When You Simply Aren’t Ready Yet by Yaz Shaughnessy

There are times when thoughts of failure drain me like a leech that won’t ease up. Sometimes life as a creator feels as if you’re knee-deep in sludge and you’re chasing an inspiration that is flying away from you. I’m sure many of you are familiar with the frustration. As creators, we naturally strive to be more than we are, but I’m starting to see that sometimes we just aren’t ready for what we want immediately. This could look like having a vision but lacking the skills and experience to fulfill it, to no fault of our own. Alternatively, maybe there is skill there, but the perfect vision hasn’t arrived, and you can’t develop anything far enough. I’m just not there yet. We just aren’t ready. Do I personally fully accept that yet? Sadly not.

I ask myself, “Why do I expect to create my magnum opus in college?” I’m in my early twenties. When I reflect on my own expectations, it sounds laughable. Relax. I mean, who even wants to reach their peak in college?

Unrealistic expectations are such a quick route to burnout. You try and try, and nothing is good enough. You stop wanting to create because you can’t relax with your craft anymore. Your hands hover over a keyboard, and you can’t bring your pencil to make contact with a blank page. It’s draining and detrimental to your health and creative self. I think about my peers, and I know I would never hold them to the unrealistic standard I hold myself to. My goal is to treat myself fairly, as I would treat any other classmate. I’m working to accept that at the end of the day, I’m just a student trying to make it through college. I can strive to be more, as that is necessary and natural for creators, but not push so far as to hurt myself.

It’s really about giving yourself the grace you deserve. There will always be room for growth in what you may be lacking. We have to acknowledge that sometimes we just simply aren’t ready, and we have to work while staying kind to ourselves.