you could actually publish your work anyway?
How to stay alive: You have as much right to create, and to offer what you create to the world as anyone. There are people waiting to experience your art, your vision, your way of seeing the world. Who are you to deny them that pleasure and inspiration?
:: Share Your Experience ::
Which of these shady suspects do you recognise and have suffered from in the past?
What steps can you take to spot the more easily in the future and reduce the damage they inflict on your creativity?
Click the comments link below to share your ideas, comments and experiences.
Some of these are external obstacles that we can see a mile off, and take evasive action to prevent them having too great an impact.
Then there are those other barriers to our creativity that are a little harder to see.
Sometimes they even slip under the radar completely and before we realise it, we’ve hit a creative wall. We feel creatively exhausted - out of ideas, lacking in motivation and stuck in what feels like setting concrete.
It’s almost like our creativity got murdered while we slept.
So what happens? Who are these silent assassins of our creativity, and where do they come from?
The reason they’re so dangerous is they come from the place we find it most difficult to watch for and guard against.
The come from within us.
These various forms of creative self-sabotage are able to commit the perfect murder. They kill our creativity from within. There are no witnesses, and barely any evidence.
But if we look hard enough, there’s always something, some clue, some pattern.
So here’s a few of the most common self-sabotage suspects and how to spot them. Take a look at this gruesome line up and see who YOU recognise:
1. “Lucky” Eddie Moreno.
Favourite Saying: “Don’t Push Your Luck Sweetheart”.
Murder Technique: After a great flow of creativity, you feel you’d better slow down as you're scared your weekly quota or allowance of creativity might suddenly run out.
How to stay alive: There is no weekly quota. The more you create, the more you’re able to create. Your mind, your whole creative being, loves to create. As you create more it gets used to creating and grows and evolves.
2. Macho “Responsibility” Bentez.
Favourite saying: “We all got responsibilities, take care of yours”.
Murder Technique: You tell yourself you can’t spend so much time on your creative projects. There are other people around you to take care of and consider. Your creativity is not a priority.
How to stay alive: We all deserve the time and opportunities to create and develop our creativity. Even if you spent just 15 minutes a day creating, it keeps you evolving. And, when you create, it makes you happier and gives you more energy to take into the other parts of your life.
3. Tony “Heartbreak” Colletti.
Favourite saying: “Doll, save yourself a whole lotta heartbreak”.
Murder Technique: You feel whatever you create there’ll come a point when you’ll be disappointed. Either you’ll feel you could’ve done better, or someone will reject your work. You think you’ll save yourself the heartbreak by not even starting.
How to stay alive: Disappointment is a part of creating. When we find something isn’t what we expected and we carry on anyway, it makes us stronger, wiser and more able to deal with the next unexpected situation.
4. “Car Crash” Kenny Valentine.
Favourite saying: “Sweet cheeks, I’ve seen prettier lookin’ car crashes”.
Murder Technique: You tell yourself you shouldn’t make such a mess when you create. You should be getting it right more easily. If you were truly talented you’d create perfect masterpieces the first time, time after time.
How to stay alive: The fun of creating is in the mess, in the playfulness, in the experimentation. If you never scribble over the lines or blow a few wild notes you’ll never create anything exciting or stimulating or fulfilling.
5. Alfredo “The Duke” Torrentes.
Favourite saying: “Hey who made you the duchess?”.
Murder Technique: You feel you shouldn’t get ideas above your station, you should know your place. Who are you to think you could actually publish your work anyway?
How to stay alive: You have as much right to create, and to offer what you create to the world as anyone. There are people waiting to experience your art, your vision, your way of seeing the world. Who are you to deny them that pleasure and inspiration?
:: Share Your Experience ::
Which of these shady suspects do you recognise and have suffered from in the past?
What steps can you take to spot the more easily in the future and reduce the damage they inflict on your creativity?
Click the comments link below to share your ideas, comments and experiences.
posted by Dan at 7:40 PM
3 Comments:
Wow! An amazing piece of writing! I need to read this one daily!
Wow! An amazing piece of writing! I need to be reading this one every day!!!
Our friend The Duke seems to be my most common problem. I can't begin to tell how many stories, poems, articles, whatever, I have either thrown away or let sit idle on my computer.
In October, I applied for a fellowship for a month-long residency at a writers' colony. I didn't get the fellowship, but I did get invited to a general residency, which I started this past Friday.
I've so far effectively evicted a couple of the usual suspects and even have an acceptance for a short poem with more pending.
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