Fear

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​I have been working on a couple of metal projects for well over a year and when you work on something that long certain things can be come evident.

One thing is that sometimes it’s just hard to complete something, not necessarily physically, although that does enter into to it also.
Fear #1 – The thing is that before you finish something, it has infinite potential or possibilities. It is more likely to ‘please.’ Each person sees the unfinished piece and completes it in their mind how they see it completed, which may not be how I see it. They may not like how I think that it should be completed. Part of that fear lies in making or completing something that people are liking ‘unfinished’ (because they can see their potential in it) to something ‘finished’ where they won’t necessarily like or understand it. I experience this all the time with movies I watch. I’m liking it, but then I finally get to the end and I’m like WTF?! It didn’t end how I wanted it to. I don’t want that to happen to my art, but my art is about my experience and while I hope to make it a universal experience (big expectation) it may or may not fit the goal or need of everyone who sees it.
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BUT it needs to be finished, because it is very satisfying to finish something. I like it to be something that isn’t so literal or exact, something that is finished, but can also leave some room for other people to relate to it – creates a mood or a feeling instead of a literal depiction that only has meaning to me. But even as I write this ‘profound interpretation’ of the creation of art it makes me want to make something super literal that only has meaning to me – hmmm, is that even possible?
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What happens when the piece is finished?
Fear #2 – I have focused all this time in creating this particular art work and now I’m done and now I have to completely change gears and do something different. The next step may be a completely different type of work and one that I may not be as good at. Yes, it’s satisfying to create art, but there is a cycle – the idea, the creation, and the finishing and putting it out in the world in some form – ALL essential pieces of the work. So it comes back to intent, what do I want to have happen? Sell it? Show it? Write about it? Or something that I haven’t even thought of yet? I know I can’t really think of any of those things until I finish the work...

Or maybe I just have to say out loud to the universe that these pieces are done and I am open to success with them.
Fear #3 – I guess that I need to determine what success means to me...

How do you determine success and how does fear enter your thought process. Can fear be a good thing and help the process along?