How are you feeling about your career?
Are you where you want to be?
Is your audience growing and adoring you?
Do you have money coming in from your work and systems in place for much more to flow in the new year?
Take a moment….and truly ask,
How is it going?
As we near the end of the year, this is a big time for reflection, to ask,
What is working?
What is NOT working?
And as Creatives, we tend to get really caught up in what’s NOT working. It can be devastating to put out so much of ourselves, our passion and craft, and not see the return we desire.
And wanting to put on the “brave face” makes it even harder, especially at this time of year when we have the pressure of holidays, family, and all the gatherings where people are asking US,
So….how’s it going??
It can feel like we are cracking, and coming undone.
And we can’t have that, right? We have to keep it together. We may feel we have to:
look the part
fake it til we make it
appear confident
Isn’t that how success comes?
Oh my God……there’s a HUGE crack…..
I look down at my bowl in my bathroom and see this enormous crack in the clay.
I pick up the bowl and can feel a panic in my stomach. As I cup the base, my mind starts to race,
I just GOT this
This bowl was made for my husband and I as a wedding gift from one of my Zen teachers and dear friends. Using the Raku technique, she made us a ring bowl, which was used in our wedding ceremony. My husband and I placed our wedding rings in this bowl when we made our sacred vows to each other.
There was deep significance to this bowl.
Deep significance to this marriage.
I went through a devastating divorce six years ago, and the journey to finding love again was quite intense. I had a ton of healing to do. I went on the first date of my LIFE at the age of 38, I had to learn all the ins and outs of online dating, in which I was a complete beginner and VERY awkward. I had to get in touch with my feminine, which had been completely shut down for years. I had zero confidence.
I worked with coaches, I signed up for videos and email lists, because I kept feeling SO lost. I knew I wanted this with all my heart, but was struggling in the process.
I would get my hopes up so many times, thinking I was truly READY for lasting love, only to be disappointed again. And time was ticking….I was in my early 40’s and really struggling with wanting him here now.
How much time did I really have?
Have you ever felt this?
The urgency of time?
When I finally found my life partner it was a whole new level, one I never thought possible, and I found myself burst open with love. The life I had only dreamed of was coming true. All the work I had done was now coming to fruition.
Our wedding ceremony was profound for me. In front of closest family and friends, I took a deep breath, and felt the emotion rise in my throat as I ended my vows staring into the eyes of my beloved with,
20 years ago I stood before witnesses
believing I understood this act.
I honor and love that woman
who’s long sleep brought me to this day.
Today, I meet her on the shore
and turn to you whole,
my dear love.
I vow to awaken within our clasped hands and joined lives.
from the crickets song to the dying leaves.
Unfurled in the sacred space,
petals open for all to see,
I vow to love you,
Lights on and Awake.
The day was amazing. The wedding was sacred and beautiful. My husband and I brought that special bowl back to our house and placed it in our bathroom to hold our rings.
Deep significance.
And now there was a crack……
What did this mean?
I thought I had worked through all of this!
Wasn’t this bowl supposed to be a symbol of the healing, and the wholeness of finding each other?
I reached out to my teacher Hojin to ask if she could repair the bowl and she said she absolutely could. Having just returned from India, she actually had this new technique of filling the crack with gold.
Within a short time, the bowl was returned to us and I had expected to just see the crack, and now saw a gold line throughout the whole bowl. That wasn’t there before….had it cracked more?
When I asked Hojin about it, she said,
I had to break it open to fix it.
It had to come apart to be repaired.
And then I got it. All of it.
And I now saw the beauty, and honestly, how the bowl in it’s present state was actually perfect.
My whole life came apart in order to discover my true calling as an Artist.
My marriage came apart for me to discover what true and healthy love actually was.
My career as a performer came apart for me to create my own platform and work I love.
The WAY I WAS in my life broke open.
I surrendered, I asked for help, and my cracks that I had tried for YEARS to hide, finally broke me open.
And for the first time, I had deep connection with my audience and raving fans. I realized I had been going about growing my audience completely BACKWARDS.
The cracks had actually been there all along SHOWING me what wasn’t working. They were pointing to where I was exhausting myself. They were pointing to where I was trying the same thing OVER AND OVER and expecting different results.
Isn’t that the definition of insanity?
And how about you?
As you take this time to reflect on 2018, where are your cracks?
Are you more concerned with having it all together, then actually getting the help you need?
What do you need?
Do you even know?
Our journey as Artists is not linear.
Our journey was never meant to do alone.
It can feel deeply isolating in the struggle, but perhaps the struggle is there to HELP you….
Take a moment, without judgement and close your eyes. Come into your body and connect to your breath. Now ask yourself,
What do I MOST need?
Let this arise, cracks and all. Allow yourself to see where you truly are. Release the judgement that you have to do this by yourself.
Crack open.
And then place your attention on the REPAIR. Fill the cracks with GOLD. That means, actually addressing what you need NOW to build your career as an Artist and to grow your audience.
And by GOLD, I mean skillful.
I mean helpful.
I mean from someone who GETS you and can actually partner with you to create the results you want in your career. Someone who is either a professional or has been a professional.
Your career, this precious bowl…..what could it mean to repair what’s not working?
What would be possible for you then?
I’m standing for your dreams.
Gold in hand.