Overcoming Creative Anxiety

In his decades as a psychotherapist and creativity coach, Eric Maisel has found a common thread behind what often gets labeled "writer's block," "procrastination," or "stage fright." It's the particular anxiety that, paradoxically, keeps creators from doing, completing, or sharing the work they are driven toward. This "creative anxiety" can take the form of avoiding the work, declaring it not good enough, or failing to market it -- and it can cripple creators for decades, even lifetimes. But Maisel has learned what sets successful creators apart. He shares these strategies here, including artist-specific stress management; how to work despite bruised egos, day jobs, and other inevitable frustrations; and what not to do to deal with anxiety. Implementing these 24 lessons replaces the pain of not creating with the profound rewards of free artistic self-expression. * Practical insights and proven techniques for overcoming the challenges and fears that plague creators of every kind * Teaching tales that convey effective approaches to creating fearlessly and abundantly

Bestselling author Karen C.L. Anderson brings us Overcoming Creative Anxiety, a guide to embracing creativity while calming your inner critic.

Journal Your Way to Creativity and Confidence “The practices in this marvelous journal will open you up to your own creative genius!” —Susannah Seton, author of Simple Pleasures Journal away from anxiety and towards confidence through the power of creative writing and mind-body practices. Equal parts self-esteem workbook, adult activity book, and mindfulness journal, this indispensable guide calls all creatives to calm down and improve artistic confidence. Anxiety relief for creatives. Do you want to live a more creative life? Are you tired of the voice inside your head saying, “you’re not good enough,” “you’re not creative enough,” blah blah blah? It’s easier to be a critic than a creator, so what happens when both the anxious critic and the ambitious creator reside inside your brain? Unlike other guided journals, Overcoming Creative Anxiety shares unique journal prompts and practices to help you get to know both your inner critic and your inner creator. Banish stress, foster self-care, and improve self-confidence. There’s constructive criticism, and then there’s crippling criticism. To many creatives, self-doubt and perfectionistic tendencies only aggravate artist block. So what do we do when anxiety causes creativity to come to a halt? Here, author Karen C.L. Anderson provides journal prompts that simultaneously stimulate your inner creator and provide much needed anxiety relief for your inner critic. Whether journaling for self-care or in search of stress relief, this book helps you: Understand creativity and artistry in a whole new way Meet, get to know, and change your relationship with your inner critic(s) Learn practices to calm your anxiety and discover ways to harness your emotion If you enjoy activity books for adults or found books like Tiny Buddha's Worry Journal, The Self Confidence Workbook, or The Artist's Journey helpful, you’ll enjoy Overcoming Creative Anxiety.

All artists have doubts and anxieties. What are yours? Managing procrastination, anxiety, and creative blocks? Knowing how to trust your work? Dealing with other people? Balancing the need to push through to the end of a work while keeping your health and sanity? Handling rejection . . . and your own success? Dale Trumbore has faced each of these issues as a composer who achieved her own definition of success by age 30. Staying Composed: Overcoming Anxiety and Self-Doubt Within a Creative Life is her answer. With humor and understanding, Dale breaks down each obstacle to a creative career and presents workable strategies for a long-range, manageable, and meaningful life in the arts.

Do you want to write but can't seem to get started? Are you struggling to finish your novel or frustrated by your slow progress? Perhaps you are starting to worry that you aren't cut out for the writing life... Let bestselling novelist and host of the Worried Writer podcast, Sarah Painter, show you how to skip past negativity, free-up writing time, cope with self-doubt, and beat procrastination. Along with mega successful authors such as C.L.Taylor, Mark Edwards, and Julie Cohen, Sarah will show you how to: Smash writing blocks to finish stories faster Manage self-doubt so that it doesn't stop you creating Trick yourself into being more productive Schedule your time to maximise your writing output and satisfaction Plus many more tips and tricks! Packed with honest, supportive, and hard-won advice, this is your practical guide to getting the work done. Don't let creative anxiety kill your writing dreams: Stop Worrying and Start Writing today! 'Inspiring, comforting, warm and wise. Both new writers and established authors will find something helpful here.' Keris Stainton, YA author. 'If Stephen King is your writing godfather then Sarah Painter is the writer's best friend - kind, honest and full of wisdom.' Annie Lyons, bestselling author of The Choir on Hope Street and Not Quite Perfect 'The best book on writing and productivity I have read in a long time. It tackles the fear and self-doubt we all feel when it comes to our writing in such an engagingly honest way, that there are times when I was laughing aloud because here was someone who truly understood. Written with such heart, Sarah, in her characteristically kind, and gentle way that listeners of The Worried Writer podcast have come to love and appreciate, offers solid, actionable advice that will inspire you to approach your writing with enthusiasm and renewed determination!' Lily Graham, author of The Cornish Escape

