Days 286-307: 58 Days and Counting

Well, almost  a whole month has passed and I did not post. Of course a lot has happened. For the most part, I have been awakened more. I realized that I have to take the responsibility for where I am in life, and guess what? When I started to monitor my conversations with people, my thoughts, my actions. I have been in a self-defeating mode for a while. Its odd, because I was not even aware of my habit. Until I silenced myself for a bit.

I started listening to the conversations that I would have with people. I begin looking how I treated myself. I begin to really look at where I spent my time, as compared to what I dreamed of. I started paying attention to my friends and what they approached me with---like the topics and all. My family too. I started to question my habits and I started measuring my actions against what I said I wanted out of life. I guess you can call it a end of the year self audit.

What I found really amazed me. I realized that the convos I was having with most my friends were not in alignment with my dreams. I was wasting time talking about trying and not doing. So I started to get to doing. When I started doing, I noticed that I did not really have that much in common with certain friends. Because I was doing. This goes for family too. I noticed that its so easy to have conversations about whats going wrong, and its oddly harder to speak openly about what's going right in our lives. I then noticed that if all my time is spent talking about whats wrong---I'm just going to get more of that. So this month---I've had to correct myself, and correct people so they will not add me to their life categories.

I've learned that its really easy to live out your dream if you never quit. I realized that you must self promote. I have learned that you must take yourself very seriously, because if at one time you were a lazy looser, and then you want to change. People will need to be introduced to the upgraded you.

So here I am. I have 58 days until my goal date for my career change of Feb 17th. So roughly almost 2 months. Well, let me tell you---I had no clue I was going to loose my job in July and then end up moving to Atlanta to officially start my professional acting career. I mean I technically started it in Durham, NC---however, I did have a job then and all. So now its like the real thing. Its amazing how things change when you make a decision. It has not been a smooth ride. But I'm riding this dream thing out. This time, I'm finally doing it.

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Day 285: Building Muscle

I'm building tough skin or muscle when it comes to my professional life. I've learned to love what I create no matter what people say. I've also learned that we all get used and that oddly, all things do work out in our favor. I've learned that you should never try to prove your dreams to anyone. You should know what you want, and if people ask you what you are doing you can show them. Physical evidence is always the best explanation. Because just like art, people will interpret what they want from what they see.

I type all of this today to say that I used to spend a lot of time explaining to people what I was doing. When really it only matters if I understand what I am doing. Because at the end of the day, I must live with my results good and bad. Its cool though to live with what you have created, instead of waiting for someone else's approval or dis approval. When it comes to making money from your art, that's an art too. People like what they like, and when it comes to commerce they may like what you don't even deem important.

I say all of this to say that I have built muscle in my 5 months from work in regard to my art. A muscle that I thought already existed, but it did not. Its not a shield, its more like a cold reality, its more like the strength of my legs to walk. I now have muscle to create and get to where I am going in real time, instead of only in my dreams.

I am happy.

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Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com

Love this

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Day 281: Productivity Trick For The Super Creative

I am a super creative person. However, if my mind is not stimulated well. I tend to get into work for a few hours ( an hour at the most, at one time, to churn out the best work). So, I had to figure out how to handle this issue, because I must turn in work and complete projects. I must make some progress.

So here's what worked for me. Set up your work space with your different projects in each corner. Spend an hour straight on each project or more. But make sure you stop at each station. Let me explain what I have done.

So Right Now I have Two Books I am writing ( two different styles), I have some business writing to do, I have some sketches I must do, I am a an actor---so I need to look for work and do some research on that too.

So the other day, I did my morning blogging, I then went straight to sketching some designs. I took a break after 2 hours of work, and then I wrote some of ONE book. I then went to focusing on my acting.

Now this may seem messy, but it actually works, because after let's say 10 hours. You will have at least 3 hours of quality work into some great projects. Also, when you are creating, I would focus on simply creating quality and focused work initially, and then clean up your work at a later date. This method also works well for me, because creative work needs to sit with you for a while. It needs to cook :)

So anyways, I am off to my creative cooking for today.

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