Magic spells for creative anxiety

Read one of mine, create your own.

Hello, friend

Last weekend, I taught a private workshop at my studio¹ centered around creative anxiety. I led my eight guests first through a journaling portion where we responded to prompts about fear, joy, success, creative blocks, comparison, and beliefs about ourselves. Then, we opened the circle to share. After that, we created a collaborative zine that we printed together on my Risograph based on the content of what came up in our writing. It was beautiful!

The first of the prompts was “When have I found the most joy in my art making?”

Flowers, otherwise known as joy.

I began with this simple invitation before unraveling what scares and intimidates us because I wanted to activate the field by identifying what brings us joy first. It turns out this prompt is more than simple, and actually helps reveal something about creative anxiety, by showing us where it isn’t.

I often find that when there is joy in my creative experience, there isn’t much anxiety or tension. I believe that identifying the absence of tension is as just as illuminating as identifying the presence of it.

Note that the question isn’t vaguely asking what brings you joy in art-making. It’s an invitation to look to the past and identify specific times you have found joy when making something.

I quietly recorded my own answers to the prompts along with the group. When I answered the first prompt about when I have found the most joy in making art, I immediately wrote, “in times I have made something as a gift.”

I really do find the most life-giving ease and flow in my art-making when it’s a gift for someone else.

A flower crown I made as a gift for my mom for her birthday

Identifying this is like revealing a magic spell. You know why? Because now I know that the frequency of GIFT ENERGY is a doorway that leads me to an experience of fearless joy. This is a doorway I can access at will. How? I can intentionally approach each art piece in the way I would if I were making a gift, regardless if it is actually specifically a gift for someone.

A gift doesn’t need to only be something I make specifically for someone else.

Each piece I create can “be” a “gift” if I say it is, whether there is a premeditated recipient or not.

Gift is a mindset, an energy, a kind of intention.

There’s something about pretending everything I am making is a gift that starts to feel less like pretending. Somehow, the experience feels more purposeful and alive just with this mindset shift. “Gift” becomes the act of making itself, the dominant quality in the atmosphere that holds the process. It makes a difference. I can feel it in and around my body.

The first layer of a painting as “gift” in progress using paints and inks I made from Indigo, Madder and Marigold.

Plus, isn’t it obvious anyway? All of our work is a gift to the world. We sometimes forget this.

My magic spell as incantation: “Each time I create something, I am making a gift”.

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Ways to create your own magic spells for creative anxiety:

Step one: Identify charged thoughts & feelings about your creative practice

This can be like the above, where we identified specific times we have felt a lot of joy in making art.

Other possible identifications include:

• How you define creative success

• What gets in the way of making your art

• What you are afraid of most

• Who or what you are comparing yourself to

• Some beliefs you have about yourself as an artist

Step two: Craft a reminder

Choose something you have identified that feels like it has the most charge to it. Only you know that.

Using what you have identified as fuel for magic, craft a reminder related to it that feels like it brings you ease and helps dilate and soften your creative mindset. Write it down.

If this is challenging for you, you’re not alone. To help coax out your one innate and authentic advice, you can imagine you are giving advice to someone else coming to you in need of encouragement, like a child, a friend, or a younger part of yourself.

Creating statements that make yourself feel more at ease can be really personal, which is why my instructions are sparse.

It is also important to note that feeling anxiety from time to time in our creative endeavors is extremely normal. It’s important to relate to anxiety not as a problem, but as a catalyst of your own deeper understanding of the personal teachings here for you in this life.

The world and I would love to know a spell of yours. Reply here or leave a comment:

Keep going,

♡ Kristen

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1. I offer private group art & printmaking workshops! Get in touch if you are local to Ypsilanti, Michigan. Email at kristendroz@gmail.com ⊹₊ ⋆ I love incorporating my Risograph printer into workshops. Beginner-friendly, approachable, and fun for everyone.