“Openness doesn’t come from resisting our fears but from coming to know them well.” Pema Chodron - director of Buddhist monastery Gampo Abbey.
In the safety of a movie theatre, it can be fun to get scared by a monster like Dr. Hannibal ‘The Cannibal’ Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) in The Silence of the Lambs.
But in real [...]

Deanne Repich is the Founder of the National Institute of Anxiety and Stress, Inc. In her article Coming “Out of the Closet” about Your Anxiety, she talks about her experiences with this very common, and self-limiting, mental health challenge. Here are some excerpts:
Keeping your anxiety a secret from others can be a huge burden. I [...]

“Fear can make you come up with strengths you didn’t know you had.”
Alan Alda explains the very real value of fear in his article How to Be a Nervous Wreck.
He notes, “There is a certain fear for me in acting, and it happens much earlier than opening night: it’s when I’m in a chair, reading [...]

“One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.” Friedrich Nietzsche
That quote by Nietzsche [from the page: Dysfunction / disorder] is a perspective many artists and other gifted and talented people with intense and “chaotic” inner lives may appreciate.
But is turmoil necessary for creative expression?
[The image, by [...]

Deanne Repich, Founder and Director of the National Institute of Anxiety and Stress and ConquerAnxiety talks in this video about anxiety feelings, how she overcame her own feelings, and her programs to help others.
In her article Soothing Anxious Thoughts about Work, she talks about insecurity-related thinking in a work context:
“Anxious thought: ‘Everyone is going to [...]

This is a brief excerpt of a longer audio interview - “Avoiding Art Career Overwhelm with Ten Zen Seconds” - by Alyson B. Stanfield with creativity coach Eric Maisel, PhD, about his new book.
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Play interview here - or download MP3.
Play or download full length interview at ArtBizCoach.
Also see my [text] interview with Eric [...]

In her article How to Use Music and Art as a Relaxation Technique Meditation, Susan Masters writes:
“The power of art induces a calm state of mind… any beautiful object, be it a flower, a painting, a piece of music, a movie or a well-written book, help us let go all the negative thoughts and the [...]

“It is also good every so often to go away and relax a little for when you come back to your work your judgment will be better, since to remain constantly at work causes you to deceive yourself.” Leonardo da Vinci

In her article What’s the rush?, Jenna Avery describes how constantly striving and being urgent [...]