We need to distinguish between two types of action that stem from two different types experiential states (from the philosophy of Edith Stein). One is to act out of a mood that is affected by external events, The other is to act out of our personal agency. In the former, we are not certain of anything, we are reacting. In the latter, we have certainty in our self and are acting anchored in who we are. Only then can an action be bold. When reacting out of a mood, one is simply flailing. Remember that I said that the certainty I refer to is not a positivist "I know what is going on in the world." It is a certainty of me.

When I consider the history of my creative life, I can conform that every success I have has come when and because I have acted out of self-certainty--believing in myself.