fear vs. faith

I am thinking about what some of you said two posts ago about fear of failure and of not amounting to anything. In my life, I am always seeking meaning. When I believe there is no meaning to my life, I am truly in a spiritual crisis. and I've been there a few times, but I'm always willing to make the changes necessary in order to get back on track . In the creative community that is my spiritual home, many of us have moved beyond a general fear of complete failure, but like the viper that fear is, it does rear its ugly head now and again. What I think is important, SO important to this process is having the community. Like souls are here to remind us that we can accomplish our goals, and not to be afraid. The dark, buried, secret fears are the ones that can hurt us the most. I talk to my intimates about "unchecked" fear or other unconscious itches being the most dangerous. In a creative community, we artists are quite passionate. We are prone to taking things personally, making mountains out of molehills and sometimes needing to go "underground" to sort out our stuff. I think that this aspect has the potential to make us such whole beings. Denying our shadow aspects mean we are stuck in the mystifying land of unawares. And while we live there, we are not living our own lives. Who is? Being a creative person, an artist, if you will, holds all the meaning i need in my life. to me, it means that I am willing to go there. My medicine woman teacher, Bear Who Dances With the Sky says that a shaman goes to other realms of consciousness to seek wisdom and healing to bring back to the tribe. An artist does the same thing in my opinion. We go into ourselves to bring forth a meaningful life and, with some of our work we hope to bring a sparkle of hope to others wanting to have the same. The main reason for not letting fear rule us is that we cannot afford to get stuck. Fear is like a giant fallen tree across our path. Artists find a way to climb, scurry, heave ourselves over in order to keep moving toward the new idea. Introspection is paramount for getting over such hurdles. I love what Carolyn Myss says about fear in Anatomy of the Spirit:

"Negative acts and negative thoughts originate in fear"..."Faith in anything, be it positive or negative, produces results. Putting faith in fear generates destructive results, beginning with the disintegration of our ability to relate confidently to the world."

What would you do differently if you were absolutely sure that your fears could manifest themselves? That by allowing them to be anything more than fleeting thoughts or fuel, you could be bringing the worst possible scenario to our doorstep. How would you feel if you believed that you are responsible for failing only because you dared to allow it as a possibility? How would you change the way you approach your fears? Thinking this makes me want to examine my fears even more, to deconstruct them, and take away their power. One of my biggest fears is missing details. I want to pay attention MORE, to hear MORE, to absorb every drop of significance in order to use it in my tapestry. Tell me, what do you think?