I have to dive into this post today. No pretty preamble. No poetic flare. Fuck it. I just have to write, because self-doubt will win if I don’t.

I recently wrote about the importance of vulnerability in art. That post seemed to strike a chord with a lot of Steemians. I argued that vulnerability is a key ingredient in the creation of true art, and that art without vulnerability is a hollow creation.

Today, I am going to talk about a human trait that has no place in art: self-doubt.

Self-Doubt

Almost every time I sit down to write, I am bombarded by thoughts that try to stop me from writing. “It won’t be as good as the last piece.  I am not feeling inspired. I don’t think I can make it happen today.” Needless to say, it is hard to feel creative when I am beating my creativity to death with self-doubt.

But allow me to share a confession with you. My most successful post on Steemit was the post that I had the most self-doubt about. I disliked the final product of that post so much that I almost didn’t publish it. I thought those words were destine for the junkyard of the internet.

That “shitty post” made over $120.

If I had listened to my self-doubt, I would have missed out on the early success that I have enjoyed on Steemit. 

Self-doubt often isn’t based in fact. Self-doubt is your fragile ego trying to keep you safe from ridicule.

I felt immense self-doubt about that post, because it was the realest and most vulnerable post that I had published on Steemit. Self-doubt was trying to keep me from committing the dangerous act of creating something wonderful.

Self-Doubt Crushes Creativity

We are all creative. Anyone that tells you otherwise is full of shit. The reason why some people appear to be uncreative is that they have censored themselves through self-doubt. Self-doubt tells you that your ideas aren’t good enough. The connections you are making aren’t valid. Whatever you are interested in is stupid, and you should just fall back in line.

However, all children are creative, because they have no learned the malicious habit of self-doubt. There are very few children that have difficulty playing make-believe. Children have no trouble inventing new games on the spot. Children find amusement in whatever tickles their fancy. And all of this is possible, because children don’t censor themselves into creative silence.

Adults are different. We are well-versed in the fine art of shaming the ever-loving shit out of ourselves. We’ve had the weight of the world’s disappointments and our own internal nagging wear our creativity down to dust. Hierarchy, organization, and bureaucracy have told us that there is a “right way” to do everything and anything. Stay inside the lines, and don’t deviate, unless you want self-doubt to strike you down.

Self-doubt is cancer to creativity. Self-doubt has no place in art.

Let It Fucking Rip

Some artists are snipers. They take their time, and they always hit the target. They are calculated, poised, and certain of their craft. They can approach the art of creation from a steady and mature standpoint. I think artistic-snipers are often veterans of their craft, and this type of composure is learned over thousands of executions.

If you’re new to your craft, you need to be a gunslinger. Better yet, a drunken gunslinger. You need to be squirrely and unpredictable. Shoot from the hip and empty both barrels. By just letting it fucking rip, you don’t allow self-doubt to worm its way into your mind. You won’t always hit the target, but you take so many shots that you’ll hit it once in awhile.

Is what I wrote good? Is it long enough? Is it what I set out to create? What will people say?

Fuck it.

Hit post. Ship it. Send it out into the world.

You’re a gunslinger that has had one too many. You don’t have time to second guess yourself and invite self-doubt into your art.

Create first. Ask questions later.

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Read my article on Vulnerability in Art

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