Conjoined Twins.

Today I’m nurturing my creative side, and doing it with the help of Elizabeth Gilbert’s BIG MAGIC. The book is a wonderful reminder of why we bother to create art (in all it’s weird and wonderful shapes and forms) and why we need to embrace the process—not the result.

But today it was this line that resonated the most strongly with me:

‘I decided that I would need to build an expansive enough interior life that my fear and creativity could peacefully coexist, since it appeared that they would always be together. In fact, it seems to me that my fear and my creativity are basically conjoined twins—as evidenced by the fact that creativity cannot take a single step forward without fear marching right alongside it.’

I loved this acknowledgement that fear is normal. That we don’t need to be afraid of it, and that it’s an intrinsic part of the creative journey. Fear gets a seat in the car, it even gets a voice, but it doesn’t get a vote. And it most definitely doesn’t get to drive.

And there’s something about the idea of accepting fear—rather than rallying against it—which makes the curves of the writing road ahead smoother, and blissfully free of traffic. Thanks Elizabeth.