Speaker #1Hey, creative. Is there a creative project you're sitting on right now that you just feel too scared to put out? Well, today I have a surefire way to help you put that creative baby out into the world. Because as the kids in 2013 said, YOLO. And with that, welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative Minisodes. My name is Lauren LaGrasso. I am your host. I'm a Webby Award-winning podcast host, producer, creative coach, and public speaker. And every other Wednesday, Through the end of September, I am coming to you on the pod to give you bite-sized episodes. Mmm, so tasty. Each show will contain actionable advice about creativity, working toward your dreams, and self-development. They are full of tools and inspiration that you can implement into your life immediately. Before we get into it, I do want to just say that today is actually the 300th episode of Unleash Your Inner Creative. I cannot believe it, but I have been doing this podcast for five and a half years. My podcast is officially a kindergartner and a half. And I just want to say if you've been a listener since the beginning, thank you so much for your support, for believing in me, for supporting my dreams. If you're new here, thank you for being in the creative community. We're so happy to have you. This show has been a dream come true. And every single week that you listen, you are supporting my dreams and your dreams by getting the tools that you need to get out there and put yourself out into the world. So... We're going to get into it now, but I just wanted to say thank you. And I will be doing a 300th retrospective episode in the next couple of weeks. So if you have anything about the show that's really helped you, that you want to share, any memories over the past five and a half years, please do email me, unleashyourinnercreative at gmail.com. And you can either do it in written word or if you want to do a voice memo, and I might share it on the show that day if you end up doing that. So let's get into it. Today, we're here to talk about something that initially might seem a little... dark, but once you get it, it's actually super uplifting and beautiful. Today's topic is to share your creativity as if it's your last day. The lesson of why you need to remember you're going to die so you don't forget to live. This idea first came to me earlier this year when I was producing an episode of We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle, and we had on a great guest, Alok Menon. They are a poet, influencer, and activist. And they were talking about life and they said something that just kind of knocked me out of my chair. This was the question that Alok posed to us. How do I build a life such that if I was to die right now, it would be dignified? I'm going to say that to you one more time. I'm actually going to read it. How do I build a life such that if I was to die right now, it would be dignified? And here's why it knocked me off my chair. I mean, that's a pretty upfront. that will hit you in the face either way. But the biggest thing was at that moment, I had been sitting on three fully produced songs for over a year. And I thought about if I were to die right now, I would never get to experience those songs being out in the world. I'm sure that my mom and my boyfriend and my dad would posthumously... release them for me, which would be beautiful. And I'm so grateful to have love like that in my life. But the fact that I would never get to experience them being out in the world, that I wouldn't get the joy of experiencing the music with everybody else while I'm in this body made me so deeply sad and made me realize that if I were to die right now, it would not be dignified because I was sitting on music. that I could have released and not doing it because I felt scared about the outcome and I wanted to do it so perfectly and I wanted everything to be right. And it really made me realize I don't want my music to be held back because I think it has to be perfect or like this huge thing. I just want my music to be out there. I want to express my soul in this way and I want to enjoy it with everybody else while I'm in this body, while I'm in this lifetime. And so it was in that moment that I decided. I'm releasing new music and I am pleased to tell you right now I'm putting out a brand new single on October 11th. I'm announcing it here. Breaking news. I am going to be putting out my version of Genie in a Bottle on October 11th and I could not be more excited. And it's a cover, obviously, all rights reserved to Christina Aguilera, but it's a really cool pop rocky version and I'm just so glad that Alok said that because had they not, I might have sat on that song another year, another two years because I was trying to make it perfect. But at some point we have to really ask ourselves, like, would we rather have it be the perfect release, which by the way, you're never going to get to, or would we rather have it be out to be able to enjoy it with other people while we're here? We have to, again, I know I said it earlier, but we have to remember we're going to die. so that we do not forget to live. So I want you to ask yourself that same question that was posed to me. How do I build a life such that if I was to die right now, it would be dignified? What conversations do you need to have? What do you need to start doing? And what do you need to stop doing? And most importantly, for the sake of this conversation, what creativity do you need to put out into the world? What creativity do you need to start and to birth and to share? and to enjoy yourself in this lifetime. When I asked myself that question, the first thing that came to mind was I would be so sad that I did not get to enjoy my music out into the world with everybody else. Your only job is to not stop yourself from sharing your creativity. Find joy in the fact that you took a chance on yourself and put it out there and let yourself enjoy it amongst the people and say, this is what I'm about. This is what I have to share. This is what my voice sounds like. This is what my mind's eye looks like. As Dr. Wayne Dyer said, don't die with your music still in you. I'm not going to, and I hope you don't either. I love you so much. Please join me in unleashing. Creativity is your birthright, so do it now. This Unleash minisode was hosted and executive produced by me, Lauren LaGrasso, and produced by Rachel Fulton. Music was by Liz Full. For more information on me and the show, you can follow us at Lauren LaGrasso and at Unleash Your Inner Creative on social media. If you like what you heard today, especially if you like the mini-sodes, please leave us a rating and review saying so. It means so much. And you can also leave any specific thoughts you have for what kind of mini-sodes we can do in the future. I also want to remind you that I do creative coaching. If you're interested in that, please reach out to me, lauren.lagrasso at gmail.com, and we will set up a free discovery call. I love you, and I believe in you. Talk with you next week.
