Welcome to this blog! My name's Brittany A. Nettles and I'm a dancer, choreographer, and a general artist person who is attempting to put her thoughts into words on this website. Writing has always been something I enjoyed, and I often use it to help me organize my world. Through this blog I hope to share some of those ideas with a greater audience, and maybe provoke new thoughts and feelings from that audience.
Recently, I've been discovering something pretty cool about myself: I have important things to say! I struggle to give value to my own thoughts and ideas, which causes me to get halfway through a project and quit, never start it in the first place, or downplay the importance of my work. The fear is that I am "too much," for others to take in. I'm not sure why I do this, but I have a few theories. Maybe it's because I'm a woman who was taught her words are less important than her body, or less important than a man's words. Maybe it's because I'm naturally introverted and sometimes it takes a lot to actually get the words out of my head and past my lips. Maybe it's because the things I want to say are controversial and complex, and I'm afraid others will judge me for branching outside of how they imagine me.
Now, I have realized that this is what artists do. They say things that are important to them, and that they think are important for the world. People say performers and artists are narcissistic in this way, and I agree with them to an extent. However, really it's about knowing your worth and your power. About a year ago I read the book "Big Magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert, and she discusses this idea heavily. She claims that actually it is this narcissism that causes our self doubt, by constantly worrying about how others are perceiving us. She proposes that rather than trying to say "I am the greatest!" we should just try to say "I am here!" and that is what I want to do with this blog. I have important things to say, so I'm going to say them here. We all do. I believe we can all learn a tremendous amount from each other's unique experiences, and I believe that it's necessary for the growth of our community. I'm not sure why it took a whole year for this idea to really settle in, or perhaps it's something that I need to constantly remind myself. But anyways, this revelation is what sparked this new blog. I hope reading my thoughts inspires you to consider how you value your own.
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