As Walt Disney said, "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." I first read this quote when I was eight or nine years old in Walt Disney's biography, and it stuck with me!
First, a confession: I never expected to write a children's book! I honestly never expected to be a performing singer/songwriter either! But I'm sure glad life led me down these paths! Both things feel purposeful and natural and right, unlike some of my other life adventures that were forced and difficult and wrong (cough, cough marriage, LOL!).
Often in life, we feel like we are moving backwards or at least like we can't get ahead! Sometimes, it just feels like we are going the wrong direction or worse, like we are stuck! But a lot of the time, or maybe all of the time, these obstacles and setbacks we face are necessary to move us to the next leg of our journey. It's so easy to see that when looking backwards!
In fact, my book, HTRP, actually came to be because of setbacks, stress, and struggles! Writing the story was my escape from reality and it truly has been wonderful to merge so many things I love: telling stories, writing songs, sketching pictures, writing poetry, sharing my animals, creating kid entertainment, fostering good values, and of course, trumpeting humor! Every part of HTRP has been a blast! That old saying, 'do what you love' rings truer than true!
Of course, with the Yang comes the Yin! In addition to the fun I had creating the actual content and art to share, I've spent quite a lot of grueling hours learning and laboring over book formatting, promotion, and publishing -- What a curious thing! I am utterly amazed at the number of steps and avenues necessary to get a book to a published state. While the process is similar to releasing a CD, it feels way more intense. Likely, a big part of that is I've done everything myself on this one, whereas on my album MOTHER'S SELF-RISING, I had an amazing producer (Larry Mitchell)! But these challenges have been GOOD! And ALL of it feels like moving forward!
As you already know, to keep moving forward, it takes work, a good attitude, and sacrifice. I'd also add that it takes giving into the acceptance of things you cannot change. When things are too hard, too rough, or feel like a rock wall you cannot crack, or like they are in your way, they are usually not the things we should be doing (cough, cough, marriage again, lol!). Not to say that things should be easy, but there's a grand difference between hard work and impenetrable barriers! Knowing the difference really may be the secret to success because there is ALWAYS something else to go and do when something is not working!
So, I'll end today with this cool moment: A good friend of mine recently commented on a post I made on Facebook of my live performance/lyric video for my new HTRP song, "Trouble Waits for Me!". On that post, he wrote: "You really dig into this one and that extra commitment was great!" I have to say: It felt GREAT to play that song in that moment!
With all of my worlds colliding in that moment, I felt exhilarated! It felt like I had a secret. It felt like SUCCESS! Despite the day job, the daily budget woes, and parenting struggles; despite knowing I have loads of work to do to market my book and my songs; and despite the work needed to record the new songs and prepare to publish "Book Two" of HTRP late this summer, I felt accomplished! (Just writing all of those things"to-do" is overwhelming! Whew!)
But... Playing the song that I wrote for the book that I wrote on a stage where I am a paid performing musician with an attentive audience, a girl who started pretty late in life following her creative passions, suddenly felt just right! Like I'm doing exactly what I should be doing, finally.
I do feel like I'm on an AMAZING path! And all it took to get here, really, has been the faith and determination to 'keep moving forward' despite the detours and bumps along the path (and those I anticipate each day ahead). Moving forward has led me to a wonderful community of supportive people and artists that I never would have found had I remained on the wrong path, and I highly recommend that you KEEP MOVING FOWARD too because I'm pretty certain there's a higher power that has a hand in all of this!
If you'd like to watch the live performance/lyric video of my new song, here's the link! "Trouble Waits for Me!"
And as is my tradition, I'm ending this today with a thoughtful quote, this time, from Dr. Seuss: "You'll never be bored if you try something new. There's really no limit to what you can do!"
I hope you'll subscribe to follow this journey! I'll be posting at least weekly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, maybe more often, less often if I have nothing to say. And here's my Linktree so you can find and follow other things I am doing.
Cheers,
Jeannie