Fear is the Thief of Dreams

Fear is the thief of dreams. I love this quote! It is one of those quotes that I carry around with me, in my subconscious, and bring to the attention of my consciousness when I’m feeling fearful. No one wants to have their dreams stolen, and certainly not by fear. We all know fear. It is part of the human experience, and by itself it is neither positive nor negative. How can we use fear creatively? What is the relationship between fear and creativity?

In a study at Cornell University in 2011, this question was posed: Is there a bias against creativity? (http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/articles)

Creative ideas are both novel and useful and novelty is the key distinguishing feature of creativity beyond ideas that are merely well done. Yet…people have a hard time viewing novelty and practicality as attributes that go hand in hand, often viewing them as inversely related. There are several reasons why. 

It’s an age-old dilemma, and a very common story, one that affects individuals, families, communities, careers and businesses. How many people have suppressed their dreams to pursue a practical life, and how many of those people who are “doing the right thing” dream of the day when they are free to live…retirement?

How many creative solutions in the workplace are scoffed at and ignored? How many times does this have to happen before one develops a negative association with creativity?

Practical ideas are generally valued. However, the more novel an idea, the more uncertainty can exist about whether an idea is practical, useful, error free, and reliably reproduced…people can experience failure, perceptions of risk, social rejection, and uncertainty…Uncertainty is an aversive state which people feel a strong motivation to diminish and avoid. 

In other words, fear. But the truth is that balance between novelty and practicality, while not easily achieved or sustained, is worth attempting. Both must be acknowledged. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychology professor known for his studies of happiness and creativity, and his best selling book, Flow, says it this way:

Repression is not the way to virtue. When people restrain themselves out of fear, their lives are by necessity diminished. Only through freely chosen discipline can life be enjoyed and still kept within the bounds of reason. 

Now, I’ll take off my professor’s hat and let my favorite actor, Hugh Jackman, express his creative fears and answer the question, “Can fear be used creatively?”

http://www.salon.com/2013/07/29/must_see_morning_clip_hugh_jackmans_biggest_fear_in_filming_les_miserables/singleton/