1. Society and nudity
There is a common fear that many people have: to end up being accidentally exposed in the nude. For example by going outside to fetch the newspaper while being undressed, just for a short moment, but then the door slams shut - and similar misadventures.
In fact, there is a re-occurring nightmare for a lot of people: that they would go for a walk, to work, or shopping, and suddenly realize that they forgot to put on any pants.
I could give more examples like this.
But what is it that makes the state of nudity extremely uncomfortable to so many people?
After all, animals are nude all the time, and they do not mind it.
Some would say: "because of sexuality" - which is generally a topic of taboo in the Western world.
And yes, while nudity is sometimes related to sexuality (as in "online nude leaks"), this explanation is not enough.
In the end, the guy who accidentally locked himself out of his house, nude, does not fear that he could induce "sexual thoughts" in women that pass by, or anyone else for that matter.
If a paparazzi somehow managed to take a photo of a somewhat wrinkled, elderly male politician, this would still be a scandal, even if no-one felt "aroused" by this.
It is "being bare" itself that people fear most of the time, not any connected sexuality.
2. The bare facts
So, why is being nude so frightening to some people?
There are many reasons.
Our bodies are far from being perfect. Our bodies are far from those "ideals" that are shown in the media.
We might have "a bit of chub" (or much more), scars, dimples, pimples, excessive or strange body hair, discolored skin; arms, legs, and other body parts that look bony, unusual, weird in some way, we might not like the appearance or shape, size, form of our own genitalia, and so on.
With clothes, one is able to completely hide a lot of these things.
But without them... everybody sees who you really are. The bare truth. All your imperfections, and flaws. All you tried to hide gets uncovered.
You're just a weird, weak, fleshy human being. A walking bag of skin, fat, and various organs.
Now that you're in the nude, you don't look so strong and powerful, right?
In fact, there was a common advice given to people that were afraid of speaking in front of people: to just image everyone in the crowd as being in their underwear, or nude.
Once again, this was nothing sexual. The reasoning was that the crowd you address no longer feels threatening or intimidating once you imagine them to be humans in their weak, weird, silly, natural state of nudity.
3. Revealing yourself in your creativity
Now, let's come to creativity.
As I'm a musician, I'll use music production as the example here.
One of the most paralyzing, destructive habits during the production process is to be overly perfectionist. Your track is 99% finished, but you still perceive flaws in it, and other crooked things, and you go back and forth trying to fix this.
But really. Among your favorite songs by others: is there always perfect production in these?
I dare you to listen closely to your favorites, and you will see there are tiny flaws here and there, especially in the singing voice / style of many performers.
So why are you so worried?
Or you might have some "weaknesses" as a producer. You feel the drums in your tracks are lacking, or have a problem with melody-work, and so on.
But again: not all elements in the productions of other musicians are perfect or top-notch either. So why do you mind?
4. No judgment
Because you fear the judgement of others. To feel their gaze on your music, on you, and on your very soul.
That you expose your flaws and weakness to them, and they see the bare truth about you.
I'll give a different, more personal example.
I sometimes had phases of heavy depressions. And during these phases, I feared that my depressive mood would somehow spill into my productions. And that others would notice this, and be offended, and reject my music.
But after some time, I decided to still go ahead, and do not hide my depression, not in personal life, nor in music.
And the tracks I produced ended up becoming the most popular among my listeners!
I was afraid they would see me how I truly was - a frail human suffering from depression. But it turned out there was no need to be afraid of this, or to hide anything about myself, my music, and my personality.
I could go on with many more examples like this. But I guess you caught the drift by now....
5. Feeble humans
Now, this does not mean you should produce and release everything, without quality control (but if you really want to, feel free to do that, too).
Instead, the question you should ask yourself is: "When I'm alone with myself in a room: do I like my music, or my art?"
And am I being afraid of sharing it with world, or being desperate to "fix" it, only because I fear the gaze of others on my art? That they could see any flaws or imperfections on it, and judge me?
That I could expose something of myself to others that I try to hide?
6. The Metaphor
I say: Share it all. Bare it all. Reveal who you truly are, how you truly think and feel, in your art.
Everything - including your weaknesses, crookedness, all your quirks and strangeness.
Because that's what makes you truly unique and beautiful.
You are just a feeble human with days of joys and days of suffering, with incredible strength and silly frailties, with great potentials and odd imperfections.
Like we all are.
So do not be afraid to expose it all in your art.
Show all of yourself through your art, through your thoughts, through your creativity.
Because you and your art are amazing - even in all its mistakes and errors.
And if someone judges you for this - then they are probably just effected by their own problems.
So. I hoped you liked this metaphor.
Do not be afraid to truly reveal yourself in the creative process.
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