In last week’s newsletter, I addressed an issue that I’ve been meaning to take on for a long time and it stirred such a response that I wanted to share it here as well, just in case you’re needing to hear this right now. The issue?

The surprising negative impact of the popular online message that the key to tons of followers, massive sales and an expert profile is creating and sharing work of value.

This message makes sense, doesn’t it? Of course, we want to share something of value, whether we’re blogging, vlogging, offering coaching, teaching classes or selling things we make on Etsy or at art fairs.

But how many people do you know (yourself included) or have you witnessed who put their heart and soul into something, who create something beautiful, unique and precious out of the very fabric of their heart, skill and imagination only to find it unseen or underappreciated?

It happens all the time.

How many phenomenal and gifted performers play to near empty houses?

How many exquisite paintings, poems, novels, garments, classes, films, jewellery, songs have been loved and appreciated only by the creator and/or a precious few admirers?

The value of the work is not in its reception.

The value of the work is in the work.

This may or may not translate into business value but do not let commercial viability be the sum-total measure of your creative value. That is like having the market determine the value of your heart. It’s not healthy and it’s not effective. It won’t help you with either your artistic or your entrepreneurial endeavours.

Yes, hone your skills so that you can become better and better at expressing the vision that is in your heart.

Yes, learn how to share the work in a way that feels right to you and connects to others.

Give yourself and the work time and opportunity to be seen and heard by people who will get it.

And whether there are none, one, one hundred or one hundred thousand people watching/listening/buying, show up for and honour the work. Let that be the root that never wavers, no matter which way the wind blows.

Every year for Planning Day, I pick an image to represent the energy I hope to create and live for the year ahead. (Well, truth be told, as with my dreamboards, I let the image choose me.)

This year I was shocked when I connected to an image of a woman walking over water along a path of sunshine towards a mountain, away from the camera. I knew in my heart that this was the right image  but I was entirely perplexed. Where was all the activity? The sparkle? Where as the city girl? The artist? Where was laughter and enthusiasm? Where was the black hair and the jewellery?

Where was I in this picture?

But the more I looked at it, the more significance I found, the more it felt just right for the year ahead and so, I trusted. When it came time to create my plan and my schedule, I let this image be my guide and that meant big change. This year, I am creating more spaciousness, more ease, more focus on aspects of my life other than work and more extended creative time, including that this year I will dedicate one day a week to “Inspiration” and one day a week to “Expression.” I am putting a priority on immersing myself in and reflecting on creative living in an even deeper way and I am going to devote myself to creating tangible expressions of what I know and what I learn.

In order to do this, I must not only commit but I must also follow through on that commitment. I must show up and say yes, unreservedly, to inspiration and to expression and I must let go of old things and say no to new things that do not support me on this path.  I find it hard to let go and to say no. I mean, generally my answer to, “Should we do this or that?” is “Both!”

But what I see in this picture is that the way that I have always done things is not right for the way ahead.

The whole path is as unnerving as the choice of this picture was in the first place but, just as with the picture, it feels right. And I see how the seeds were planted last year when all the choices I made for the studio were led by a principle of simplicity and how, with that in mind, decisions were infinitely easier. Everything could be checked against and led by that core concept.

The road is easier when you are clear on what is important – important to your heart and soul, not to the world, not to anyone else. This is just between you and you.

One of the ways, I stay tuned in to what’s important is by creating yearly Vision Cards, one collaged card for each of the important focus areas of my life. As I created this year’s card for “Studio Work,”  “Home,” “Creativity,” etc., I kept in mind that original picture of the woman, the water, the sunshine and the mountains. I held the deep truth that the image stirred inside of me as inspiration for every area of my life and I let that guide me in the creative process. I know that my Vision Cards will serve as powerful touchstones that keep my heart and my mind, as well as my time and my energy, on my vision for this year.

And I have made a start. On the first Tuesday of this year, the day I have dedicated to “Inspiration,” I took myself to the Mystical Landscapes exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario. On this particular Tuesday, there were about a million reasons not to go. The kittens woke us up at 3:00 in the morning and I was exhausted. I had headed out to the gym for a 6:30 am class only to discover that the door was locked and that we return to classes next week. When I got home, I tucked into some work that took longer than expected so I’d be leaving far later than I wanted to. Plus, it was cold, grey and raining.

Life gave me reasons to say no to what mattered. I decided not to listen.

So what if I was tired? So what if I was late? So what if it was raining? I bundled myself up, tossed my journal in my bag and headed out the door. All the while an internal monologue played on repeat each disappointing reason that this inspiration outing was not what I had been hoping for.  It was only when I stepped out of the subway and into the rain that those words of discouragement gave way to gratitude.

