{"id":11361,"date":"2016-09-28T11:10:46","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T18:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/?p=11361"},"modified":"2016-10-04T15:38:06","modified_gmt":"2016-10-04T22:38:06","slug":"fear-and-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/2016\/09\/28\/fear-and-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Fear and Love"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"public_speaking_terrified-115\"<\/a><\/h6>\n

Recently a friend came over to talk. She had a big engagement coming up where she’d agreed to paint in front of an audience while a speaker would lecture on the importance of creativity. Knowing I’ve had experience with such, she thought I’d have some input.<\/p>\n

The truth is, the whole idea was beginning to weigh on her like cement at the ankles. She dreaded the day when\u00a0she would be pushed out of the boat.<\/p>\n

Though a fine painter, all her self-confidence was oozing out of her\u00a0and she was desperate\u00a0for ways\u00a0to become “really good”\u00a0in a very short time. But, of course, it doesn’t work that way.<\/p>\n

The speaker who’d\u00a0invited her knew\u00a0she was just right for the task; I reminded her of that. The bigger issue was mental.<\/p>\n

Since she asked, I offered my\u00a0mind on the subject. First, she didn’t have to pull off a perfect piece of art. In the limited time, who would expect it?\u00a0So forget that part. Besides, the topic was about stepping\u00a0out and trying new things. If she were to pull off a perfect painting in 40 minutes, the audience might be impressed, but completely intimated to try anything themselves. Actually, an unfinished and imperfect\u00a0painting would make the point better.<\/p>\n

So, get off of “perfection.”<\/p>\n

But another point that resonated even more deeply is the solid, though little-known, notion that perfect love casts out fear<\/span>. I told her I get that straight from the Bible, but when applied, it makes all the difference.<\/p>\n

Whether speaking or painting or anything else in public, if we’re preoccupied with how we’ll be judged,\u00a0all our thoughts are about ourselves. They’re\u00a0inward oriented, i.e. “fear!” Love, on the other hand, is just the opposite: It’s oriented outward.<\/p>\n

And you can’t think about them both at the same time.<\/p>\n

So, if we look at a situation like hers and consider that, in fact, we do have something to give, something useful which will help others, or at least entertain them and make them happy, our thoughts are outward, not inward. We’re no longer thinking about ourselves but them. Fear flies away!<\/p>\n

These two thoughts, that perfection is not expected or even welcomed, and that love conquers fear, instilled my friend with a\u00a0new peace of mind\u00a0and readiness to face the challenge.<\/p>\n

Since then, the engagement has come and gone. She succeeded, of course, and now laughs about it.<\/p>\n

But the new thoughts made all the difference.<\/p>\n

It’s so for all of us.<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

PS Speaking of imperfection and freedom, you’ll enjoy my new\u00a0book, Sketches of France<\/em>\u00a0(and all the rest)\u00a0available on my website, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether it’s speaking or painting or anything before an audience, here’s a major tip (or two) that can change everything.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11361"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11361"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11531,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11361\/revisions\/11531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}