Everything has downsides, you just have to be aware of them.
One of the strongest gifts that I have is my imagination. It has also caused me a great deal of anxiety in my life.
I don’t have to list the pros for imagination but I quickly will so that it is a balanced view. It has helped me pass the time, solve problems, understand others, create new things. The downsides are that I can imagine problems that don’t exist, misplace blame, allow others to gaslight me, feel anxiety.
Why am I sharing this with you? Every creative person bears this problem. If you have someone in your life who is creative, they also generally are more stressed than non creative people. Our sensitivity causes us to respond to the world, even when it isn’t personally attacking us.
Just for the record, life doesn’t personally attack us. We can feel that way sometimes when others don’t treat us with respect, but that is their issue and not ours. Yes it affects us until we set boundaries and let others know that certain things we don’t accept, and if they do that with us there are consequences.
So is there a better way to deal with an overactive imagination? You need to remember that just because you think something it doesn’t mean it is true. Your brain is just making guesses and pattern matching, and it doesn’t mean that it is reality. This is easier said than done. You have to ask yourself, so what if it is true. Then what? What is the worst thing that could happen? Often when I consider a thought I ask myself that and I come up with a ridiculous answer. The answer makes the question itself crumble because we look for danger, when sometimes there is none.
Imaginative people are often sensitive people but not always so. You can be an imaginative jerk like Steve Jobs was, or a sensitive person like Mr. Rodgers. It doesn’t mean that you are a better person because you are creative. It’s in the way that you use it.And if you ever abuse it…