I have been doing the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron these past few weeks and during one of the week’s activities she strongly suggests not reading. The book was written 25 years ago so social media wasn’t a thing and I figured a break from that would be very beneficial and it was. I immediately had more space in my brain and way more time then I would have anticipated. The other thing I have noticed now that the week is over is that I am back to a lot of my old habits. Checking Facebook especially when I am bored and then I look and think, why did I look. Perhaps I need to learn to tolerate boredom a bit better, I’m not sure but I did like the feeling of having more time. I also seemed to have more creative ideas. I let myself start an outline for a musical I would like to do and a close friend of mine helped me think about what the scenes might be. I had always talked about this idea in the abstract but now I let myself actually put something down on paper. The week off social media also helped me stay away from the comparison trap.
My big goal for this month is working on my signature concert. I was noticing that I was continually second guessing myself as I tried to decide on the songs I would use and then doubted the stories I would tell. My mind was talking loudly to me about how I really don’t know what I am doing. I am so drawn to this idea of sharing my songs with longer stories and being more intentional with inspirational stories. I think I have come up with a title, Be the Unexpected. I have had lots of opportunities to learn about what can be helpful as I have lived through many challenging experiences. Everyone has had/is having challenges and I think it can be inspiring to hear stories of how life has gotten better. My life continues to have challenges, like all of us, but not in the way it was in the past when everything was chaotic and I didn’t have very many coping strategies. I also didn’t have the realization/faith that the Universe was taking care of things.
So I will leave you with these words of encouragement that have inspired me this week. “Action has power, grace and magic in it” I have certainly found this to be true in my own life, whether I have left an unhealthy relationship or taken action to work on my music business.
Now go and be your best self and be creative in whatever you are doing!
Yours in creativity and music,
Wanda G.
I always love reading about what you are doing or thinking:)