If you’re like me, you’ve done some daydreaming about your passion. Maybe you have a vision board, or keep a journal or scrapbook. (Maybe you rehearse your acceptance speech before you fall asleep each night. *wink*)
Maybe your passion is only a snapshot in your mind. In it, you’re doing your thing and it’s a “success.” People love it. They buy it or use it or applaud for it. (Or, maybe you just get to do something you love a lot more often. *smile*)
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Having a vision is important. But, if we spend too much time imagining our passion (rather than taking steps to achieve it), we can create a skewed or even unattainable picture of what success at our thing looks like. Or we let others tell us what success at our thing should look like.
This perfect picture can stop us from moving forward and can keep us from recognizing the progress we’re making.
We only see our dreams all dressed up for a night on the town (not in their bathrobes washing the dishes.)
Don’t get discouraged when success doesn’t show up dressed the way you expect, learn to be flexible.
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Being flexible doesn’t mean being fuzzy or wishy-washy about what you want to accomplish. It’s not about compromising your passion’s integrity, it’s about looking for ways to pursue your passion that you can control.
Being flexible allows you to adjust — instead of abandon — your plans when circumstances change. It allows you to set small cumulative goals you can achieve and to acknowledge (heck, maybe even celebrate!) your progress.
Being flexible about your definition of success allows you to pursue your passion more fully. It makes it easier to succeed.
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I recall watching Whoopi Goldberg respond to a question from an audience member on the show the Actor’s Studio many years ago. This person asked her what he needed to do to be an actor. Goldberg replied, “Act.”
She went on to say that finding places to act and ways to work on becoming a better actor were easy. Trying to get famous for acting was a completely different story and involved a lot of luck.
So work to separate doing your passion from getting recognition for doing your passion.
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Spontaneous singing is all about being flexible. When something isn’t working, you explore it and find a way around it. Or you stop and wait for what’s happening around you to change. (But that’s kind of like getting locked out of your house and not looking to see if you have a spare key. If you know somebody else will be home soon, it might make sense to wait. If you live by yourself, you might want to move on to Plan B.)
Usually, you try something else. If that doesn’t work, you try another something else.
You have your vision. Keep adapting and refining the way you do your thing. Keep walking toward success.
(Just make sure you’ll recognize it if it shows up wearing its bathrobe.)
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Remember, Songtaneous is this SATURDAY, November 7 at 2pm. And for those of you in or near the Twin Cities, I’ll be performing at the Artists’ Quarter Friday and Saturday night.
