Blast O' Joy

American Idol Update

OK, friends, time now for my annual guilty confession that I am a total American Idol fan. My 12 year old son and I can't get enough of this blasted show -- and yeah, I mean it when I say it's the only thing I watch. (Hey, we didn't even HAVE a TV for 12 years.) But still, I'm glad we do.

I think this is the only show on TV that lets you see just how much it takes to get up and blow people away -- something stars do all the time, so we take it for granted. ENough philosophizing. Here are my favorites for the 2007 season so far. (And those of you who read this here last year, remember that at the top 12 point, I DID predict that Taylor Hicks would win 2006!)

My faves are Melinda Doolittle, the incredible jazz/blues singer who came out of back-up singer obscurity to own the stage this week. (LOVE this woman!) And two really offbeat, original, real guys who sing R&B/Blues -- Chris Sligh (a large man with curly hair who is just too cool) and Sundance Head ('the guy with the wierd beard') -- these two also own the stage and totally rock.

OK, enough about me... who do you guys like?

Can You Smell the Joy?

If your dream had a smell, what would it be? 

Think of your ultimate vision for your life.  A life of pure joy.  Now using all your senses, what fragrance can you call up to go along with what you see? What taste? What colors?

If people could smell a corporate culture, I wonder...what would Microsoft smell like?  the Trump organization?  How about Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream or....Starbucks?

I know, it's not fair; the latter two examples are of food companies, so it's easy for them to evoke a smell in our minds.  But I'm actually serious here, I think we (individuals, artists, dreamers and big companies) overlook our senses a lot in our pursuit of joy and meaning...would you agree?

In the course of your day, do you notice your sense of smell?  How does today smell to you, for example?  Like your favorite bouquet of flowers or has it been a dank-alleyway-near-the-fish-market kind of day?  We all have those.

For me, the smell of my business when it's going well, and the smell of joy, is somehow tied to lemons.  That's a regular everyday kind of smell that I associate with my work.  And it's the smell I hope subtly, and not so subtly (as when I write about it like this) gets communicated when someone visits my website or reads one of my books. 

Tangy, thoughtful, awake and energized.

On a really great day, or when I'm blissed out and basking in the bloom of full creative flow, lemons get bumped up to peaches...but lemon is still in the background.  Yum.

Here's my favorite Lemon Yogurt Cake recipe based on one from Ina Gartner, the Barefoot Contessa. It's easy, good for you and delicious.  Exactly the way I want my life and my business to be.

Andrea's Favorite Lemon Yogurt Cake

Mix together:

1 and 1/2 cup flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt

In a separate bowl mix:

3 eggs, 1 cup plain yogurt, 1 tsp vanilla and the zest of 1 lemon and 2 teaspoons juice from the lemon.  This makes it really lemony.

Then add the dry mixture to the wet mixture until just mixed (not too much.)  Add 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and blend together.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden.  A loaf pan is best but I like it when Mike makes it in a round bundt tin too.  It stays really nice and moist through the week - perfect for lunch in the middle of a lemony day.

Enjoy! 

Recommended: A trip to the favorite sections in your most glorious grocery store or market.  Leave your grocery list alone for a moment and let your senses be your guide. 

Ask: What attracts you?  Where do you find yourself most wanting to linger?

After you leave, how might you recreate the energy you feel when connected to your sense of smell? 

How Do You Sing Out Your Stress?

Did you know that song is one of the more common ways people get rid of stress? Think about it. When you're really beginning to relax, you may begin to hum along with the radio or sing a song that's on your mind without even realizing it.

In fact, a singing teacher I used to have, often spoke of how we sing the songs in these moment that really reflect what's going on in our subconscious. For instance, I always found myself humming the Beatle's 'I'm So Tired" when I was an exhausted, under-rested teenager with too much fun stuff to do.

Now a song coach, Linda Dessau, has an interesting offer. She writes:

I want to know how YOU sing out your stress! I'm compiling a list of the most inspirational, encouraging, relaxing and enjoyable songs - who knows, your choice could make the Top 10 list AND it might even make it's way into a Sing Out Your Stress lesson! Enter your song title to receive the list once it's complete. You'll also receive periodic updates about the Sing Out Your Stress program, and access to a FREE video lesson when the program launches.

Sounds like a plan!

Technorati Tags: Stress reduction, singing in the shower

What Is the 'Job' of Art?

A Latino writer whose name I can no longer recall said (paraphrasing here) 'It's the job of the artist to infect the public." This is a sentiment that I clipped out of the paper and carried in my wallet for years until it finally disintegrated.

