What if it's rubbish? The creative person's fear of failure

Have you ever not started doing something for fear of failure?

Most of us will answer ‘yes’ to that question. In fact, this fear of failing, of producing something ‘rubbish’, is particularly common when it comes to creativity.

Whether you find yourself in front of a pristine new roll of fabric, a white canvas or an expensive skein of yarn, the fear of failing - of failing it, not doing this beautiful medium justice - can stop you in your tracks.

Why does our worry of producing something ‘rubbish’ hold us back?

I think it is usually for one or both of these two reasons:

The first is the idea that we have to invest, and don’t want to ‘waste’, precious resources, such as the expensive paper, fabric or yarn referred to above.

The second is the fact that many creative activities result in something visual, and something visual can be judged in an instant by anybody, regardless of their qualifications or whether or not they understand the context or intention of your work.

So this fear of failing creatively is a legitimate one, and we need to confront it, because it stops too many of us from living our creative potential.

How can we overcome our fear of failing in our creative pursuits?

Let's break it down into where the fear originates from:

If you are worried your work will be rubbish

What I am about to write is unlikely to be new to anybody, and yet it is surprising how often we forget about this when it comes to our own work.

I invite you to remind yourself of this regularly, especially in moments of doubt or hesitation, because it will help you to keep going:

Every artist has produced 'rubbish' on their way to becoming confident, recognised and successful.

Their failures might have made them angry, they might have torn or smashed up their work, but they kept going and making more. And from every piece of 'rubbish' they produced, they learned something and got that little bit better at it.

If you are worried others will think your work is rubbish

Because, as mentioned above, visual work is so easily judged by anybody, in all probability there will be someone somewhere who will think your creation is rubbish.

Those of us who put our work on social media know how quickly and freely people offer a negative comment. In this faceless, anonymous space, there will always be someone who has something snarky to say.

Realising this will help you to learn not to care about those comments. You know what you created and why, you know what it took to create it and what it therefore means.

Some might say the only person your work should please is you, but: aren't we often our own harshest critic? This is a reminder not to be that one person who makes a snarky comment about your work.

If you are worried about spoiling or wasting precious resources

For every piece of work you begin, especially when there is hesitation or anxiety around ‘spoiling’ your precious medium, set yourself this intention (or something along these lines):

I am creating for my own enjoyment in the act of creating.

My enjoyment lies in the process, not the end product.

You may engage in mundane creative exercises for an hour, like making marks on a piece of paper, or stitching freely on a piece of fabric, without a finished image in mind.

And that material you are using for these mundane activities is worth it - you owe it to that material to be put to use rather than it lying in a drawer or ending up in a charity shop because you never considered yourself good enough to touch it.

Remember that creativity is self perpetuating

The more mundane and simple creative exercises you do, the more original ideas you will have. Something great will ultimately materialise if you frequently, spontaneously and without pressure engage in a seemingly simplistic creative exercises that don't result in a piece of art.

I hope this helps you along in your creative journey and feel free to message me if you'd like to have a chat.