Letting Other People Connect the Dots
Premise: When you do your work authentically (i.e. you’re doing the things you feel called to do), even if it’s in multiple and what feel (to you) like disconnected directions, your actions and projects acquire a cohesiveness to external viewers. They see and make connections you never anticipated.
(Wow, that was kinda highfalutin’? How about an example?)
Some of you remember how much I struggled to redesign my web site. *smile* Finally, I realized that I was challenged by how to present myself and the numerous and varied things I wanted to do (perform, teach, Songtaneous, blog, freelance, earn a living, etc.) without appearing undisciplined, unfocused or unbelievable. (She doesn’t really do all of that!).
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I finally worked out what I wanted to say on my web site with the help of friends and family and you, faithful readers. (Posting here helps me organize my thoughts.) I drilled down to the reason I want to sing — I want to change the world. (Talk about highfalutin’ *smile*, but I do.)
Once I stated and embraced that, I had a litmus test or lens for my work and projects. When I have an idea, I ask does it support this goal? Does it feel right? (Not “Will people understand it?,” “Should I talk about this on my web site?,” “Will this confuse people?”)
It helped me talk about singing and teaching and why they’re important to me. It helped me incorporate my blog into my web site. It helped me write a page about my publishing freelance skills that doesn’t feel smarmy and inappropriate. It gave me permission to talk about how I want to do my work and music rather than trying to tailor the work and music I do to fit a certain group or audience.
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Fast forward a couple months and now I’m struggling to create my enewsletter. (Unfortunately, even after you pick an authentic direction, you’re not done with Doubt, Procrastination or Stuck.) But I talked about with friends and family and whined posted about it here and …
Last week, I mailed my first enewsletter about ways you can work or study with me this summer. (Yes, I finally finished it. Take that, Stuck!) And people responded (thanks, people!). They emailed me questions and even passed on my email to others which is how I met my newest friend and fan, B.
B called me after someone forwarded her my newsletter. She’s working on her own start-up, entrepreneurial, self-employed, service-oriented adventure and she liked my model. (I have a model! How cool is that?!?) She complimented me on my web site and blog and praised how all of the content fit together and supported my vision statement – artistry through improvisation.
In fact, she explained to me how presenting my numerous and disparate work areas (vocalist, instructor, web designer, publishing and marketing freelancer) was improvisational. She saw my presentations on my site from the navigation menus, to the music samples to the photo slideshow as improvisational solutions. (Whaddya know?)
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The moral of the story? You don’t have to do all the work. You have to do your work. Your work is to drill down to the essence of who you are, what you want to do and why you want to do it. If you’re brave and authentic when you communicate it, your audience (readers, fans, right people, etc.) will put the pieces together in ways that fit for them. (Some of which, you could have never even imagined. *smile*)
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Don’t forget if you’re in the Twin Cities area – we’re celebrating 3 years of Songtaneous this Saturday.
