Chase Jarvis Chase Jarvis
  • Photos
  • Projects
  • About
  • Blog
  • Book
Chase Jarvis Chase Jarvis
  • Photos
  • Projects
  • About
  • Blog
  • Book

Let Fear Become Your Friend

“I’m sitting here a week before my first big gig, a magazine shoot. I’ve only been shooting 2 years, about 6 months at the sort of level I’d class as “semi pro”. And I’ve been given a chance that not many others would, yet im sitting here doubting my ability! Thinking what am I doing im out of my own depths? Maybe I should quit! How did you take it before your first major shoot? Did you have the same nerves and emotions?”

This question came in recently via email. Seemed like a good one to share.

How did I handle it? Did I have the same nerves and emotions?

Hell yes, I was scared shitless.

But weren’t we all scared the first time we did anything of substance? You can even take ‘substance’ out of the equation entirely….[click the ‘continue reading’ link below]—

…I was scared the first time I rode a bike, drove a car, sang karaoke, and kissed a girl at the Skate King roller rink.

Fear–most certainly in art–can be an amazing motivator if you can harness the nasty side of it. The key is repetition. The more you shoot, the more art you make, the more things you send out into the world, the more gigs you get under your belt, the more mistakes you make, the more you fail, the harder you fail, the more you learn, the more comfortable you become.

And when you start feeling too comfortable? That’s when you do something for the first time all over again. Let fear become your friend.

And so it goes.

Which reminds me, here’s an interesting book: Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking
—
Get my every move: Follow Chase Jarvis on Twitter
Get exclusive content: Become a Fan on Facebook

16 replies on:
Let Fear Become Your Friend

Comments navigation

Previous
  1. Stella Nesby says:
    October 14, 2014 at 11:21 am

    Some truly fantastic articles on this internet site, thank you for contribution. “My salad days, When I was green in judgment.” by William Shakespeare.

Comments navigation

Previous

Comments are closed.

BUY NEVER PLAY IT SAFE NOW!

Get weekly, curated access to the best of everything I do.

Popular Posts

20170727_CJP_5D4_CL_Lifestyle_0436-webStop Planning. Start Doing.
affinity_vector_poster_urlAffinity Studio vs Adobe Creative Cloud for creative pros: It just got real
nano banana deskNano Banana (Google Gemini) 101 for Photographers
20251013_CJLIVE_PortfolioTrap_Micro_Thumb_16x9_v2.5Stop Curating. Start Creating.
midjourney for photographersMidjourney for Photographers: A Professional’s Field Guide
20241111_CJLIVE_MarthaBeck_Thumb_16x9_v2.5Curiosity, Creativity, and Purpose: Can They Really Defeat Anxiety?
20250928_CJLIVE_NPIS_Q&A1_Micro_Thumb_16x9_v2.5The Antidote to Burnout Isn’t Rest — It’s Play
20250826_CJLIVE_DontTradeDreams_Micro_Thumb_16x9_v2.5Don’t Trade Your Dreams for Security
20251013_CJLIVE_CreativeEdge_Micro_Thumb_16x9_v2.5The Creative Edge Isn’t Vanishing — It’s Moving.
cjLIVE_Mel_Robbins_YouTube_Thumb_v2.5_HD_v2-cleanMel Robbins Revisited: From The High 5 Habit to The Let Them Theory

Daily Creative Projects

© 2024 Chase Jarvis. All rights reserved.