'I always keep a copy of Art & Fear on my bookshelf' JAMES CLEAR, author of the #1 best-seller Atomic Habits 'A book for anyone and everyone who wants to face their fears and get to work' DEBBIE MILLMAN, author and host of the podcast Design Matters 'A timeless cult classic ... I've stolen tons of inspiration from this book over the years and so will you' AUSTIN KLEON, NYTimes bestselling author of Steal Like an Artist 'The ultimate pep talk for artists. ... An invaluable guide for living a creative, collaborative life.' WENDY MACNAUGHTON, illustrator Art & Fear is about the way art gets made, the reasons it often doesn't get made, and the nature of the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way. Drawing on the authors' own experiences as two working artists, the book delves into the internal and external challenges to making art in the real world, and shows how they can be overcome every day. First published in 1994, Art & Fear quickly became an underground classic, and word-of-mouth has placed it among the best-selling books on artmaking and creativity. Written by artists for artists, it offers generous and wise insight into what it feels like to sit down at your easel or keyboard, in your studio or performance space, trying to do the work you need to do. Every artist, whether a beginner or a prizewinner, a student or a teacher, faces the same fears - and this book illuminates the way through them.

Every year, more than 68 million students of every age find themselves worrying excessively about their first day of school, even before it begins. Their hearts race, their stomachs turn, and their palms sweat just thinking about getting on the school bus for the first time, that first pop quiz, or that notoriously strict teacher. For parents of these children, nothing can be more upsetting than dropping their kids off on the first day of school, wondering how they will cope. Now, they can stop worrying and start helping. As a seasoned psychotherapist, Diane Peters Mayer has successfully treated hundreds of elementary school students suffering from this common disorder. In Overcoming School Anxiety, she shows parents how to deal with a wide variety of problems, from test and homework anxiety, to bullying, and fear of speaking up in class. Mayer also offers easy-to-learn techniques for children including breathing and relaxation exercises, focusing techniques, and tips on proper diet and exercise that help relieve stress. Filled with real-life examples as well as proven advice for working with teachers, principals, and counselors, this is the only comprehensive guide that will enable every parent to help a child cope, build confidence, and succeed in school.

The astonishing, powerful debut by the winner of a 2016 Whiting Writers' Award WHEREAS her birth signaled the responsibility as mother to teach what it is to be Lakota therein the question: What did I know about being Lakota? Signaled panic, blood rush my embarrassment. What did I know of our language but pieces? Would I teach her to be pieces? Until a friend comforted, Don’t worry, you and your daughter will learn together. Today she stood sunlight on her shoulders lean and straight to share a song in Diné, her father’s language. To sing she motions simultaneously with her hands; I watch her be in multiple musics. —from “WHEREAS Statements” WHEREAS confronts the coercive language of the United States government in its responses, treaties, and apologies to Native American peoples and tribes, and reflects that language in its officiousness and duplicity back on its perpetrators. Through a virtuosic array of short lyrics, prose poems, longer narrative sequences, resolutions, and disclaimers, Layli Long Soldier has created a brilliantly innovative text to examine histories, landscapes, her own writing, and her predicament inside national affiliations. “I am,” she writes, “a citizen of the United States and an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, meaning I am a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation—and in this dual citizenship I must work, I must eat, I must art, I must mother, I must friend, I must listen, I must observe, constantly I must live.” This strident, plaintive book introduces a major new voice in contemporary literature.

A unique guided journal of meditative and creative processes for readers and doodlers seeking relief from anxiety and stress. What if we took our stress and used it to create art that brings us peace? A 2016 study at Drexel university that examined the effects of creative activity on reducing levels of the stress hormone cortisol discovered that “forty-five minutes of art making . . . resulted in statistically significant lowering of cortisol levels.” We all know cortisol is the stress hormone, so grab a pen or pencil and let the meditations and writing prompts in this mindfulness journal take you on a calming journey to a healthier, happier mind. T.S. Eliot once said, “Anxiety is the handmaiden of creativity,” but if he had this creative journal during times of worry, he surely would have said creativity was the handmaiden to peace. With this friendly, calming companion, you will find that you are much more present in the here and now. When used as self-expression, creativity can allow us to take part in what psychologists call “sublimation,” or the transformation of negative or socially unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable or even beautiful creations. Anxious Art offers inventive prompts, art projects, and affirmations to inspire artistic activities that distract from feelings of distress and anxiety. As you experience this transformative guided journal, you will work with:Lyrical affirmations that build self-confidence and reduce fearTherapeutic writing exercises that root you in the present and spark joyDoodling that calms your emotionsGuided breathing exercises that bring you into the present moment

IDEO founder and Stanford d.school creator David Kelley and his brother Tom Kelley, IDEO partner and the author of the bestselling The Art of Innovation, have written a powerful and compelling book on unleashing the creativity that lies within each and every one of us. Too often, companies and individuals assume that creativity and innovation are the domain of the "creative types." But two of the leading experts in innovation, design, and creativity on the planet show us that each and every one of us is creative. In an incredibly entertaining and inspiring narrative that draws on countless stories from their work at IDEO, the Stanford d.school, and with many of the world's top companies, David and Tom Kelley identify the principles and strategies that will allow us to tap into our creative potential in our work lives, and in our personal lives, and allow us to innovate in terms of how we approach and solve problems. It is a book that will help each of us be more productive and successful in our lives and in our careers.