Fear deserves a seat at the table too, no?

On spontaneity, unfinished projects/tasks and making fear comfortable on the road trip.

Heyy guys! How are you doing today? I’m doing quite alright. I have had a lot of rest and it now seems difficult to go back to my usual routine. In fact, I keep telling myself that rest too is productive. I have gone a bit overboard with the resting, but oh well.

I was talking to a friend K, and he mentioned that he tends to pick up new tasks based on his mood at that time. And since there was no proper evaluation or something like that, it is a bit difficult to keep up with such a task/responsibility. Having that convo made me realize I wasn’t the only one on the table. You see, sometimes I find myself picking up tasks (let’s call them spontaneous tasks) and find it difficult to keep up in the long run, and I am sure you’ve had your fair share of these instances at some point. For example, starting a workout routine, starting a food blog/travel blog, learning to code (I have tried and failed at this thing like 78 times, I’m sure Tobi would be tired of me already), starting a book review, buying a plant, having a pet, starting a YouTube channel, starting a podcast, making plans to go skydiving (I am not sure I or anyone is willing to die but let’s just add it to the list) and the list goes on and on. Sometimes, I stop to ask myself, in 6 months, will I still be interested in xyz? No idea. What plans have I put in place to keep xyz sustainable? Nothing.

Image from Ahseeit

They are naturally half-done tasks by nature since there wasn’t any measure to keep them sustainable to start with (or maybe there was, but it just didn’t work out). And then, they tend to accumulate forming a stockpile of “unfinished business”. If we had a file named unfinished business, I’m pretty sure mine would be very very bulky😅.

In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing wrong with these spontaneous tasks or well, tasks based on vibes, although having so many unfinished projects messes with a person’s sense of being (and I am def speaking from experience here). Since criticising oneself would not solve anything (not in my case at least), I simply prefer to live in the moment and enjoy the experience while it lasts. Plus, I do not deem it healthy to deprive myself of the thrill that comes with starting a new task/habit.

**PS. This way of handling the situation has proved fruitful to me. If you have any contrary opinions/suggestions, I would be looking to learning from you (at the comment section maybe?) Gracias!

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My read last week was an amazing one! Elizabeth Gilbert explained in her book The Big Magic relationship between fear and creativity.

She explained that fear is birthed with creativity. In fact, they are conjoined twins. So trying to kill fear means trying to kill the idea or inspiration itself. So if you want creativity, you might as well make space for fear too. Plenty of space. Make fear really comfortable, allow fear to stretch its legs and arms, acknowledge fear’s presence. The more you fight fear, the more fear fights back. When you relax, fear relaxes too.

Elizabeth created a mini-speech for whenever she is about to go on a trip with creativity. It goes something like this... Fear is allowed to join us on the road trip, as it always does. There’s plenty of room in the car. But creativity and I are the only ones who will be making decisions along the way. I recognize and respect that you are a part of the family but your suggestions will never be followed. You are allowed to have a seat, and a voice but you are not allowed to have a vote. You are not allowed to touch the road maps, suggest detours, fiddle with the temperature or even touch the radio. And above all my dear friend, you are absolutely forbidden to drive. Then off they go on the amazing journey, with creativity and fear, side by side.

Now, she is not talking about road trips for creatives like artists, writers etc. Your version of a road trip could be business, political, spiritual, academic etc. The whole point is to understand that no matter what creative journey you decide to embark on, fear will always lurk around. So do not try to dismiss it. Instead, embrace it, and allow the trio —creativity, fear and you— to venture side by side, on a journey to a wonderful new city.

Original image from Millers at work edited by me.

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