I remember a time sitting at the top of the A&M building in NYC just about to pen a real deal when I learned that Geffen Records had been sold and all deals were in stasis until they settled on their new arrangements. I was lost in the shuffle in NYC, living in LA and diving back in to scratch the surface of what seemed like a dream that was growing more and more elusive by the minute. I never was an artist that people wanted to snap up like sugar candy, I was delving into what creativity appeared to want to grow from me and my experience, I was being an artist but the industry only wanted product they could package in a uniform way.
Before long I was back in Canada and instead of letting myself feel the stillness, I began to build an alternate life for myself, one where the ground couldn’t be pulled out from under me, one where I decided what the day was going to look like and who I was going to play with.
Times get scary when we have uncertainly in our lives. I lost 10 years to fear. It was kind of like when you’re a dog lover and your dog dies after a long beautiful dog friendship. We tell ourselves, I’ll never get another dog; it hurts too much when we lose them. But we usually do get another dog, and we do fall in love again.
When I found my stillness and was able to finally write music again, I found I needed a couple of things. I needed to be as far away removed from the ‘day’ as I could be. I live on a nature reserve, an hour spent in its depths is like magic. I return an artist ready to create.
I learned to say to myself, and make it a mantra when I get out to my ‘place’ to acknowledge, I FEEL FANTASTIC – because I do. The very acknowledgement, coupled with the experience of breathing fresh air and the environment ~ as close to what Mother Nature wants as is possible, is a magical tincture that makes me compassionate, loving, generous and yes, creative.
What surprises me most about this place in nature that gives me so much is that I can transpose that feeling ‘I FEEL FANTASTIC’ to just about anywhere I go now. All I need is stillness, the memory of what fantastic feels like, and voila, I feel fantastic. I use it before doing things I don’t feel like doing, before challenging a difficult task or person.
My place, my stillness, is with me wherever I go, because I go there often enough I can conjure it up when I want to.
So this week I encourage you to find that place where you feel fantastic, alone. It can’t be dependent upon anyone else or thing, it has to be about you and a place or an experience that you can easily recreate and visit often. Tell yourself you feel fantastic and let it fill you up with reserves of fantastic, then get out into your day and make it great. When you feel your resources waning, get back out there and get feeling fantastic again.
It may save you years of sulking when things don’t go right in your life. It will make your life a better place to be, minimum.
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