How do you think about risk?
Creativity: taking risk & stretching self
Betsy Brandt
9 Jul 2016 in Art
https://niume.com/post/74243-0-1
How do you think about risk? Do images of hang gliding or dying on Mount Everest
come to mind? Does it mean an activity where one false move can mean death for
you? The truth is risk doesn't need to involve danger. Risk can also be defined
as the intentional interaction with uncertainty. “Uncertainty is a potential,
unpredictable, unmeasurable and uncontrollable outcome; risk is a consequence
of action taken in spite of uncertainty” says Wikipedia. Risk can be defined as "activities with uncertain
outcomes."
Facing things that make us uncomfortable has advantages, whether we
succeed or fail: we become more emotionally resilient, confident, satisfied, and engaged with life. We don’t
have to parachute from a plane (thank God!) to reap the benefits of taking
risks. Choosing to be creative everyday means taking some risk. Any time we pay
attention to areas of our life that feel challenging, lacking or intriguing to
us-- we can choose to take some risk. Whether that means being open to the
universe to find a new mate after a divorce or to change our artistic medium in
order to better express ourselves on an easel. We embrace the adventure of
uncertainty. "Do one thing every day that scares you," Eleanor
Roosevelt said.
Will taking a risk cause anxiety? Yes!
Researcher Hans Selye found there are actually two kinds of stress: Distress is a negative stress and eustress is a
positive stress. “Eustress,” or healthy anxiety motivates or focuses our
energy. Healthy anxiety is “just right” anxiety; the kind we need to be
creative. Too much anxiety becomes toxic to our performance, paralyzing it. Too
little anxiety is toxic as well, as it puts us in an “I’m bored” state. So the
level of risk we choose to take should include “just right” anxiety for us.
This will look different for you than it does for me, but for both of us, it
will involve a “stretch” from our head, heart or gut center (or all three).
Pioneer Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard explains in his 1844
treatise that anxiety is the dizzying effect of freedom, of paralyzing possibility, of the boundlessness of
one’s own existence. He writes,
“Anxiety is altogether different from fear and similar concepts that refer to
something definite, whereas anxiety is freedom’s actuality as the possibility
of possibility.”
We intuitively know that our best learning occurs just beyond our
comfort zone from our heart, head or gut perspective. That's what happened to me when I left my corporate
job after 19 years. I had to take a big risk, relinquish the golden handcuffs,
and take a leap of faith into the deep unknown. Through the process I
discovered more passions: living off the grid in the mountains, building a
rustic cabin, trail running on old mining paths and meeting my soul mate whom I
would marry. There is
always a sense of satisfaction that emerges from trying something entirely new
and proving ourselves to be capable of the task. Creativity is born!
Perhaps the coolest benefit of taking a risk is that it's simply fun. Neuroscientists explain this bliss with biochemistry:
New, challenging, and risky activities trigger the release of dopamine, a
feel-good neurotransmitter that's part of the brain's reward system. Call risk
taking the ultimate antidote to boredom. It's the best way (I am aware of) to
wake up and feel fully alive. We can have a say in our destiny—by taking a
risk-- versus being
dominated by our circumstances. Indeed every chance we take teaches us
something about ourselves and leads us mysteriously along our long term
creative path.
If you want something you've never had, then you've got to do something
you've never done.
As Vincent van Gogh said, "People are often unable to do anything,
imprisoned as they are in I don't know what kind of terrible, terrible, oh such
terrible cage."
Any risks you’ve taken you’d like to share-- that reaped you creative
benefits? Was the risk from a head, heart or gut perspective?
Happy risk taking.
Thank you for reading my post. My core message of
everyone is creative resonates with people of all ages and walks of life. I
invite all to become the best version of themselves and find true meaning by
pursing long term creative quests.
Read more in my recent book and my website: The Three
Sources of Creativity: Breakthroughs from Your Head, Heart and Gut.