firecat

Knitting Daily has had a new theme since the beginning of the year—Be a Fearless Knitter. I don't like this, and I was ignoring it and hoping it would go away, but after the third blog post on the subject, I talked back.

I really don't like this "fearless/fearful knitting" theme.

I feel like people, and women especially, pile too many "shoulds" on ourselves and spend too much of our lives feeling guilty and unworthy.

I gather that "Be a fearless knitter" is intended to end that. But I think it reinforces guilt. To me, "Be a fearless knitter" says "It's not good enough for you to enjoy a hobby. You have to turn it into a self-improvement project. You have to be constantly vigilant that you have goals that are challenging enough, and that you are working hard enough toward your goals." "Be a fearless knitter" is yet another way of telling myself I'm not doing "enough".

Affirmations work, but affirmations need to be stated in a positive manner. The word "fearless" focuses the mind on fear and is negative.

Let's say "I am a joyful knitter," "I love to knit," "I love to learn new knitting techniques," "I love to try new projects."

This is not intended to disparage people who find the theme useful.

Current Music: "Sonata for clarinet" - Francis Poulenc - Poulenc: Complete Chamber Music for Woodwinds

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From:

firecat

That all makes sense. My question: what does "trying to have less fear" look like for you?

From:

pir-anha.livejournal.com

ideally i would like those voices to just shut up and not tell me that i don't have enough originality to design my own X, or enough knowledge of technique to put it together once i have a design for the look (ie. do a proper structural design). i'd love if i could just forge ahead without worrying, because the worrying stops me so often -- either stops me cold, or stops me by demanding i research things to death, which means i spend all my energy researching and not much actually doing. and these fears are, contrary to some other fears that have helped me survive, completely irrelevant and just a hindrance to artistic growth (it's not like i am trying to make it solely as an artist, so there is realistically NOTHING to fear).

i'm settling for overcoming the fears on a case by case basis for now, but if i could get rid of them altogether, i'd be a happy creator (this applies to every creative endeavour i engage in, not just knitting). it takes a lot of effort to overcome them, and i fail at it often still -- i have a zillion of ideas about which i have done nothing.

ghod, some days i hate my mother. this one too lies at her feet.

From:

firecat

I really hear you about the researching to death. (Although the researching for me is a soothing OCD thing as well as an artistic avoidance/fear thing.)

What actions do you take to overcome the fears?