When you run out of procrastination
Oh, hi friends!
Funny thing, when the answer is right in front of you.
So I was debating hiring a creative career coach. Because that’s what I do — I debate. (Not on an actual debate team; that would kill me.)
Yesterday I finally went to a site and tried to book a date for a call, but everything was full until some time in August that didn’t work for me.
So I thought, oh, I guess…I guess there’s no other way for me to procrastinate now?
Then I was forced to open a Google Doc and start writing.
And then I kept writing.
And then I wrote a song.
And then I wrote a scene.
And then I was so happy I wasn’t thinking about career trajectory or opportunities flying by.
I was making. And nothing else mattered.
Funny thing, when the answer is right in front of you.
(Disclaimer: I will probably still hire a coach because coaches are incredible resources, but this was a reminder that sometimes you can unstick yourself by just, like, tapping the procrastination well until it's gone.)
Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash
Open eyes,
Watch earth rise.
“…the first thing that ever got me onstage as a kid was that I opened my mouth and had a really good singing voice, like, in kindergarten. I became that one boy in your public-school class who could sing. So I ended up getting all these roles in musicals, going to a lot of Broadway shows while growing up in New York, falling in love with theater, then going to Northwestern, where I was a theater major and did a ton of musicals. I thought I was on a Broadway, musical-theater track. But life had its own idea. I started to take improv classes in New York, did a comedy-driven stage show in New York, did Billy on the Street, and then everything kind of snowballed and all of a sudden I was a comedian.”
I really love this 30-second timeline from Billy Eichner summing up his path from theater major to “Billy on the Street” host because it highlights a) you never know what can happen b) the importance of taking classes and pursuing new interests c) none of your work is for naught. Because, of course, now he’s singing again in The Lion King! He plays Timon.
For today’s Grab Bag, I want to highlight a few Brass Ring readers and their projects!
Does your beach bag or purse make you sad? LUCKY YOU. Monica is making gorgeous upcycled coffee bean bags from sacks she picks up from local roasters in the Berkshires. Check them out Lila & Kane.
Are you into self-development, yoga, and food? Do you want to know more about local food in Hawaii?! Subscribe to Sarah Burchard’s newsletter and connect with her on Instagram @healthylocavore and @yearofingredients, where she chronicled a different local Hawaiian ingredient every day in 2018! (She moved from San Francisco to Hawaii and yes wow let’s all follow her lead?!)
Finally, if you’re in New York and need some levity, check out America’s Next Top Cult, a live comedy competition hosted by my friend James Hamilton at Caveat on Thursday, August 1. Tickets are here, if you say BRASSRING, you get $3 off! Their special guest is Mitch Horowitz, a PEN-award winning historian, writer-in-residence at the New York Public Library, and expert in the occult. GET READY FOR SOME LAUGHS.
Do you like these daily emails? Please share with a friend!
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara