Speaker #0What would do your soul good? Is there a part of your creativity or creative life that you've put on ice? Maybe it got too hard. Maybe it just wasn't the right time. But you know, deep inside, there's a part of you that's yearning to either go back to that or to start doing that thing. Today, I want to talk to you about a revelation I had within myself and about my creative journey. I rediscovered something that had been missing, and I want to share with you how you too can reignite a missing piece of your creative soul. Welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creator with Lauren LaGrasso. I'm Lauren LaGrasso. I'm a Webby Award-winning podcast host and producer, singer-songwriter, public speaker, and creative coach. And this show sits at the intersection of creativity, mental health, self-development, and spirituality. It is meant to give you tools to love, trust, and know yourself enough to claim your right to creativity, redefine your relationship with fear, and pursue whatever it is that's on your heart. Before we get into it, I have a quick message for you. Very exciting news, Unleash Your Inner Creative is nominated for a Webby Award in the Creativity and Marketing category. It would mean so much to me and the show if you'd vote for Unleash. It takes less than two minutes and it really does mean the world. Last year, you all showed up for me so much that I was able to win the People's Choice Webby Award, despite being the smallest organization that was nominated. It would mean so much if you'd show up and support my dreams again and all the amazing work that goes into this podcast. The link is in my Instagram bio and also in the show notes. Also, you may remember last week or two weeks ago, I spoke about the fact that my dad had been in the hospital for a subdural hematoma, which is bleeding between the brain and the skull. He is at home and doing so much better now, and he's getting better and better and more well every day. The neurologist just gave him a great report. He's got a little ways to go, but he's doing great. I was originally going to do an episode about him this week, but I'm just not ready. to go through all that yet. So that will be coming out in the coming weeks about what we went through, all the revelations I had, advice for you if you're going through anything similar in your life. You know, sometimes I just like to drop in and share what's going on in my life instead of just always just being a show about creativity, because everything is connected, you know, especially when we're on a creative journey. It's never just the creative journey. It's also being human, because that's... humanity and creativity are interconnected. You know how I feel. Okay. So with all that being said, this week, the topic is about rediscovering or discovering for the first time, what would do your soul good when it comes to your creative or artistic life? Thinking about what are the missing pieces of your creative journey that you've been pushing aside or down because of past creative heartbreak, difficulty, or just because life gets too busy. For me, This is performing live, performing music live. I'm going to share with you how I came to realize this, that this part of my creative path has been cast aside when it really should be a vital part at the forefront. So how I came to realize it was missing and then how you too can go inside yourself and rediscover your missing creative part and start to reintegrate it. So how I came to this realization. I have been, you know, you know, I've been in therapy for years since on and off, honestly, since I was 22, but like steadily since 2017, I have been in therapy. So I've always been interested in self-development work and really working on myself. And as you know, I also love woo-woo, all things woo-woo, energy, energy healings. So I've been working with this amazing woman named Liz Lassig. I'll put her link in the show notes because if you're interested at all, she does incredible human design readings and energy healings. And I've been doing this thing with her called the Overe method. And basically, it goes through all your chakras and helps you heal them. So it reintegrates the energy and it's incredible. So last week, the chakra we worked on was the throat. And spoiler alert, since everything I do is about self-expression, singing, talking, coaching, speaking, it's all so much is bound up in my throat. And this was by far the most massive healing that I did in all the time that I've been working with Liz. And one of the biggest things that came up was a deep pain and shame I felt over not being able to make my living from music. I really had hoped for that. That was my dream. And I think when it didn't happen in the timeline that I thought it should. Even though I'm like, since then, my software has been upgraded to know that I can still do it in a different way. I still was like holding on to that shame and letting it make me smaller when it came to my music. And through that healing session with her, I was like, I just have to sing. Like singing is as much a part of me as breathing is. Not to be corny, but it's honestly true. And we all, I think, have a part of our creativity or our lives that are like that. Like music. I remember Shandrika Tandon came on my podcast and said, music is who I am. Everything else is what I do. I also think for me, music is my greatest teacher. The reason I'm able to come on this podcast and talk to you authentically every week is because I am pursuing a creative journey and struggling through it. And so for me, music is maybe what I love the most and definitely what teaches me the most. So yeah, that realization and that healing I did with music is what I love the most. pulling out like my greatest shame and then realizing what I'd been missing, which is performing, singing, just enjoying my voice and like