Are you embarrassed to show your art?

In the photo: Print Alfredo - The Polar Bear

It's a Sunday afternoon. A family lunch, the kind where you sense someone's talking about you from afar. Suddenly, someone makes a public announcement: "She draws really well!" or "You have to hear this girl's poems!" You freeze. Someone asks you to show them your work. Panic. You show it with the greatest unhappiness in the world and spend the next few days wanting to throw it all away and wondering what the hell you're doing with your time.

I speak from what I know—I've found myself in similar situations more than a few times. Every time it happens, I feel exposed, insecure , and caught off guard. Any skills I had seem to vanish, and my confidence in my work, which wasn't the best already, seems to diminish even further. Things shouldn't be this way. If art is a voluntary form of creative expression , it should bring good things or at least release all the bad things that bother us.

So how do we deal with all this insecurity about our art? This post will be written as a manifesto in the hope that not only you, but I too, have a place of escape and comfort to turn to whenever we feel embarrassed about sharing something we've created.

The artist who believes in himself

I am the artist, and I am the one who decides what to do with my own art. If I want to share it with the world, I can. If I want to use it introspectively, I can. It is no one else's job but me to choose how, when, or why I make or share my creations.

My art can have any meaning or no meaning at all. I can use it to share my feelings, portray something that moves me, escape reality, protest, or create experiences—these are valid goals. Receiving someone's approval is not a valid goal.

My art shouldn't be compared to other people's work. Every artist is at a different point on their personal journey. I'm doing things in my own time and within my abilities, and that's all I can do right now. My path will also lead me to evolution, regardless of my pace.

I don't apologize for my work when I show it to someone. I see flaws, as every creator does, but I don't immediately point them out to anyone. I give the other person a fair chance to activate their personal experiences and feel whatever they want to feel. I listen to what they have to say—and it is by being open to their opinion that I take another step on the path of evolution.

I keep in mind that others' reactions to my work cannot define or alter how I feel about it. My work is mine, and I created it with a purpose before showing it to the world. Regardless of the reactions, my work still begins and ends with me.

I won't give up, even when I feel unmotivated. I can and should take breaks to reflect and breathe, but I won't give up. I will continue learning and practicing regardless of my skill level, always keeping in mind that anything I create with my own hands possesses the purest form of magic.

Shall we talk more?

This conversation doesn't end there. In this video, I talked a little more about the importance of believing in your own work. Fe also made a video that was almost like a group therapy session to show that we're all in this together when it comes to artistic struggles. And the comments section is more than open to anything you'd like to share with us. If you have an Instagram account to share your art, how about leaving your username so we can appreciate each other's work too?

As long as we can, we keep creating.

With love,
Re