All creative work depends on making choices, but for me like this week, choice can be a dangerous trigger.

It goes like this: I want to create—something, but I don’t know what. And because I enjoy many kinds of art and many kinds of media, I start to feel overwhelmed with options. And then, once overwhelmed, I suddenly find myself on the witness stand of my own mind being interrogated by my internal prosecutor.

“What will you make?”

“I don’t know!

“You don’t know? Well, why not? You should know, wouldn’t you agree? Why can’t you choose? Do you have an imagination problem…?”

I could stay stuck right here, trembling in self-doubt, but that would be really unproductive—and since this is not an unfamiliar pattern, I thought I’d share what I think this trigger actually is—and how to get out of it.