Achievement & Focus

“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.”  

― George Bernard Shaw 

Focus is a fascinating thing.  My husband tells me when I focus, I am formidable.  I would like to believe the 'formidable' in that sentence is the most important word, but in fact, the most revealing word in that sentence is "when".

WHEN I focus...

Sigh...

As artists,  we wear many hats,  have many tasks,  many attentions,  much that pulls us this way and that.  We have craft,  we have self,  we have family,  we have side hustles,  we have business,  we never stop.

What do we focus on?   How does achievement reveal itself through focus?

I learned very early on that it's not "all or nothing".   There are lots of things that demand our attention,  but what demands are truly our focus?   This is perhaps a clearer determination of what you spend your time, and more importantly, your ENERGY on.  

Achievement is in the eye of the beholder, and has more to do with what you choose to focus on that does not drain you of energy.

When you sit with your music and really begin to FOCUS on learning it, discovering it,  letting it begin to gestate and emerge through your voice, and your body - there is a great sense of achievement:  craft, artistic integrity,  musical embodiment,  and more.  It ENERGIZES us,  it doesn't deplete us.

How do we discover that in other "necessities" of our life in order to weave it all together?

One thing I am recognizing in my own life is how not to WASTE my energy versus GIVE my energy:  to a task,  a person,  a necessary focus I have to explore.

I used to go into a task or a "necessary evil" with a sense of dread and foreboding that would waste my energy and leave me exhausted and noncommittal to the things and the people I wanted to spend energy on.

This can happen with our artistic lives and our business lives.

As artists, our desire and focus to create is strong,  and often, the "necessary evil"  of wanting to make a career is exhausting.  We stop and start and re-start and re-start again and again.  

Why?  Because HOW we focus and connect the achievement just hasn't found a balance yet.  How we focus on our craft versus how we focus on the business of self has not yet discovered the difference between wasting energy and giving energy.

Focus does not have to be all or nothing.  Deciding & and discovering how you best work is paramount:  are you a "to do" list person?  Are you a person that needs open-ended time to achieve focus?  Are you somewhere in the middle?

I have tried to be an open-ended person - and my tendency is just to waste it.  If I have only one thing to accomplish in a day,  I tend not to really focus.  If I have 10 things I have to do and can "schedule" them into my structure,  I get them done,  or at least acknowledge them fully and give them my focus.

One is not better or easier than the other.  This has to do with how you function most authentically.  

One of my ongoing promises to myself to continue to determine tasks,   projects, schedule,  craft,  creative ideas,  business possibilities, by ENERGY.  Am I wasting or giving?  Even if the idea doesn't excite me - what kind of energy does it use,  and then how do I focus that energy to release it,  or put it into action?

Motivation and focus has everything to do with energy in action.  

Achievement has to do with that energy in action simply following through for that specific task,  in that specific time.  If you haven't wasted that energy,  you will have a sense of accomplishment.  If you have wasted it,  the focus wasn't true, and you are exhausted.  

So, what do you want to accomplish now?

What's on your big dream board?

What are you doing to move yourself closer and closer into that orbit?

When you realize you aren't as aligned,  how does it make you FEEL?

As artists,  our emotional and physical energy as so closely and tightly woven. How we feel is felt physically and viscerally.

So, what would change that feeling?  How could you focus that feeling into change for you to move forward and into your "next",  instead of moving in circles and getting dizzy and having to constantly re-start and re-peat and never quite anchoring enough to move forward?

Where are you wasting energy?

Where do you need to give energy?  How will that energy allow you to truly focus on that task or action to allow you to feel as if you have accomplished and therefore achieved?

Start with the little tasks.  Write them down.  Give yourself a schedule each day if it helps.  Don't over schedule yourself if it makes you anxious.  Anxiety is another waste of energy.

Your desire has an opportunity to manifest itself into a clearer focus.  

With focus, comes action.  With action, comes achievement.  With achievement, comes success.  Success of YOU.  

If you say you want it,  but you don't go get it,  who are you fooling?

If you say you must do it,  but you don't do it,  what provokes you to say it in the first place?

Every step,  every decision,  every choice gives you permission to focus.  Every action gives you energy.  It doesn't need to be gigantic.  In fact, the smaller, often so-called "insignificant" actions are the ones that can create the energy we need to wrap ourselves in,  to create the momentum to the next action.

May you find the focus you need to create action in your desires. May that focus reveal to you what those desires truly are,  and not what you think they SHOULD be.  May you follow through with energy and not dread.  May your first step in this awareness be one of focused determination and excitement!

Happy Eve of all things good and light and true.

What scares you?

There is so much in our world that is frightening - more now than ever.

This sense of fear, of disbelief, of hopelessness,  often renders us mute or stuck or simply unable to take a breath or a step or know what to do next.

Many of us have to learn how to respond to world in a brand new way:  a way that is foreign,  a way that requires us to learn new skills quickly in order to make sense of our purpose and our usefulness for that world in our own little corner.  We have to figure out why it matters, if it matters at all,  and what we have to contribute and what we have to DO to contribute to it.  It doesn't feel 'right',  it doesn't feel 'normal',  it doesn't feel 'enough'...

As you know,  this is not a political blog,  but how interesting it seems, that as I write the above paragraph,  it can be talking to you the artist and you the performer as you navigate the culture of the business,  should you want to pursue having a career.

What scares you?

I mean it!  What scares you?

