The Case Against Being Realistic
In these short weekly notes, you’ll find:
The Well—something I’ve learned about living wildly AND well
The Wild—words from extraordinary minds who struggled with mental health too
The Way—one small experiment for you to try
The Well
We're all too familiar with the tyranny of the analytical mind—that pragmatic dictatorial censor who shuts down every dream the intuitive mind dares to whisper.
"Be realistic," it says. "People will think you're ridiculous."
But what if we've been approaching this entirely backwards?
What if the greater risk isn't impractical creativity running wild, but paralytic pragmatism running the show unchecked?
What if we could train the intuitive mind to interrupt the analytical one for a change—to recognize "I can't" as the threat it is and shut it down before it takes hold?
Because if pragmatism is supposed to protect us from failure, it's doing a spectacular job of protecting us from success as well.
The Wild
“If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” — Vincent van Gogh
“Rigidity is death; conformity is death; let us say what comes into our heads, repeat ourselves, contradict ourselves, fling out the wildest nonsense, and follow the most fantastic fancies without caring what the world does or thinks or says.” — Virginia Woolf
“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” — Sylvia Plath
The Way
This week, catch yourself in one of those familiar refrains: "I can't." "That won't work." "Who do you think you are?" Or my personal favorite: "This idea is so exquisitely stupid I shouldn't be allowed to tie my own shoes.”
The moment you notice it, interrupt yourself mid-thought if possible, and respond with a single word:
“Overruled.”
Then immediately follow with one creative possibility.
Example: "I want to write a novel but I'm being delusional, I'm not a real writ— Overruled. What if I wrote one page per day for a year and saw what happened?"
The goal is to practice giving your creative mind veto power over your limiting one. Notice what happens when you do. Does the limiting voice get quieter? Louder? Does the creative possibility feel absurd or surprisingly viable? Do you feel exposed, energized, foolish, free?
Track this for seven days. Take notes. We'll be coming back to this one.
And if you find it difficult to take this time for yourself, do it for Vincent.
Do it for Virginia.
Do it for Sylvia.
