Every time I have an idea to do something that is way out of my comfort zone, the only way I can do it is to start in the darkness. It works, Every. Single. Time. Let me explain.
Up until this moment, writing a blog post was something other people did. It feels odd to be writing my own, albeit strangely exhilarating. However, getting to this point has not been easy.
PUTTING IT OFF
I’d do my classic thing; research the subject, check out best practice, talk to friends about it, read other people’s blogs, watch a few more blogging YouTube videos and then when it came to it, I’d suddenly feel the need to tidy my studio or start sketching out my ideas for my next painting. Procrastination alert!
Then I’d go to bed that night with the nagging feeling that I’d still not started the blog!
One day I pinpointed what was stopping me. It was that reliable emotion that is trying to keep us safe but when left unchecked, can end up keeping us small and in a form of stasis.
Yep you’ve guessed it; FEAR. The fear of sharing my thoughts. The fear that it wouldn’t be any good. The fear of rejection.
WORKING WITH FEAR
I don’t know about you but the only way I’ve found to overcome fear is to face it head on. Just by writing down what I was afraid of helped me see how ridiculous it was to let it stop me. I mean, what if it’s a really good blog? What if people enjoy it?! Now there’s a thought!
It was time to back myself. A case of feel the fear and do it anyway. But I still had to find a way to trick myself into starting.
START IN THE DARKNESS
So I did what I always do when starting a new and intimidating project. I went to bed early that night so that I woke up naturally around 5am the next morning, while the rest of the house was still asleep.*
I lay in bed for twenty minutes, gently exploring ideas in my head about what I wanted to say and when I was happy with it I crept upstairs to my studio, opened my laptop and began to write.
This is how I begin to write talks, poetry and sometimes compose paintings or think of the subject for a new series. At dawn, when the house is still in darkness. In the silence of a world which is momentarily free from noisy distractions. A place where ideas are free to surface and where I can grasp them before they disappear.
As soon as I had a few sentences written down, I was in. Enjoying the writing process and learning about myself as I went.
It’s like so many things; going for a run, cooking a new dish, starting a DIY project, once you’ve started, whilst it may not all be plain sailing, you get a lot out of it that you would have never experienced if you’d never dared to begin.
I’d love to hear your tips and tricks for getting over the fear, those mental barriers that seem to be set on holding us back. Leave me a comment below.
And if you try starting something in the darkness and it works for you please let me know!
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Thanks for your time and I hope you have a good week.
Stay curious! Love
*There’s something about waking up to an alarm that seems to break the spell and makes it less effective, not to mention that you risk waking others when you need to be alone.