Navigate Embarrassment

“I try as hard as I can not to fail, cause it’s embarrassing. But I do give myself permission to, and you should, too.”
— Taylor Swift, in agreement with science fiction legend Isaac Asimov, who said, “...Creation is embarrassing. For every new good idea you have, there are a hundred, ten thousand foolish ones, which you naturally do not care to display.”

Asimov makes an unconventional proposal:

“My feeling is that as far as creativity is concerned, isolation is required. The creative person is, in any case, continually working at it. His mind is shuffling his information at all times, even when he is not conscious of it. The presence of others can only inhibit this process, since creation is embarrassing..."

Despite all the appropriate enthusiasm for collaboration, isolation is an essential form of deliberate disconnection. Noodling on Asimov’s recommendation made me wonder about other ways to deal with the challenge of embarrassment inherent to the creative act.

I couldn't help but remember Benjamin Franklin, who made frequent use of pseudonyms. At least one scholar contends that "Franklin may have used pseudonyms to prevent pre-judgment." Pseudonyms might have been a terrific way to distribute the risk of foolishness across many different egos, so to speak. Using pen names effectively enabled Franklin to explore many different sides of an issue, and express a much wider range of opinions, without nearly as much reputational risk as if he had been writing as himself.

Like Taylor Swift, nobody enjoys the embarrassment of failure. Franlin had his “Poor Richard.”

What about you? How do you navigate the embarrassment of creating something new?

Related: Have Lots of Bad Ideas

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