Here I was, on a rainy winter Tuesday in Toronto, going to the art gallery! I could take my time and immerse myself in art, inspiration and thought. I could hang out with Monet and Gaugain and Lauren Harris and Emily Carr.

How many days have I spent dreaming I could have such a day?

That day was here and I wasn’t going to let all these bumps in the road get in the way.  I was going to enjoy it. With that thought, all of the tension I had been holding left my body and I embraced the great luxury of the moment. I allowed myself to have an inspiration day and enjoy it just as it was right here and now.

On the heels of that experience, I also followed through on my commitment to an Expression Day. For the past few years, some bigger/longer projects have knocked on my studio door. I generally open the door and say hi and then quickly decide I don’t have that kind of time – not just this week or this month but this life! We only have so much time on this planet and I have so much that I want to do. How could I dedicate a year or five to one project? Plus, I really like working in smaller bites – blog posts, podcasts, short videos. In fact, I love it. And yet, some larger projects have been pushing on my heart for years. Now, with a dedicated day for expression, they have a place to go.

So when I sat down on Thursday, I felt like a pressure valve had opened on my creative heart. An idea that I have had for over a year poured out of me for 6 hours straight. Time flew by.  In fact, if I hadn’t had an afternoon appointment, I’m not sure when I would have stopped! This intensive free-flowing creative energy is something I have learned to trust. I know now that I must show up for this, again and again and again. Clearly, the time for this big project is now.

We tend to think that the rotten and regular things in life are the ones that are hard to spend our time, energy and attention on and that the things we love and believe to be important flow with ease and grace and have our souls dancing. If that were the case, then why do we so often find ourselves suffering with our nose to the grindstone instead of following our heart’s desire? Why do we fill our time with “shoulds” instead of what truly matters? Why, when we do have time, do we choose anything other than our paints, our writing, our dance, our dreams? Yes, often it’s to take care of our sustenance needs, whether that’s finances, chores or simply catching our breath, but there’s something else here too.

I feel blessed by every moment of creativity, inspiration and expression – and I see how easy it is to let it slip away, how easy it is to not take the time, how easy it is to say no to what matters and to say yes to anything else, how easy it is to believe that now isn’t the time and that you aren’t the one, how easy it is to stay in what is instead of moving into what might be.

It is easier to dream about the path than it is to walk it.

It takes time, effort, commitment, resources, bravery and discipline (yes, I used the “d” word) to say yes to what is important to you. It’s a practice to choose it over and over again. Your creative life is worthy of it.  Your dreams are worthy of it. And so are you.

What are the steps that will take you from where you are to where you want to be?

As a coach, I’ve been helping people create a life they’re wild about for almost a decade. Usually that life is one rich with the joy of authenticity, self-expression and creativity and often that creativity is channeled into an entrepreneurial adventure of some kind. If I look closely at the beautiful, determined work that my clients do, I notice some trends, some things that are ever present when they begin to realize their dreams. I share these with you in the hopes of encouraging and supporting you to take your own steps, ones that will bring you closer to your dreams.

Magic not Miracles

Let me say at the outset that the success I have observed is rarely (though not never) dramatic. It’s not a random miracle dropped into your lap, unexpected and unearned. It’s not one opportunity or one decision. It’s not one class or one product launch that out of nowhere takes you from zero to six-figure hero.

That’s not to say there aren’t leaps in progress and moments where we find ourselves deep in flow and whooshing to the next level. There are magical moments when all of our hard work comes together and something just clicks. These moments are highlights on a long, passionate and demanding journey and the magic is something we can create conditions for but that we can’t control, expect or rely on.

So if success is not the miracle of an instantaneous dream come true, a lottery ticket, a winning decision, a 6-figure launch, being discovered, then what is it that gets us where we want to go?

Belief

Perhaps the very first thing required for success is belief, a willingness to believe that something other than what is, is possible.

This doesn’t have to be a belief in something specific or big. This isn’t setting a goal such as, “I will be leading retreats in Bali in two years based on the success of the three books that I will have written and published between now and then.” There are many experts out there that recommend this kind of specificity but I believe it really starts with something much smaller. If we have no belief that we could ever leave our day job, if we have no belief that we could ever find time to write (never mind being published), if we have no belief that anyone will be interested in our work, if we have no belief that we can risk giving up the security of what we have, then we stay put and those dreams run through our mind on repeat as we lapse into despair.

For this reason, right at the beginning, we have to find our way to a very simple belief – the belief that something other than what is right now is possible.

Risk

Once we believe that it is possible for things to be different, we have to be willing to risk upsetting the apple cart. Moving from how things are to how you’d like them to be involves a willingness to try something new, something that may not work. It means  be willing to lose, to fail, to make mistakes, to be embarrassed all in the service of what might be possible.

