"I'm certain it's just some passing uncertainty...or steppin' out of your routine."

Doubt puts brakes on creative movement.

That said, I'll add that doubt is common as doughnuts at the neighborhood police station for most creative folks.

It's nasty, yucky stuff that can paralyze you and stifle your creative flow. Actually doubt is a close cousin of fear. And we all know what fear is...? That's right...opportunity! I don't know exactly what enlightened soul said it, but fear is a door just waiting to be walked through. And once we step through it, it releases a huge amount of blocked creative energy. Have you noticed that? Whenever you face a fearful situation and do it anyway, you feel a great sense of relief and even exhilaration afterwards? Liberation, freedom, peace...that's the territory on the other side of that door labeled FEAR.

The cure for doubt? Perseverance. The I-Ching says "perseverance furthers." The cure for fear? Action. Any action will do, but action in the direction of resolving your doubt works best.

So, how does this bit of heady bit of wisdom relate to a creative life? I'm glad you asked. What kinds of doubts visit the creative person(s) life on a regular basis? BIG ones...like.. .Am I any good at this? (fill in the blank here for whatever creative thing it is that you do.) Will someone really want to pay me money for this? How can I ask $(fill in here the amount of money that you feel your work is really worth) for my work? So, you don't think your work is all that good...so what? Who's is? Everyone is at a point in their own process. You were less experienced last week, and you'll be more experienced next week. The most important thing is to keep going...persevere. What's the old saying? "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" Practice, practice, practice...

I've seen several really talented people go nowhere because they were constantly plagued by doubt and fear, and worse, they let the doubt stop them from doing the work they truly enjoyed. Their creative life all but shriveled up and died a tragic and untimely death. My oldest brother is a case in point...I've always felt Tom was probably the most artistically gifted person in our family. He could draw, he could paint, he had humor and could create cartoons, he had imagination. Yet he never felt he was good enough...and so he wasn't. I'll give him some slack, though. He had four kids...and had to work plenty hard to raise them all. Kids can take a lot of your time...they need it and they deserve it. But they also deserve your creativity.

Let kids participate in your creative life.
So, why not bring your kids into your creative life? Let them participate in your writing, drawing, painting, weaving, whatever. Passing on your creative excitement about something to your kids is one of the greatest gifts you can give. They need to see you excited about life, they need to see your passion and your playfulness. And whether you're doing "serious" creative work or "playful" creative work, doesn't really matter. You're running your creative engine, and that keeps your creative machinery running and it keeps you growing. Who knows, you may just learn something really valuable from creative play with your kids (or someone else's). They are more creatively open than most adults anyway...we could learn plenty from watching them.

Step out of your routine.
The other thing that stops most creative folks from being more creative is routine...even those of us who work in creative fields can let the routine of our creative jobs get in the way of doing more creative and interesting work. Heck, I do it myself. It's hard to get home after a long day of dealing with difficult clients to find the energy to do more "work." Even if it is personal and enjoyable creative work.

My feeling is that it's not so much the job but the routine that wears away at us. Even if you're working for yourself at a completely creative job (photography, design, bead-making, weaving, painting, building web sites, etc.) your creative energy needs an occasional break from routine work. Creative energy is not particularly fond of routine, yet routine is a necessary part of running a business. So, don't give up your routine. Just take a break from it -- take a research trip, read a new book, go to a seminar, take a class, go to an art museum, attend a concert, try a totally different type of creative work. Creativity needs variety and it needs new experience. Brain research shows that variety of experience actually grows new synaptic tissue -- new connections between brain cells. Whoever said variety is the spice of life knew what they were talking about. Creativity needs to be fed, and nurtured. Think about it...how long could you get by eating the same diet before you got totally bored? Eat some new creative food...treat yourself.

Step out of your routine, and when you come back, you'll bring a new perspective, and a new energy...why? Because the new experience changes you. It refreshes your soul and stimulates new growth.