Fake Blues: Creating in the Face of Anxiety (Signed Copy)

$5.00

Fake Blues include feelings of anxiety and concern around creating and releasing works of art. In this manual, WordPlay T. Jay gives you the tools he has learned while on his creative journey. Learning how to manage his anxiety has led to him becoming a prolific creator and building the life he desires with his art. He teaches the readers that the pressures they feel are just mechanisms of a primal mind. He shows that there is little danger in releasing art and betting on yourself as a creative person.

Fake Blues include feelings of anxiety and concern around creating and releasing works of art. In this manual, WordPlay T. Jay gives you the tools he has learned while on his creative journey. Learning how to manage his anxiety has led to him becoming a prolific creator and building the life he desires with his art. He teaches the readers that the pressures they feel are just mechanisms of a primal mind. He shows that there is little danger in releasing art and betting on yourself as a creative person.

Excerpt:

 

Chapter 1

Put On Your Oxygen Mask 

Little Rock, Arkansas in the 1990’s was the perfect place to nurture a my creative mind. HBO did not intimidate me with documentaries on crack cocaine and gang violence.  Every day there was news about the President, the scandal, and his ties to the state.  The support of The Contras brought drugs to my doorstep.  I daydreamed and envisioned what it would be like to be a famous architect or performer.  Those days were bleak, yet the future was optimistic.  My dreams could be actualized through hard work.  I saw that work ethic daily in the tired eyes of my single mother.  I memorized facts for good grades, shared values with my siblings, and practiced every day to live via creativity. 

It was hard to focus on assignments because my mind was busy with drawings, songs, and characters.  Losing focus during tests was a frequent occurrence.  I needed to imagine and not be so serious.  I needed to deconstruct and reorganize every problem.  Food and security was scarce, and creativity was a convenient distraction. My distractions remained dreams until the work could be seen by a larger audience.  At that point, I could relax and take a breath of fresh oxygen.

I believed taking care of my family’s generational wealth problem is my job.  I have relaxed this thought, but it still lingers in my mind.  The pressure of reaching this goal manifested into unintended consequences.