The Amusing Life:

I’ve started this blog too many times in my mind. You know, while I’m taking a shower, sitting in traffic, or can’t sleep at night. I have enough subjects in mind to keep me busy for years. So much thinking - so little action. But life doesn't wait for you. You can’t wait for the perfect time or perfect words. You have to jump. Years ago, I was teaching voice but feeling embarrassed by the quality of my own singing. I consulted a colleague for advice, and his answer has stuck with me. He simply asked if I was singing every day. I wasn’t. It seems so simple. If you want to do something, start doing it. If you want something, pursue it. And yet, we keep walking through life, going through the same motions day after day, and everything seems okay, but something is missing - some sense of satisfaction or fulfillment. 

I turned 42 yesterday😲. I’m so grateful to be taking another spin on this ball we call Earth, but I get in a rut in life - work, errands, dinner, Netflix, bed, repeat. Of course, life is WAY more complicated than that, but I look at my schedule and the way I spend my time and wonder, “When am I pursuing my passions.” “When am I doing something fulfilling?”

I like to listen to inspirational speakers sometimes while I’m working on some particularly monotonous task. Mel Robbins is a recent favorite. I love what she has to say about “the 5-second rule.” Now, this is a different rule from the one that allows you to eat that last cookie you just dropped on the floor, but I think it’s equally important. See, humans are naturally risk averse. It’s a lovely trait that keeps us from jumping off a 2nd story balcony or eating that 3-week-old pork in the refrigerator. However, it can also deter us from deviating from the status quo in our day to day lives. According to Robbins, when our brains must make a decision, we have only a few seconds to decide to do something different and act on that before our brains default to the same decision we always make in that situation. For Robbins, the first change was simply getting out of bed on time. 

This is just a small clip, but she has so much to say about taking control of your life by arresting that moment when you're making even the smallest of decisions and doing something different. 

I see so many people from all religions, races, and backgrounds suffering from some general sense of malaise. Maybe spending so much time with our faces in these screens coupled with the relative affluence most of us enjoy keeps us from depending on one another and our own imaginations. What I’m talking about here is an underlying sense of dissatisfaction that permeates our lives. I’m talking about the reason you hit snooze 10 times in the morning, the reason you drink one too many glasses of wine, the reason your sex life isn’t great or you’re not excelling in your job.

I started out my adult life as a musician. I work in accounting now and enjoy it, but I miss that artistic element in my life. I thought that I was missing music, but I had it all wrong. I was missing community and creativity. When I think about those times of my life when I was performing, I wasn’t just enjoying performing. I was enjoying creating within a community. Creating is part of what makes us human. It’s an innate desire. It’s why we have art and technology and children. And it’s common to all of us. You may not think of yourself as a creative person, but whether it’s a painting or a spreadsheet, we are all satisfied by creating something unique. One of the beautiful things about creating within a community is the openness and authenticity it facilitates. You have to be vulnerable to share your ideas and passions with others, and that is what creates a meaningful connection. 

So...I’m going on this journey. I’m challenging myself to more creativity and community in my life. I’m not looking for some meaning of life/holy grail/fountain of youth. I’m looking to take life to the next level, and I have a theory that creativity and community are the keys. Think about some of the moments in your life when you felt fulfilled and satisfied. I suspect many of those moments happened when you connected with others in the creative process - being part of a choir or theater production, cooking a special meal with your family, developing a new software with colleagues, coaching little league.... These are the things in life that bring us joy and bring us together, and these are the things that I want more of in my life. In the coming weeks I’ll be creating a series of blog posts with challenges involving creativity and community. I’d love it if some of you would join in the challenges with me. You can do as many or as few as you like. I challenge you all to follow along and create an online community here to share our experiences on this journey. 

P.S.  I know I did not mention this "unprecedented" time. Listen, I know community is hard right now, but I think we've all gained a greater understanding of how important it is. I may have to get creative with how to accomplish some of the challenges I have in mind, but I'm moving forward. It's time. Let's do it. We need this.