Hi Lovely Simplerista,
This week has been phenomenal for me. I have to share.
As you well know, I do software. It's called Simplero. You may be using it.
And I love software. I've been doing it since I was a kid. I was once on an airplane flying to Norway, and the stewardess handed out paper and crayons and pencils to us small kids. What did I do with it? I sketched software user interfaces. True story.
But there's another aspect of me that has been lying dormant for a while: Me on stage. And the hiatus just officially ended.
Singing
Thursday I went to a new voice coach here in town, and she helped me really break through in a way I never have before. I've always wanted to be a singer. I've played all kinds of instruments - piano, drums, guitar - but singing is what I really want to do. My voice as my instrument. And Lorraine helped me see that I am indeed a singer, that I have it within me, and not just a little bit - a lot. Thank you, Lorraine.
The thing is, she helped me see that what's really holding me back are two things that you might be able to relate to.
Number one: A huge, ginormous gap between my self-image and the reality. You may be the smartest, prettiest, most talented person in the world, but if your self-image says otherwise, your self-image trumps, always.
Even worse, you will tend to approximate your self-image over the long run, so if it's bad, it'll take you down with it. On the other hand, if it's good, it'll build you up. It really helps to see yourself with loving and clear-seeing eyes.
Number two: I think I have to be more and different than what I really am to be enough. I think I have to sing with more patos. I think I have to sing more like Sting or Billy Joel. I think I have to be something else. It's related to number one, of course, and yet different. Realizing that I'm already enough, and that all I need to do is to allow that which I already am to shine through, is enough.
When I approach singing like that, singing becomes easy. All I have to do is feel what I feel about the song, open my mouth, and sing what comes naturally to me. I can do that!
I'm sure some of you can relate.
Stand-up Comedy
That same night, I had (as you know) my debut in stand-up comedy. It was just 6 and a half minutes, but it went really well, and it felt great. It felt natural and easy, and I got really great feedback after the show, including invitations to perform at other shows. Big win.
Before going on stage, I'd spent quite a bit of time preparing a bit, a series of stories and jokes, rehearsed it in front of a mirror, recorded myself, and so on. I thought the job of a stand-up comedian was to write jokes. That it had to be hard.
Then after the show, I was chatting with one of the other comedians there, and we were just sharing stories. And as I was sharing a story about one of the crazier things that happened to me, he said "you should totally tell that story from stage". That's when the light-bulb went off: Oh, I'm allowed to do that? I'm allowed to just tell stories about the crazy shit that's happened in my life? I don't have to sit in a dank room all by myself trying to pull jokes out of thin air? You mean I can just tell stories I think are funny? This comedy thing is easy.
Teaching
Then on Monday, I was the featured guest in a salon hosted by my new friend Taylor Jacobson of TeamPossible. We were 15 people in the room, and my job was just to answer questions. That to me is one of the easiest and most enjoyable things in the world. I have done so much, studied so much, tried so much, experienced so much, thought os much, that everywhere you turn, any stone you poke at, a wellspring of wisdom springs forth.
It sounds a bit self-inflated saying that, but it's true. There's so much wisdom there, and it springs from my life, as well as from a source beyond just me. And I fucking love being in the position of sharing it all. Turns out this teaching thing is really easy!
Where's this going?
I don't know exactly. But I know that I've been operating under the belief that if I just work a little harder, then I'll get to a position where I can focus on getting on a stage again.
I know now that's not how it works. I need to chill more, work less hard, and get more on stage. That's where the growth is going to come from. Again, I'm sure you can draw parallels to your own life. The way out of the slaving away mode of operating is not to slave away even more. Instead it is to step back and chill and allow a bigger part of you to spring to life.
Indeed that's exactly how it happened for me in 2008 when I stepped out of my freelancing career and launched my current teaching and software product business.
News from Simplero
Just bug fixes and small feature enhancements.
Nothing worth reporting on. Mostly behind-the-scenes stuff.
Random links from around the interwebs
Derek Sivers' Fixed vs Growth mindset blog post is great. I think it's originally from Chip & Dan Heath. I definitely suffer from "Fixed" mind-set in many areas. "Growth" is much better.
Here's a company that will wait in line for you (say for an iPhone). Pretty pricey, but it gets the job done.
This summary of comments on recipe blogs is hilarious and way too accurate.
The line for the SoHo Apple Store on Friday was insane. Here's a hyperlapse video I shot.
Have a great week!
Love,
-Calvin