Any time I post or publish anything, I am extremely terrified. I worry about whether people will like it or not. I worry about if it’s even post worthy. Is this as cool as I think it is? Is this actually incredibly stupid?
And to be honest, even when I end up posting things, I still am not totally over my worries, but I share my work anyways. The only approval I need is my own.
For those of you that experience the doubt that comes with sharing your work, know that you’re not alone, but don’t let your fears keep you from making your projects public.
My advice to you is to create what you feel and post what you make...even if you don’t think it’s all that great. When it comes to making things, you will always be your biggest critic. No matter how much time and effort you put into something, you’re always going to think that in some way, it could be better. So you might as well get accustomed to the fact that nothing you make is going to be perfect. But, it can still be beautiful.
When you’re in the process of making things, your work is all about you. But when you publish something, it becomes something that the world gets to share, it’s no longer just yours, it’s ours...however, this does not mean that the public gets to validate or invalidate what you’ve made.
Share your work because you like it and cause you’re proud of it. Either people will like it or they won’t. But that’s not your problem. If you made for you, then you’ve done your job.
This whole idea of making and sharing things without worrying about the approval of others was the vision behind one of my most recent poems/graphics. It says “alright. so what. I wasn’t making it for them anyways.”
I hope that’s the attitude you and even myself are able to embrace. Even if you don’t get the recognition that you wanted, even if people aren’t as excited as you are, be proud of what you made and post it anyway.
If you want to read more about how to be okay with sharing what you make, read Share Your Work! by Austin Kleon.
Thanks for reading,
Kae
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