For an assignment, I have to go to a networking event that is design-related and try to learn from it. My first reaction was to try and find something related to UX/UI or photography but unfortunately, I didn’t find anything. I had a week to look for an event before the assignment was due so I was limited to the number of events I could go to. A lot of the events I wanted to go to were upcoming after the due date so I saved them for later. After searching for events on the website “Eventbrite”, I found an event called “Overcoming The Five Emotions That Stop Success” which caught my eye immediately. I thought it would be useful to learn about this especially because I myself suffer from this. I sometimes feel like I’m not enough or my work has to be perfect. I reserved a ticket to enter and waited for the day to come.
I drove to the Freelancers Hub located in Brooklyn which was where the event was being held. This area has some nice spots to go to like Japan Village and other convenience shops. When it was time to go I entered the building and found the room. I merely noticed how cool the room looked. It has rows of computers, whiteboards, and other materials that you would want in a design studio. It seemed like paradise for a designer like me. We sat down and waited for more people to come in but even then there were still only 7 people at the event, including the presenter. The presenter was Rahti Gorfien, a Creative coach looking to help those stuck in the creative industry. Then there was an illustrator, four freelancers, my friend from class, and myself.
Rahti began by getting us to know each other before she began the presentation. Then she started to explain what the different emotions are that we creatives feel when we are stuck.
1. Shame: The root of all evil. Shame is an original sin: self-hatred instilled by
patriarchal beliefs.
Solution: separation and witness consciousness.
2. Grandiosity: Flip side of shame, self-righteousness
Solution: humility; focusing on the process instead of their potential genius
“Humility is NOT thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself LESS.”
3. Envy: There are two types
-Comparative envy: wishing you had what someone else has.
-Erotic envy: obsessing over someone’s success instead of your own and potentially attaching yourself to them.
Solution: enoughness – Embodiment at the moment, grounding yourself in your own gifts, realizing nobody else can be you.
4. Boredom: The most pernicious emotion, forgetting the WHY of the project or goal.
Solution: “becoming” – “be” is re-embodying yourself in your purpose, “coming” is coming back to the work and reconnecting with its meaning.
5. Fear: Fear of criticism, rejection, or failure.
Solution: pause, not freeze, and envision the worst-case scenario as a comedy instead.
(Source: The presentation)
After the event, I’ve come to realize that I’m not the only one experiencing these emotions. Not only that but anyone at any age experiences these emotions for different reasons. For me, it’s mainly because I want to reach my “dream” career, although I still have no idea what that is. For others in the event, they were afraid that the work they produce isn’t enough to pay the bills. It’s all a mind game.