What scares you about actually developing craft?  What scares you about developing your artistry so you can summon your talent at will?  What scares you about the business?  What scares you about walking through that door and saying "hey this is me,  and this is what I do"?   What scares you about sending out that application?  That submission?  What scares you about walking into that audition?  What scares you about getting that callback?  Not getting that callback?  Opening that email?  Not getting an email?

What scares you about walking into a class?  into a lesson?  What scares you about booking a project?  What scares you about practicing?  What scares you about taking a step outside your comfort zone?  What scares you about finding out what you can actually DO well and release  what you can't?  What scares you about discovering what you NEED to do?

Okay - you may be saying, "Pfff Susan I am not scared."  Fine.  Choose another word then.

Change "what scares you" to "what's stopping you";  change it to "how are you responding to"  or "what motivates you"  or "what stops you".

It all stems from the same place:  YOU.

Denial or dismissal or procrastination (and I have done ALL of it,  so don't with me...I see you!)  is a form of stress management.

When you feel like something is giving you anxiety,  a small or large panic attack,  an opportunity to hide or turn away,  there's your fear right there.

Sometimes what scares you,  is the fear itself.  The fear of failure?  The fear of actually succeeding?  And what is THAT anyway?  Succeeding in what?  Succeeding with what?  Succeeding where?  Succeeding how?

Who is that in the mirror and how do I come to terms with HER or HIM in a way that makes me feel like I am DOING something every day;  not for the business, not for the craft,  but for my place in it.

Your place matters.  The thing is,  you have to create it by being there.  You have to create it, hone it, nurture it,  stand your ground in it,  commit to it.  You have to acknowledge each emotion,  and claim them all as you have strength to.

You have to make that place yours and take it with you.

Think about being on tour:  so many of us create "home" around us in a hotel room - photographs, "stuff" that only matters to us,  that gives us a sense of belonging somewhere.

This is what brings us back to center.  This is what allows us to have a place to respond from and a place to return to.

So,  what scares you?  Do you have a place - your place - within yourself that you can take with you into every situation,  every possibility,  every sudden change?

Does it allow you to meet each situation head on?

More importantly does it reveal to you,  and are you aware when the excuses begin or when you feel the fear seep through and make you back away?

It's okay to be scared.  It's okay to be anything.

Claim it,  and discover how you can DO in spite of it,  despite it,  with it,  beyond it.

One step.  One idea.  If it feels too overwhelming,  stop and sit down and breathe and BE WHERE YOU ARE.  

When we are not where we are,  due to denial,  fatigue,  unawareness, delusion,  we cannot see where we are going,  what we are doing,  who we want to be,  or how we want to be seen.

What scares you?

Take a breath.  Where are you right now?  Claim that.  Stay there as long as you need to in order to make that real for you.  Take that place with you:  from one activity to another and be aware of it.

You are in charge of YOU.  Nobody's the boss of you - except YOU.  So what do you have to say?  What do YOU have to do?  Want to do?  Need to do?  Want to be bothering doing?

You can choose to be scared and do it anyway.

You can choose to be frustrated and find a new way to get there.

You can choose to stop.  You can choose to find motivation somewhere.  You can choose how you feel and how you respond,  not based on the outside but based on YOU.

As human beings and as artists we have this miraculous, wonderful and frustrating as hell thing called CHOICE.  It allows us to respond in ways more creative and magical than we allow ourselves to,  including making another choice!

So, what scares you?
Sometimes it's clear,  sometimes it's not.  Meet it head on,  find it,  and make a choice about what you will do with it.  Your fear.  Your choice.

All the feels

happy Canada Day yesterday,  happy 4th of July coming up!

As summer moves into the lazy days - it gives time to reflect and ponder...

One of the ongoing questions I ask myself and my singers is this:

How does your voice make you FEEL?

How do you FEEL about your voice?

Sometimes we are so busy PURSUING,  so focused on DOING,  so caught up in the HAVE TO, that we forget about how it FEELS.

How does it FEEL to sing?

How do I FEEL when I sing?

Does my voice feel like me?  What is that?  Can it inhabit my physical behavior or is it faking?

Is it my voice?  Am I mimicking? Am I pretending?

Can I summon my voice at will or does it just do its own thing under pressure?  Good, bad or indifferent?

So many thoughts,  so many feelings.

Guess what?  No value judgment on feelings.  They ARE.  What you DO with them is then crucial and how you put that energy into motion.

How you feel about your voice,  reveals your psychology.  And the psychology is constantly morphing, so tapping into your feelings is crucial here.

All the stereotypes of voice come from a kernel of truth about a psychology.  Stereotypes are then over-developed and often satirized,  but the reason we laugh is because there is truth in there somewhere.

What IS that truth for you and how do you give it agency in order to develop fully and not become a stereotype or a cartoon character?

How do you feel?

Your voice might give you different feelings depending on the repertoire you are singing;  depending on the area of the voice you are singing in;  depending on the genre you are singing;

ALL ARE LEGITIMATE FEELINGS.

Discover the difference between the FEELING and the description of your voice.  Don't worry about what it is doing,  how it is behaving,  what you want to change,  excuses etc:  how does it make you FEEL?

ALL the feels.

We often forget, or don't develop the honesty and truth about how we FEEL about our voice.

Go slowly...if it's a new concept,  and I really think it's just an underdeveloped one,  you don't want to overwhelm yourself.  Go from the general to the specific.  Notice when you start to describe your voice instead of acknowledging the FEELING it evokes in you.

