I’ve decided that this year will be the year of breaking the rules – rewriting old stories and doing things I’ve never done before. I think we dodged a bullet at the end of the world so what’s the loss?
Here are some of the ways I pushed the boundaries of what I know…
Looking for inspiration in unexpected places
Believe it or not, I get some of my best ideas while doing the dishes. Something about the warm water running down my hands just transports me far away. I remember things from the past, people I wanted to connect with and ideas I thought were off. If I play music, I’ll start writing poetry…
Listening to music
In general, it’s a way to get my creative juices flowing. Music is my first love. From the early days of 4-song cassettes playing on my portable deck, to my first record player and then years of training as a classical flutist, school choir, live concerts, being a dj, singing in a band… it went on and on… Sometimes -sometimes music affects me so deeply that it makes me instantly daydream, and I can’t concentrate on anything but the dream images it evokes. It’s not necessarily good for “work work” but it’s definitely good for reminding me that my dreams are possible, and it would be so much fun to do whatever I can to live inside some of those songs again…
Reach
This was the year that I left whatever remnants of shame I might be harboring and just reached out to whoever I felt I wanted to connect with. Why not? What’s the loss? I’ve made some great friendships just by reaching out to people on Twitter. This is a great model for life. If you have something important to say to the new person in your life, keep it short and sweet, never spam, and see if you get a response. Why not?
Have patience
I’ve submitted a request to connect on LinkedIn and then suddenly, nine months or a year later, out of the blue, I get a note back with acceptance of my offer. Well shoot, look at that. Sometimes things just don’t happen on my time frame.
Release
I had to throw so much spaghetti against the wall to see what would stick. I’m a freelancer, so it’s just a way of life. Anyone who’s involved in sales, or who’s involved in some sort of creative endeavour – you know what I’m talking about. Some things work, and some don’t. You have to be willing to try it, and not get too attached to the results. Oddly enough, sometimes the less you endure, the more good things come back to you. I swear it’s true. I’m not going to lie.
Pay attention to random connections
The strangest things happen when you least expect it. A friend of a friend on Facebook recently contacted me to tell me we share the same last name (he goes by a stage name), and wondered if we were siblings. Well, it’s not clear, but it turns out that our family does come from the same eastern European city. So you never know.
Brave
When I base my decisions on fear, I feel like crap. I expected the worst, my sense of hope and happiness dried up, and I became very cranky. On the other hand, when I take risks, when I do, I feel anything is possible. I’m pretty sure that courage is one part of not being afraid of pain, and another part of not being afraid of what people think of you…
Here’s a bit of the story… Once when I was in my early 20s, I went on a weekend road trip with some friends who had a three year old daughter. On our second day together, this little girl and I were hanging out in a flower field, just the two of us, and she secretly picked a little flower and put it in my hair. At one point, out of nowhere, he looked at me and said, “It’s okay, you don’t have to worry about what they think.” I am speechless. Straight from the mouth of this innocent little kid, there he is.
We all have this deep wisdom within us. This is my year to rock. I took his advice.
