Is There Such a Thing as The Creative Curse?

You’ve most likely heard the fable of the two wolves inside everyone.

If not — let me summarize it for you.

According to the “legend,” an old Cherokee grandfather is chatting with his grandson about life. He goes on to say he is fighting a battle within himself. He tells the boy, there are two wolves living inside of him. One wolf is evil, full of hatred, anger, greed, regret, pain, rage, and more. The other wolf is good, full of love, kindness, happiness, compassion, generosity — the list goes on and on.

The grandson asks, which wolf will win the battle? The grandfather responds: “The one you feed.”

Whether or not you believe this to be an actual story handed down by Native American tribes, or a sermon delivered in the ’70s by a well-known church, Pastor — the underlying lesson is simple.

Focus on the things you want, not the things you fear; however, I have a hard time with this.

A very HARD time!

You see, I believe there are many people — just like me. Creative daydreamers. Wanderers of dreams and fantasies. Creators of ideas.

We view the world, including the things we hear, all while developing a more complex storyline in our heads.

I often tell my wife: If you could take a walk inside this head of mine, you’d stumble and get lost before you made a second step.

And while I think this is an excellent attribute for us creatives to have, I am beginning to think it is as much of a curse as it is a blessing.

When I think about all of the things I have not moved forward on in my life, ideas, or concepts that seemed incredible a day or two prior — I often wonder why I didn’t proceed with it.

When I am in my truck driving alone, lost in my thoughts, thinking about new ideas for a story, business plan, or even a movie plot.

I wonder weeks later: Why didn’t I do it?

For a while, I just brushed off the notion that perhaps the idea just wasn’t as strong or “cool” as I had initially thought.

If you’ve read this far, I suppose that you, too, have felt this prickly edged thought moving inside your brain, like the slimy, ugly thing it is.

But, as I dug deeper — really sitting down to think about it — it occurred to me that it was my wild imagination that causes this.

The curse of being a "creative." (if that’s what society wants to call us)

If you are a creative person, always lost in a daydream, seemingly lost in your thoughts, wandering through ideas of:

What if this happens, or what if that happens?

If you find yourself trapped in the spinning wheel of trepidation, apprehension, and fear of moving forward

You also have the blessing and the curse.

But’s it’s a curse that provides its own antidote. A curse that doesn’t require a hero donning a wide brim sable fedora and leather whip who must choose the correct chalice to drink from to save us.

No! We can save ourselves from our own devices, our curses — simply by using it against itself. You see our thoughts, our creativity, our ideas are those allegorical wolves we’ve all heard of in that story.

The good wolf is the idea, the concept. The images of how magnificent something can be. A new story, business, or marketing message. A plan for a new book series, movie concept — again, the list goes on and on.

However, with every piece of good — we must always remember there is the antithesis, the antagonist, the “big bad wolf,” if you will.

The big bad wolf can be the neighbor, the friend, the family member that may plant the first seeds of doubt in your head. Or it could simply be you that allows yourself to think…

What if I do all of this work and then this happens.

The “this” is typically something terrible.

The “this” is the: failure, ridicule, loss, lack, waste of time, and effort.

It’s the: This won’t work, it only happens to people like that — not people like me.

It’s the hammer that drives another nail in the coffin of buried ideas and dreams that seemed so alive and vivid just a day or so before.

Our creative minds have been designed — by us — to find a story, to create the journey, and everything that comes in between it.

In any hero’s journey, the hero always has the darkest of days moment. This is then followed by the answer, the key to solving the puzzle, destroying the death star, or discovering “he’s the one.”

Unfortunately, those ideas that lay in the graveyard of doubt, often never see the light. They don’t experience the final leg of the hero’s journey.

And that my friend is a damn shame!

So as a fellow creative, I urge you to use these thoughts to your advantage. To reverse the thought process and feed the good wolf instead.

“What if I do this and everything I want to happen — does!”

“What if I spend my time building this and enjoy the fruits of my labor once it is complete!”

“What if I sit down, finally writing that story that’s been circling my thoughts for so many years. What if I allow everyone to see this world I’ve built for so long and experience my idea!”

Just think of how many more things you can and will get done.

Think about how awesome it will feel to get more of those compliments, positive reviews, likes, claps, and more.

Think about how you will feel. The accomplishment of freeing the idea and allowing people to see it, hold it, believe in it, and consume it.

If you think about it, it’s not too hard to flip that switch in a different direction, after all.

Your only curse is your creativity — so which wolf will you feed?