Since my last post, I've taken a number of steps towards expanding, growing and diversifying my business. And it feels great! I've reached a place where I'm willing to go beyond just TALKING about my ideas (my friend, Jeff, calls this state "Professional Planning"). But now I'm actually DOING something concrete to reach those dreams.
As a result, my head feels like a perky popcorn maker. The ideas are coming so fast and, to my pleasant surprise, without the usual accompaniment of fear and loathing. In my past, when I would think about creating a tv show or DVDs or whatever, I would typically find reasons why it was beyond me - whether it was too much of a risk, too expensive or time consuming - I could always come up with enough good reasons to NOT do something. I was a Professional Obstacle Creator. But now the ideas are opportunities that I can apply to my growth. And they just keep coming as if I've been holding them back for years...which I have!
Interestingly, I find myself in a place where the possibility of falling down or embarrassing myself in front of others is insufficient to stop me from taking these steps. I'm not concentrating on falling down, though. I'm concentrated on activating my potential to move forward. And y'know what? Everyone I meet becomes a potential teacher or partner. It's as if I've been reborn into a new way of perceiving myself and the world around me.
It reminds me of that feeling you get when you're in love: the world looks and smells better, colors become more vibrant, one notices as if for the first time how very blue and beautiful the sky is. To some people, this might be the spark of the divine coming alive in oneself. To me, it's being in touch with the river that is at my center that has been there since I was a child. It's a very spiritual and comforting feeling.
Looking at it another way, I believe that I am as a stick in a great river traveling through its fast currents, getting caught temporarily in obstacles and either allowing or fighting against the difficulties that I encounter. As I allow myself to flow with the current, I can choose to enjoy the ride - even during those times when I know that I am caught - for I know that in time a way will open up for me to continue on my journey.
Right now, though, it feels like I'm floating down a wide open part of the river looking up at a cloudless sky and the branches that gently overhang above me. I am just enjoying the ride.
"What a day for a daydream. Custom made for a daydreamin' boy." (John Sebastian)
Isn't music a wondeful gift? It's this amazing way in which to get connected to oneself and to the sense of oneness that has always been and will forever be. And working with children in music is doubly rewarding because they are still free of so much that might inhibit them from connecting to themselves and that source in their teen years. I don't need to create an opportunity for young children to connect with music for it finds them and they start dancing and singing without any concern for how they look or perform. They are the true, organic artists. They are my role models.
May I continue floating down this river to the melody of my own child-like sense of play and wonder.