Feelings then will reveal the psychology that you truly have to inhabit in order to allow the behavior of your voice to become honestly authentic.

Or,  acknowledging the psychology will give your feelings an honest place to reveal themselves in order for you to accept,  relish, explore and get excited about your voice and recognize the feelings it evokes.

There is no right or wrong;  no value judgment;  just your truth - should you seek it out.

Those singers who truly touch us,  are willing and able to access the feeling,  the psychology and the behavior.  They make no excuses.  They just DO.

Start wherever you are.  Be there fully.  Feel it.  It's safe to go there because it's going to reveal YOU to YOU.  That's more important than anything else.

Feeling just has to be real.  Real is what you choose to reveal. TO YOU.

I Know...But...

Sunday musings...

How badly do you want to be an artist pursuing a career?

How hungry are you?

Do you know what you need to do, and how to do it, how to find it, how to evoke it, how to develop it, how to challenge it,  how to see it,  how to discover it,  how to claim it?

If you don't,  are you willing, able and ready to find out and actually DO it?

I see, too often, people who say they want a career, yet even when given the information, don't actually do anything with it, and then will say how frustrated they are.

As I get older, my shorthand gets shorter.   When I see that,  hear that,  my response is:  figure it out or do something else. 

And let me tell you a little secret:  it's okay to do something else.  Everybody isn't going to have a career.  How talented you are isn't really the issue.  Some people just cannot, will not, don't know how even if it is explained to them,  DO what I just asked above.  Period.

Not having a career doesn't mean you don't have artistic value, can't perform,  can't be involved in theatre or singing, or something creative.  It just means you don't make your money doing it.

That's okay.  Why pretend?  What's in the way?

As I have said many many times, delusion is a great protector against stress.  At some point, however, that protection is going to snap, and then what?

YOU are your product.   If you aren't honest about how you are seen,  what is seen,  what you have TO be seen, then how do you know how to sell it?

Your product needs to be known.  Honestly.  You need to be using the tools of the business in a way that gives you VISIBILITY.   Are you doing that?  Do you know how to evoke your type/your person/your product through your head shot?  Through your website?  Through your video and audio clips?

And as I ask this,  I hear:  "I know...but..."

Well,  my dear snowflakes, if you KNOW, then why aren't you DOING IT?

Procrastination,  excuses,  all the "buts",  are your way of stress management,  and preventing you for doing anything and coming to the honest truth of what you really want and why you want it.

I heard someone say last week "in the last 15 years of my career".   The absurdity of that comment as part of this person's narrative was astounding,  as there has been no career.  Pursuing a career?  Maybe, but very loosely as nothing has happened;  Actual career?  No.  That would assume making a living at it,  really knowing what you have to offer the business, and how to do it.

We all,  at different times, due to our capacity for self doubt,  make statements that aren't quite right.  It is a coping mechanism.  I get that, trust me.

HOWEVER...

Now it is time to shit, or get off the pot.

If you KNOW,  then do it.

If you KNOW,  then why aren't you doing it?

If you KNOW, then why don't you know?

If you DON'T know, then ask.

If you ASK,  expect some answers, or expect more questions that YOU and only you have to figure out.

If you ASK,  prepare to hear the truth, not what you want to hear.

If you WANT it,  you have to work for it.  Nothing is handed to you on a platter. 

If you WANT it,  how hungry are you?  What are you willing to do?  REALLY??

Where are you in the development of your craft?  How do you know?

What do you want to do with that?  Why?

Says who?

What are you passionate about?

Just because you did a BFA or a theatre degree or a BMus, or something in the arts, doesn't guarantee nor preclude you are having a career in that focus.

If you say you want a career,  why? 

Have you figured out what you NEED to begin that journey or restart that journey or get you onto the right path of that journey?

Have you started to pursue those necessary steps?

Or are you procrastinating?

Why?

Have the excuses started already?

I know...but...

But what?

YOU are the business.  If you want to be in the business,  your product has to be purchase-ready. 

You have to hone that product to make it purchase-ready.

The business of you doesn't have anything to do with the artistic you. 

This is business. 

There is an enormous difference. 

If you don't figure that out,  should you really want to pursue a career,  then the business will make a decision for you,  and will simply call   "NEXT!"

YOU have to know.  YOU have to hone.  YOU have to present it to them or you leave them making their own decisions or dismissing you.  That's up to YOU.

This means getting to work.  This means getting to nitty gritty of how you are seen;  what your energy reveals in a room;  what your voice does;  what characters you will be seen for and why;

Remember, there is ALWAYS a why.  Sometimes we have the power to change HOW,  when we learn the WHY.  However, you are never going to know the how or the why if you don't start asking questions instead of answering "I know..but..."

An excuse never got anybody anything,  except a chance to create more delusion and not move.

Free yourself to do your work - whatever that is - by dropping the excuses. 

Do the work,  or don't.  Claim it.  If you decide, you don't want to be bothered with all of this to find a career path in the business,  then find whatever you are passionate and DO THAT!!!!

Doing what you are passionate about is NEVER failure. Doing something because you think you have to prove it to someone,  or because you went to school for it you have to try,  is just going to drain you and cause you to put up more walls.  You will be miserable,  and chances are you will miss something you might really love doing.

