GETTING OVER IMPOSTER SYNDROME AND KNOWING WHAT YOU ARE WORTH

I think I was wrong when I wrote in my last post,

Here's the dig, I keep thinking about stopping all this fine art output, time and effort (not to mention expenses), in favor of a more practical career in lettering or calligraphy [or video production].

After I made something for Angela Davis Johnson, a friend of mine, she sent me this email reply. Probably my favorite reaction to a thing I made to date.

I've realized that over the past year, there has been this subtle internal accusation that what I'm making isn't worth buying. If I did believe it was worth buying, then I would be asking people over and over again if they would like to buy it and there would be some confidence there, in knowing the value of what I am providing. So this realization turned into an mental trap -- that it would never be possible in my current field to know the value of what I am providing and that I would need to switch careers.

Here's the thing, my work is worth it. I've spent more than a decade drawing and painting... why should I stop now? Why should I have to change who I am to break into a career that I haven't trained for? This is why its so important to have friends and peers who can encourage you to keep going, even though it's hard. When I look at someone else's success, and feel like it diminishes my own small successes, I'm discounting all the times they kept going, even though it was hard. I'm over-valuating the walls in front of me, pretending that its impossible to find a way.

So  do you have trouble with this? Leave me a comment and tell me about it.