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Don’t Be Afraid Of Mistakes

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“Nothing will stop you being creative more effectively as the fear of making a mistake.”
– John Cleese

Don’t be afraid of making mistakes when it comes to creativity.

Throughout my life I have had a tendency to be a perfectionist. A little over a decade ago I decided to try stamping. My friend Debbie who introduced me to the art pointed out that it is impossible to be perfect while stamping. She was absolutely correct.

I decided to make a hobby of stamping and that helped quite a bit with my tendency toward perfectionism. I learned to enjoy the little imperfections and realize that sometimes mistakes can change design plans for the better. I’ll always be grateful to Debbie for introducing me to stamping because it is so fun and has been helpful to me.

However, I continue to struggle with the fear of making mistakes in some ways and have let it stop me from trying things like creative writing. Still working on that one, but I have at least signed up for a creative writing workshop next month.

The fear of making a mistake can be a tough one to conquer, especially for those of us who tend to be perfectionists. But it is not impossible to overcome.

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What Stops You?

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I am willing to try pretty much any arts and crafts type project that is reasonably priced and doesn’t require me to quit my day job to have time to do it. But there are some things that I find myself avoiding and I’ve been thinking about why I avoid them.

The main thing I’ve been avoiding trying is creative writing. I really, really want to try it. But every time I think about sitting down to write, I freeze then immediately think of 500 other things to do instead. I have recently realized that it is because I’m afraid that what I write will suck. So even though no one else ever has to read anything I write, I’m still letting fear stop me from trying to write even a short story. Silly, right?

Until last month I was afraid of writing a blog. What if nobody reads it? What if people read it and think what I write is stupid? What if what I write *is* stupid? What if… What if… What if…. Then I told myself to put on my big girl panties, stop worrying about the “what ifs”, and start a blog. And I’m so glad I did because it has been fun.

So why am I still afraid to try creative writing? It is still the fear and “what ifs”. In an effort to get over this, I plan to attend a creative writing workshop next month and write at least a short story between now and then. Time to put on my big girl panties and stop worrying again…

Is there something that has stopped you from trying a creative endeavor? What was it? How did you get past it?