The Voice in Our Heads

We all know the voice.  The one in our heads that is constantly looking to the past or projecting to the thousands of possibilities of the future. 

You know the one that judges 

The one that whispers we’re not ready.
The one that says someone else is better.
The one that suggests maybe we should just scroll instead.

The one that says this has been done.

The who will do anything to put our ideas aside and make us passive observers of the things, the lives that we really want. 

That voice doesn’t disappear just because we’ve chosen a creative life. In fact, it often gets louder.

There are so many ways this voice can show up.  Two of the more popular ones are a type of quitting. 

The first is “I’m done. I’m selling everything. I’m not good at this.”  Many people hear an art teacher in school tell them they’re no good.  Can’t draw.   Can’t paint.  Can’t sculpt. 

The second is quieter and far more subtle, narrowing, avoiding. Shifting to what feels safer. “Maybe I just won’t try portraits anymore.” “Maybe I’ll stick to what I know.”

Both are forms of quitting.

The truth is that growth feels uncomfortable. Experimentation feels vulnerable. Being seen feels risky.  

So, what do we do?  We show up.  We show up anyway.  Not heroically. Not perfectly. Just consistently.  With a curiosity, a child like interest, an acceptance that we will make mistakes, that we will stretch our abilities and increase our talent. 

The voice doesn’t need to be silenced. It needs to be trained. When it’s reactive, we breathe. When it’s constructive, we listen. With practice, it can become less of an antagonist and more of an editor.  Elizabeth Gilbet considers it a family member.  She identifies it as the family member that you have to invite along but she tells it that while it’s invited to come along on this family outing, it can’t drive.  She tells it to get in the back seat and stay there.   

Study any artist you admire. You’ll find drafts. Attempts. Failures. Iterations. The work we see is rarely the first effort. It is the result of repetition.

This is the problem with social media.  It gives the impression that there’s no struggle.  No process.  No narrative.  People only share the best of the best. 

Growth does not happen in theory. It happens in doing.

The creative path isn’t about eliminating doubt. It’s about walking forward with it.

The path is something we forge, clear, and build step by step.  Let’s trample and create our personal creative paths.