I've been struggling with self-doubt ever since the start of the year! I oscillate wildly between thinking that I'm a sham and a genius (lol). I try to tell myself that feeling challenged/inadequate is part of the process. If we are unchallenged, then it might mean we are not going to new places in our practice. I say "I try to tell myself," because I often forget.
Hahaha I can totally relate! And yes!! That's such a good point. Feeling challenged is a much better place to be than unchallenged with no room left to grow.
Both the old and the new illustrations are so stunning. I very much can relate to the feeling of cyclical self-doubt, especially lately! And the adrienne maree brown quote is comforting – I'll have to bookmark that.
I feel this so so much! Thank you for sharing these hard feelings and your beautiful illustrations with us, Christina <3. I liken this feeling to if you were standing on a beach feeling lost on the shore. The sounds of the waves can be healing but it can also be an endless drone of sound hypnotizing you into a frozen state. The sound eventually breaks, we wake up, we look down, find that there are beautiful shells that have washed up or maybe they were already there but we were so focused on the sound that we missed everything else. You start noticing the breeze and how blue the sky is. At some point, you're ready to leave the waves behind, feeling more certain and alive than you were when you arrived. The drone of the waves becomes a distant sound as you move forward.
As usual, this is a wonderful post. Thank you, Christina, for illustrating one technique to manage self-doubt: just get to work. The few hours of concentration required gives you a finished product at the end of it, and (as a bonus) takes your mind off the self-doubt for those few hours. My own work is very different -- writing software code -- but I am happy when immersing myself in it, giving my brain no bandwidth for negative thoughts.
Thanks for sharing this, Christina. It felt like my inner voice was speaking back to me, I can relate to it so much! I'm also in this swirl now and your honesty sharing this process made me feel less alone. Sending you a big air hug🤍
This is such a nourishing read, Christina. I've been struggling with self-doubt lately too and it's never-not refreshing to hear that someone else is as well. Thank you!
This was a beautiful read. Thank you for putting this out there. As a fellow freelancer, I felt it to my core
Thank you so much for reading and the kind words. It’s so hard but we’re not alone!!
I've been struggling with self-doubt ever since the start of the year! I oscillate wildly between thinking that I'm a sham and a genius (lol). I try to tell myself that feeling challenged/inadequate is part of the process. If we are unchallenged, then it might mean we are not going to new places in our practice. I say "I try to tell myself," because I often forget.
Hahaha I can totally relate! And yes!! That's such a good point. Feeling challenged is a much better place to be than unchallenged with no room left to grow.
Both the old and the new illustrations are so stunning. I very much can relate to the feeling of cyclical self-doubt, especially lately! And the adrienne maree brown quote is comforting – I'll have to bookmark that.
Thanks so much Kat! Hope that it gets better for you soon, we're in this together!!
I feel this so so much! Thank you for sharing these hard feelings and your beautiful illustrations with us, Christina <3. I liken this feeling to if you were standing on a beach feeling lost on the shore. The sounds of the waves can be healing but it can also be an endless drone of sound hypnotizing you into a frozen state. The sound eventually breaks, we wake up, we look down, find that there are beautiful shells that have washed up or maybe they were already there but we were so focused on the sound that we missed everything else. You start noticing the breeze and how blue the sky is. At some point, you're ready to leave the waves behind, feeling more certain and alive than you were when you arrived. The drone of the waves becomes a distant sound as you move forward.
Thanks for reading Diana! This description is so, so beautiful and is exactly how it feels. I'll imagine myself on the beach from now on 🥺
This hits. Your new piece has a transcendental feel. Thank you for sharing
Thanks so much for reading and the kind words Julie!!
Thank you for this, Christina. I feel all of this about self-doubt in my bones.
Thank you for reading and sharing Amy! I means a lot to know I'm not alone.
As usual, this is a wonderful post. Thank you, Christina, for illustrating one technique to manage self-doubt: just get to work. The few hours of concentration required gives you a finished product at the end of it, and (as a bonus) takes your mind off the self-doubt for those few hours. My own work is very different -- writing software code -- but I am happy when immersing myself in it, giving my brain no bandwidth for negative thoughts.
Thank you for reading Timothy! The world of software coding sounds fascinating!
Thanks for sharing this, Christina. It felt like my inner voice was speaking back to me, I can relate to it so much! I'm also in this swirl now and your honesty sharing this process made me feel less alone. Sending you a big air hug🤍
Thanks so much for reading PeiHsin, and thanks for sharing how you've been feeling as well. Big hugs back to you, we got this!!
This is such a nourishing read, Christina. I've been struggling with self-doubt lately too and it's never-not refreshing to hear that someone else is as well. Thank you!
Thank you for reading, Franco! I'm sorry to hear that you've been feeling the same way, but I know we'll get through it!!
Thank you so much for sharing this, Christina. ♥️
Thank you so much for reading Lorena!