I hear you. You don't feel ready for prime time yet.

What you make is so personal — it's hard to share something you're not happy with, or that's going through an awkward stage, or that you created purely for yourself.

You're afraid that:

• It's not good enough.
• If you put your work out there, people won't like it.
• You'll appear selfish or overconfident, like you're showing off.
• People won't understand — they'll think you're out of sync, too geeky, too bookish, too dull, too [fill in the blank].
• It's been said or done already, and probably better, so why bother?

Maybe worst of all, nobody will even care.

It's no wonder the fear of all of this keeps you staying small and hidden!

But you know something's missing.

You long to be good enough, to have your work embraced, to touch other people with what you create.

Wanna know a secret? We think that keeping our creative cards close to the vest will keep us safe, that the time to share is only when we feel 100% ready and confident, and that putting anything out there before it's perfect will lead to Bad Things.

Wrong!

Here's what I've learned: it is through sharing that you become confident.

In other words, feeling ready is not the right measuring stick!

Yes, it's scary to take that step and come out of hiding, but when you intentionally let your work go, and do it in a loving, safe environment, this is what happens:

• You desensitize yourself to the fear of sharing imperfect work — and to fear in general!
• You learn to see your work through other people's eyes, which can actually help you to like it better!
• The feedback you receive can help you hone in on your unique, creative voice.
• Your work touches other people in ways you may not have anticipated, which makes you feel connected and not alone.

Or to put it another way:

Doing the thing you fear is the only way to get fully past the fear.

And doing something you're scared of makes you braver in all sorts of other areas in your life, too!

That's why I'm inviting you to join me in an experiment I'm calling:

I'm Melissa Dinwiddie, Artist, Happiness Catalyst & Creativity Instigator. My mission is to help you turn your creative taps to "on," because I know only too well what it's like to be mired in stuckness.

I also understand intimately the fear of sharing, because it held me back for years.

This is a big problem when your goal is to touch people with what you do!

Maybe you dream of:

Writing a book or a blog...

Teaching a class...

Speaking in front of a crowd...

Singing or playing an instrument or reciting poetry for an audience...

Hanging an exhibit of your paintings...

If your fears hold you back from sharing your work, all of these Big Dreams stay dreams forever, and never become reality.

Wouldn't you love a solution to this problem?

Thankfully, I'm creating one just for you: Creative Courage Lab!

What We'll Do

In Creative Courage Lab, we'll join together for a month of tiny-and-daily experimentation.

In the context of the most loving, supportive, generous community you can imagine, we will:

1. Create something tiny every day — writing, painting, music... whatever you want.
2. Post it where others can see it — either in our private Facebook group, or with the #creativecouragelab hashtag on Instagram, or both!

Every day you'll get an email from me, with advice on how to tame the self-doubt gremlins and harness the fear butterflies, tips for staying self-compassionate, and creative inspiration.

We'll also meet up on THREE live group calls, where you can ask any questions that come up and connect with kindred spirits in real time.

And you'll also be warmly welcomed into my private Creative Sandbox Facebook group, the most generous, loving, supportive folks you're likely to meet anywhere.

Why Join the Fun?

• Increased prolificness (you'll prove to yourself that you can sustain a (tiny) daily practice).
• Improved skill (the more you do something, the better you'll get at it).
• Less fear (you'll desensitize yourself to the terror of sharing stuff that isn’t perfect).
• Greater confidence (you'll scare away the gremlins of self-doubt).
• Be a hero (you'll model for and encourage others to try whatever they might be afraid of trying).

Doing tiny-and-daily experiments like this on my own has transformed my life in huge ways, not least of which was the discovery that sharing my work helped me see it through other people's lenses.

And although my fear was that my imperfect work would draw painful criticism, I discovered just the opposite:

Seeing my work through other people's lenses helped me to take off my own, hyper-critical glasses and fall in love with work I'd previously dismissed as crappy.

I also got braver about taking more risks, which shot me forward fast in all sorts of areas in my life!

The same thing can happen for you in Creative Courage Lab.

Creative Courage Lab only happens inside the Creative Sandbox, my private membership community designed to clear out those "stuckness" gremlins and turn your creative taps to "permanently on."