Last week, I talked about how you shouldn’t wait until you feel inspired to create. You have to create and then you’ll feel inspired.

I also mentioned how difficult it can be to quiet the mean voices in your head that might suddenly show up when you start tip-toeing near the border regions of your comfort zone and start creating on a regular basis.

They’ll sneak up behind you and start whispering their old, familiar fear-mongering stories in the hopes that you’ll scurry back to the safety zone of Camp Status Quo where they think you belong.

You know the stories–they usually start with:

” Real artists don’t have to …”

or

“Don’t you think you’re a little old to be…..”

or

“Wow, that’s pretty bad–it’s all pretty bad frankly, maybe you should read the writing on the wall and…”

or

“So-and-so is waaaaaayyyyy more talented than you are–I mean, seriously. Maybe you should set your sights a little lower my dear.”

If those don’t work, and you keep pushing past the seemingly strong but totally fake barriers they set up, the mean thoughts might suddenly panic and just start shooting.

These bullets might take the form of thoughts like  “How could you jeopardize your family’s wellbeing like this by pursuing your own selfish, selfish whims that aren’t going to amount to anything anyway? How. Dare. You.”

Ouch.

Lowering the Volume

Those voices suck, but remember, we all have them.

Pretty much everyone is telling themselves ridiculous stories like these at whatever the edge of their comfort zone is.

What productive artists do though, is quiet the voices, so they’re not louder than all their other kinder or more rational thoughts they have.

It’s rare that they disappear completely, but  the thing is, they don’t have to for you to be free enough to create.

And the more you create, the better you’ll be at lowering these voices.

It also helps to shine a light on your mean thoughts and see them clearly.  Knowing your enemy is truly half the battle.

For me, that means right before–or even as  I–succumb to the message of the mean thoughts, I really try to hear the actual words of my negative belief so I can articulate the thought out loud or on paper.

For instance, one of my favorite mean thoughts I’ve been tackling lately is “Sarah, you just don’t have what it takes.”

Now, I’m not sure what “it” is, but my sneering mean voice loves to say it and I’m often a very willing listener–especially when I’m dangling out there over my latest personal precipice.

But by clearly identifying the actual words of the message, it stops seeming like the very nature of things or the air I breathe and becomes a single, particular sentence in the world.

And then, somehow, it’s easier to begin to break it down…where I heard it, who said it to me, why it seems so believable, and when it likes to show up.

A Simple Meditation

However, knowing the who, what, when and where isn’t always enough. And sometimes even having a good cry over that who, what, when and where isn’t enough either.

Sometimes we need a ritual.

When my mean voice is especially convincing, I find it very helpful to do a couple of different kinds of meditations.

The one I’m going to explain today is very simple and a friend taught it to me. You might want to give it a try.

Here it is:

Sit quietly with your eyes closed and imagine a particularly unhelpful mean thought or belief that gets in your way and stops you from being your full, glorious, creative self.

Now take that thought and imagine putting it into a beautiful box. Close the box with a lid, wrap it up completely and tie it with a gorgeous bow.

Then imagine yourself carrying the box to a river.

Kneel down at the river’s edge, place the box in the water, and watch it bob and dip down the river until it’s gone-gone-gone.

Goodbye mean, untrue thought. Adios, enemigo.

Isn’t that nice?

Getting on Your Own Side

Feel free to do this with each separate terrible thought that tries to hold you back. (Sometimes you get rid of one belief only to have another you never noticed before suddenly show up to takes it place. That’s okay, you’re making progress!)

Also feel free to do this meditation more than once with a particularly tenacious mean thought that doesn’t go away on the first try. (Some thoughts just have nine lives.)

Taking steps to let go of negative beliefs by doing things like this meditation has some powerful ju-ju.

Because even if it takes a while, you’re now gathering and starting to use the tools of being on your own side, and your mean voices now know they’re not the only radio station in town.

Committing to your creativity is basically committing to yourself. It’s no small thing and sometimes, it can feel muddy and complicated. But you can do it.

And the rewards–being connected to your essential self–feeling your own creative power and owning your true place in the world–is worth it.

What do you think? Do you have trouble hushing the mean voices in your head? Or do you have you own great methods for keeping them quiet that you can share? Please leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!