Hipstercrite Life

10 Ways For Artists to Fight Doubt and Insecurity

“You! You right there! You suck AT LIFE, mother fucker!”

For almost two years now, people have paid me to write for them. In the past year, I went strictly freelance and in doing so, my paid writing work picked up.

I feel very fortunate.

Actually, most of the time I feel completely bewildered.

Scared.

Confused.

Insecure.

Gassy.

Every day I envision a Russian totalitarian figure a la propagandic style standing tall amongst a backdrop of fire, pointing a giant forefinger at me and shouting, “YOU are obsolete! YOU have no idea what you are doing!”; a fleet of angular soldiers in perfect unison come to whisk me away and save humanity from the disease known as my poor prose.

I’m still not exactly sure where semicolons go and you will never see me use a word like “perfunctory” in a sentence. I’m not even sure what that means. Granted, I DON’T HAVE AN EDITOR TO FIX MY MISTAKES!

This is an insecurity I mostly keep to myself because, well, nothing is more unattractive that an unconfident person.

Look at Prince. You think he’s sexy, right? RIGHT?! It’s ok, we’re all friends here. You know why you think he’s sexy? Because though he’s bite-size, he has the confidence of an anaconda. You’d be hard-pressed to  spot Prince in a crowd, but his ego and aura are taller than a Redwood tree.

It’s true that you don’t get jobs by running around, screaming, “OH MY GOD! DO I KNOW WHAT THE HELL I’M DOING? TELL ME!!!!111111!!!!!!11111”

The times I do share my concerns with friends, they remind me that is all part of the game: if you work in a creative field, the majority of the time you are a basket case of nerves, self-doubt and alcoholism.

If you’re reading this, chances are you are a creative person too.

You may be a blogger yourself, or a writer, an artist, a filmmaker, a craft-maker, a photographer, a DIYer, a web creator, a clothing designer or a graphic artist.

You may make your living in a creative field or maybe you create on your own time, for you, for your family or for the world.

Either way, you know it’s something you have to do. Whether it be every day, every week, or a few times a year, creating is what gets you up in the morning and gives you purpose. It’s essential to your sanity and your well-being. It prevents you from becoming your father and coming home after a long day at work to the only comforts in life: a bottle of whiskey and a plush recliner.

Because art is so important to you, it’s imperative that you do not let self-doubt use your creative balls as a punching bag.

Below are some mantras I try to remind myself on a daily basis when uncertainty rears its butt-ugly face.

I hope you find them helpful!

Tips on Fighting Doubt and Insecurity

1.) Don’t compare yourself to others.

2.) Remember what Mom always said, “Don’t compare yourself to others!”

3.) Comparing yourself to others is for wussies!

4.) FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS!

5.) You little shit, are you comparing yourself to others right now?

6.) Is that comparing yourself to others I smell?

7.) You reek of comparing yourself to others, you nasty turd!

8.) Comparing yourself to others is Satan’s work.

9.) Listen to me very carefully, you personified piece of human excrement, if you compare yourself to others one more time, I will stick a whoopee cushion up your ass.

10.) Only compare yourself to Prince and then try to BECOME Prince.

 

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24 Comments

  • Reply Trina November 15, 2012 at 11:38 am

    I’m making this into a poster & hanging it up in our living room. Is that alright?

    • Reply hipstercrite November 15, 2012 at 11:38 am

      Hahaha! Yes, please!

  • Reply Leigh Ann November 15, 2012 at 11:54 am

    I found a quote by Theodore Roosevelt that said “Comparison is the thief of joy.” So true, although yours are way funnier. Make one of them into a pinnable image and watch that shit go viral.

    • Reply hipstercrite November 15, 2012 at 12:42 pm

      That’s a great quote!

  • Reply Amy November 15, 2012 at 11:58 am

    Hello, I love you. If we weren’t such introverts and these sweatpants and couch weren’t so comfortable, we could totally have coffee one day.

