I fight the lizard.

What is the lizard, you may ask, and why do I bring it up here? Because it is a conviction I live with, and one that I intend to uphold in my writing.

Believe it or not, we all have lizards. To be more specific, we all have lizard brains, the most primal part of our minds that govern fear and other emotions that we've harboured since our days as primates. Our lizard brains helped to keep us alive in those ancient, dangerous times, but now, in our current day and age, our lizard brains have too much power over us.

Have you ever stood up to speak and felt your mouth clamp shut, or have you ever stopped dead from moving forward, in anything that takes effort? I have learned that this is the lizard brain at work, the part of ourselves that is scared to death at everything. You see, our lives are too comfortable for our own good, and the lizard brain has adapted to these new surroundings. It hates moving out of our comfort zone and sabotages our efforts to move forward, even if what we do is productive and meaningful.

Do you realize that I'm fighting the lizard right now? It's terrified about what you'll think of me after you see this; my new conviction in life. And you know what? I'll post this anyway, because I intend to fight and win.

I feel that we can all fight our lizards, the part of us that's terrified of doing anything worth while because it puts us in danger, socially or physically. This is the first step for me. The terrible anxiety I feel whenever I go to post a new chapter, a new story is only a part of it. What is everyone going to think of me? What will they think of the story? What will they say? I know you feel this too.

There is a lizard in all of us, and I will fight it, to be the very best I can be.

So say it with me now: I'm an artist, and I am not afraid of you or anything else.