#fycuriosity

This week on the pod, I’m talking to Anne Marie Bennett, who has just published her first novel, Dragonflies at Night. Anne Marie has a long and varied history of creative work, from teaching to theater to facilitating the SoulCollage(R) process and training others to do the same, which is how I met her. She’s also written several nonfiction books. Tune in on Wednesday to hear more! posted on Instagram - https://instagr.am/p/CGPyUNFAmTH/

NEW PODCAST EPISODE! Here’s a sneak preview of my conversation with Orrin Evans @orrin_evans. If you’ve been listening for a while, you know travel is a big interest of mine, and I often ask guests what difference it’s made in their creative lives. I love Orrin’s answer to this question, and I think you’ll enjoy hearing his full response as well as his thoughts on artistic perseverance, what it’s like to be nominated for a Grammy (his answer might surprise you), and a lot more. Check it out wherever you get your podcasts (link in bio, too!), and share your thoughts with us below!

I love this quote. I think it’s even better with a little context. “If we listened to our intellect we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go in business because we'd be cynical: "It's gonna go wrong." Or "She's going to hurt me." Or, "I've had a couple of bad love affairs, so therefore . . ." Well, that's nonsense. You're going to miss life. You've got to jump off the cliff all the time and build your wings on the way down.” (Bradbury said it multiple times, each slightly different.)⠀ .⠀ Creative work is a huge cliff. Each time we start a new project, we’re taking that leap, and every time we keep going, even though we don’t know what we’re doing—and we don’t, because every project is something we haven’t done before, even if we’ve done something like it—we’re working on our wings. Need a little boost in the process? Check the link in my bio to find out what’s probably screwing you up and what you can do about it.⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ posted on Instagram - http://bit.ly/2VHP7ok

Life is scary. It’s hard. We don’t always know what’s going to happen (in fact, we almost never know for sure—we just like to think we do). Even when we have a vision for ourselves or our work, what we imagine may not end up being what we get, at least while it’s in progress. It may look great at first,and then...not so much. Or it may look awful, and we want to shun it rather than being curious about it. It doesn’t look right. It doesn’t feel right. What were we thinking? Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all. Who wants to weave a tapestry, anyway? Who’s ever going to read this book? Why on earth did I decide to become a dancer, again?⠀ .⠀ It doesn’t matter how much confidence and gut-level certainty we had at the beginning; sometimes it just doesn’t gel in the middle. Things get messy, and we feel lost. Guess what? That’s *normal.* Yes, really. It’s the point where we’re in the cocoon, totally liquefied, waiting to be transformed into the butterfly (and lemme tell ya, there’s no way that caterpillar knew THAT was going to happen!). It’s the stage where only patience, trust, and faith will get us through until the butterfly we were meant to be is ready to come into the world. It’s a little scary and a lot unsettling. But if we hang in there, we’ll come out on the other side more beautiful and accomplished than we ever could have imagined in the first place. Hang in there. Keep the faith. And if you need a helping hand, check the link in my bio for help.⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ posted on Instagram - http://bit.ly/2JMLz0S

Forgive me for shouting a little with this quote, which is long but oh-so-good. If I had to pick one quote to live by, it would be this one. In fact, if I had to name one quote I HAVE lived by, it would be this one. When I first read it, it hit me square between the eyes, and it’s never left me. So many times it’s popped into my head just when I needed a reminder that waiting for “ready” is folly. It’s how I went to New Zealand on my own two years ago (and did almost everything I did there). It’s how I ended up talking to Rob Shearman and recording my first podcast episode—which made that whole idea way more real to me than waiting for “ready” ever could have. And those are just the first two examples off the top of my head.⠀ .⠀ Where are you waiting to feel ready? More importantly, where can you do something NOW? Even if it’s just one tiny step, take it. “Ready” will happen when you’re IN the process, not while you wait for things to happen—or after particular things on your list happen. Waiting keeps you stuck. Action works miracles.⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ posted on Instagram - http://bit.ly/2ZFyBYp

Mary Oliver with a dose of truth for a Monday. DO the things that call to you, even if it's just baby steps as you have time. It's so easy to write off the things we love because there's so much on the list already, or because we've been told they're not important, or we think we don't have any energy for them. As Kelly Flanagan said on the pod, they ARE important, and we don't have energy because we're NOT doing them! . Domenic Sciortino talks about making time for your art on this week's episode, too. Check it out on Wednesday--and in the meantime, find five minutes to do something that calls to you. 😄 . . . . . posted on Instagram - https://ift.tt/2HflWob

More on why you shouldn’t wait to get started. Nobody starts from perfection. Margaret Atwood doesn’t. Neither did Shakespeare or Michelangelo or Bach. What they DID do is start, and keep going, and keep going, and then revise and edit and make changes until they got to something that was closer than most people get, because most people don’t start.⠀ .⠀ Perfection doesn’t exist, except in the comparison-fueled delusions of our own minds. Lower your expectations (and the pressure with them), and just start where you are. Worry about how good it is later. Enjoy the process of creating for what it is in the moment. The rest of it doesn’t matter at the beginning. The only thing that matters is to DO something.⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ posted on Instagram - https://ift.tt/2F9Rp8C

Welcome to my recording studio, also known as....my closet. It’s not fancy, it’s not elaborate, it has no staff, and there is literally *just* enough room for me. It IS the quietest place in my house (and with two toddlers and two dachshunds downstairs, that’s saying something), and it works.⠀ .⠀ Is it perfect? Hell, no. But perfect really doesn’t matter. If I’d waited for an actual studio, I’d still be waiting. (I recorded my first interview on my iPad in a hotel room, because that’s what I had and where I was!) What are YOU waiting for? What do you think you need that you don’t have? Tell us below and we’ll help you figure out how to get started anyway.⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ posted on Instagram - https://ift.tt/2FdZP03