writing music and enjoying music had been greatly dampened by disappointments, heartbreak and shame I felt over the years for it not going the way I thought it should go. So doing that healing was the first step and having this realization that, oh, there's a gaping hole in my life. in the shape of live performance. So after that healing throughout the week, like one of the ways that I was supposed to like integrate that is just by singing. And so I started singing and playing my guitar more and just remembering that I was an artist. This is a huge thing. Just reminding yourself that you are an artist, you are a creative, and that you have a talent to share and seeing yourself really is the first step in unleashing in this way. So I started singing and playing, enjoying my own voice and writing just for myself. Then the next thing I did once I'd been doing that for a few days is I was home still with my parents and my Aunt Karen happened to be over. My mom's sister, very, very close to her. She's very supportive of my music, my podcast, everything. She's awesome. And she has an obsession with live music, like loves it. And so I just sat at the table, I took requests from them, I played some of my originals, I played some of their favorite songs, cover songs, and it just felt so good. And I was enjoying my own voice, I was enjoying watching my family enjoy my voice, and we all felt connected through this music I was playing. And my Aunt Karen just looked at me and she was like, your voice sounds so good. I mean, she was so sweet. I sang a Sara Bareilles song, which I think she's one of the greatest vocalists and writers ever. obsessed with her. But my Aunt Karen was like, why did that sound better than when Sarah Bareilles sings it, which was like the hugest compliment. But then she said, you know, Lauren, I would just love to watch you perform in a club, like sit there, have a glass of wine and just watch you perform. Like, don't you think you need to be out there doing that? Like, don't you think it would do your soul good to perform once a month? And when she said that, it stopped me in my tracks. Because yes. That was a full body yes for me. That was a light bulb moment when I realized that is what has been missing. I'm a performer at heart. When I was three, well, two and a half, I first started doing dance recitals. When I was three, I did my first musical. Performing has been, live performance in general, has been part of the lifeblood of who I am and what pushes me forward. And the fact that I've stopped doing that pretty much, like I've been doing it maybe once a year. It has been making me feel dead inside. And I realized the reason I stopped doing it is because in LA, everybody is a performer of some sort. Everybody who comes here has some sort of talent. And it's hard to get people to come out to shows because everyone's constantly asking you to come out to shows. And many of the people you're asking to come out are performers themselves. So they're thinking about their creative project, their dreams, how they can hustle forward. The long story short of it is, As many people move to LA to build a career, I've often thought it's better to either stay in your general hometown and like gig around that area and get bigger there where people actually care about live music or be in LA like make your industry connections but then when you go to like play out live, go places on the outskirts, tour in other cities, maybe even in other states where people are actually excited to go to live music. Where people like my Aunt Karen exists and like She will go find a live show wherever she can to enjoy it. I got disheartened because getting people out to shows here feels like pulling teeth. And it just started breaking my heart that like after 10 years of being at this, I still couldn't get. the kind of audience I wanted in LA consistently. And so I just kind of was like, I'm not dealing with that anymore. I'm not dealing with the pain of like playing to a small room, even though playing to a small room is still beautiful. Like playing to my parents and Aunt Karen, that was beautiful. If those three people in the room care, it's everything. But if it's like people are talking and you're performing, it can be very honestly, like not humiliating isn't the right word, but just disheartening that you're up. there giving your all performing and people are like just like talking through it and not paying attention and don't really care and are checked out which again depending on the venue i get it like if you're at dinner and someone's singing it makes sense that you want to keep talking but as the performer it is difficult long story not short when my aunt karen said don't you think it would do your soul good i was like yes i have to start doing this again so i'm going to go to venues in la where there's a built-in audience but also outside of LA in some of the smaller cities, you know, within an hour or two of Los Angeles and performing in places where people are excited to go to live music. So I can feel that excitement in my heart again. I do need to perform. It will do my soul good. And having her say that to me, she was just like a mirror to me in that moment. So between that and the healing, I was finally able to see, oh, this is a big part of my life that's been missing. And that's why there's a part of me that feels muted and dead inside. and just kind of like everything is gray. Performance brings color to my life. So I had my assignment and I have my assignment. I'm going to keep doing those things I was doing before, playing for myself, starting to post more music, sharing with friends and family. And my next step is booking live shows. So how can you use this idea of what is missing from your creative soul in your life? How can you use this in your life and journey? So the first thing is you have to find out what