I think I felt this was a truth to live by. Yes, we want to stir things up - get people excited and motivated - get them talking, and most of all doing. A LOT of art has done exactly that to great effect, from controversial Michael Moore films about politics to paintings by Thomas Eakins in which anatomy professors dissect the human body in class.

Yes, those who operate in such a highly charged realm can expect to take some hits. And to create so much buzz they naturally rise to the top of their field. This is the value of taking a stand - not just to stand out, but precisely because you stir people up, get them thinking … you 'infect' them.

This came to mind because of a recent article I read in The New York Times about an artist, Doug Auld, who paints people badly disfigured by fires. (The body of work is called State of Grace.) He found these subjects unexpected, the canvases of their faces beautiful in their grim reality - and the outlook of these fire survivors amazingly frank and empowering.

The article about Auld's work also noted that a number of people had accused Auld of exploiting his subjects. But I say he's opening up a conversation - using his art to question social mores and help us get to know people who we might ordinarily shun or shy away from. That's a powerful, direct conversation; not for everyone, but remarkable for those who embrace it.

What do you think? What is the job of art?

Technorati Tags: Artist mission, artists statement, job of art

Are you willing to become known for your dream?

OK… let me ask it again: are you really willing to become known for your dream? It's a question that seems to have an obvious answer ("Yes! Of course!") Yet, when you look at it, you may notice you have a tad of resistance. Or possibly even a LOT of resistance.

What many of us really want is to simply do the dream work. Dealing with a public around it - or even finding that public- is usually an afterthought, and for some of us, an inconvenient one.

This is precisely why I began my work helping creative souls build platform. For you can't be authentic to your dream if you're unwilling to become known by people. How will you ultimately get the job done if no one shows up to participate?

Instead, you have to approach your mission with at least a willingness to engage your public. That would include marketing your dream work, finding your audience, and developing that relationship. (Note, you don't have to be passionate about marketing - just willing for it to take place.) And you do have to be passionate about helping your audience.

In the final session of my recent section of the Get Known Now Blast Off, I tossed out all of my helpful tips on marketing systems and riffed for a solid hour on how to push past that innate resistance to getting known so many of us have. I really felt it was what my clients needed most

Many come to me openly needing help - but still resisting it all the same. It's as if they can't help it; they're wired to want to hide, despite their best intentions.

In the end, no marketing techniques are going to amount to a hill of beans if the client in question doesn't really want to find their audience - deep in their soul. So I ask you: are you willing to honestly get known? Are you willing to do what it takes to find your people?

Only you know the answer … and I hope it's a resounding Yes!

Technorati Tags: Motivation for artists, living the artist's life

How to Make the Most of Your Lunch Hour, Part II

On the other hand, it may just be plain hard to create in your fluorescent office environment with phones ringing and interruptions galore. You may be afraid to close your door while you work, or you may not even have a door. That's when it pays to walk over to the public library, a friend's office conference room, a park or nearby office lobby with a public space in it -- or anywhere where you can reasonably sit and do your work for a while.

I discovered this option when I worked in Times Square and began to hang around in the Starbucks on Eighth Avenue and 43d Street. A remarkable number of people from my office drifted in there at lunch hour, and there we'd sit, steadfastly ignoring each other, each of us bent over pieces of writing, or business plans, or sketches we were working on. The remarkable thing was that even though this was 'work', its very essence was as refreshing as taking a long, cool walk. Inevitably, I'd come back to work with renewed vigor, ready to face the day.

So what about lunch?

Bring it. That's the only way this particular plan works, because you have to watch the clock when you do this midday work-fest. An hour goes by fast when you're deep in your dream, so you don't want any of it wasted waiting in line for a tuna fish sandwich. Better to get yourself some sort of lunch box, stock it, and stow it in the company fridge each day. (Enough companies have microwaves that you might even score a hot lunch this way.) Then eat it as your desk before, after or as you tackle your dream.

At any rate, do remember: it's your lunch hour. You earned it, and you get to use it. Don't ever let anyone persuade you otherwise. Furthermore, you'll be more productive the rest of the day by properly taking care of yourself in the first place. Finally, if the concept of using any lunch hours at all for your dream seems impossible, then you are probably working too hard. That's when it's time to reevaluate your job -- not your dream.

You may even find that once you begin to have your dream for lunch on a regular basis, other assorted dreamers may seek you out and offer support and encouragement. You might even want to start an unofficial group, like a Lunchtime Joy Group, meeting every few weeks to check in on each other's progress and offer encouragement.

Take your dream to lunch and see what happens. If nothing else, balance may miraculously return to your life.

