Facing fear, 3: Stepping out of one's comfort zone

From Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland:

"Fears arise when you look back, and they arise when you look ahead.
If you're prone to disaster fantasies, you may even find yourself caught
in the middle, staring at your half-finished canvas and fearing both
that you lack the ability to finish it, and that no one will understand
it if you do.

"More often, though, fears arise in those entirely appropriate (and frequently recurring) moments when vision races ahead of execution. Consider the story of the young student -- well, David Bayles, to be exact -- who began piano studies with a Master. After a few months' practice, David lamented to his teacher, 'But I can hear the music so much better in my head than I can get it out through my fingers.'

"To which the Master replied, 'What makes you think that ever changes?'

"That's why they're called Masters. When he raised David's discovery
from an expression of self-doubt to a simple observation of reality,
uncertainty became an asset. Lesson for the day: vision is always ahead
of execution -- and it should be. Vision, Uncertainty, and
Knowledge of Materials are inevitabilities that all artists must
acknowledge and learn from: vision is always ahead of execution,
knowledge of materials is your contact with reality, and uncertainty is a
virtue."

"Conditions for creativity are to be puzzled, to concentrate, to accept conflict and tension, to be born every day, to feel a sense of self."  -  Erich Fromm

"Don’t be afraid to expand yourself, to step out of your comfort zone. That’s where the joy and the adventure lie.''  - Herbie Hancock