Just two today, hope you enjoy!
[dropcap type=”circle” color=”#COLOR_CODE” background=”#COLOR_CODE”]1[/dropcap]
Tiffany Hawk wrote an awesome article for the Huffington Post a few months ago that I just read now: “How to Make Dreams Happen. Right Now. Even if You’re Scared.”
In it Tiffany gives some background on her life overcoming her fear of flying to become a flight attendant and then ultimately writing a novel and becoming a travel writer and writing mentor. She also shares stories about dealing with fear from three awesome ladies. This is definitely a good read and inspirational as it lets you peek inside her journey (one of my favorite things to do) and reminds you that “Courage, isn’t about waiting for the fear to subside, it’s about doing it anyway.”
[dropcap type=”circle” color=”#COLOR_CODE” background=”#COLOR_CODE”]2[/dropcap]
Funny lady Aisha Tyler has a podcast called Girl on Guy where she interviews people, mostly from the entertainment industry, about pretty much any topic that comes to mind. It’s not a show about fear specifically, but she has interesting people on and they get pretty open and honest.
I was listening to her recent interview with Scandal star Dan Bucatinsky (he plays Cyrus’ husband if you watch the show) and caught this super helpful exchange about creativity and fear:
Aisha: What I do think we share in common is also this need to be creative and I feel like when you’re waiting for someone to give you permission to be creative, you’ll never be creative. You just have to give yourself permission and you want everything that you do to be successful, but I feel like the first litmus test to success is did I do it to the best of my ability? Am I pleased with what I created? I mean, you’ve been a writer almost now as long as you’ve been a performer and there’s so much when you can walk off a set one day and be like “Man I really killed it.” It’s as satisfying to me when I’m in front of the computer and I’m like “Oh! God! I just love what I did here!” I don’t think you go around being like “I’m so awesome.” There’s something fulfilling in having an idea and getting it out and executing it in the way that you intended regardless of who sees it. That in it of itself is satisfying.
Dan: I also think it’s all about fear. It’s all about the management of fear. I am scared most of my life, all the time. And the management of that fear, whether it’s that I’ve got a lump or whatever or the blank page which panics me more than anything on the planet. It’s the pushing through fear that is the most satisfying thing because it’s where all creativity comes. I was petrified to be naked on that stage and acting with someone like Jeff Perry who started the Steppenwolf Company. I’m petrified every time I have to write a script. I was petrified to write my book ‘cause it was so exposed and so honest. But that made it so much more satisfying and that made me want to push even harder to…When it really scares me, I know I’m close. And it’s hard. Fear’s supposed to stop you. The impulse goes back to the animal instinct. Fear’s supposed to keep you from doing something that might kill you. But the creative world isn’t going to kill you and the fear is what drives you.
Aisha: And the fear will keep you from all of the things that you’re dreaming about, the 40 year old you and the 8 year old you.
Dan: And conquering the fear is the thing that at the end makes you stand and go “Oh, my God I’m so proud of myself.” I love that. I didn’t just let the page stay blank because it was too scary.
How awesome is that? The interview is over an hour long and worth a listen so check it out here if you’re interested.
Any thoughts on this week’s resources? Any to add?
Feature Image: In the Library by YLev Licensed Under CC BY 2.0