If you have an answer for everything I have said,  as in,  an excuse of why you HAVEN'T done it,  then I would really truly consider what you are doing.  Life is short,  and you don't want to let it pass you by with excuses and "I know, buts".

If you feel motivated again;  if you KNOW where your passion lies;  if you are getting HUNGRY for that career;  if you can not only claim your fears or self-doubts, but realize what you need to do, and are willing to get on that path to do it,  then DO IT!

Start it.  One step at a time.  Create your business.  Develop goals.  Make a business plan. 

Nobody does it but you.  However, utilize the assets around you to help enhance that plan so you can hone it as expertly as you would hone your craft and artistic temperament. 

What is holding you back?

YOU.

Shhhhh.

 The answer is NOT "I know...but."


The answer is a nod, a quiet acknowledgement.  Now GET TO WORK ON YOU!

You are the Product!

Sunday musings...

Do you recognize YOU are the product you are selling?

If you choose to be a developing artist or performer in the business,  are you aware of your product?

If you are making excuses,  frustrated,  and simply not focusing on what you are offering, or have to offer,  then it's time to get your shit together NOW or find something else to do.

Is that harsh?  I don't think so.  Why?  Because there are simply too many people saying they want to work in the business.  There are way too many people given the number of jobs available. Why should someone hire you if you don't really know what you are doing or what you have to offer?

If you don't know the product you want to sell,  and more importantly HAVE,  then don't expect the business to figure that out for you.

GET TO WORK!

Several casting professionals have spoken to me over the last few weeks about the lack of understanding an actor/singer has when finding a great head shot to submit,  and even the quality of a video or audio clip.

So let's talk about that shall we?

If you want to work,  you have to be prepared.  Two KEY ways to reveal yourself are through your head shot,  and through your reel or clips.

Why are you not committed to making those things sizzle?

You don't have to sell a kidney or your first born to find a great head shot photographer.  You DO have to do your research. 

The research starts with you.

Again, I quote the great choreographer/director, George Faison: "What are you doing?"

(those of you who know or have worked with George know EXACTLY what I am talking about!)

Your head shot needs to reveal YOU.  Who is that?  It needs to look like you,  and it needs to evoke an energy that draws the person looking at it to pause for a minute and take you in. 

You need to know what you are evoking.  You need to figure out what you are going to be called in for.  You need to find a way of showing us that in a head shot through your EYES.

The set up of a photo can be spectacular but if the eyes aren't saying anything, then the head shot is thrown in the "no" pile and never looked at again.

What are you saying? 

Figure it out! 

An head shot is NOT artsy fartsy.   A head shot is often the first thing a casting director or director sees and responds to or fails to respond to.  How are you going to get the right kind of attention?

Know your product.  YOU are the product.  Do you know what you have and what you wish you had and do you know the difference?  Wanting to reveal something that isn't there is not helping you. 

What are you saying in that photo?  What are your eyes saying?  "I want you to call me in"  isn't enough.  So does everybody.  Next...

What are your eyes saying about YOU?

You can't be ambiguous.  You have to figure out who you are, why you are, what you are, and evoke that.  Simplify. 

What are you singing?  What roles are you suited for vocally, dramatically? 

Make a list of your repertoire.  What does it suggest? 

Make a list of possible "types" within your repertoire.  Start to hone in on adjectives to evoke those types.  Do those adjectives connect to your personal energy?  Can you reveal a combination of those in how you look at the camera?

Vacant, scattered,  disassociated and confusing head shots just don't sell a product.  They dismiss it.  Why take the time, energy and money to do a photo shoot if you ultimately don't know what you want to say? 

Talk to photographers.  Interview them.  See how they respond to you and how you feel with them.  Look at their portfolios.  How are they capturing that energy? 

And what about your reel?  Do you have one?  What are you making public on YouTube and can you actually use anything to submit with?

Again,  with electronic submissions you need a reel.  Period.  You need clips of you doing what you say you do.  Those clips need to reveal what you DO WELL.  You would think that would be a no-brainer, but sadly,  again,  several casting professionals have told me recently that I wouldn't believe what is sent in for them to view and consider for a personal audition.

And I then quote my niece Ruby:  "Seriously you guys?! SERIOUSLY?!"

If you don't know what is good enough or exceptional or is going to catch a CD's attention enough to listen to the full clip or want to hear more of you,  then you have to figure that out.  Sending out a poor video is worse than not submitting at all.

Commit to making a reel or recording a few short clips that show what your voice does well, and  reveal the possibilities of what roles you would could be seen for!

YOU are the product.  If you want somebody to stay interested, you have to have something to sell!

You need to sell your product CURRENTLY.  CURRENT head shots.  CURRENT clips be they audio or video. 

If you believe you are continually evolving as an artist and performer, then you have to show that through your head shot and reel.  What are you CURRENTLY evoking, revealing & discovering.

This is part of the business of show.  This is part of how you market and produce your product for others to get a glimpse of. 

Given that those you are sending these things to only have a second to make a decision,  it has to be a strong glimpse,  enough for them to take an extra second to pause,  not to wonder what you are doing, but to be intrigued enough to call you in. 

So no more excuses.  Figure it out.  Ask questions.  Prepare for honest answers so you can get it together to package a strong, clear, concise and REAL product.  YOU.

What do you need to know?

Every aspect of the business - from opera to music theatre to straight theatre to film & TV - has its own land mines, its own process, its own game.

It's up to you, should you find yourself in one or more of those games, to figure it out.

However, ultimately, what do you need to know?

