"Like the Lion in Wizard of Oz, I'm searching for courage.Not sure why
everything suddenly seems so frightening--driving,speaking, flying..."
That was my tweet a day or two ago. Anxiety attacks are nothing to sneeze at; they can become incapacitating. I've discovered that facing my fears is the quickest (but most difficult) way to get rid of them. Scared of deep water? Learn to water ski. Scared of heights? Go zip-lining. Scared of being a mother? Have three kids in three years...well, that one wasn't exactly planned, but it was a form of what was once called "implosion" therapy--used to treat phobias. If a person had a snake phobia, you tossed them into a snake pit. As evil as it sounds, implosion therapy proved to be quick and effective.
That's why despite a persistent terror and feeling of dread, I was driving, flying and public speaking...live...in a radio studio. Facing my fears... It quickly became apparent that I needed help, though.
Imagine my surprised when I opened an email from someone I didn't recognize and found this simple, poetic advice--that worked. Synchronicity? Coincidence? A message from the universe?
Thanks, Dr. Gini Graham Scott, for allowing me to reprint that article here on Magic of the Muses.
TURNING YOUR ANXIETY INTO CREATIVITY
Gini Graham Scott, PhD.
I just read this article
about how the anxiety everyone experiences from time to time can be good for
you as well as destructive. As Alice Park describes in “The Two Faces of
Anxiety” in the December 5th issue of Time, not all anxiety should be battled.
Instead, sometimes you should embrace or even celebrate it, because “the
hormones that drive anxiety can be powerful stimulants, arousing the senses to
the fullest.” She also points out that besides the ordinary feelings of
anxiety we all experience, various types of anxiety disorders affect about 40
million adult Americans — about 18% of the population.
Well, that discussion of anxiety got me thinking. If
anxiety is so universal and can become severe enough to becomes a mental
illness for nearly a fifth of the U.S. population, perhaps it could
be mobilized in a positive way. After all, since it has the ability to
stimulate the senses, some anxiety can contribute to evoking a good performance
in whatever one seeks to do.
For example, successful performers on stage use that
anxious feeling before they go on to do a great job, whereas their performance
might be just ordinary without that charge of adrenalin produced by anxiety.
This positive power of anxiety is the phenomenon psychologists call
“challenge stress” which can fire up our competitive juices, so we give a peak
performance, whereas if we feel overly anxious, that can undermine what we do.
As psychologists and biologists point out, this experience of anxiety is
actually a survival instinct, so we are poised to act in response to
experiencing danger by flight, fight, or otherwise acting to protect ourselves.
In short, the ideal is to embrace and celebrate the
challenge stress that fires you up to respond positively, when you feel you can
effectively deal with a difficult situation, because you know what to do and
have the resources needed to take action. By contrast, if you feel threat
stress, when you don’t feel you can manage the situation, you can act in a
destructive, non-productive way, such as if you feel panicky or feel frozen to
act.
However, in either case, whatever you experience challenge
or threat stress, you might be able to tame and transform it by directing it to
creative ends. Then, as you take action, that can help you to overcome or
reduce any feelings of stress, much like happens when a nervous performer steps
on stage and suddenly performs at his or her peak. With too much anxiety,
the actor can freeze, forget lines, or otherwise stumble. But with
practice performers learn to manage any feelings of anxiety, so they smooth
over the rough spots. So can you.
For example, say you are feeling anxious about something.
One way to deal with it is to do something else to distract your attention.
Such a response can be a form of escape, such as going for a walk in
nature, going to a movie, calling friends on the phone, going to a party, or
whatever brings you a sense of relief.
An alternative is to seek to do something creative, so you
not only reduce or overcome feelings of anxiety, but you channel it into a
creative project. For example, think of all the comedians who turn something
they are anxious about into a subject of humor. Many writers turn their
anxieties into a poem or story about what bothers them. Scriptwriters and
filmmakers may use their anxiety to spark the beginning of a script or film.
Artists and craftspeople may turn their feelings of anxiety into a
painting or sculpture. You might even turn your anxieties into a making a
great recipe for a dinner or a cake.
In turn, since everyone experiences some anxiety at some
time, you will often find that others can relate to your story, art work,
or other creative project, because they can see a reflection of their own
anxiety there. Then, that awareness can help them experience a sense of
release through sharing a common experience, with the result that they feel
better too
In short, if you’re feeling anxious about something, you
might productively channel those feelings into some kind of creative project.
The result is you will not only feel less anxious and less stressed, but
feel even more contented and happy because of experiencing satisfaction with
whatever you have produced.
___________________________
Gini Graham Scott, PhD, is the author of over 50 books and a
speaker/seminar leader, specializing in social trends, work relationships,
professional development, and writing and publishing books. Her latest books
include THE TRUTH ABOUT LYING; WANT IT, SEE IT, GET IT!; and USING LINKEDIN TO
PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS OR YOURSELF. She also helps clients write, publish, and
promote their own books and find publishers and agents through Changemakers
Publishing and Writing. She has a publishing company Changemakers Publishing
and writes screenplays, both her own and for clients.
Visit Gina on her websites:
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