The success of failure ‘A live donkey is better than a dead lion, isn’t it?’- -Shackleton, to his wife, upon returning from a failed polar expedition. It’s 1914 and you’re leading an expedition to be the first to cross Antarctica by ship when your vessel gets trapped by pack ice. Months go by and you …
“Can I speak to you for a minute, Valerie?” Samuel (not his real name), an extremely bright and talented cellist, had started showing up to class late, looking suddenly much thinner, with dark circles under his eyes. I was concerned. One day he asked to speak with me after class. We went to find a …
In part 1 and part 2 on this subject I’ve been looking at how tuning into your inner smart meter can really help you become more efficient, healthy and happy as an artist. How do you read the dial on your smart meter? To tune in to your energy levels, for example, you can assign …
In the first part, I wrote about the idea of having an internal smart meter and how we can attune to it. For artists, who often work freelance or have unusual work schedules, this is particularly vital. On reading up about smart meters, it’s uncanny how far the metaphor extends, as you’ll see… Smart meters …
The other morning, I woke up with an image before me – the tail-end of a dream. Someone had installed a meter next to me on my right-hand side. I knew it belonged to me now – in fact, it seemed to be part of me. “I know,” I said to myself, half asleep, “it’s …
The author at six, already making soup. As a performer, do you find it hard to get down to practise? Or do you feel like you’ve never done enough? Or maybe both? As a kid, it was just compulsory- a set time for piano practice every day, with no discussion. I had hoops to jump …
Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash Say you’re a singer going for auditions. If you’re only regarding the audition as a success if you get the job, then probably (considering the saturated marketplace) many of your auditions will be “failures”. It’s also possible that you’ll be so worried about making a good impression and pleasing …
How do you define success as a performing artist? Read More »
The very first self-help book I ever read (and I’ve read a lot) was Susan Jeffers’ “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway” back in the ‘90’s. It was revolutionary for me for many reasons- such a practical book, easy to read and full of ways to help you wake up and become more aware …
I never imagined that the many limitations enforced by coronavirus would act as a creative stimulus, but constraints can push us into new and unexpected territory. As artists, we often find it useful to impose deliberate constraints upon ourselves as a way of firing up new ideas.
Dear Creative Artists, How are you feeling today? How are you adapting to your new reality? If you’re like me, you may have felt really knocked off balance by recent events. As creative artists, we already have to deal frequently with uncertainty, criticism and rejection from peers, teachers and employers. Dealing with not passing exams …