Self-Awareness and a Sprinkle of Delusion!

Happy Friday!

This theme has been wandering through my world lately in many aspects!

I am finishing up an online course for creatives,  written and lead by the golden inspiration of  warrior woman/life coach and more, Erin Stutland called "Magical Manifesters".

I have just put my Voice Over website and commercial demo to begin a more professional journey in that direction!

Whew.

Dream big.

I've written about the dreams versus the delusion.

I wanted to address it again, perhaps a little differently.

Have you ever noticed the people who often seem delusional don't seem to create any roadblocks for themselves?  They really and truly think they are where they want to be.

Those of us who are more self-aware,  tend to be more aware of where we are too.  We can dream big, but we tend to say "yeah, but.." and the self-doubt that is very much a part of being an artist often paralyzes us,  sabotages us,  and creates such inner turmoil we can't release ourselves and fully discover what we COULD do.

One of the reasons "THE BOOK" hasn't been written...YET.  One of the reasons I decided Erin Stutland's Magical Manifesters was for me.  It was time to get unstuck.

Since the car accident,  I knew it would be awhile before I would be able to do what I used to in the studio and on stage.  Now I know it will never be the same.  What I will be able to do will make itself known in time,  but what CAN I do now?

Voice Over was always something that I was interested in - but there was that "yeah, but..."

So, when I began a more disciplined study with my now mentor, Charles Michel,  I realized I COULD do this.  I COULD dream big.  I COULD dream bigger.

Oh, there's that self-awareness voice again - "can you really?" "yeah, but..."

I cannot tell you the number of teachers and mentors and friends and colleagues who, over the years, have said "You are over-thinking."  "Get out of your head."  "You are in your own way."

Sound familiar?

There's that voice again...self-doubt.  Wanting to find the complexities and riddle them out.  Striving for more.

Yet,  as my singing mentor,  Ted Baerg would say to me :"Could you just breathe and sing dumb?"

Self-awareness and self-knowledge are so important.  We need to know where we are,  what we have, how we can embrace that.  HOWEVER,  how many times can we over-complicate the journey or the path simply by over thinking?  being overly-critical?  questioning too much?

These are the moments that I look to the delusional ones for ideas!

Have you noticed (and you have, because you know PRECISELY who I am speaking about) these snow flakes never say "can I?"  They just plow ahead.  Now,  being delusional doesn't mean there isn't talent there, or skill, or ability,  but they dream big,  and have no roadblocks THEY erect!   They don't usually have many boundaries either, so self-awareness is ambiguous at best,  and realities shift from landscape to landscape - a great deal of BLUR in this world...

They are ALWAYS at those auditions, at 5 a.m.  They continue to tell EVERYBODY how wonderful they are in all aspects of their lives, unapologetically.  They see themselves a particular way and COMMIT to it!

We laugh.  We shake our heads.  They drive us mad.  They suck energy.  Yet, somehow they manage to land on their feet.

What is that?!?!

A sprinkle of that "delusion" could go a long way for those of us who are cripplingly self-aware.

I don't want to call it delusion now...not when you are not.  Let's change the language and discover something more magical.  How about a sprinkle of "ta-da!"

We have all wondered, mystified at these creatures.  They have no boundaries,  no questions,  no sense of how anybody else sees them.

A little of that goes a long way.  HOWEVER,  a sprinkle of "ta-da"  could perhaps give your self-awareness more permission to sparkle;  to take a risk;  to abandon safety for a moment and be in the moment;  to dream big without a "yeah, but".

Self doubt is part of the complexity of being an artist.  Our pursuit of truth, beauty, honesty,  and revealing of all of that DEMANDS a tenacity and a willingness and ability to look deep within ourselves and our craft to discover and reveal.  We work to uncover more.  We are never done.

Perhaps now,  we can learn something from the delusional ones.  Perhaps a little sprinkle of "ta-da"  when we discover something,  achieve something,  recall something,  journey somewhere,  is allowed once in awhile!

So, as you dream big,  allow the reality to create the boundaries to work WITH you, not against you.  "Yeah but" has no room in a dream.  It has no room in a complex reality either.
I challenge you (and every time I say "you",  I mean "me" too) to change your language with YOURSELF.  "Yeah but" needs to change to "What if..."

Possibilities.  Boundaries to explore within,  and push a little.

Create your sprinkle of "ta-da"!  It's okay to be a little scared,  it's energy waiting to be harnessed!

TA-DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An Artist in Waiting...

Wednesday musings...

A couple of singers have asked me to address the difference between artist and superstar (for lack of a better term).

May I suggest there is a great deal of difference between BEING an artist and being an artist trying to make a living in the business. I have addressed this before, but it needs repeating from time to time for all of us.

As I deal with many different and diverse clientele,  I often ask a potential student "why are you here? what brings you to this studio?"

If I were to narrow it down - the true artist - developing, emerging, achieving - says something about their craft:  wanting to discover more in order to do xyz;  wanting to simply find out what they can find about their voice;  wanting to learn, wanting to find more ways to express etc.

The performer who is not motivated by artistry but rather by business will answer "I need to work, I want a job, I have to be working before the end of the summer, I need to book a gig".