It all comes back to YOU.

Or what a dear friend and famous choreographer has been known to say,  "What are you doing?!"

Yes, you have to figure out the game,  learn the rules, learn how to bend those rules, learn how to navigate the landscape but more importantly,  you have to learn about YOU.

There is you the artist and the discovery.

There is you the craftsman and the development of said craft.

There is you the business person and the marketing of said business.

SO, here are the 2 questions for you:

1.  What do you need to know?
2.  What are you doing with that knowledge?

Do you know what you are working with as far as ability, craft, practical application is concerned?

Does your study and your athletic development allow you access PAST the 16 bar cut?  Could you actually do that role 8 shows a week?  Could you actually sustain that role on an operatic stage with a full orchestra?

Are you training vocally, musically, dramatically to access that possibility?  Do you really understand what that takes on all levels?

What about the business aspect of you?  Do you know what you are selling?  Do you really see what you have to offer and can you reveal that fully in a head shot?  In a video clip?  In a slate?

Do you have a really clear sense of what you want to reveal, and is that honest and true or is it just what you are wishing for?

These are hard.  For all of us.  A reality check is necessary on a regular basis.  It's not always easy or comfortable,  but real growth isn't;  thus growing "pains". 

We don't always want to hear what we absolutely HAVE TO HEAR.

This is why the team of professionals around you is so crucial.  You need to have people who will be honest,  challenge,  question,  and give you reasons to find the next.  You do not need people around you who just tell you what you want to hear.  That doesn't encourage growth, originality, reality or passion for the next step.

So, what do you need to know?

The truth.

About what you reveal;
Where you are;
What you want;
What is realistic;
What is wishful thinking:
What is downright wrong;
What is downright delusional;
What is absolutely worth exploring;
What is absolutely worth taking a risk for;
What is coming across;
What is not being claimed;
What is ready;
What is not;


The more you know,  the more you need to know!  The more you know, the more simplistic things can become, because the clutter around you can be cleared, and the reality of what you have, what you are claiming, what you are honing, what you are developing starts to emerge with force and reason.

And the most important thing:  it's up to you.  It demands you.  It holds you accountable.

It's not the pianist's fault if you sing out of tune or come in at the wrong time;
It's not the photographer's fault that your head shot isn't working;
It's not the voice teacher's fault that you aren't booking;
It's not the gym's fault you aren't losing weight;
It's not the coach's fault you didn't figure out how to sing that cut or that aria in the right style;

YOU have to find what YOU need.  YOU need to figure out what you are, what you have in order to figure out how to develop it, and what you need to know to develop it further.

You need to know what is going to make you noticed: for the right reasons.

It's all up to you baby.  ALL of it is up to you.

Talking SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE ARTIST with TONY HOWELL!

New content for the studio AND the blog this year of 2015!

I got to sit down with CEO/Founder of CREATIVE SOCIAL MEDIA,  Tony Howell just before the new year to discuss social media for the artist and what we need to consider going forward with our online presence.

I learned TONS from him, and will keep consulting with him as this social media is constantly morphing and changing.  Tony is really an expert in this field, and as an artist himself,  uses both left and right brains with panache and brilliance!  Definitely check him out,  as the site is ever changing, and he does regular webinars and consultations,  as well as all things social media and more!

Check out CSM's sit by clicking above or simply click here.

We are going to keep video-blogging throughout the year with interviews and talks with industry and artists to keep us all updated on what is going on and how we keep ourselves fresh and involved!

So here is the video of Tony & me and our great talk in the Times Square Voice Studio! ENJOY!

It's 2015: MOVE!

Happy 2015!

What will it bring?

Or more importantly,  what do YOU bring to it?

I am not into regrets.  Or woulda-coulda-shouldas.  It keeps me locked into a place that doesn't let me move forward.

So claim NOW and look forward.

Let's play a game.  Try to answer with ONE WORD ONLY - you can always extrapolate later!
*****

What do you want?

What do you need?

Why?

What are you pursuing?

How are you pursuing it?

What does your artistic self crave?

What does your business self need?

What would simply give you contentment each day?

What makes you laugh?

What makes you frustrated?

What gets in your way?

What are the THREE words you are going to claim for 2015?


*******

Resolutions and regrets are not worth your energy.

Resolutions set you up for failure, and regrets keep you locked in place.

Move forward.  Move with purpose.  Move with integrity.  Move with balance.  Move with clarity.  Move with focus. Move with authenticity.

Just get moving!!  Great things happen when you know HOW to move,  WHEN to move,  WHERE to move. 

Trust your gut.  Trust your instinct.  Develop your intuition. 

Create an environment to move into and bring it with you!

How are you preparing for 2015?

Here it is, that week between Christmas & the New Year...again.

The year flew by!

So often the chaos and busy-ness of the holiday season leaves us exhausted and needing another holiday that we can do nothing in to recover from  this one!

The voice studio AND the blog have many exciting things coming in 2015.  I am going to be doing more video interviewing for the blog as well.  Tony Howell,  CEO/Founder of CREATIVE SOCIAL MEDIA  will be my first guest with a series of interviews coming early in 2015.

Creative Social Media is offering a FREE WEBINAR on NEW YEARS DAY and you should really check it out.

Called "15 in 2015" - it will jump start YOU.  I am registered - why not join me?

Go to Creative Social Media's site here  and register!

