Chicago is a city full of amazing, driven people, at least the people who I've had the luck to cross paths with. My Facebook feed is filled with my friends, family, and acquaintances either making their dream happen or getting closer to it. It's amazing to see and I'm so proud of everyone. But I also see people start new things, then quit because they feel like they aren't allowed to branch out from their main dreams. They feel like they have to focus all their energy and time on one craft. I think that notion is codswallop. As humans, we crave change and growth. From what I can tell people quit because of fear of judgement and failure.
It is human nature to worry about what other people think about us. We let societies ideals lead us, and stop us from being us. When we start new projects there is this fear of what people will think. There is the fear that people won't accept your work outside of your main focus. Part of the fear is that people just won't like what you’ve put your heart and soul into, they will automatically judge it because it's not something you've been working on as long. This is a fear that is difficult to deal with because you can't control people's opinions of you. What you can control is how you react to them. You have the option to either let them get to you and control your emotions or you can brush of negativity and focus on positivity.
When you are working on a project there is always the possibility that things won't turn out the way you want them to. It's so scary knowing that no matter how hard you work you could still fail. But this is an easy fix, all you have to do is change what you consider failure. Some people say the only time you really fail is when you give up. I think that giving up is a difficult idea to pinpoint. The only thing worst then other people not liking your work, Is stepping back looking and realizing that you don’t like your work. So if you don't like what you are doing and it is making you miserable why continue making yourself unhappy? Does that count as giving up? I don't think it does. I think that is just part of learning about yourself.
If we want to grow and expand we need to have all types of experiences. To grow creatively we need to try different creative outlets. If you stick to one field and never even try hobbies you'll be cutting yourself off from secret parts of yourself that you might have loved to explore. Picking up new crafts, and hobbies helps you meet new people that will also open up your life. Don't cut yourself off if you feel a spark of creativity in yourself, you don't know what you might miss.
