The Fear of Failure

Failure is one of the most terrifying aspects of creating art. Deep down we truly are our own worst critics, and no matter how amazing one of our creations may be we will almost always judge it as imperfect. This fear of failing keeps a lot of us from ever attempting to create, from ever even trying. This, in and of itself, is it's own form of failure; The failure to even try.
 
What do we do to overcome this? How do we accept that our art, or literature, or music may not be very good but that it's still worth trying? How do we defeat the fear of failure?
 
In my experiences I have made many a shotty piece. I'm not exceptionally gifted at drawing, or painting, and I struggle many times with properly expressing myself through written word. However I have learned that every time I create something it's a little bit better than the last piece I made. That through practice I have become more skilled and therefore more confident in my own work.
 
The first time that I ever played guitar on stage was at an open mic night. I had assumed the crowd would be small, it was not. They also had an outdoor seating area with speakers facing the street, so that people passing by could hear the performers. I froze up. I got on stage in front of the microphone with all of those people staring at me and I absolutely could not play. It took me what seemed like an eternity before my fingers started to pluck the strings and my voice started to sing, and I pushed my way through what was a very unimpressive three song set.
 
Since then I've spent a lot of time playing and practicing by myself, or in front of friends and people I feel comfortable around. This has helped me to build confidence. As absolutely horrifying as it was I needed that experience of complete terror, that embarrassment of facing a crowd of strangers with a guitar in my hand. Without facing that fear I may never have tried performing and most likely would have let my musical dreams go to the wayside.
 
In summary, fear of failure is very natural but it can and must be overcome. Practice your art in a comfortable setting and don't be afraid to make a fool of yourself sometimes. The worst thing that can happen is that you'll be embarrassed, and when you weigh that against the joy of success and the feeling of accomplishment that comes with it then you can see how small of a risk that really is.