Four Hats Thriving Artist Wear

Want to be an accomplished artist? Wear these four hats.

THE ARTIST
To be an artist you must make art. Sounds like an obtuse statement; but you may be surprised at how many artists do not spend regular, consistent time creating. Here is how to ensure that you make art:

• Schedule it. We make time for things that we plan to make time for. Put your art making time on your calendar. 
• Go on Artist Dates. Julian Cameron in her brilliant book, The Artist Way, "The Artist Date is a once a week, festive,  solo expedition to explore that interest you." Carving out this time fires up your imagination which is what every artist needs to create.

THE ADVOCATE

Be a promoter and defender of your craft. Be active in your community of artists. Serve on the board for your state art council or join organizations dedicated to your art form. Your service to these organizations will enable you to:

• Stay abreast of happenings in your industry. 
• Be a part of a community. So often working as an artist can feel very isolating.
• Be of service. You have to give to get. 

THE AUTHORITY
Share information about what you know best: how you create art. The public loves to hear about how artists do what they do. What inspires you? What is your creative process? Who do you admire in your field? Share these insights on your social media timelines. By sharing, you position yourself as knowledgeable (which you are!) and you become a resource.

THE AUTHOR
Publish what you know. (You really do know a great deal!) Even if writing is not your gift,  you can publish. For example, if you are a photographer you could publish some of your pictures. If you are a dancer, you could share your audition horror stories.  Today there are a plethora of ways to get a byline, such as starting a blog or writing your own e-book.

Wear those four hats and you will create a fulfilling creative artist's life.

Purpose Economy

"Each of us has within us a gift to give.  Your gift is a unique set of talents, skills and abilities, which were given to you by the Creator to respond to a need in the Universe. It is your contribution. In a word, your contribution is your PURPOSE."

So begins my book, Journey to Purpose: A Simple Guide to Discovering Your Life Purpose.  My goal in writing this book in 2004 was to share the tools I used to discover my purpose. 

A decade later, I am hearing more and more about how the economy is shifting from an information based to purpose focused economy.  As Millennials become a larger part of the workforce, greater attention is given to finding a career that satisfies a need greater than simply acquiring wealth. People are seeking personal growth and experience in their work and want to be involved in work that benefits the whole, as well as the individual.

Long gone are the days where you get a job with a company, remain there for decades, and retire with a pension.  While that was certainly the model of the Baby Boomers, the Millennials have no such model, and regard that model as a complete illusion; and for good reason.  Graduating with mountains of student debt and experiencing periods of unemployment that can easily span several months and some time even years, few workers believe in patriarchal employer offering salvation.

More and more people are wanting the 8 to 10 hours spent at their jobs to mean something.  Aaron Hurst, author of Purpose Economy writes, “We believe in a more humane world where by better understanding our purpose we are able to unite to better solve the world’s problems.”

Imagine a society where the majority of us are making a living doing what we love and feel passionate about. Imagine a society where most are seeking work that enhances relationships and builds community. Do you believe such a society is in the realm of possibility? Do you want to be a part of such a world? Do you know your purpose?

If you are seeking to know what your purpose is, I encourage you to get my book. If you want a free excerpt email me. For more information about the shift to Purpose Economy, check out this video:

Making Your Life As An Artist

Occasionally, I come across a tool that helps me as storyteller or as a business owner or as a human being.  Rarely do I find one that helps with all of the above. Until now...

Making Your Life As An Artist, a book by Andrew Simonet, has value to me as an artist, entrepreneur and human. If it has value to me, it may have value to others, so I must share.

Making Your Life As An Artist is a concise, clear and simple guide for artists seeking to have a sustainable and balanced life. (Two primary goals of mine.)

[If you already heard enough and know you want this book, download the ebook version absolutely free here.]

Sustainable Artist Life

Simonet writes, "Sustainable means your life can work over the long term."

I set out as an artist to carve a life for my daughter and myself where we were not simply surviving but thriving.  This book validated my perspective as a full-time artist. From the beginning until today, I encounter so many artists who have a starving mentality and work ethic.

