SELF-DOUBT

Emotions: Overthinking, feeling wobbly, wanting to express the inexpressible, comparing, second guessing, doubting your own abilities, feeling unsure and worrying

All creative people doubt themselves. We worry. We overthink things and go around in circles. This card looks at some of the questions we all ask ourselves when we are making something. What if no one understands it?

What if I never finish it?

What if no one cares?

We can actively choose to sit with the discomfort of doubt. Self-doubt can be our teacher when we connect it to the feeling of Not Knowing. If you are feeling unsure about the direction, keep going. Accepting that it's not really possible to know where we are going, or what it will look like at the end when we are in the middle of making the thing itself. Especially if we are trying something new. Just stay in it. The more comfortable you are with not knowing, the easier it is to create. Self-doubt is just an uncomfortable part of the creative process. It's neither good or bad. Thankfully, it's temporary. Just remember that you have something to say and that no one else can say it, or express it the way you will.

"I keep on making what I can’t do yet in order to learn to be able to do it." – Vincent van Gogh, 1885

Writing Prompts:

Do I judge myself for feeling doubt or anxiety about what I'm working on? How can I be kinder to myself? How do I handle the feeling of not knowing the outcome?

The Poet

Eugène Boch

Vincent Van Gogh

1888

Huile sur toile

H. 60,3 ; L. 45,4 cm.

Location: Musée d’Orsay, Paris Here's a quick thing about the entire deck