The Artist's Way

often ask these questions as we try to talk ourselves out of
creating.
Questions like these allow us to ignore more useful
questions: “Did I work on my play today? Did I make the
deadline to mail it off where it needed to go? Have I done
any networking on its behalf?”
These are the real questions, and focusing on them can be
hard for us. No wonder it is tempting to take the first
emotional drink instead. No wonder so many of us read
People magazine (or the New York Times Book Review, or
Lears, or Mirabella, or Esquire) and use them to wallow in a
lot of unhealthy envy.
We make excuses for our avoidance, excuses focused on
others. “Somebody (else) has probably said it, done it,
thought it ... and better.... Besides, they had connections, a
rich father, they belong to a sought-after minority, they slept
their way to the top ...”
Competition lies at the root of much creative blockage. As
artists, we must go within. We must attend to what it is our
inner guidance is nudging us toward. We cannot afford to
worry about what is in or out. If it is too early or late for a
piece of work, its time will come again.
As artists, we cannot afford to think about who is getting
ahead of us and how they don’t deserve it. The desire to be
better than can choke off the simple desire to be. As artists
we cannot afford this thinking. It leads us away from our
own voices and choices and into a defensive game that
centers outside of ourselves and our sphere of influence. It