No-one is going to create you. You have to create yourself.
I once knew a musician who routinely performed at open mic nights in bars across London. He had this romanticised swagger about him; just a man and his guitar case cruising the grey streets in search of the next stage he could strum and sing his acoustic covers on.
He would routinely send invites to these events on Facebook, rallying friends to come through and support, and I recall thinking, each time I got one —when is he going to step off the open mic circuit and into his next evolution as a musician? Get a weekly gig in one of those bars, perform his own songs, start a band, release an ep…
Truth be told, I’m not sure he ever did graduate from open mic night, and hey; maybe the forlorn artist at open mic night was the dream and he achieved it. To which I say; thank you all for coming, this will be my final song for the evening, see you at the bar! I guess you can get your kicks out of that for a while.
But more likely; he didn't have the courage to commit to the artist’s journey. Maybe he looked too far ahead and it all seemed impossible to achieve, so he didn't try. Maybe he simply didn't give himself permission to be an artist; to let the real artist inside come alive and live to leave his creative imprint on the world.
Creating your life is a journey of creating yourself. It means facing your wounds, blocks and limiting beliefs on the path to authentic actualisation. And yes, its giving yourself permission to create the life you desire and make this deep, authentic agreement with yourself.
"I would not look back, I would be an artist." - the words of musician Patti Smith when she made her creative life promise.
It's a commitment to go from wishing and manifesting, to actually backing yourself. To moving in a starting direction and trusting the way will present itself as you go. By taking those next bold steps when it does, towards shaping the life - and career - you envision. And then owning your space and embodying what you've created.
No one is going to give you permission to live your dream creative life, you have to choose it and give it to yourself. And what is life if you don't throw yourself at the thing that makes you most happy? Oh, it will be hard work, but it’ll be the best hard work you ever do. That’s the truth.
Incrementally here for this.
How about you?
Thanks for reading.
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