It is a fear that is sometimes paralyzing: What will they think of me?  It has driven many a creative person into the doldrums of common living.  This fear has squashed more dreams and damaged more people’s self esteem than most other fears combined.
            Think back to a time in your life when you efforts or dreams have been hampered by your fear of popular opinion.  When this happens, you are caught in the middle of true self and public self.  For many people, public self wins most every time.
            The court of public opinion is a very strong entity.  It can try you and convict you before your know what hit you.  Can you imagine the number of inventions, cures, artistic creations, literature, and social programs that have gone untried because of fear of what others would think of the idea?
            The fear of what others think can cause a frightening phenomenon in your life.  It can cause you to censor what you think, what you feel, what you really want to do because someone may think it is foolhardy or inappropriate.
            Censoring means that you did not say what you wanted to say at that meeting last week because no one else had ever said anything like it before.  Censoring yourself means that you decided not to take that class in sculpting because none of your friends had ever done it before.  Censoring means that you chose not to follow your dream of opening your own little café because many people told you it would not work.
            Censoring yourself is basically a death sentence of sorts.  You literally kill off parts of your most creative self and, little by little, your self-esteem and you true self dies alongside it.
            After you have conquered your fear of what others may think and have made the decision to live your true, creative self, you may find yourself on the cusp of greatness.  Living in true creativity will allow you to go, see, think, do, feel, and experience what other have not.
            Perhaps you want (or need) to be more creative at work or at home and you’re stuck; things will just not come to you.  A great tip to jumpstart your brain is to think backward.  Instead of trying to find a creative answer, you may need to start with a creative question.  Great philosophers have long known that the question is often more important than the answer. 
            The truth is it doesn’t matter what they think.  What others think of you is none of your business.  Focus your energy on what you want and get busy living your dreams.