Welcome to the first episode of the Creative, Happy Life Podcast! In this episode, I’m discussing the importance of starting before you're ready, punching fear in the face, and accepting that done is better than perfect. There are lessons to be learned in every experience, even the ones where we think we've failed.
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Show Notes
Episode 01 :: Start Before You’re Ready!
I have a confession to make: I have no idea what I’m doing!
Seriously! I am in the middle of a podcast course at this very moment, I have a microphone and some resources, but you guys, I decided I just have to hit record and get this ball rolling, and here’s why…
I could have put this off for a few more months or another year, or forever. I could have been perpetually planning a podcast for the rest of my life. I could have waited until I was more comfortable, or had some practice, or until I had time to finish my course, or more money to invest in fancy intro music and a podcast editor to outsource the work...but…I got tired of waiting. I didn’t know if I’d ever really feel ready. So I decided to just start - to hit record, and see where this goes!
Fear can be paralyzing, and in this episode, I share a story about facing fear and the idea of being prepared enough. It’s about the idea of perfection and how that doesn’t actually exist. But we put so many things on the back burner because we’re waiting for things to be better or perfect or more ready.
Fear creeps in and tells us to keep waiting. That we’re not ready, not perfect, or not enough.
You have to punch fear in the face and just do the thing.
You’re more ready than you think. That’s what it is to be prepared enough. And the thing is, if you keep waiting until the time is just right, oh gosh, life is going to keep going. So do it. Start before you’re ready. Hit record. Book the flight. Buy the URL. Call the real estate agent. Prepare what you can, but do not let fear keep you from taking that step towards what you desire.
I also don’t believe in failure. Because even if something does not go the way we want or hope or expect it will, there’s always a lesson learned. There’s always a takeaway. There’s always something to gain from losing. That’s why I don’t believe true failure actually exists. You’re always going to come out of it with something.
Ok, I know that’s a lot to unpack, and I want to hear what you think about all this. If you have a story to share, or strong thoughts and feelings on fear and success and failure, this is the starting point. I honestly didn’t expect to have this kind of topic to start my podcast, but I guess the best things in life are sometimes the least expected!
Now that we’ve started this conversation, I want to hear from you! My goal for the Creative Happy Life Podcast is not only to share stories, and inspiration and creative topics with you, but what I really want is to create a community through an insiders group on Facebook. This is a place for you to be able to go have conversations with fellow listeners and myself, to answer questions, to discuss episodes and ideas, and to get inspired!
When it comes down to it, we need more connection, and if you’re a creative person, you know, creativity sparks more creativity!
So what IS this podcast about? I’m glad you asked!
Did any of you watch the show Nashville when it aired? I won’t spoil anything, I promise, but the lead character, Rayna James, was a country singer and she had a family and through her life she had all these twists and turns, she was super famous, she was considered one of the greats of the country music industry, and she had this song about just looking around at the end of the day, and praying that she had a life that was good. This simple idea that when you look back on your life, and your experiences…
I think all any of us want is to know we lived a good life, hopefully a happy life. When you strip away the extra stuff, the material stuff, the sum of your experiences is a feeling of fullness, and happiness. That’s a bit of an abstract idea - we all have different definitions of what a good life might look like, or what happiness is. I thought I might share a couple of my own ideas of what happiness means to me.
I’ll start with the very general question of “What makes you happy?”
In the podcast, I list a lot of things that make me happy, including creative hobbies and interests, my family, being in nature, music, art, little things like the first hot sip of coffee, warm blankets and a hug from my mom.
Friends, I could go on for days. Seriously. Just listing off things that makes me happy. And if you couldn’t tell, a lot of the things I listed relate back to feelings. Nostalgia, comfort, peace, joy, pleasure, excitement, satisfaction. We all pull happiness from an enormous variety of life experiences, interactions, people, places and things.
What I hope to explore on this podcast is the fact that happiness can mean something different to everyone. And the stories we share about our lives, the creative experiences and our creative differences - are all important. And worth sharing. And worth hearing. You just never know who might be out there listening, waiting to be inspired.
Thank you so much listening, and I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to do this again soon!
Bye for now, my friends!
share the happy!
If you enjoy this podcast, it would mean so much to me if you’d Pin the image below to Pinterest, share it with friends, leave a review in the comments, and join the Facebook insiders creative community!
