Sorry I have been in MIA...
Life gets in the way and sometimes a step or two back creates perspective. Or it reveals you need to take FOUR steps back and sit down for awhile!!
There is a fine line between focus and not seeing the forest for the trees.
As artists, and as performers forging ahead to create a career, we are all balancing this constantly.
Sometimes, you eat the bear.
Sometimes, the bear chews your feet!!
(my twist on that little saying...sorry, couldn't help it)
How do you find your perspective? What tools do you have that allow you to create perspective?
When do you know it is time to take a step back?
As artists, we have to be aware of self. Often, we are harder on ourselves than any can be. We beat ourselves up if we aren't doing "enough". We get frustrated when things are moving to slowly, moving to quickly, not moving at all.
I am guilty of it too. And then guilty of feeling guilty for trying to do too much; not doing enough; feeling lazy; feeling exhausted...
Ah, the ongoing journey.
I have people in my world that are like barometers for me. They are people I trust and know they will be honest with me no matter what. This is part of my perspective.
When I feel like "I've been here before..." I realize I am no longer "journeying" but rather on the hamster wheel/treadmill - going hard but going nowhere.
This is my big red flag to STOP. Breathe. Find the moment. FEEL the moment, not the emotion associated with it: frustration, anger, guilt...all self-imploding emotions.
The moment needs to be dealt with. It needs to be absorbed. It allows us that moment of clarity, should we truly want it.
Our journey can be complex AND complicated. When it becomes overwhelming, however, that journey has stopped and we are working against ourselves. We have all done it.
Often these are moments of huge frustration, but if we give ourselves PERMISSION to stand still that annoyance, fatigue, sense of being lost (and we are! we aren't on the path at that moment), will allow us to see where we are, discover the clarity, seek out the help, and break through into a clearing that reveals the path once again.
Pollyanna? Me?!?!?
I remember when my daughter was little and I lost her in a department store. My heart left my body. A mother's worst nightmare. I stopped. I breathed. I prayed.
What did my daughter do? She SAT DOWN where she was. And she YELLED "MOMMA!!!!!!!!!!"
And we found each other and moved forward.
A great perspective. Had I started frantically searching, and had she started running, we could have continued to miss each other. Had she hidden, and not called out for help, we wouldn't have found her and the panic would have built.
Perspective.
In the moment.
So, as you keep your focus, pursue your studies, develop your craft and technique, pound the pavement finding auditions, don't let your "nose to the grindstone" mentality become so focused you lose sense of where you are, and where you should be. It's okay to look up and see what's around you! It's okay to acknowledge fatigue, discouragement, frustration; it's okay to laugh at yourself; it's okay to just sit down and rest for a minute. Or two. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to CALL for help.
Permission granted. For me too.
Life gets in the way and sometimes a step or two back creates perspective. Or it reveals you need to take FOUR steps back and sit down for awhile!!
There is a fine line between focus and not seeing the forest for the trees.
As artists, and as performers forging ahead to create a career, we are all balancing this constantly.
Sometimes, you eat the bear.
Sometimes, the bear chews your feet!!
(my twist on that little saying...sorry, couldn't help it)
How do you find your perspective? What tools do you have that allow you to create perspective?
When do you know it is time to take a step back?
As artists, we have to be aware of self. Often, we are harder on ourselves than any can be. We beat ourselves up if we aren't doing "enough". We get frustrated when things are moving to slowly, moving to quickly, not moving at all.
I am guilty of it too. And then guilty of feeling guilty for trying to do too much; not doing enough; feeling lazy; feeling exhausted...
Ah, the ongoing journey.
I have people in my world that are like barometers for me. They are people I trust and know they will be honest with me no matter what. This is part of my perspective.
When I feel like "I've been here before..." I realize I am no longer "journeying" but rather on the hamster wheel/treadmill - going hard but going nowhere.
This is my big red flag to STOP. Breathe. Find the moment. FEEL the moment, not the emotion associated with it: frustration, anger, guilt...all self-imploding emotions.
The moment needs to be dealt with. It needs to be absorbed. It allows us that moment of clarity, should we truly want it.
Our journey can be complex AND complicated. When it becomes overwhelming, however, that journey has stopped and we are working against ourselves. We have all done it.
Often these are moments of huge frustration, but if we give ourselves PERMISSION to stand still that annoyance, fatigue, sense of being lost (and we are! we aren't on the path at that moment), will allow us to see where we are, discover the clarity, seek out the help, and break through into a clearing that reveals the path once again.
Pollyanna? Me?!?!?
I remember when my daughter was little and I lost her in a department store. My heart left my body. A mother's worst nightmare. I stopped. I breathed. I prayed.
What did my daughter do? She SAT DOWN where she was. And she YELLED "MOMMA!!!!!!!!!!"
And we found each other and moved forward.
A great perspective. Had I started frantically searching, and had she started running, we could have continued to miss each other. Had she hidden, and not called out for help, we wouldn't have found her and the panic would have built.
Perspective.
In the moment.
So, as you keep your focus, pursue your studies, develop your craft and technique, pound the pavement finding auditions, don't let your "nose to the grindstone" mentality become so focused you lose sense of where you are, and where you should be. It's okay to look up and see what's around you! It's okay to acknowledge fatigue, discouragement, frustration; it's okay to laugh at yourself; it's okay to just sit down and rest for a minute. Or two. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to CALL for help.
Permission granted. For me too.
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