Of course, he got voted off.

I talk about being unique a lot (even made up my own word, “uniquity”). If you’re interested, you can read about it at http://is.gd/hoUr & http://is.gd/gB7Z

Unfortunately money is often viewed as the ultimate reward. We get paid for our hard work hence it, and therefore we, must be valuable. It’s a wide spread problem of modern society. Creatives can quickly find themselves in a pinch – on one side the need to make an income on the other side the desire to express. So should we turn our desire to express into a business and be rewarded via monitory gain (that “fame and fortune” mantra)? And if so should we seek recognition through fame and fortune? This seems to be the going attitude and compromises much of what people are being taught (particularly in the US where the rags to riches mindset stems from). I don’t subscribe to it though. Finding the right balance is crucial. I think the closest term to describe my ideal circumstance would be “secret success”. Sounds contradictory but I know artists who are very well know within a certain circle, but not beyond, intentionally. They are able to do what they enjoy and sustain themselves while at the same time escaping the clutches of fame and broad recognition. But it does take the right environment.

Celina – My heart breaks hearing that you’re not painting anymore! I know how much you love it. I feel, though, that your comment was a cry for help…..I picture you at the very end of a cliff, teeting on the edge, with the breakthrough waiting for you at the bottom. You’re so close! Is there one little itty bitty baby step you can do to start the process? Even if it’s opening the box of pastels, and leaving them open on your desk, and walking away……it’s a start! Then you can take another little itty bitty baby step, like putting some paper alongside the pastels, and walking away….

Christina – Don’t worry, you’re safe. I don’t know where you live!

What is most important to you – writing a book or being a best-selling author? It might be just enough to enjoy the journey, love the creating, and when you’re done, you publish it yourself and distribute it to your friends and family. Or put it on the shelf for your own perusal. Not everyone has to be Stephen King.

I read advice somewhere that you need to figure out what makes the process enjoyable for you, and do that. If you enjoy making necklaces, and love connecting directly with the people that buy them for themselves – then you shouldn’t be mass producing your necklaces and selling them wholesale. It might not be a way that you earn a full-time living, but it can bring joy and passion into your life just the same.

I have a very close friend that makes gorgeous, stunning, 3D greeting cards (as well as beautiful scrapbooks). Whenever she goes anywhere where someone opens one of her homemade cards, the room “oohs” and “aahs”. Many people have told her she must start selling them – she can get $5/card easily – but she just doesn’t have the interest in marketing them, setting up shop, pressuring herself to deliver a certain quantity, etc. She loves the work itself, and the joy it brings to her friends. I admire her greatly for knowing her limits, her wants, and her passion.

There is also the difference between rational and irrational fear. I’ve read all the very intriguing answers of the previous commenters, all dealing with very rational fears, things that have a certain weighted and founded likelihood of happening if condition a, b or c is met. But there are people who go far beyond that, all the way to conditions x, y, z, the things that are so highly unlikely to ever occur that they are almost impossible. Yes, I can be electrocuted leaving the house because of a faulty wire snapping at the right moment hitting the door handle as I exit. The probability of this incident is somewhere around 1:1,000,000. Irrational fear is difficult to cope with and it can effect non-psychotic people as well, e.g. people suffering from prolonged social isolation or sudden manifestations of childhood fears due to trigger effects. Again, pulling such fears consciously to the forefront in a controlled environment will help putting them in perspective.

There is one more fear I can think of. What’s the worst that can happen? Success. Success can happen and catch you by surprise and sweep you off your feet and you feel like your whole world is changing and… off goes that train of thought. I find that I can deal with failure, I just learn my lesson and move on. But success? I’ve been wanting to write a novel (several for that matter) ever since I was 12. It’s not like I never got started. I have plenty of ideas and I’ve written several drafts. But really committing to it? Tricky. What if it does sell, what if I am suddenly in the spotlight, what if people have expectations now for a follow up, what if I had to go on interviews. I am an introvert, those things don’t make me feel particularly warm and fuzzy. In a sense that is “the worst” that could happen (something I wrote about recently).