Your thumb is hovering over the send button!
You’ve written out a text and all your feelings are on the table. Love can only be love when it’s shared.
Thumb down! You just pressed send!
Now your stomach is doing somersaults waiting for their response.
What will they think? What if they don’t feel the same way?
“Love is a dangerous word to those who fear losing control.”
The beauty of love rests in the vulnerability of being seen. It’s only in vulnerability that we can invite a person to experience our heart for them. It’s only in giving control to another, that we know whether those feelings are reciprocated.
Creating From Vulnerability
Like love, creative projects grow over time. An idea is birthed in you and you give it your heart and soul. Then just like love, the creative process forces you into a vulnerable space where you must relinquish control to the opinions and responses of others.
There’s no way around it! Art is by nature a delicate thing and beauty lies within the vulnerability of it. Art has the ability to convey the inmost feelings of a persons heart, giving permission for an audience to enter into the deeply held emotions and inclinations that are so often hidden in the shadows.
There is a risk attached to creativity, as there is with love. What if my work isn’t appreciated? What if people laugh at me? What if I’m not good enough?
Unchecked Insecurities Lead To Unhealthy Artists
There’s a big difference between walking out a calling in confidence and making yourself out to be something that you aren’t.
Confidence means we can be ourselves but when we aren’t secure in our identities we create facades and masks to try and project what we think will gain us favour with the person receiving us.
In the Bible we see an incredible illustration of this in the life of King David:
“Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armour on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
‘I cannot go in these,’ he said to Saul, ‘because I am not used to them.’ So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.”
Know Who You Are
David knew who he was and where his strengths lay.
When you become more secure in your identity you will begin to feel less of a need to impress others. Learning to accept who God made you to be is a release valve from the stress to impress.
In the past, present and future there will never be anyone else like you. You are completely unique and special in the eyes of God and your voice is important. Instead of trying to sound like someone else, or focussing your efforts on becoming a “super human” version of yourself, learn what it means to be powerful in your own identity.
When we create from a place of authenticity we allow ourselves to be truly seen and appreciated by our audience.
If we are spending our time and energy puffing ourselves up or putting ourselves down, we are not able to be who God created us to be. Our job as artists should never be to control the responses of others, that’s manipulation hidden behind the guise of false humility or “larger than life” expectations.
When we truly learn to love ourselves and confidently express who we are, creativity becomes a life-giving experience, both for the audience but also for ourselves.
It’s my belief that every artist has an audience. Rather than focussing on impressing people we should stay true to ourselves and find the audience that appreciates who we are and the unique expression we bring.
True Love Is Freedom
Have you ever been on receiving end of true love?
You don’t have to worry about all the weird quirks and strange things you do, in fact they become endearing qualities. True love frees you from the need to impress. When you are loved for who you are you no longer have to hide.
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love casts out fear.”
It’s the same with our creativity. As we cast off the fear of feeling like we need to impress others we can begin to step into the beauty of vulnerable creativity. You are beautiful, you were created in the image of God and your unique expression and voice is important and special.
Find Your Esteem In The Place Of Love Not From A Place Of Striving
Our ultimate source of esteem comes from the love of our Heavenly Father.
When we accepted the gift of salvation Jesus paid for, we were adopted into the family of God and we were given the right to be called Sons & Daughters. Our identity and esteem is wrapped up in the greatest love displayed, a love we couldn’t earn but a love that was freely given and poured out towards us when Jesus went to the cross. We are accepted and loved by God.
In the same way God also gives us relationships in this life that mirror and reflect the love He has shown to us:
“God sets the lonely in families.”
Building healthy, meaningful relationships outside of your creativity is vital.
It’s important to create space in your life where you can be yourself and be appreciated for who you are as an individual. Maybe that looks like grabbing a coffee with a friend or cooking a meal for people at your church. True community is beautiful, because it’s kills performance mentality.
Choosing to be seen for who you are is a vulnerable thing but you owe it to yourself and those around you to be seen and appreciated for the person you are.
Make the conscious decision to step out beyond the facades your insecurities push you towards and find comfort in the love of God and the people around you.
It’s only from that place of authenticity that you will be able to rest from striving, step past the vulnerability of being rejected or misunderstood and confidently express with authenticity the unique and wonderful things God has placed within you.
So embrace the vulnerability of being seen, you owe it to yourself.