    • Reply hipstercrite November 15, 2012 at 12:42 pm

      Haha! Let’s do it soon though!

  • Reply @distract_me November 15, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    Haha, LOVE this! xx

  • Reply Rob November 15, 2012 at 1:06 pm

    I’m one of the lucky ones (Meryl Streep) who doesn’t have the problem (Mark Ruffalo, Daniel Day-Lewis) with comparing myself (Sidney Lumet, Charlie Kaufman) to others.

    But I supposed your post is a good (Shakespeare, David Lean, George Clooney) reminder.

  • Reply Amanda November 15, 2012 at 1:43 pm

    This is awesome 🙂 it made me smile!!! I love that quote by TDR too.

  • Reply Danielle November 15, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    Brava!!! Love this. Love Prince.

  • Reply Andrew H November 15, 2012 at 1:51 pm

    Good post. I believe this TR quote is also appropriate. “Black care rarely sits behind a rider whose pace is fast enough.”

  • Reply Benny November 16, 2012 at 9:15 am

    “Don’t compare yourself to others” is the answer to SO many things.
    Sometimes I wonder why it’s so hard. I think I know why – it’s because, when you compare yourself to others, you also have a sense that there *is* a right way to do things. Sometimes that’s more reassuring than the truth, which is that there’s no guarantee things will work out the way you want them to.

    • Reply Benny November 16, 2012 at 9:15 am

      *no guaranteed way to make things work out the way you want them to.

  • Reply John Thomas November 16, 2012 at 10:07 am

    lol. I like the way you think. the humor and truth spark elation in my mind. By the way a semi colon separates two independent clauses.

  • Reply Dave Schwab November 16, 2012 at 10:40 am

    Gotta check out the book, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Totally kicked my freelancin ass

    • Reply Dave Schwab November 16, 2012 at 10:41 am

      It’s all about this! Great post, Lauren! Needed to hear this today

  • Reply Lauren November 27, 2012 at 8:46 am

    Hilarious, that is my worst problem. I am going to scapegoat Facebook for this one!

  • Reply milad June 26, 2013 at 12:43 pm

    i’m a musician, well trying to be one, and everything you said is true! specially the prince thing. just like the way greed made it for gordon gekko i think self confidence and a bit of ego is certainly what a great artist needs! but to be honest with ya’ll, an artist’s world is 70 percent hell and 30 percent joy!!! maybe ego is good?

  • Reply Cindy July 19, 2013 at 12:28 am

    Freakin’ awesome! You are so damn right. Thanks for speaking the truth.

    Any thoughts on making a t-shirt? I want one!

  • Reply emjacinto September 11, 2013 at 7:19 pm

    Thank you for my morning dose of reality 🙂 have a great insecurity-free week.

  • Reply Comparison is the Thief of Joy October 22, 2013 at 1:57 pm

    […] I don’t know who said it and I’m not sure the Internet does either, but my friends at Vinca put these brilliant words on a necklace for me because they know I’m a insecure and jealous turd of a blog post I wrote regarding 10 Different Ways for Artists to Fight Doubt and Insecurity. […]

  • Reply Eddy October 23, 2013 at 11:52 am

    Ok, obviously you have somehow activated my video camera and have been watching me compare myself with others, yes, even as I was reading your list. Frankly, while it creeps me out just a little that you observed and recognized my little-shitted-ness LIVE, I am grateful for the reprimand.

    (dammit)

  • Reply hillary October 27, 2013 at 5:19 pm

    maybe you have read it or know of it – but sort of on this topic is a book for artists called the artists way. it’s sort of like a work book. it’s pretty amazing, in my view. the write-up kinda makes it seem christian, but it’s really not
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Artist's_Way

  • Reply 10 Ways Creatives Can Fight Doubt And Insecurity | Thought Catalog March 14, 2014 at 8:09 am

    […] This post originally appeared at Hipstercrite. […]

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