Being willing to risk not only creates the opportunity for gain but it also gives our self-confidence the chance to grow. We are empowered by taking action that is aligned with our hearts.  Our confidence grows, our capabilities grow and our dream-realizing muscles get stronger when we actually give it a shot.

Yes, we all have limited control over the results of our actions but we can feel proud of ourselves for taking them. We prove our strength to ourselves and grow our belief in ourselves when we risk stepping into what just might be possible. In those moments, we remind ourselves of what we are capable of.

Bravery

That feeling of strength, of progress, of knowing that you are moving towards what you dream of or, more simply, that you are moving towards something that is better for you even if you don’t know what it is, that always involves bravery. Always.

The steps that require your courage may not look like they require much bravery to anyone else (and that might even lead you to underestimating the bravery in you) but nobody can tell you what qualifies as brave. You get to define bravery for yourself; only you know when you are truly heroic.

I saw this demonstrated very clearly in my coaching training. One aspiring coach challenged another to tell 50 people about her new business by the end of the week. Her response? Sure! She was an extrovert going to a conference that weekend. 50 people? Easy! But what happened when later she was challenged to tell her mom? Her knees wobbled! That’s where she had to channel her inner hero.

Bravery is a very personal thing. Whatever is calling you, that dream, that desire, it’s going to ask you to be brave.

Effort

Along with belief, risk and bravery is a far less sexy piece to the puzzle, one that is greatly undervalued, especially in our fast-paced online world: effort.

Whatever you want to achieve, become, experience, create, it will involve doing the work, making an effort, being consistent, learning your craft. If you really want to be published, you need to write. If you really want to sell your art, you need to make some. If you want people to know about what you do, you need to share – over and over again. You have to do the work.

What I see in my clients is that week after week after week after week they take steps – sometimes big, sometimes small, sometimes backwards, mostly forward . They consistently show up, say yes, say no, face obstacles, wrestle with fear, find bravery. They chose to risk, to learn, to dare. They do whatever work it takes to keep moving towards what calls.

Choosing ways to honour the work instead of resent it, finding ways to love the work in all of its expressions, staying connected to the value and meaning of the work and nourishing yourself deeply as you show up for it, all of these things, will support you in making the effort.

Dance

If you are being being brave and risking, if you’re believing in possibility and you’re making the effort and still the energy just isn’t picking up, if you’re feeling heavy and tired and not in that good “end of the day, job well done” kind of way, if you feel like you’re churning and burning out, change something. Make a move.

I’m not talking about changing your destination (though sometimes you might). I’m not talking about about giving up on your dream, your vision or your goal. I’m talking about dance moves, little shifts in approach, timing, partners.

There isn’t one way to get to your dreams. There isn’t one route or one plan. Because this class isn’t working, it doesn’t mean you are not a teacher. Because this piece keeps getting rejected – that doesn’t mean you are not a writer. Don’t let go of your dreams. Give them a chance to dance and develop in their own way.  Stay focused on your direction but flexible on your path. Don’t just take steps. Dance.

Success

I offer up these observations in support of your dreams, in the hope that they will help you on your journey to success. That instead of waiting for a dramatic miracle, you will make your own magic. That you will find in your heart the willingness to believe that something else, something wonderful, is possible for you. That you will find your bravery and risk upsetting the “way it is” apple cart. That you will show up again and again and make the effort of bringing your dreams to life and whenever you get stuck along the way, I hope you’ll dance.

Believe in Possibility. Be willing to Risk. Be Brave. Do the Work. Dance.

Every time you take on a project, a painting, a party, a plan, you are making an energy withdrawal. How do you avoid getting completely depleted in the midst of life’s demands, when the deadline is looming, the alarm clock is ringing and the to-do list is, well, let’s call it abundant.

Dial it down.

Dialing it down means turning down the intensity, getting gentle with ourselves and the task at hand. So often we use far more energy than we need to when taking on our day. Our bodies are tightly sprung as we lean into our computers, a little crease forms in our forehead as we churn to get something done. We fill up with anger and frustration at everything that gets in our way, pushing it aside with vigour or addressing it with resentment.

This physical and emotional intensity takes a toll.

But what happens if we dial it down?  What if we get eco-friendly with ourselves and use only as much energy as the task at hand requires, no more? When you think of that, does something shift?

Dial Down Excess Physical Effort

One way to dial it down is to pay attention to what’s going on in your body and consciously relax the muscles that really don’t need to be a part of the activity. Your forehead doesn’t have to help you think or type. Give it the afternoon off.

Here’s an exercise to help you refine your sensitivity to this extraneous energy spending. Practice a familiar physical activity, like making your bed or brushing your teeth, with the intention of using the minimum effort possible while still completing the task well. Notice the difference as you release your shoulders, relax your tummy, close your eyes. You will be surprised how much these little releases bring moments of ease into your otherwise tense and stressful day.