would do your soul good. I would suggest doing this through meditation, journaling, or working through it in therapy, or if you have the privilege of working with someone like Liz with a healer, and asking this question, what part of my creativity or creative expression have I been repressing due to shame, disappointment, burnout, or fear, or maybe some hybrid of all of them? And what sort of creative expression or activity would do my soul? good. Now, this answer can either be something that you used to do a lot, like for me, playing out live, or something that you've always wanted to do but haven't done yet, or even something that you've never thought up. Let whatever flows out, whatever comes out of you, be your answer. And then when you have that answer, think of the blockages to that. So for me, the shame I felt over not being able to get people out to live shows in LA, and the shame I felt over not being able to make my full living from music. So for that part, after you have your answer of what would do your soul good, ask what needs healing and addressing so that you can express yourself and take up space in that way. And then you need to work through those things and update your software. Oftentimes we're upset about something that's no longer relevant or something that we know wasn't completely our fault. Like it's not my fault that it's hard to get people out in L.A. Any human would say like whether it's a social event, whether it's a concert, whether it's a work thing. And. It's hard to get people to move in LA. That is just the truth. I was taking it on as all my fault. Oh, if I was more talented, more people would be coming out. Oh, you know, it's not just that. So it's upgrading your software to know that things are probably different now than the last time you tried to pursue it, or you've grown in a way, or you can even handle some of the things that were hard for you in the past and metabolize them in a different way and survive. And even thrive. So upgrade your software and kind of go back to like that younger version of yourself that got wounded or scared and give it a pep talk to let it know that you can try this again. And whatever comes of it, you can survive. And then at the same time or after you do this, I think like having my Aunt Karen mirror it back for me, even though I kind of knew that this part of my life was missing, it wasn't until she said, don't you think that performing once a month would do your soul good that I realized. oh, oh my gosh, oh, I've been really not feeling like myself because I haven't had this way of connecting with people, of doing live performance. If she hadn't said those words to me, I don't think that the healing would have come to fruition and that I would have been able to get this call to action in the way I needed it. So I would recommend at the same time or after you start really realizing what your creative need is. You can ask someone you love and trust who supports your creativity and has historically been there and believed in you, what part of my creativity or artistry do you think is missing from my life? You can ask them, is there something I used to do or that you think I should do again? Or some venture you think that I should try for the first time given what I love and my talents? And you can say the thing. So like for me, it's music. What do you think I should do with music that I'm not currently doing or that I used to do that I should bring back again? Ask them these questions. See if it rings true for you. A lot of times our closest people can see us in a way that's hard for us to see ourselves. Then once you know what creative act or endeavor would start doing your soul good, start doing it in small ways as often as you can to build your creative courage up. So for me, it was starting to play music by myself and listen to my own voice and be like, oh wow, I do like the sound of my voice. Writing music, playing covers. then sharing it with my family, then sharing it online. So you're doing what I have always called microdosing courage, building yourself up bit by bit to get to the point where you feel comfortable enough to really go out into the world and do this thing again or for the first time. Then after that, when you start feeling ready, do it in a bigger way. So again, my next step would be booking a live show. At that stage, after you've done a lot of microdosing of creative courage, you're going to start. working toward the ultimate expression of that part of your creativity. So my call to action for you is to find or remember the missing piece of your creative soul and start going after it in the way I just described. I am so excited to hear what you discover and start doing. And I can't wait to share with you as I start integrating live performance again. Thank you so much for listening. Before we wrap up, a couple of things. I do offer creative coaching. I love it so much. My clients are amazing. I would love to have you included in that. If you're interested in unleashing your creativity, sharing your creative project with the world, and or finally going after your biggest dreams, it would be my honor to help you. You can email me at lauren.lagrasso at gmail.com to set up a free discovery call or go to my website on the contact page and click coaching. I can't wait to help you unleash your inner creative and find your authentic voice. This podcast was hosted and executive produced by me, Lauren Lagrasso. Music is by Liz Full. For more information on me and the show, follow us at Lauren LaGrasso and at Unleash Your Inner Creative on social media. If you like what you heard today, especially if you liked this episode, leave us a rating and review so that we know you liked it. And feel free to offer up other ideas about the podcast, topics, and guests you'd like to hear. I love you and I believe in you. I'll talk with you next week.
