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Do You Suffer from Imposter Syndrome Anxiety?
Do you suffer from impostor syndrome anxiety? I would wager a guess that most artists do at one point or another. It’s that feeling of “who am I to be posting my work online, or show publicly?” It’s that feeling that sooner or later you’ll be outed for being a fraud. Sometimes it just sneaks up on you and other times it kind of lurks around in the back of your brain.
I had been drawing animal portraits for the better part of 30 years before I had the guts to post my work online when social media finally arrived. With that much experience, and hopefully without sounding conceited, I knew the work I did was better than most. However, when it came right down to it, my finger hovered over the mouse, afraid to click Post on my first social media post.
Here’s the thing about impostor syndrome anxiety…
It’s part of your crushing ego. It’s both for you and against you. On one hand, it’s quick to point out all your flaws as though you didn’t already know them. On the other hand, it’s a kind of twisted way to protect you from certain perceived disappointment or ridicule. It’s as though by criticizing you, it could prevent you from hurting yourself.
What ends up happening however, is more often than not, when you push past the fear and post anyway, you end up getting a…