"You have to do free gigs until you build a reputation then you can charge." I rejected this well-meaning advice I got when I first started as storyteller 21 years ago.

Coming from a decade-long career in the for-profit world, working for free, was alien to me.  I set out to study, train, research and practice until I had skills that were worthy of remuneration.  Then I sought out gigs that could compensate me in an equitable way.  My first gig was at Borders Bookstore and I was paid in books (a valuable commodity for any storyteller).

Balanced Life

Simonet encourages you to "have things in your life other than work." One of my many epiphanies while reading this book was realizing I am always working.  My work is so enjoyable to me I don't know how to turn it off some times.  My work is so rewarding I don't even realize I am working.

This book helped me see the value in real down time.

Your Art & Your Career are Not The Same

This statement is the other AHA moment I had.  "Your career is not your work: your career supports your work," Simonet purports.  To further clarify this distinction, he encourages you to write out separate goals you want to achieve personally, professionally and artistically.

What an eye-opening exercise!

Don't Starve. Make Art.

If you want to be a prolific artist...
If you want an art career that provides financial security...
If you want to live an artist's life that is full and balanced...

GET THIS BOOK

Validation

In the 25 years The Oprah Winfrey show has been on the air, Oprah has interviewed over 30,000 people. Oprah remarked on the last episode of her show, she realized that each one of those people wanted the exact same thing: validation. Every single person wanted someone to say, “I hear you. I see you. What you have to say matters to me."

To give that level of validation you have to be fully present with the other person. You have to truly listen and not simply await your chance to talk. As the person is speaking, you must also suspend judgment. If you are making judgments about whether what is being said is right/wrong or good/bad, than it is likely your facial expressions, body language and/or spoken response reflects the same. If the speaker senses this judgment, it is doubtful that he/she believes what being said matters to you.

This level of presence with another human being clearly requires that you have deep compassion for the other. What might the world be like if we could have this level of intimacy with one another? Cannot imagine having compassion with every person; how about those in your inner circle? How might a child feel if each parent offered this level of attention? If spouses and lovers were fully present with each other, how much healthier would are relationship be?

Start with one person and see what happens. You could begin by making the following commitments:

1. I will make direct eye contact while the person is speaking.

2. I will remove all distractions (cell phone, TV, etc.)

3. As the speaker talks, I will reply with sincere, empathetic statements such as “That must make you feel. . . “I can imagine that must be ______ for you.”

Is there any one in your life worthy of this level of attention?

The Courage to Love ( Again)

“Have enough courage to trust love one more time. And always one more time.” ~ Maya Angelou

With each hurt and disappointment, I trust a little less. Yet, I know a closed hand does not lose anything nor does it gain anything. Yeah, there are moments that I know if there is nothing risked, there is nothing gained. But truthfully, I am a coward who is praying for a chance to see the wizard to get courage and a new heart.

On the way to see the wizard, I hope to encounter others who are willing to follow the yellow brick road. We leave behind everything familiar to us in a quest to fulfill our deepest desires. On our journey and through our friendship, we each discover that the thing we seek is within us.

It is a tale as old as time. Nonetheless, I am wishing for a rewrite: the new ending to include the same reward (courage) without the work (self discovery.) How is that for a fairytale happy ending?

Okay, I know I got to do the work; take the journey. On the path to love, I have even been startled by my own temerity. In those moments, I contemplate giving love another chance.

Then I remember the poem, The Invitation, and it implores me to remember the calling of my heart. Here is the stanza of the poem that is the real truth of my heart.

"It doesn’t interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool

for love

for your dream

for the adventure of being alive."

These words beckon me to live authentically, by taking risks with my heart, following my soul's desire and being deeply intimate with myself and others. The risks are great and so are the rewards.
Playing it safe may give me predictable outcomes and less pain, but it also robs my heart of the chance of expressing fully.

A friend recently told me that “safety is an illusion.” She is right. There really is no protection from pain. It can happen at anytime from anywhere. So I choose to take the risks.

