Pent-Up Imagination

[Anxiety - I]

Anxiety comes in different forms.

There’s the panic variety. It’s a flooding of strong emotions that build as the “cause” approaches. Opening night of your show, the day of the big presentation, the night before the championship game: panic sets in and escalates as we march forward.

There’s the worrying variety. While rarely coming to fruition, the object of worry seems in crystal-clear focus. Worry convinces us that we can see into the future. We can’t. And we’re often wrong, but worry is like an emotional lawyer, building a case for why we should be anxious.

Theres’ also the fear variety. Fear perceives both real and false threats. Physiologically they feel the same. I’m alone and I must do something to save myself. Fear is isolating.

Anxiety can also be neurotic. And angry. And Jealous.

Anxiety is often a mosaic of related emotions that all feel threatening, which is why it’s so hard to pin down.

Consider this: Anxiety and creativity are related. The greater someone’s imagination, the more they feel anxious. All that creative energy is channeled toward hypothetical disaster. Anxiety, you might say, is pent-up imagination.

It needs focus.
It needs a target.
It needs a concrete outlet.

[H/T Julia Cameron]