Let's begin to make 2015 the best yet.  Get ready to prepare,  craft, mold and hone YOU and your skills and talents and the craft that will allow you to walk into the room without hesitation,  with a professional attitude and demeanor,  with a technique and preparation that you can rely on - and start being noticed and recognized! 

MORE TO COME!

Tony Howell and me during our shoot!

The Mentality of Professional vs Amateur

The title needs work.

Professional is not versus Amateur.  It is simply opposite.

There are lots of ways to define both words.  I tend to let those words evolve through behavior, and how you view your work,  how you hear what is being said to you and what you do with that information.

There was a time in my life where I would have spent TONS of time to try to "get through" to a singer/actor only to be completely ignored, or hear from them something that was absolutely not said nor implied.

The longer I work with singers, and am in the business, the more I realize how this truly divides the professional mentality from the amateur one.

I see more and more that what you take from a conversation really determines where you are in the process of becoming or maintaining your professionalism or leaving you simply in amateur-land.

Some people are hard-wired professional.  They simply have the ability to see a larger arc,  and know what they need and who they need to ask to get the information in order to develop a career, and a more importantly,  a way of preparing to create a career.  They grow,  they are willing to be accessible,  they listen and hear the full extent of a conversation and then are able to hone in how that affects them specifically and what they must do to grow and develop.

The amateur is probably hard-wired too.  The amateur isn't just about not knowing.  Their hearing is suspect;  their ability to translate is limited;  they find ways to hide, to make excuses and to fixate on one or two things to create a narrative that keeps them safe.

Again, there are many ways to define professionalism and amateurism.  I am speaking about mindset and what could be hard-wired,  versus what could be potential untapped but has the ability to grow and become.

If potential isn't realized,  it's amateur.  It's okay to be amateur as one is developing potential.  It's okay to be amateur even if you don't develop potential.  It is finding one's level that is crucial in all of this.   Amateurs can think they are ready for the deep water,  but the only ones they are kidding are themselves.  Professionals can be in an amateur environment and still find success with others who are like minded and grow.

I see the amateur mindset so often in the development of the vocal instrument.  That instrument is ALWAYS growing and changing.  It needs constant and CONSISTENT attention.  Hard-wired amateurs don't see that need or dismiss it,  and actually say it's good enough.  Professional mind-sets always find a way to keep studying and keep growing.

Professional mindsets ask questions.  They keep the options open and never tie it up with a bow.  They know there is more and they are constantly striving for more craft, more knowledge, more understanding.

Amateur mindsets set up small pockets of fixation.  They only hear what they are able to.  There is not an initiative to truly find more of what is needed, but rather, excuses of what they think is enough.

Professional mindsets often have more questions than answers.

Amateur mindsets find quick answers so they don't need to ask more questions.

Professional mindsets don't make excuses, or hide behind tired humor or excuses or look for sympathy.

Amateur mindsets find the excuses to keep them exactly where they are.  They can be told EXACTLY what is needed, and simply do not hear it,  or choose not to hear it. 

Professional mindsets require challenge and want to know what they need to do.

Amateur mindsets want no conflict and want to be told they are wonderful.

And guess what?  It's okay to be an amateur.  Just don't pretend it's okay to bring the amateur mindset into the professional arena and wonder why nobody is giving you the time of day.

Every singer that walks through my door will be made to feel safe.  They will also be challenged to find their best self.  They will be encouraged, and applauded when they leave better than their previous self.  The professional mindset will realize leaving better than their previous self means there is still work to do.  The amateur mindset will think they are "ready". 

The professional mindset will listen and HEAR.  The amateur mindset will only hear and translate what they are able to, and may even misunderstand.

These are the hard-wired mindsets.

If you really really want to move from amateur to professional in your mind-set you really really REALLY have to work to hear what you need,  by the people who know - and not interrupt.  There are no "yeah, but..."  in a professional mindset.  None.

Learn to ask the right questions, and if you don't know the questions to ask,  ask THAT question.  If you take the time ask,  expect an answer,  and then it is up to YOU,  to discover what the answer reveals for you.  Often, it's not comfortable.  There is nothing comfortable with self-examination.  We learn how to accept the reality and work with it,  or dodge it and remain in that amateur mindset.

Better is simply,  better.

Progress is simply,  progress.

Potential is simply,  potential.

Realizing,  developing and claiming gives us the opportunity to find the changes, makes the changes and live the changes.

Your mindset is up to you.  Claim it.

Finding Your Niche

Sunday musings...at the end of November...

Are you finding your niche?  Where you can inhabit?

There are so many factors in our lives as artists.

Some are artists.

Some have artistic temperaments.

Some are performers.

Some are artists who perform.

Some are craftspeople.

Some are process people.

Some are a quick bolt of lightening.

Some are a slow burn.

Finding out WHAT you are,  and then WHERE you are reveals even more,  and can be thoroughly exhausting and confusing.

We fight the constant "in the box" mentality to allow our artistic individuality to be allowed to breathe.  We need to do that if we want to find authenticity as an artist.

However, then there's the business of show.  If we want to work,  make a living or some semblance,  are we ready to go where our talent takes us?  And how do we know not just how we WISH to be seen, but how we ARE being seen?

I see the frustration.  I've experienced it.

As I get older,  I have decided not to succumb to the box,  but rather, enjoy the process of creating MY OWN.

And I don't want a box,  I want a niche.  It allows for my uniqueness to be displayed as opposed to being put away. 

