Why You’re Absolutely Terrified Of Actually Having Time To Create
Posted on | June 5, 2010 | 13 Comments
Do you have enough time to create all you want to create? Enough time to devote to all those brilliant ideas for creative projects bubbling away in your head?
No? I didn’t think so!
It’s one of the most common complaints of creative people that I hear, soon followed by “If ONLY I had more time, I could be SO much more creative…”
There are two crucial points that mean we repeatedly end up in this state of feeling frustrated, that we’re under achieving, and all our creativity and creative potential is slowly slipping away unused and unfulfilled.
Firstly, you will NEVER have enough time to create everything you want to create. There, we’ve said it, it’s out in the open.
For every creative project you work on, there will be a dozen or more others in your head begging for your attention, all potentially equally valid and interesting and wonderful.
That’s what happens to us, we’re creative people, new ideas hurtle towards us at a hundred times a second.
If you gave up absolutely everything else in your life, including relationships, eating and sleeping, you would still fall drastically short of having enough time and energy to create all you wanted to create.
Once you realise and accept this, rather than leave you feeling defeated, it actually frees you to get on with the most important creative projects you can create right now. It allows you to prioritise and focus.
Which brings us to our second point.
You’re actually afraid of having time free to create, because it means you’ll have to, well, create stuff!
Exciting stuff, emotive stuff, passion filled, life changing dazzlingly amazing stuff.
That’s a scary prospect.
image: Sakurako Kitsa
So we often just tell everyone (and ourselves) that we haven’t created much lately because we just haven’t had time. It’s the easiest excuse.
And because most of us also feel so pressured and in demand these days, we just nod gently in sympathetic understanding, knowing how it is, wishing we too had more time to create.
It’s ok to be scared to create. In fact if you’ve been contemplating a new project for a while and, though it fills you with an excitement you’ve not felt in ages, equally it fills you with dread and trepidation, that’s a good sign! It means it has meaning for you. It’s important, it matters.
Ashley Ambirge spoke about this recently on her brilliant blog The Middle Finger Project.
“Meaning is not inherent; it is derived only when we assign meaning, which we do because we feel strongly about something.”
So rather than take on these projects that are meaningful, we shy away, we bail out. Because they make us feel alive, like we’re doing something important, something worthwhile.
What are you afraid of? What are you REALLY afraid of?
Your art not turning out as good as you hoped?
It turning out better than you hoped?
Realising how very talented you are, and how much you enjoy creating, how good it makes you feel, then wondering if you “deserve” to have these good feelings?
Ask yourself bluntly and honestly, do you REALLY have no time to create?
Or are you just making excuses and filling your life with “busy” activity because you’re scared of actually getting down to creating what matters?
It could be one of the most enlightening and empowering questions you ever ask.
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Hey, I'm Dan Goodwin. As a Creativity Coach I help people become as creative as they've always known they can be. I also write, dance, and eat a fair bit of chocolate... Thanks for visiting.
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June 5th, 2010 @ 10:19 am
One of my fave posts.
Well-written for such a young boy.
June 5th, 2010 @ 2:05 pm
Extremely valid points and very applicable to my current situation.
I think I often waste at least 2 hours per day that could be used on being creative. I love being creative and feel, like you noted, that we feel guilty or ashamed or lazy when we set aside time to just be creative.
Great thoughts here. I shared with my twitter friends.
David Damron
TMP
June 5th, 2010 @ 2:10 pm
Thanks David for your input.
Your recent post – Now Or Never – was definitely an influence in writing this post. I really respect your openness about where you’re at and how you’re feeling.
Much of what I write on here is to help people with certain creative struggles that I know exist because I have them myself. We’re all learning as we go, and it’s great to have supportive people along for the ride too.
June 7th, 2010 @ 12:52 am
Dan,
This is just what I was supposed to hear today. I’ve been wrestling with myself over product creation and boy, did you nail this one. That’s twice today I’ve received this message.
Thanks for posting this great piece for me to discover,
Val
June 7th, 2010 @ 3:15 am
Hi Val, thanks for your thoughts.
Always glad to be of help! Fear drives so many decisions in our lives, I think it helps to be aware of it, rather than fooling ourselves with a half hearted excuse.
It’s ok to be afraid, we all are of some things. The problems come when we deny it, and just end up wasting lots of time and not really knowing why.
(I’m talking to myself here as much as anyone…)
June 7th, 2010 @ 5:18 pm
[...] Why you’re absolutely terrified of actually having time to create [...]
June 7th, 2010 @ 10:22 pm
I would write a longer comment but now feel compelled to go create. I have plenty of ideas to choose from, and no excuse after reading your post!
Thanks!
Courtney
June 8th, 2010 @ 8:49 am
[...] Why You’re Actually Terrified of Having Time to Create. [...]
June 8th, 2010 @ 9:28 am
Ah I love hearing that Courtney, happy creating!
June 8th, 2010 @ 1:35 pm
The question “What are you really afraid of?” couldn’t have been better addressed. I’ve gone through first and second example, now I’m going through something similar to the third. Realizing that I maybe am talented for a certain thing more then I ever thought I could be, realizing how much I enjoy it and being terrified of continuously creating in that area because that could be more then it is right now.
Here, logically, arises the question why we are afraid to create when we realize how much more we enjoy something and that it is probably what we have been searching for a long time.
Maybe it’s the difference from here and there that keeps us away, that frightens us, that doesn’t allow us to recognize what we can do. But how do we grow pass this, except push forward and try to do that part of the creative work more often?
This is good. Awesome post!
June 8th, 2010 @ 3:09 pm
Stella this reminds me of that Marianne Williamson quote – “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us…”
I think you’re right, we do have to keep pushing forward. There are people that need to hear our message, that need to know there are other people like them, that’s it’s ok to be afraid, but to carry on anyway, creating what’s burning inside us desperate to be given life.
Only I can be me, only you can be you.
Thanks for your comment.
September 1st, 2010 @ 8:01 pm
My deepest fear is inadequacy. My excuse is that my work is and never will be good enough. And I know that nothing short of exceptional is truly worthwhile.
September 2nd, 2010 @ 6:28 pm
Rebecca, thanks for your comments.
I’m curious, do you only enjoy to create something that you feel is “exceptional” when it’s finished? Is the end “product” your main aim? What about the enjoyment, experimentation and learning of creating as we go through each new project?