If we are willing to put our creative work out there – into the world in some way – it will be judged and ranked. What if our book doesn’t make it to a bestseller list, our painting is not accepted by a gallery, our blog doesn’t show up on a Google page one, or […]
Self-esteem
Scarlett Johansson on Negative Body Image
In the movie The Black Dahlia (2006), based on her infamous murder, struggling actress Elizabeth Short (aka “The Black Dahlia,” played by Mia Kirshner) is shown auditioning for role after role. Scarlett Johansson (who acted in the movie) said she has “a lot of friends who are very talented actors and musicians who struggle… “Any […]
Junot Diaz on Creative Thinking: The Critical Self and Play
Novelist Junot Díaz is a Professor of Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is “a writer whose finely crafted works of fiction offer powerful insight into the realities of the Caribbean diaspora, American assimilation, and lives lived between cultures.” New York Times writer Sam Anderson recently interviewed him, and Diaz provides a number of helpful perspectives on creative expression, for any kind of artist.
Creativity and Ego
“My personal creative process has always been very torturous, because I try to be a perfectionist. That’s the way the ego works.” Director Alejandro González Iñarritu, who goes on to say about ego: “It’s extraordinarily demanding; it’s a dictator; and it can push you to bring out the best in yourself. “But at the same […]
Impostor Feelings Can Dampen Your Creativity
Even very talented people may experience fraud or impostor feelings, which can lead to insecurity about their abilities, despite their accomplishments.
“I always feel like something of an impostor. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Jodie Foster mad…