As a performer,  you want your uniqueness remembered.  You want to be in the minds of someone who is casting who sees you clearly.

Here's the catch:  the only way they see you clearly is if YOU see you clearly.

If something doesn't add up,  it's too much time and effort to riddle it out,  and your head shot and resume are placed unceremoniously in THAT OTHER PILE.

You, the artist, You, the performer,  must discover what makes you unique, where your niche will be, and occupy that space!

Get creative with it.  Come on!  You say you are an artist,  so BE one!  Create!  Create yourself!

Don't get caught in the regular,  boring, non-descriptive adjectives.

Carve out a place for yourself!

How aware of yourself are you?

Time to ask the hard questions of yourself, and people you trust that can keep it real.  This doesn't need to hurt, but rather invigorate you to discover what space you can truly call yours!!

There are so many people trying to work in this business,  Music Theatre, Theatre, Film, TV, Opera - all of which have their own specificities and quirks.

There is always going to be someone better than you,  hungrier than you,  more determined than you.

So what makes YOU the best YOU, the most unique YOU,  the most qualified YOU?

The pieces of the puzzle don't have to fit in a "traditional" way - sometimes the "quirks" we find that don't seem to fit can end up becoming the recognized niche we need.

Are you ready for that?

So much of the time we are constantly trying to CHANGE something.  If only I had...If only I could do...If only...one day...

What about saying the square peg does belong in the round hole and this is how it works?

And claim it.  And demonstrate it.  Show us.  Create the niche.

What are your personality quirks? What makes you YOU?  Ask the people that love being around what they love about you.  Also ask them what drives them NUTS.

What are your physical attributes?  Don't value judge!  They are all real.  If you think perfect physical specimens are the only ones working,  (whatever THAT means) you are mistaken!!!  You are a perfect physical specimen for a role if you embody the niche you say you do and it works!

What can you emphasize about your energy?  Do you know what your energy reveals?  Are there differences in that energy when you are with your friends?  Your family?  Business people?  In an audition room?  In a class?   What happens?  What changes?  What can you use????

Does your voice match your body?  Do you have options?  What are they?

What can do you to still be true to your physical self and your vocal self at the same time?

You are only stuck if you decide to be.

If you feel stuck,  guess what?  That's what "they" get in the room:  This person doesn't know what they want us to see;  they don't know who they are;  next!

So often, we think we must de-emphasize something.  What if we were to really emphasize that quirk, so-called oddity,  interesting quality,  fascinating tic?   What niche could you occupy and thereby, inhabit, within the business?

Okay, I hear the question now:  but if I try to get too specific, doesn't that limit my ability to get hired?

And I answer:  Generic is generic.  There is tons of generic out there.  How does one differentiate? If you find your specificity,  then you focus on working in THAT niche.  The work could be constant frankly,  because you would be filling a niche that is uniquely you.


Type, Fach, Hit - whatever you use to "define" is there as a guideline.  The basic description is generic.  YOU define your niche by what you bring and how you hone and how you reveal.

Get creative with it! 

As an example:
We are all a little quirky.  What are your specific quirks?  Quirky how?  Describe your descriptives!!!

Find the roles that would fit YOU as you occupy and inhabit your niche.

Decide where in the business that takes you....you might be surprised as to how much possible work there is,  if you decide to focus in instead of get frustrated with a generality.

Happy discovery!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in America!

Happy Thursday to everybody regardless of where you are!

This week begins the holiday season.  It is always one of my favorite times of year - even with all the bustle and busy-ness,  I find it a great time to be still and re-evaluate and re-tool what I want to accomplish.

I was asked recently why I starting writing this blog - and even though it has gained a wonderful readership over the years - YOU - I started it because I just needed to write things down.  I wanted to collect my thoughts as I observed the business, the theatre, the studio, the craft, the spirit of the artist.  I figured writing a blog was less stressful and less expensive than seeing a shrink!

In writing this,  I have discovered more of what I want to accomplish.   I have been able to find more clarity and specificity in my artistic life and how I challenge others to do the same.

Trust me,  every issue I write about,  I have learned about!  I did not come out of the womb knowing how to do things in this business or on my own artistic journey!  If anybody made mistakes or took missteps along the way - it was this girl!  I know because I lived it,  and figured out how to fix it and make it work.

I keep learning.  I keep discovering.  I keep evolving. 

Do I get frustrated?  Do I procrastinate?  Do I get scared?  Of course I do. 

Do I question and wonder if it's worth it?  Yes.

Do I get angry with myself or disappointed with myself when I don't follow through the way I wanted?  Yes.

But every day is a new one.  I have the grand capacity to make things much more complicated than they need to be;  I am learning to release that and truly live in the present and in the moment and breathe through my initial reaction to create more complication.  Some days I succeed.  Some days I need to keep learning!

So today,  as I sit at my computer screen before the day's festivities begin,  I sip my coffee and look out the window at the winter wonderland that has landed gracefully around me and say:

THANK YOU.

Thank you for possibility.

Thank you for hope.

Thank you for not just accepting, but questioning to find the right answers - the right answers for YOU.

Thank you for discovery.

Thank you for strange and unique and odd directions of the path.

Thank you for artistic inquisitiveness.

And Thank YOU - for reading, for emailing me or messaging me or posting.  Thank YOU for inspiring me to write and to question for you, for me, and for all of us as we meander this crazy life of artist and of business of show.