Now, don't get me wrong, artists that are in the business, must need to think from a business perspective, but it is not the first thing that enters their minds.  The artistic spirit has difficulty entering the business mind.  They simply do not function in their day to day with that "hire me NOW" mentality.  They want to make beautiful music.  They want to show a journey.  They want to discover a way to LIVE that has depth, meaning and beauty.

Business ain't that way.

Being an artist in the business of show is an odd and bizarre dance.

Often, we look at who IS working and even though there might be talent there (or sometimes not so much),  we are puzzled by WHY such mediocre talent/ability works and the true artist is often passed over.  This is the million dollar question.

If you want to be a superstar, you don't need talent, you need a gimmick.  The old saying never gets old.

So, if you are an artistic soul, it is simply how you live your life.  Your artistry is not just about the craft of your talent, but how you approach your day to day life in every way: what motivates you;  what inspires you;  what gives you meaning;  what you desire.

How do you reconcile this with the business?  You want that business to recognize that artistry, that possibility, that "IT" factor that is often unspoken.  Yet, somehow you come up short, or someone with less ability, less training, less passion, less something, gets the nod.  WHY?!

Well, sadly there are as many reasons as grains of sand ultimately.  Trying to riddle this enigma out will drive you nuts.  Truly.

So how can we simplify???  What is the reality of the artist IN the business?

Marketing.

How do you MARKET yourself as commodity?  What are you selling?  How do you sell it?

Okay, those of you who are artists just threw up in your mouth a little - and I shuddered at it too.  But guess what,  this is balance beam we walk each day, if we choose to allow our artistic nature/spirit to inhabit our craft in order to pursue a career possibility.

Nothing is guaranteed.  Nothing is promised.  BE that artist.  Then acknowledge you are going to have to shift your THINKING to allow that artist to try to make a living in the business of show.  It is NOT the business of artistry.

So what do you need to SHOW?  This is where the marketing comes in.

When asked "what do you want to DO? " an artistic soul will speak from that - a better singer, a better self,  to discover what I can sing well etc etc.  Now we take that artistic desire to SEEK and put on the marketing business hat:

What do you need to SHOW in order to DO?  How do you reconcile artist/performer/business and still sleep at night?

You do not need to sacrifice your artistic spirit.  Ever.   You simply need to recognize, understand and develop the tools that aren't as accessible to marketing.  The product is YOU.  What does the business need to see? to hear?  to acknowledge immediately about YOU?

Business hat is not the same as artistic hat.  Learning how to wear both,  and when to wear one over the other, is key.  Understanding, and taking charge of when the artistic hat is needed and understood then recognizing when the business hat needs to be fully apparent is part of your marketing as an artist in the business of show.

Show them what they need to see in order to get the job, the opportunity,  the foot in the door.  THEN, your artistry can expand its wings and encompass the craft and journey you are meant to be a part of.

Craft is part of business.  If you have none, or have limited access to it,  the business will only offer you a moment and then simply replace you if you cannot follow through.

Artistry is revealed when craft is built and talent can be summoned at will to inhabit the space the business has invited you to enter.

Without the business, and the marketing of YOU,  you are still an artist. You wake up an artist, and you fall asleep an artist.  This gives you power, a sense of self, of purpose, of truth.

If you are simply about marketing/business with no craft, and no artistry, you rely only on what the business acknowledges.

Where are you?  Where do you want to be?  Where do you NEED to be?

Believe, reconcile, and recognize what you are capable of doing,  what you are actually doing,  how to do, and why you do it.

Superstar?  Honestly, who cares if you are hiding in plain sight with little craft!


edited to add the brilliance of John Malkovich on World Theater Day:

From JOHN MALKOVICH for World Theatre Day

"I'm honored to have been asked by the International Theatre Institute ITI at UNESCO to give this greeting commemorating the 50th anniversary of World Theatre Day. I will address my brief remarks to my fellow theatre workers, peers and comrades.

May your work be compelling and original. May it be profound, touching, contemplative, and unique. May it help us to reflect on the question of what it means to be human, and may that reflection be blessed with heart, sincerity, candor, and grace. May you overcome adversity, censorship, poverty and nihilism, as many of you will most certainly be obliged to do. May you be blessed with the talent and rigor to teach us about the beating of the human heart in all its complexity, and the humility and curiosity to make it your life's work. And may the best of you - for it will only be the best of you, and even then only in the rarest and briefest moments - succeed in framing that most basic of questions, "how do we live?" Godspeed."

- John Malkovich

International Musicians, Singers, Actors, Dancers who want to work in the USA

I want to give you an excellent resource in NYC!


www.visapaq.com  

is a NYC-based company that will help you compile your requirements, provide you with the attorney and all the information about applying for the O-1 Visa!

I know the owner/operators of this business, who happens to study voice with me,  and is a brilliant triple threat with broadway credits.

VisaPaq helps you create your VisaPaq Portfolio

FREE Consultation


Attorney has a 99% SUCCESS RATE!

Go to their website and contact them TODAY!!!


www.visapaq.com

Phone: 917-886-7801

Let them know you got the information from my blog!