There was avery interesting interview with Seth Godin done by Daniel Teitelbaum in the 40th issue of Dumbofeather about “cultivating the courage to explore our interests in a public sphere” and particularly people’s anxiety to just TRY!
He starts by saying, “I wish the ideas that elevated our conversations, that made us our better selves, that helped preserve our environment for our grandchildren, were the ideas that spread. But wishing doesn’t make it so.
Which lead into a discussion about how people have the desire to conform deeply engrained in us.
“We’re taught that we need way more followers than we need leaders. So from the time you’re four, you’re reminded that the safest, easiest, most reliable thing to do is keep your head down.”
Godin’s explanation for our stunted flow of ideas and our inability to break from the pack is the fact that, “people are experiencing failure in advance.”
“When you’re imaging all the things that could go wrong before you even bring the work into the world, you are not only punishing yourself but you’re sabotaging the work.”
So what seems to happen….
“Very few people wake up in the morning with talker’s block. But when you put a piece of paper in front of them and say “write it down and own it”, writer’s block kicks in.”
His solution: change the way you see things
So its just a shift in mindset…?
“You put the word “just” in front of it, but i think its the hardest work many people will do in their entire life. I think that rewiring our cultural perceptions, rewiring what we think our parents are hoping for us, is extraordinarily difficult work. Which is why so few people have figured it out how to do it. But that doesn’t mean it’s not important.”
He touches on a deep rooted fear that seems to reside within everyone when we are asked to TRY. Every time we are asked to step up to a challenge, be it work, assignments or a project of any sort, fear and anxiety swell within us. For me, even writing this blog each week causes great anxiety.. am i blogging about he right thing? is it interesting? is it relevant? will my tutor or lecturer really read my silly musing?
However, I find like Godin, we can’t let ourselves fail before we’ve even tried. Even if we do fail… well that’s the absolute worst that can happen. The challenge is really to try again. Godin boasts of over 900 rejections of his writing and business ideas… and yet he pushes on and urges other’s to do so.
Not trying is the worst thing we can do to ourselves. we deny ourselves the chance to see what we’re made of, what we’re capable of and who our ideas may help.
Even if our ideas fail, they can always be revisited or replaced.
In this “public sphere” we find ourselves participating in, the opportunity to collaborate our ideas and work with others absolutely anywhere is astounding. Our culture is all about collaboration, remix, reappropriation and editing. So even if our idea doesn’t work on the first try… maybe someone else can help to better it.. they’ll never get the chance if we’re so afraid of failing that we don’t even try.
Perhaps narrative Therapy hold an answer for our anxiety problems… we must re-enchant our world, create a “customised make believe”, a place where our ideas can roam, where we feel free to share them regardless of the outcome.
Image from: In house recruitment group