Anxiety while working on career/LP

[nistake]

Have you ever experienced any kind of anxiety while working on your future career/LP/personal projects?

I noticed a while ago that every time I start a new personal art project, I experience anxiety. It's hard to put into words, but I sort of fear/worry that I won't be able to outdo myself. It feels like pressure. Maybe I'm too hard on myself but I want to get better at doing art, so this is quite a hurdle for me. I try to practise every single day and I'm committed, but there are days when I actually have to force myself to do it. It doesn't feel really good and art cannot be forced.

On the other hand, as soon as I finish a project, I feel awesome and proud. I look at it and I often say to myself: "hey, you made this out of nothing, how awesome is that?" It's pure joy.

It's kinda confusing so I'd love to hear your opinion on how to resolve this.

[Guest SirVladimir]

Very simple.

1-5 minutes of shamanic breathing before I lay down a sentence onto a paper. 

Start doing your art instantly after. Play inspiring music. 

[seeking_brilliance]

@nistake haha we are exact twinsies in this. And during the project there's what we call artists anxiety, which is when you can be at work and suddenly you want nothing more than to be in front of your piece.  And it hurts lol. 

When I finish, I think exactly what you mentioned but also am in awe that "I made this... This is so beyond what I thought I could do"... Of course you can also go meta and be appreciative of the opportunity to channel this thing out. This is also with writing for me. 

Also I agree with @SirVladimir, get grounded before beginning. His suggestion is phenemonal, or you can do a grounding exercise like an awareness check in, or short meditation, or consciously count from 1-100. But the shamanic breathing will definitely open creativity. 

Edited November 29, 2020 by seeking_brilliance

[Guest SirVladimir]

@seeking_brilliance  My advice to do shamanic breathing is gettin' old on the forum, but it is so goddamn powerful...

Not sure what to advise? [insert_shamanic_breathing]

Also, your pieces are fenomenal, J. The mediterranean-ish cliff overhang you posted a month ago has been stuck with me since.

[nistake]

@seeking_brilliance Kinda glad to know that I'm not the only one

@SirVladimir Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely try it out next time.

[UDT]

Dude 100%

[Michael569]

6 hours ago, nistake said:

Have you ever experienced any kind of anxiety while working on your future career/LP/personal projects?

Yes absolutely! All the time. But it is a different kind of anxiety. 

In my world, it is partially fear of failure, partially fear of being an imposter and partially a fear of not being good enough. Maybe few bits and pieces of other things as well but yah once you really care about something you may often feel anxious before you ship your product. 

[seeking_brilliance]

3 hours ago, SirVladimir said:

@seeking_brilliance  My advice to do shamanic breathing is gettin' old on the forum, but it is so goddamn powerful...

Not sure what to advise? [insert_shamanic_breathing]

Also, your pieces are fenomenal, J. The mediterranean-ish cliff overhang you posted a month ago has been stuck with me since.

Well I just think no one even considers it as option, and quite a few have already been inspired by your tales of it.  Myself, it was an unbelievable  experience that breathing could alter the experience so incredibly, and I still never made it past just a couple minutes at a time. It keeps coming back to the boredom and uncomfortableness of it, and I applaud your talent in saying screw all that. It's funny because I'll get real bored, but remember that if I just push through it's worth it, and it always is, but it's still enough to push me away from going again, at least currently. 

I am focusing more on image streaming, as it's something I've wanted to master for two years now.  I have a real problem with goal commitment and focus.  ?

Thank you about the painting. It was a Christmas gift for my mom. 

Edited November 29, 2020 by seeking_brilliance

[Nahm]

On 11/29/2020 at 5:44 AM, nistake said:

Have you ever experienced any kind of anxiety while working on your future career/LP/personal projects?

I noticed a while ago that every time I start a new personal art project, I experience anxiety. It's hard to put into words, but I sort of fear/worry that I won't be able to outdo myself. It feels like pressure. Maybe I'm too hard on myself but I want to get better at doing art, so this is quite a hurdle for me. I try to practise every single day and I'm committed, but there are days when I actually have to force myself to do it. It doesn't feel really good and art cannot be forced.

On the other hand, as soon as I finish a project, I feel awesome and proud. I look at it and I often say to myself: "hey, you made this out of nothing, how awesome is that?" It's pure joy.

It's kinda confusing so I'd love to hear your opinion on how to resolve this.

The feeling is about the thoughts / self image of you. The feeling is of you. The thoughts are not actually about a you. That’s why they feel off. Self referential narratives filter creativity experientially, but not actually (confusion). The confusion is being unconsciously created.