Technorati Tags: Time management, creativity coaching, living your dreams

Can You Really Have What You Want? Part II

More on yesterday's topic about making the commitment to get what you want in life:

Often we don't focus on getting what we want because somewhere along the way, we decided we don't deserve that much happiness and fulfillment.

I trace my own inclination to think that way back to a pivotal lunch with my mother back in my senior year in high school, when she asked me what I wanted to do with my life. As I was about to answer, 'Be a singer or a writer,' she pointed a finger at me and announced triumphantly, 'Communications! You're going to be GREAT in communications!" At that point in my life I was all about pleasing my elders.

So I promptly burst into tears, and went on to spend 18 years in advertising, 'communicating' and hating myself all the while.

Seeds get planted that shouldn't be allowed to grow; ideas get listened to that should have been ignored. We cast about looking for anyone else but ourselves to give us direction -- and yet, WE are the only ones who can give us the permission to really, truly, honestly create what we want in life.

(And believe me - we really DO know what it is that we want, even when we're convinced we don't.)

We can do what we want with our lives, but only if we are brave enough to seize the initiative -- even if that means not listening to Mom and going it alone.

The urge not to provide ourselves with what we need in life is a sort of Creative Anorexia, deprivation that is all about a distorted picture of who we think we are and deserve. The real irony is that seldom do the contingency plans and hedged bets work out.

During my entire career in advertising I never made half the salary that my other, more eager co-workers made. The simple fact was that I didn't want to be there, nor should I have been.

Perhaps the road to what you want won't be easy or lined with gold, but it will be one hundred percent honest. And that provides riches you can't even begin to count. So get out there, make a plan you can stick to, and begin to do what you want.

I'm here to say that you do, indeed, deserve it.

Technorati Tags: Career coaching, self esteem, living your dreams

Can You Really Have What You Want? Part I

As you read this, I'm taking an actual vacation. (Yes!! That's right folks … she actually put away the computer!) So I've taken the liberty of posting some favorite entries from my ezine, The Joy Letter. Hope they give you food for thought. And do drop by and sign up if you feel you want a tad more joy in your life. You'll get our cool 'Make a Dream Binder' freebie as a gift.

Do you really believe you can have what you want? Or do you tend to operate with your feet in two camps -- one that says, 'I'm going out there and pursue my dream' and another that says, 'I'll also hedge my bets by doing something I don't love that much, just in case the dream thing doesn't work out.' This is what a life coach I worked with, Persephone Zill, would call "indirectness".

I am here to say, indirectness doesn't work.

I spent a lot of time in life hedging my bets under the mistaken illusion that this was mature, business-like behavior. The real irony is that seldom have these supposedly businesslike ideas ever produced income or other results that I thought for sure they would.

The urge to hedge your bets often runs contrary to everything your gut instincts scream at you to do.

Your instinct says 'Quit the job! Go get licensed! Be a teacher kids never forget!" Meanwhile, you hedge your bets by continuing to do work that doesn't feed your soul, and taking a course here and there that never really moves you any closer to the dream.

You justify your lack of action by insisting you can't afford to quit your job, or deciding you don't want to change your lifestyle and live on a teacher's salary. 

And yet ... what do you want? Do you want a life that's half-way, but never all the way, to the dream? Do you want the excuses, or do you want the results? For a lot of us, the excuses, and the half-baked life are all we think we deserve.

I'll post more on this topic tomorrow. How about you? Where are you hedging your own bets?

Technorati Tags: Career coaching, self esteem, living your dreams

What are your favorite creative blogs or public discussion groups?

I only have six lonely entries on my Blog Buddies list - and I'd sure like more. What's your favorite source for creative stimulation? Surely there are juicy, creative, inspiring blogs you love to hang at, and I'd like to drop by and get a little juice myself. So share your resources if you would, and I'd be grateful.

Please feel free to leave a comment here with your favorite creativity themed blog, or public discussion group. Thanks for sharing!

Technorati Tags: Creativity, artist resources

More Ideas on Where to Find Creative Stimulation

Here's a thoughtful post I got from a reader (with a cool blog) named Inspirational Sheila in response to my request, 'what do you do to find creative stimulation'. Her suggestion is a great one, whether you are a photographer or not. Seeing things differently in any way can stimulate all kinds of ideas!

She wrote:

"I take my camera for a walk and "Through the Lens" all kinds of magical discoveries, in addition to peace and joy, occur. Some of the photos become sources of inspiration for others when they become featured in Picture to Ponder my twice-weekly photo ezine. Recently some of those photos have sourced the expansion of my own writing onto my new Picture Pondering blog. Nature is my biggest source for that creative stimulation. The comments of others who have responded to my work is another."