I want to know a romantic love that fills me to the brim. I want to believe that exhilaration, excitement and ecstasy can simultaneously take up space in my chambers again. I want to encounter a level of intimacy that exceeds anything I ever imagined or experience before.

I want to believe in happy endings again.

The Path to Love

Virtually every personality assessment I have ever done, shows that words are important to me. Recently, I read the book The 5 Love Languages. That book revealed to me that my primary love language is words of affirmations. Simply put: I need words to fill up my love tank.

Conversely, how I am most injured is through words. When someone does not keep their word to me in big matters (fidelity in a relationship) or small matters (being on time), it is unsettling to me. It can make me feel like the rug has been pulled from beneath me because words are my foundation. Words are how I metabolize my life. If I digest words that are unhealthy, I feel unsettled at my core.


When I am unsettled at my core, I do what many humans do when threaten, I see only two options: fight or flight. What I am coming to realize is that there is a third option and this third option will call upon me to gain greater insight into who I am. This third option may enable me to reach a higher level of spirituality.

In the book Conversations with God, it discusses creating higher and a higher version of you, as the way to the path of enlightenment. I need to create a version of me that is comfortable expressing my vulnerability. That is my third option.

I want to create a version of me that is willing to be courageous enough to tell others: Who I am; and what I want. I want a version of me that tells this truth in manner that is not derived from anger (which is a mask for fear); but rather extending from a place of wanting to be clear and truthful. Instead of “How dare you do XYZ to me?!” and “I will punish you by any means necessary.” I want to have the courage to say, “When you did XYZ, it made me feel disrespected and dispensable.” And “At my core, I know you respect me, so help me align these two incongruent experiences with you.”

The former approach makes me feel right and powerful. The latter makes me feel human.

Years of therapy has certainly given me the knowledge about mirroring, empathetic statements and other effective communication tools. Despite this knowledge, my degree in communications and my years working as a spoken work artist, it was not until recently that I had the epiphany that I am not very good at expressing who I am and what I want. I have fallen into a pattern of expressing what I will not allow; and what I am capable of doing if one crosses that line. The two modes of expressions may seem similar from a distance; but upon closer inspection, I can see that one stems from love and the other from fear. I want to create a higher version of me that chooses the path to love.

Doing the Dash

"Somewhere between the beginning and the end, that's where I am in my journey."

~ Terrence Howard

Are we not all in that same place; in the middle of the journey, somewhere between the beginning and the end? Or at least, don't we all hope that we are in the middle? Perhaps, if in your elder years you may feel that you are closer to the end of the journey. But of course no one knows for certain.

We just know we are somewhere on the dash. The dash is the mark which lies between our birth date and the date of death. Recently, the oldest man in world died at age 113. When he was 70 did he believe, know and behave like he had 43 more years to live?

In a few weeks, I will turn a year older. What I do with my dash matters to me. Whether in the middle of the journey or near the end, I want the words I write and the stories I tell, to honor my ancestors and give hope to children. Words and stories live on long after we are gone. They become the legacy we leave behind. So I ask myself, “What legacy do you want leave?”

My prayer and vision is that it will be said that I told truth: even when it was not popular or convenient. It is my hope that my truth helped heal or inspire someone else. If my willingness to disclose my experiences, both those in the valley and on the mountaintop, enables another to let go past pain or forge ahead with greater courage, then I would consider my life well lived.

My mentor, Baba Jamal Koram, has often posed the question, “For what purpose do you tell the story?” He pushes me to examine my intentions and reflect on the impact the story will have on the receiver. Often I have grapple with how much to disclose; who will be affected; and how relevant what I have to say is to those who will receive it. Truth telling just for truth-telling sake is not acceptable. I have a responsibility to be responsible.

Wisdom does not simply happen by being on the planet for a certain period of time. Maya Angelou said, "Most people don't grow up. Most people age.” With the dawn of a new year on my journey, I pray that I have grown-up just a little bit more. For me, growing up involves getting wiser because of the valley experiences and not in spite of them. As I move further down the dash, my desire is to have the courage to tell the truth and the wisdom to know when to tell it.