Season 3 – epiBLOG 17:
Yesterday was my birthday! And I can’t be more grateful for all of the love, gifts, calls, text messages, emails, Facebook messages, and well wishes that I received from family, friends, and former students who have become friends. Thank you all!
I noticed that when people hit 30 years old, they don’t seem to get as excited about birthdays any longer. Birthdays become this thing that we “have to do,” when in all honesty, it definitely beats out the alternative, so it should be a thing that we “get to do.”
As always, my “writer brain” started going to town on the concept that every person has an actual “birth” date… a day that they came into the world, and began their journey on this planet that we all come to learn as earth. I know, a so very obvious observation, right? However, I found a connection between birthdays and artists, so bear with me.
Birthdays are a great time for renewal… a rebirth… or a reflection on how you’ve lived your life and how you would like to continue to live it. We celebrate the day we are born every 12 months just like we celebrate the New Year on January 1st. I guess the real celebrating is the night before. Anyway, we actually seem to thrive on this holiday each year, treating it like a milestone. Making resolutions, reflecting, trying to be a better version of ourselves.
Today’s topic is on which action steps to take when you’re feeling discouraged and demotivated along your journey as an entrepreneurial artist that will create a feeling, or a sense of renewal, within you so that you can continue to create your art.
That emptiness, longing, and disappointment from rejection doesn’t have to be your new way of living. Always fully experience and acknowledge how you feel – negative or positive. Nevertheless, when you are ready to get back to work to make something spectacular happen, the following is a list of actions that can help move you towards a REBIRTH of energy within you so that you can make magic happen with whatever gift you’ve been given.
ACTION #1:
Meditate and Reflect. This doesn’t mean that you have to sit Indian-style in a room with rain forest sounds playing in the background on CD with an attempt to release all of your thoughts. No, that actually doesn’t work for me at all. I can do a guided mediation within a group setting or from a recording that’s being led by someone, but sitting somewhere with my own thoughts will lead to me thinking about every problem that I currently have in my life or a laundry list of tasks that I know I need to complete. I can’t ever just relax in those situations.
Mediation and/or reflecting can simply be going for a walk by yourself (in a safe area, of course), sitting quietly by yourself (if that actually does work for you), or simply going somewhere just to relax and take in whatever the NOW is for you at that moment. I do this in my backyard because we have a pretty spectacular view. This is where I feel one with nature and genuinely appreciate all the NOW that is within that moment. If prayer works for you, do that. Do whatever allows you to relax and genuinely be content with all of the good that is going on around you and within your life. Sometimes the good is hard to see when you’re experiencing rejections, discouragement, and overall negativity. This quiet time can actually help to remind you about the good in your life just enough to change the energy within your body. In doing so, you should feel like you are in a better space to be able to create.
ACTION #2:
Read a self-help book that you feel “drawn” to read. The information that you will receive from that book will be exactly what you need at that particular time in your life. Why? If there is something that is pulling you from within in order to do something, you have a responsibility to yourself to see what your internal voice wants you to experience. Take the time to trust yourself, learn, explore, and expand. Expanding your knowledge empowers you to make more effective decisions that benefit your career. This gets you excited. Excitement raises your energy levels enough to carry you through your next challenge.
ACTION #3:
Go have fun! I can’t define fun for you. That’s something that you have to discover for yourself. This could be going to a movie, watching a movie or television show at home, reading any book, going paddle boarding, doing yoga, going skiing, working out at the gym, going to a night club, attending a sporting event, etc. What brings joy to you? Don’t let money stand in your way of this action. Figure out what you’re able to do with the resources that you currently have available to you. This will also allow you to experience raised energy levels once again. Raised energy levels will allow you to get into the zone and to return to that space that is conducive to creating your art.
ACTION #4:
Return to your past experiences of success! Pull out awards that you’ve won, certifications and degrees that you’ve earned… any symbols of accomplishments that remind you of the greatness that is within you. Sometimes we forget what we can do successfully because we’ve been beaten down for a while by the nature of the industry that we’re working within as an artist. Reminders of success can renew your self-confidence, refocus your attention on your capabilities, and once again, increase your energy levels so that you can be in a space to create the magic that is within you.
There was a time when I truly didn’t understand the energy that is within me. We spend a lot of our lives chasing things that we believe will make us happy, but what I found out was that happiness is not something we can chase. It’s more so like this idea that we can create at any given time.
When I get into a bad mood, or a temporary funk, because I’ve gotten so much bad news at one time, I force myself to think about what is actually going right in my life. This is very challenging to do at first, but it’s the only way that I’m able to control pulling myself out of a funk, and to therefore, raise my energy levels enough to keep moving forward.
Today’s LESSON is to look for opportunities to renew that excited and fiery energy within you that sometimes gets extinguished by circumstances.
FUN ASSIGNMENT: Try ONE new activity within this upcoming week. It should be something that you’ve always wanted to do and feel excited about doing.
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