(This is an article I recently wrote. It first appeared in The Relatable Magazine May 2025)
Right now, the entire world feels topsy-turvy. Whether it’s social media babble, political upheaval or the constant barrage of negative news that overwhelms the psyche, these things can stop you in your tracks—and not in a good way.
While the news or world happenings can make you take stock of your life and blessings, it can also induce uncertainty, fear, and mistrust.
Fear can rule your life through manifestations of anxiety, stress, and heightened awareness; fear may also creep into decision making, thus shattering your confidence and blocking the creative freedom to be who you really are (or want to be).
When the chaos is flying from every direction, it is the exact time you should be putting pen to paper, brush to canvas, or awareness to your cause. What happens, though, is the turmoil distracts you, and your innate sense of threat or perceived danger disrupts your creative process without you even realizing it.
This feeling of dread can be a visceral response based totally out of emotion. Think of it this way—there may be no physical threat, but an image or thought can get stuck in a loop in your head and stop you from functioning.
The important thing to keep in mind is that it’s different for each person and what may be a breeze for some is a sheer terror for another.
With chaos comes that instant instinctual feeling of fight or flight that paralyzes your decision- making ability. Your heart races, palms get sweaty, you lose sleep, and things that once made sense, now seem turned upside down. It makes you realize just how little control you actually have, and that in itself, can be very scary.
When chaos slithers into my sphere of consciousness, my thinking takes that negative energy and dives deep to the dark side of (what I call) my twisted writer brain. Story themes riddled with mental illness, abuse, or death emerge.
As a writer, I recognize what’s happening in the world right now provides me with an opportunity to study human nature as I contemplate social themes in conjunction with a sustainable future. I can pick it apart and explore it through my craft and cleanse my soul at the same time.
Did you know that artists and creatives are special and unique gatekeepers of history? It’s through storytelling, painting/drawing, song etc. where the imaginations of extraordinary people play out. Consider the fascination with historical fact reflected in a dystopian landscape told from the perspective of an alien being—nothing is off the table.
Is it time for you to re-embrace the creative within?
When you as a creative are left to your own devices to deal with the craziness around you nothing may get done. You’re not alone if you find yourself riddled with fears of rejection, judgement, crippling insecurities and self-doubt, but here’s the kicker—you never have to show anything to anyone. Yes, you’re allowed to be creative and keep it to yourself or a close- knit group. It’s always your choice.
If the craft or artistic activity you do calms your brain, makes you happy, or fulfills a need within you…don’t stop.
Sometimes, what I fail to recognize or acknowledge when I fold in on myself and allow my insecurities and avoidance tactics to take over, is that while I can’t control all the outside noise, I can certainly find a way to channel my own energies into something more positive.
I do this with self affirmations and by putting fingers to the keyboard. I remind myself it’s okay to write something that isn’t perfect and to just keep going. Normally, once I get into it I find my groove.
What I came to realize was that I cared. I cared enough to stay engaged. Period.
I want to write stories and present what I considered the truth behind the mask and my way of doing that is with stories and novels with strong characters. I knew I had to kick the doubt and avoidance to the curb and employ the skills I’d developed over the years.
Living without fear doesn’t all of a sudden give you superpowers, but it can make you more authentic and aware. I’ve always believed readers will connect more with honesty, shared experiences, and those personal quirks that make us all unique.
While some people thrive on pandemonium and uncertainty, I find it exhausting. It makes me stop and ask why I continue to write. Like seriously, who cares? Why would anyone read my
books when the world is ending? Have you ever felt that way about your art or creative endeavour? Why did you stop? What would it take for you to go back?
That’s a lot of questions I know, but if you stop and think, it may help clarify your own situation.
The thing is, you can never, ever, give up hope. Fear itself can be so debilitating and drive you to your knees but it doesn’t have to rule your life. Knowledge is power and sometimes when you sit down and recognize and study the situation, you can empower yourself and feel more in control. Try it.
So…is fear holding you back from doing what you want, or need, to do? Take a deep breath, embrace your creative nature, and put today down on paper, in a painting, a sketch, a poem, an angry charade, a beautiful beaded bracelet, in eyeliner, a song, dance… Let it hug you as you carve out something of your own in this busy, chaotic world.
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