artist’s mental health - insecurity

Imposter Syndrome

Almost every artist feels like a fraud at one point or another, no matter how long they’ve been at it. It’s almost a rite of passage to have doubts about your talent or to question what you’re doing as an artist. But when the doubts turn to imposter syndrome, the creative flame can burn out. A writer might over-edit until the original idea is gone. An artist might destroy a painting or a musician might erase a recording, taking away any chance of making it better.

Like an old friend who’s sort of annoying, but you’ve known each other for so long that they’re just a part of your life, think of imposter syndrome showing up for an unexpected visit. Instead of panicking about how long it will be stay and how much damage it will do, just say “Oh hi. You’re back,” and let it in. It will get bored and leave after a while, and you can get back to making art. (h/t to Rumi)

Criticism from others

An artist needs confidence to believe she has something to say that hasn’t been said before. Criticism can derail that confidence, but every person who wants to make a living being creative must remember these five words: your work isn’t for everyone. You can’t control what other people think of you, so better to focus your attention and time on your work.

Some artists don’t even need criticism from others for their work to get derailed. They can sabotage and diminish their work all by themselves, by comparing it to other artists and coming up short. They compare reviews, sales, acclaim, net-worth and status. This is an enormous waste of time - time that could be better spent making art.

The inner critic

Each of us has the capacity to criticize our artistic output in a constructive way. The inner critic is helpful when editing or improving what we’re working on. But a relentless inner critic, who never stops picking the work apart, will leave an artist so hurt and paralyzed with fear that he stops making anything at all.

A nasty inner critic usually comes from a part of our psyche that is protecting another part of us from being hurt by others. When we were very young, a teacher or family member might have made a cutting remark about something we were proud of. And the inner artist became an exiled child, protected by the vicious inner critic who would keep that child from making anything, thus ensuring that nobody hurts that child again. Exploring oneself this way is best done with a therapist trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS).

It helps some creative people who struggle with inner critics to plan to make a lousy first pass at a project. The goal is to make something bad. They start with a rough sketch, a rough draft, or a rough demo, and keep the expectations VERY low. Only then can they build on it, improve it, turn it into something they’re proud of.

Perseverance

Every household name artist, writer, or musician was once alone in their room, creating for only themselves. At some point they showed their art to others. You must do the same, even if it’s terrifying.

And once-in-a-generation prodigies aside, they were all terrible at one point. Your favorite musician hit sour notes, your favorite novelist wrote clunky prose, your favorite artist hadn’t mastered perspective. But they got better at it. When they failed and got knocked down, they had the courage to pick themselves back up and keep going.  Creative people must persevere if they want to improve.