Passion Pays the Bills: Deciding
Last Monday, I posted a list of ideas about How to Take Your Passion and Pay the Bills. I said I wasn’t quite sure what would happen with the list. In the past week, I’ve decided (*wink*) that most of the items could use some further explanation. So let’s start with number 1: Decide.
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Oprah Winfrey says “Nothing happens until we decide.” (I agree.)
We can spend a lot of time making decisions. We get stuck. We procrastinate. We spin round and round, looking for THE ONE PERFECT answer. (Well, I do, anyway.) We’re cautious (because we’re afraid). After all, we want to make sure we’re making the right decision.
We’re unable to separate deciding what to do from figuring out how to do it.
For example, when deciding to change my entire life by returning to school, it took me a long (long, long) time and a lot of steps to get there.
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Looking back, all the time and steps I took to make that decision were really about getting ready to make and keep a commitment.
(Plus, I believed I could find out EXACTLY what I was getting myself into without actually doing it. Oh, it’s a good thing, I started studying singing spontaneously! *wink*)
I’ve learned from improvising that the seed of an idea can be enough. That not every “i” can be dotted or “t” can (or should!) be crossed before you commit to trying something. That you can work things out as you go. That you can start and stop and start again.
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Once I decided I wanted to sing (and maybe even try to make a living doing it *smile*), I was able to focus on and put my energies toward that. I could ask questions and find answers and get support.
You may not have found your passion yet. That’s okay.
You can decide to look for it.
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Reminder: The next Songtaneous session is this Saturday, October 10.
Visit the Events page to see the entire Songtaneous schedule.
Oh! I can so relate.. especially to the starting and stopping and starting again… and the trap of separating “deciding what to do from figuring out how to do it!”
I’m not sure if I ever told you about this, but a good book all about using your passion to pay the bills is “Making a Living Without a Job” by Barbara Winter.
Keep these coming, Sarah!
🙂 Patty
07 Oct 2009 at 1:21 pm
@Patty – thanks for the comment and the book suggestion!
08 Oct 2009 at 1:54 pm
[…] I wrote this last week, I realized that the line between deciding and committing is very, very fine. Once you’ve […]
12 Oct 2009 at 12:05 pm
[…] decided, you’ve committed, now it’s time to start […]
18 Oct 2009 at 11:22 pm
Sarah,
It is awesome to see you following your passion! I remember sitting with you over dinner at a restaurant on Lake Street many moons ago sharing my passion for using music to address social issues and look at cha now! You inspire me girrrlll. My passion is to one day get my website up again for Key of V!…okay I said it out loud…the first step.
By the way, this is the first time I’ve ever blogged in my life…another first step.
24 Oct 2009 at 3:27 am
I remember that dinner too. *smile*
I heartily support your dream to get your web site going again. (I even know a thing or two about setting up web sites. We should talk more *wink*)
singingly,
sg
24 Oct 2009 at 12:13 pm
[…] whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material […]
08 Nov 2009 at 9:24 pm
[…] Decide […]
07 Dec 2009 at 1:03 am