Dial Down Emotional Intensity

So often we layer great swathes of emotion over an experience or activity. Not only are we working at the task at hand but we are also worried, defensive, resentful, disappointed and more – often all at the same time! It’s like trying to do chores in a hurricane! And every fresh obstacle that appears? Whoa! The energetic levels spike and and even more strain on our batteries.

As you go about your business, see if you can dial down the intensity by actively letting go of the emotions while you work. Take a deep breath and imagine yourself releasing the extra tension of each emotion.

Inhale. Exhale. Choose to let go of anger.

Inhale. Exhale. Choose to let go of fighting.

Inhale. Exhale. Choose to let go of anything other than the task at hand.

You can pick it all up later, if you wish to. This is not about neglecting or ignoring your feelings. This is about not making this moment any harder than it needs to be.

As you go through the tired, the hard, the challenging, don’t add any friction. Glide.

You’ll be amazed by the way dialing it down helps you conserve energy while still getting things done.

I wrote this on a train, speeding along through the rain from Stratford Ontario, the home of our major Shakespearean theatre festival, back home to Toronto. Justin and I had a wonderful time strolling the duck-inhabited pathways along the banks of the Avon river, exploring little treasure box gardens and finding treats in artsy gift shops.

But the real joy was the theatre. We watched the world transform from an English manor to a snow-covered world populated by talking fawns and loyal beavers in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. We marveled at the intensity of a dancer’s life in a dynamic production of A Chorus Line. We delved into the dark and brooding world of Macbeth in which man “struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.”

Throughout I was aware of the vagaries of the artistic life. Not only are the dancers’ stories in A Chorus Line rich with that edge – rejection, injuries, old at 27 – but also we heard a real-life, post-performance plea from a seasoned actor who asked us to contribute to The Actor’s Fund, a charity that helps performing arts professionals in times of need or crisis.

No wonder aspiring artists are often advised not to pursue this life. Common wisdom would say that if you can be satisfied doing anything else at all, choose that. Do not subject yourself to the pain, the uncertainty, the pressure, the poverty.

And yet…

Magic still calls to creative hearts.

As I watched A Chorus Line, tears filled my eyes, my heart bursting in my chest, thumping along in rhythm with the message of the stage,

“I. I am a dancer…. Give me somebody to dance for. Give me somebody to show. Let me wake up in the morning to find I’ve got somewhere exciting to go.”
We creative hearts are called to answer the siren song of art.
We long to create work that is meaningful and true.
We want to wake up with somewhere exciting to go.

One of the profound gifts of our time is that our route to creative expression is no longer blocked by a velvet rope. We do not have to audition in order to perform. We don’t need editorial approval to publish out our book. With courage and creativity we can make and share whatever is in our hearts (though sometimes we forget and wait for someone to give us permission).

What if you simply began?

What if you invited a few friends over for a night of storytelling? What if you printed your own book of poetry and gave it as gifts to your friends? What if you booked a space for a night and put on a solo show of your photography?

You may not make money. You might even lose some! Maybe only your closest friends will be witness to your artistry. But you will have added to your body of work, you will have braved a great creative adventure and you will have a memory of a lifetime.

“Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”…

“Safe?” said Mr Beaver.”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.”

Much like Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a creative life may not be safe but it’s good.

Let’s be brave as lions.

There are days in our creative lives when everything seems to fall apart, when our hard work goes unrewarded and our dreams threaten to unravel right before our eyes.

There are times when we lovingly pour our whole heart into something – a book, a show, a workshop, a podcast, a painting, a blog, a service – and then we offer our precious gift to the world and… nothing.

No one shows.

No one cares.

No one buys.

No one gets it.

Or maybe one person. Or three. And one of them’s your mom.

Or your sister. (For me, it’s my sister)

It hurts.

Or maybe we are the person who doesn’t appreciate our work.

We draw, we paint, we write, we dance, and what we create never pleases. In fact, it mocks us, showing us over and over again the distance between our creations and our dreams.

It hurts.

I wish I could tell you that this will never happen to you, that there is a three-point plan, a masterful strategy, a powerful mindset that will spare you from this but there isn’t. In your exquisite and significant creative life there will be times when it hurts.

When it hurts…

Don’t turn against your self.

Don’t turn against your art.

Don’t turn against the world.

Don’t give up.

Yes….

Yes, assess what is working and not working.

Yes, learn new skills, practice determinedly and gain expertise.

Yes, work on bridging the gap between what is and what you want to be.

There is always work to be done!

Never…

But never doubt that when you create something out of the stardust of your soul, it matters.