Sunday, March 8, 2015

Sunday Tunes

Love her. Love this album already.



Excuse me while I rock out all week to this new jam!

Saturday, March 7, 2015

New Lens, New Sight

Sometimes its good to take a step back and refocus on the bigger picture. I've been spending a great deal of time  thinking, planning, writing, debating, and thinking even more. Yeah, we all do that, but the funny thing is lately I've been looking through a new lens.

Instead of focusing on problems and issues, I've been actively focusing on possibilities. In other words, I'm trying not to "wet blanket" ideas, but let them pour out before crossing them out. Sounds funny, but I think it's made the biggest difference in my attitude and outlook on life recently.

See, I'm a worrier.
"Hello, my name is Julie and I'm Worry Wart."
Hello, Julie.
Admitting there's a problem is the first step.

And in doing so, I've realized I've been wasting a great deal of time stuck in the middle of the road wondering what's going to happen because none of my plans are working out. First of all, what plans? When you're standing still, immobile due to fear or concern, you're not doing anything other than standing there in a full on state of internal panic. Let me tell you, not a lot gets done that way.

I used to be a dreamer, letting my mind soar through my imagination of possibility. Then I hit adulthood, real life work with bills constantly falling into my mailbox and my imagination shut down. That dread and concern coated all creative thought in a dank, dark gray, tainting just about everything I could possible think about. But lucky for me, my imagination, my desire to create, just wouldn't take this "foreclosure" lying down.

In changing my perspective, I feel like a fog is lifting, things are getting clear, and the colors more vivid--think Dorothy's first look at Munchkin Land. You get the picture.

Part of this change in perspective came from being inspired by others. It was time to stop seeing what someone else is creating or doing and thinking, "Aw, man...why couldn't I do that?" Or asking myself "how did they do that" and thinking it came so easy, their work effortless and stress free. Or worse, being jealous of their success saying, "if only I had this or that or more of...etc." All those thoughts had to stop. I needed to refocus, turn it on it's head and look it all from a different perspective. So I started branching out, looking at people's brands, reading up on interviews, craving to find out more while constantly reminding myself they started with one decision: to jump it.

We don't always see the stress or strain of a new project. We don't always see the hard work that goes into building new projects. We don't always see the mess up's, the whoops and oops moments, or even the scrapped ideas. Most of the time we see the final product or read the interviews over the success of something. All of that wouldn't be possible if that person hadn't just decided to start.

Long rambling aside, if you're stuck in a place of terror, paralyzed by the fear of failing, messing up, or making the wrong choice, remember the only wrong choice is choosing not to do anything at all. It finally hit me that not making a decision on anything left me planted without moving towards anything I really wanted.

I had forgotten that dreams take time to build and work towards. Write it down, say it out loud without any hesitation or question of if it will work. Lay it out, look at it closely, and then figure out what to do.  You can create when you have material to work with so it's time to get started, think it up! The best way to learn is to just do. What's the worst that could happen?

I'm using every moment I have right now to dream without limits, to plan and rewrite as needed, and use all my knowledge I have to start taking steps towards my new adventures. And you know what? I'll still be learning as I walk through the process.

 "You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have."
- Maya Angelou

Your imagination is a muscle. Work it. Stretch it. Use it every day and see what happens.

If you want to be inspired, go to www.iamgeneration.com by Nikon. Watch the clips of seven very different stories and see how these people are living their lives following their passion. Let it fuel you, not discourage you. Take someone's work and use it to motivate yourself to let those creative juices fly. And drink coffee. That always helps me.

What's your inspiration to dream?
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