Fear as inspiration

Our voxpop this week is about fear – what phobias you have, what scares you.

Angus Montgomery

Ben Stott noted with surprise on Twitter that nobody had mentioned ‘The Fear’ that drives designers – ‘that sits in the pit of your stomach and keeps you awake at night’.

They might not want to admit it, but I bet everyone reading this recognises and has experienced – to some extent – this fear.

It’s a fear that comes with creation, that goes hand-in-hand with the passion and self-belief needed to drive an initiative through – ultimately it’s the fear of not doing something to the very best of your abilities.

This fear may be a driving force, but it isn’t necessarily a good one (and it almost certainly isn’t a healthy one). For one thing, failure and mistakes can be a hugely beneficial learning process.

But it would be crazy not to acknowledge the fear that exists in the creative process.

If you’re like me, then every opportunity, every big break is met with excitement of course, but with a little jolt of fear as well. Perhaps this is what keeps us on our toes.

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