Is Fear of Spelling Getting in Your Way?

Nov 26
09:22

2008

Michele PW Pariza Wacek

Michele PW Pariza Wacek

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According to Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, the fear of being a bad speller is a remarkably common fear for people who want to write but are creatively blocked.

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It doesn’t matter that the fear is irrational,Is Fear of Spelling Getting in Your Way? Articles it doesn’t matter that every single word-processing program out there comes with a spell checker, the fear of not being able to spell still haunts those would-be writers. And thus, those people remain blocked.

Many people who are blocked creatively suffer from some sort of fear. Some fears are based on creative “myths” (all artists are broke, crazy, alcoholic, dying from AIDS, etc.), some are based on things adults said to us as children and some, like the fear of being a bad speller, appear to be based on nothing at all.

Regardless of where the fear came from, there’s no denying its power. And the harder it is to admit to a fear, the more potent it becomes. After all, imagine trying to explain to someone that you can’t write because you can’t spell. You would sound like an idiot. So you don’t say anything. And because that fear goes unvoiced, it burrows deeper and deeper inside you.

Some of the other more “common” fears blocking people Cameron mentions include:

• I’ll be broke
• I’ll go crazy
• I’ll become impotent
• I’ll become self-destructive
• I’ll become sick
• I’ll end up alone
• I’ll be angry all the time
• I can’t because it’s too late, I’m too old, too washed up, too something.

Remember, these fears are not necessarily true. There are plenty of creative people who are happy, well-adjusted and making money. (Some of them are even elderly.) Being creative does not mean you have to make a choice between being creative and having something negative happen. When you decide to be more creative, you’re choosing to enrich your life positively.

So what fears are blocking you? What’s keeping you from realizing your creative potential? Try keeping a journal for a few days or weeks to see if you can uncover what’s blocking you and expose it.

Fears are like vampires — drag them into the light and they burn up. But let them live in dark places and they fester and grow. Get your fears out into the open, even if all you do is write in your journal about it. That’s the first step to becoming more creative.

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