I know why you're not sharing your art.

A short essay - and a short meditation - on art, creativity and sharing our work with the world...

Last week, the first module of my new course, The Creative Way, was released. I was excited for it to be out in the world, and also quite nervous.

Creating anything - and then sharing it - takes some courage.

I actually found it hard to sleep the night before it went live, because I was unsure of how it would be received.

I haven’t had that fear in some time, and it was useful to experience it.

It reminded me that some of the women on my course might be feeling nervous when it comes to sharing their art on Instagram and their writing on Substack.

What I’ve found with my own writing (articles, poetry, books) is that the more I do it, the less nervous I become about deciding that it’s ‘finished’ and sharing it.

The first article I wrote for publication was in 2008, for the Hackney Citizen newspaper, and I would have spent the best part of a week writing and editing it.

And then editing it again. And again. Obsessing over the language, syntax, quotes, the length of the paragraphs; the length of the piece. I was a perfectionist, back then.

But only because I was scared of it not being good enough.

When I wrote my first article for the Guardian, in 2015, I had my husband read through it and I did several rounds of edits before submitting it.

Again, I was worried that it might not be good enough and that they’d then reject it.

I still thoroughly edit all my work but I wouldn’t say I’m a perfectionist. Instead, I’ve worked on my craft and it now flows out fairly easily.

However, it has taken 16 years of writing and sharing my work to get to this level of comfort and ease.

And even now, if I share something new - like my new course - I feel those nerves returning.

I find myself diving back in to the course, regularly, to edit it, add to it, check check check. I want it to be as good as it possibly can be. I want it to work.

(Thankfully, a week in, I’m receiving lovely feedback, which is giving me a big boost.)

---

Sharing our work online can feel really vulnerable.

But that’s not a reason not to do it.

We can acknowledge the fear, and do it anyway. And the more we do it - as I said above - the easier it becomes.

I know that there are women creating incredible poems, essays, paintings, illustrations, sewing, baking, photography, dance, music…

but becoming blocked when it comes to sharing.

I hear it from coaching clients. I’ve worked with so many women who’d like to be more visible but feel held back by an invisible force.

And now, I can see that some women are diving right in and sharing their art on Instagram, inspired by The Creative Way course.

(I’ve created a highlight in my Instagram Stories, sharing the art that is making it’s way out into the world. It’s incredible. Beautiful. Have a look/listen/read here.)

But others are sitting in the fear. And that’s fine. I’m here to help with with that. I’m here to help women unlock/unblock their creativity and get it out there.

I believe that all art needs to be out in the world.

It’s a gift.

We need to be sharing our ideas.

Ideas are everything.

Creativity is everything.

We are creators, and created.

And so I’ve ‘created’ a short audio meditation to listen to when you’re having a moment of doubt before posting your creative work online…

Here is the audio…

I create, freely

Get yourself comfortable - sitting on a chair, or lying on a sofa/bed - put your headphones in and repeat these lines in your head, or out loud...