As we all muddle through together,  there is suddenly an "A-HA!" moment - and I live for those! 

Keep living for your "A-HA!" - and when you find it,  savor it.  It belongs to you.  THEN you can give more fully to those who ask of you.

Be wherever you are.  And wherever you are, be there.

Happy Thanks.

Happy Giving.

Why Do You Sing?

Musings this Sunday morning...

It's a simple, yet highly personal and highly complex question.

Why do you sing?

Don't try to answer too quickly.  We are always looking for "sound bites" and pat answers.  This is not that type of question.  At least, not to me.

Why do you sing?

YOU.

Not, why do you THINK you sing.

Not, why did you START singing.

Not, who do you sing for?

Why?
You?
Sing?

Often these are the questions, or this is the question we forget to remind ourselves of as we journey through the development of the craft of voice,  of being a performer, of developing our artistry, of juggling and struggling to make ends meet as we pursue the business of show, or not.

We can feel so discouraged, or angry, or grouchy, or disillusioned, or bitchy because of the business, the struggle, the rejection,  the tiny morsels when you are really starving - that we forget the answer to this question;  if we ever truly claimed the answer in the first place.

How would you feel if you didn't sing?

What would you do if you decided NOT to sing?

Perhaps those questions can help to create an angle to allow you full access into why you DO sing?

The clearer you are about why,  the more focused your day becomes.  The more focused your day becomes, the more open the journey becomes.  The burden becomes lighter.  It is a burden CHOSEN by you,  not placed on you.

We all have a choice.  If you are trying to pursue a career,  you can often feel as if all the choices are not yours.  In fact,  the choices of why and how and when in many cases are still very much in your control and in your power and decision to DO something about them.

 So, why do you sing?  I mean, really?  Not the answer that your teacher wants to here;  not the answer you give your parents;  not the answer you think everybody wants to hear after this length of time trying to be a singer;  not even the answer YOU think you should give to make yourself feel better,  feel important,  feel crucial.

The answer is often in the shadows when the lights are off;  in whispers;  not because you are ashamed of the answer,  but the answer becomes too personal to reveal to anybody else BUT YOU.

Nobody needs to know why you sing.  People will speculate.  People will tell you THEIR answer. 

Your answer is really all that matters if you choose to answer it honestly,  and claim it fully.

There is not a right or wrong answer.

There is only YOUR answer.

Your answer then reveals TO you about you;  and where you are supposed to be next;  and what the next question is;  and who you ask that question of.

The question AND the answer will keep you grounded as so much around us is trying to give us artistic amnesia.  

Keep asking the questions.  The REAL ones.  And keep clearing space to find the REAL answers.  Nobody has to approve,  disapprove, like or dislike.  The question is real,  and it deserves a real answer, that only YOU can provide.

Ask it,  discover the answer.  YOURS.

Welcome 2014! Goals & Processes!

Happy New Year!

This is always a somewhat melancholy time for many of us...and an opportunity to allow clearing the clutter (literally and figuratively) and discover what we want to focus on at the beginning of this year.

I read a great article this week http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230333.

It looks at the difference between goals and systems.  It really spoke to me. 

We all have goals.  Yet, somehow, it's not always easy to reach them.  We aren't always in control of the goal.  But we ARE in control of the system we take on.

Committing to the process, not the goal makes complete sense to me.

I will use myself as an example.  I haven't written "this book" yet...you will fall over and hurt yourself when I have finally completed it and published it I know...

I realize now,  I was too focused on the "I will complete my book this year" instead of the process of creating "writing time" each week.

Daily schedule/weekly schedule of process takes the pressure of "deadline" off, and allows us to find the creativity to evolve.

Have you created some of your "dream big goals"?  Sometimes they seem daunting,  unattainable,  too good to be true.  However, if we work from a process,  we find the reality that supports the possibility of those dreams to come true.

Perhaps one of your dream goals is to perform on Broadway.  That is a very broad goal.  So if we start with process - dreaming doesn't get you there.  Do you study your craft regularly?  Are you auditioning regularly??? Are you getting regular call backs?  Are you trying to take classes with major casting directors to gradually become known?  What are you being recognized for?  What do you want to be recognized for?  Are you developing that skill?  that talent?  that possibility?  Have you done any professional performing?  Do you have an audition book that you can sing solidly?

The embracing of the process puts it in YOUR hands.  You have to be realistic.  Process takes time.  It takes practice.  It takes a realistic view of where you are and where you are going.

Goals are great - if you are willing to embrace the process.  I can't write a book and publish it, if I don't make time to write.  Well, DUH. 

You can't work as a professional artist if you don't work your process to become professional in craft, and in business.  Wanting it, setting the goal and not reaching it happens when the process is ignored.

Some people are big ideas people.  Some people see the detail.  As artists in the business of show,  we need to be both.  Or we need someone in our circle we trust to balance that which we do not see, and can point it out clearly.

This is why we study;  this is why we have coaches and teachers, and mentors and the like - to not tell us how great we are,  but to challenge us to think beyond what is comfortable.

What do you want????  That is the big picture, no matter the answer.

How do you get there??? Those are the details.  That reveals the process.

Sometimes the process reveals another goal.  Imagine! 

Choose to reveal the authenticity of you in every aspect of your process.  The more authentic you are,  the more your process develops,   and the clearer those goals appear.

It's your journey.  You are entitled to change your direction if your process takes you there.

Welcome to a new year to each of you!