When we look at the contribution our innate fears can play to as we follow our creative life purpose, we need to perhaps look at fear through a different lens. So what are the fears we harbour?  No time, no money, no real talent, there’s too much competition and anyway I don’t have the technical skills for cameras and computers; these and a whole lot more are the stories that build resistance to fulfilling our dreams.  Gee, we can always find something for our mind stories to feed on, to garnish the strength it needs to block our pathway forward. The human mind can be very devious preying on self-doubts creating story after story, told and retold until we can no longer recognise ‘reality’.

And what about those around you, your family, friends work colleagues who whisper in your ear about the risks you may be taking if you make changes in your life?  The more you show your passion, the louder the whispers.  Am I right?  Those close to you may prefer the ‘old you’, the one that their self-doubts feel most comfortable to be around.  Moving away from your comfort zone may be painful, even scary.  You may need to part with friends; however, you will find new friends, friends who think and dream as you do. 

‘Learn to embrace fears,
to see them merely as expressions of
your resistance to following dreams,
as stories concocted by the mind.’
Steve Parish

I have lived with a whole bunch of fears, and I have learnt that I can ‘hover out of body’ in my mind’s eye and see them for what they are.  Left unchallenged our resistant behaviours can become constant anxiety which can grow into a deep seemingly incurable sadness.  However, the good news is that our creative life purpose can act as a signpost, as a guide, a trusted friend we can revisit time and again. Take a look at who and what you are listening to; remember the world feeds on fears, learn to be discerning about what/who you listen to and dissipate those fears.  You cannot give up, keep on regaining your positive spirit.

Above and below:  Predatory animals like the highly venomous king brown snake, also feed on fear.  They can sense fear, identify it as prey and attack; a major storm at Sugar Loaf Rock, Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, Western Australia

‘Truly, it is in the darkness that one finds the light,
so when we are in sorrow,
then this light is nearest of all to us.’
Meister Eckhart

You may have recently suffered some form of physical loss: maybe poor health, a flood, fire, sudden lack of employment, or the demise of a relationship. Remember, you cannot lose something you are. Loss is part of life, but the associated pain can be converted into energising your life in positive ways. If there is pain, meditate on it, breathe into it. My darkest lows have time and again produced my most exhilarating creative highs.