Jordan Takes Over: Just Calm Down Already

**The first Monday of the month, I let my muse take over the blog. I apologize in advance.**

You writers can be so uptight. I mean, seriously, one second you're off on some creative binge, and the next you're all, "this crap is never going to amount to anything!" I've just got one thing to say about that: cool it! Just fucking cool it!

Look at it from my perspective. I'm not exactly the commitment type, but Sarah and I have been together for three effing years. That's longer than all of my relationships combined. And trust me, I would not stick around for nothing.

But this post isn't about trusting your muse--I'm sure I've said that all before (or have I? I don't remember...). This is about anxiety. Oh, what's that? You don't get anxiety? Are you a writer? Oh, well in that case...LIAR! It's not just about nerves--every time you tell yourself that you're no good, that's anxiety. You're too worried about spending all this time working on your writing and having it never amount to anything. But you're looking at it the wrong way. So what if it's crap? Everything starts out as crap. No one is brilliant on the first try (No, not even me. But I'm talking like, when I write songs. Not *ahem* other skills...). The point is that you have at least a scrap of a good idea underneath all the shit, and that you understand what needs to be fixed.

You're really just looking at anxiety the wrong way. I think anxiety is awesome. I mean, come on, it makes your heart pound, puts you on the edge. It's something raw and visceral. If you focus too much on this "woe is me" bullshit, then you're gonna lose the whole experience. Think about what being anxious is actually doing for you. If you just walked around thinking you were perfect all the time (hey, shut up, this isn't about me), how could you ever find the flaws in your work? You'll just think it's wonderful and send it out thinking you'll be some overnight star. And then what happens? Well, you get rejections, and you have no idea why. Because you're so goddamn perfect, right?

See the problem? In the long run, a little anxiety can be good for you. That doesn't mean you should be consumed by it. Trust me, I've been with a few guys who were all, "I'm terrible, I'm nothing, I'm doomed to hell just for existing." It gets annoying after a while. Plus, they were usually the nicest, sweetest people you could imagine.

So for fuck's sake, stop being so hard on yourself. And just calm down already.

JP