The Artist's Way

adolescent rebellion often lingers, making any act of art
entail the risk of separation and the loss of loved ones.
Because artists still yearn for their creative goals, they then
feel guilty.
This guilt demands that they set a goal for themselves
right off the bat that they must be great artists in order to
justify this rebellion.
The need to be a great artist makes it hard to be an artist.
The need to produce a great work of art makes it hard to
produce any art at all.
Finding it hard to begin a project does not mean you will
not be able to do it. It means you will need help—from your
higher power, from supportive friends, and from yourself.
First of all, you must give yourself permission to begin small
and go in baby steps. These steps must be rewarded. Setting
impossible goals creates enormous fear, which creates
procrastination, which we wrongly call laziness.
Do not call procrastination laziness. Call it fear.
Fear is what blocks an artist. The fear of not being good
enough. The fear of not finishing. The fear of failure and of
success. The fear of beginning at all. There is only one cure
for fear. That cure is love.
Use love for your artist to cure its fear.
Stop yelling at yourself. Be nice. Call fear by its right
name.