Instant cure

For those of you who haven't noticed, I'm a very social bug. I like to be surrounded by friends and family :) Unfortunately, that is not always possible: sometimes life happens and I'm left alone. Most of the time, I can cope just fine with loneliness and I just spend some time relaxing, reading or drawing then. But sometimes, I do get lonely... and that's when I make a mistake: I log on to Facebook and scroll down the news feed. BIG mistake! Since I'm already feeling a little low, I'm seriously ill-equipped to deal with all the bad news spawning there. 

Friday, after reading about the greenhouse effect, the ebola virus, the latest idiot and cruel joke people think is funny, writers backstabbing writers, children sex slaves in Middle East, people pointing fingers and accusing everyone of not caring, some mere thousands different charity asking for money while I got about 5$ in my bank account, etc. After reading about all that, my morale was laying flat on the floor. I was feeling absolutely miserable. The thought that came with the most intent was that my career was perfectly ridiculous since I was not saving lives, fighting in the army, digging wells in Africa or researching a cure for cancer. After all, all a writer does is only making up stories and spamming the already-overcrowded artistic world with it... 

Where's the usefulness in that?

Those were my thoughts some time last Friday's afternoon... 

That's when my friend Eve showed up again and we spoke. She told me she didn't think writers had a useless job since we create adventure, a temporary escape for people to take a break from it all while being immersed in our universes. And what's more, that they can emerge better rested, with a fresh batch of energy to go through it all. And maybe we can even alter their thoughts for the better?

I think it's all very plausible :)

Then, we got to talking about styles and what I thought was an overcrowded market; that's when she linked me to a video that changed my perception of a lot of things!

It's a video of one Michele Theberge, a Canadian artist. Eve is a writer / artist and she really likes that lady's work. I'm honestly not a big fan of Theberge's paintings, but I really like the woman behind it. I actually ended up watching her entire channel that day hihi But the video that helped me the most was this one. And a sentence in it instantly cured me of my mood and doubts.

In the video, Theberge is talking about self-doubt, how they happen to every artist and how they are perfectly normal. And then she said something like "Take a pause to hear those thoughts......... And then, you are allowed to show them the door!"

That struck me.

Somehow, I had forgotten somewhere during my life that I was the sole master of my thoughts! This video reminded that to me, echoing to one of my favorite of Eleanor Roosevelt's quotes: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." If I was feeling like crap, it must have meant that I was agreeing to this?! Perhaps, these two women are right. Perhaps, I should take their advice.

So, I did.

I paused....

I heard my thoughts say stuff like "You're not that good of a writer, there are a million better than you!", "Why would anybody want to read your stuff?", "You're nobody.", etc.

Then, as my friend Rachel said: "It is scientifically proven that, when you speak aloud, your brain is forced to stop and listen to you." So I spoke aloud: "Okay, Thoughts. I hear you. I am aware of what you are saying and these fears are all mine, I know them. But Thoughts, you slow me down, you paralyze me and that is NOT what I want. So please, leave my head!"



And they did.

I know it sounds silly, like some kind of personal growth book crap. But it really did work for me and I intend to keep on doing that. :) And feel free to borrow this trick! ^_^ 

Also, as Theberge suggested, no matter if you're a writer, a painter, a singer, etc. Find yourself a journal, name it (mine is called a Vide-Tête, litterally "Head emptier") and write down in it every crap you might have in your head that is clogging the flow of the creativity river inside of you! In mine, I write stuff I have to do, stuff I must not forget, my doubts, my fears but also, my aspirations and my dreams. I empty my head of all my normal life stuff (and most of the time, I find less things to write in there than I originally thought!). Then, I am all ready to start a new creative day, no matter if what I write or paint is good or bad so long as I am having fun and liking it! ^_^ Only my OWN thoughts matter now and I am the master of it! ^_^

So, if you suffer from self-doubt like me:

1. Take a pause to hear your thoughts.
2. Make sure they know you have heard them.
3. Get rid of any thoughts you don't want. (Remember, you're the master of your thoughts and you can feel AAAANY way you want!)
4. Write down all the creativity-blocking stuff in your journal.
5. CREATE!!!!

And as a little added bonus, remember the golden rule of fighting off artist's block: "Give yourself permission to create GARBAGE!" :D

Hope that helps! ^_^