The Worry Game

Along with my brown eyes, 2 slightly tipped eye teeth, a button nose, and an inclination to go barefoot most all the time, I inherited the worry gene from my mother. There have been times when it has taken over my life, and other times it is running quietly in the background. It is almost always there.

In the midst of changes in my working life, the worry bug has been visiting me lately and so rather than blindly giving into that voice, I've been searching for ways to take its power away, to render it speechless, to pull it's metaphorical plug.

A few weeks ago I had to cancel a trip that I had much looked forward to, due to some unforseen things that came up, and so was home for the weekend unexpectedly. My husband had a gig that weekend and he said there would be a will-call ticket for me if I decided to get over my grumpy disappointment and come. So I surprised my grumpy-disappointed-self and I went.

It's funny how things happen. Don't we all say that at different times for different reasons? At the show that night the woman who had put the whole thing together talked about how she had been nervous while rehearsing and putting the show together. She is a drummer, an amazing jazz drummer who is in her early 70s now, and she had focused this show around her debut as a singer. A place out of her comfort level, out of the known, out of the Safe limits of what she is used to doing on stage.

While rehearsing for the show and feeling worried sometimes, she came across a quote, couldn't remember who had said it, but she wanted to share it with the audience: Worry is the biggest misuse of imagination. And I sat there, in the dark audience, and felt she was speaking directly to me. Sure, she was speaking to all of us, but for that second, she was speaking directly to me, directly to my heart.

So, what was I to do with that but take it to heart. I have imagination in abundance (thankfully) and so each moment of worry I have attempted to actively re-direct to imagination. Each second of doubt, look to imagination. Each hour of will we be able to pay all our bills this month, well, you got it, come on in imagination, because Worry sure isn't going to pay those bills, but I have a pretty good hunch that Imagination will come up with some solutions.

I have come up with some new ideas and some new projects, and my absolute newest (and for now my most exciting) one is that phrase painted on the wall of my studio, very large, hard to miss, and always in very plain sight. A reminder to that worry voice, that there are other ways to go, and different ways to play. Worry is the biggest misuse of imagination. Mm-hmm, that's what I need to hear...

Comments

[twitter.com/CandiedFabrics]

I love this quote - something I need to tatoo on my forehead...backwards so I can read it in the mirror! ;-)

[sarah s.]

Liz: this was a lovely piece of writing and I believe something we all do and what a great quote.

[Mary Lou]

Great post - thanks.

[Swirly]

I love when we find exactly what we need in a place and time we could have never predicted...aren't those the best stories?

[pippin]

Worry is like being on the hamster wheel which gets me no where. Know you are not alone with your worry. Thanks for sharing your story.

[elizabeth]

and of course, my favorite:

worry is praying for what you don't want--

hope your heart and mind stay free and clear and that your brilliant imagination RULES!

xo, e

[jin]

Or, as we say in my family: don't waste good agony!

Thanks for this great post, dear Liz. xx

[Account Deleted]

Liz, so true! The things my mind comes up with to worry about are as far out as a Dali painting...so much better to come back down to earth and make use of all that imagination.

I hope things with your new work situation are working out for you!

[Cynthia at Coffee On The Patio]

Liz

...and you pass on the inspiration to those of us who read your blog at just the right moment. I was sitting here worrying about several things and then here you are with just the right words for me. Thank you.

Cynthia
aka from A Shimmy In My Spirit