Inhabit your song

I've long believed in artists as leaders.

A great definition of leadership is: imagination on others' behalf.

This is what an artist does. She uses empathy to understand others and the world around her. He puts that experience into words, design, music, products, etc..

Bruce Springstein: A leader’s job is to embody identity for a community - to give words and flesh to elusive ideals. (Only inside a body does an ideal get to become a story.) A leader’s legitimacy, then, rests upon how deeply you can inhabit your song. 

The best leaders and artists have something to say. They give us perspective. They provoke, inspire, comfort. They create a sense of community.

They inhabit their song.

Every choice is an act of creation

Choices:

  • To not betray yourself or others

  • To know and live your values

  • To have a spiritual worldview

  • To practice kindness

  • To be reflective of your personal actions

  • To be of service to others

  • To empower others

Discomfort as teacher

Tis the season for: sweats, blankets, hot tea, and all things cozy.

As humans we lean into comfort naturally. To feel warm, relaxed, cared for.

Discomfort is also a teacher. Have you ever heard it called a “good cry”?

Sometimes we feel discomfort first in our bodies and it’s best to listen. Sometimes we override what our bodies tell us and this leads to more discomfort.

Both are there for our ultimate good and growth: comfort and discomfort, the good and the bad things that happen, the joy and the pain.

Gratitude for discomfort opens us up to healing.

We can lean into the tears, too.

Excitement lies in the autonomy of action

I’ve often referred to my record label, Lujo Records, as my “on the ground MBA”.

It was that. I learned a lot about business.

And I learned something else you don’t necessarily learn in school: excitement lies in the autonomy of action. 

It’s one thing to get a thing done. 

It’s another to makes choices, follow instincts, defend choices, reject unwanted advice, follow your heart’s wise compass. 

Your aliveness comes from having an idea, big or small, and seeing it through, start to finish.

The thrill of doing so isn’t only life-giving, it’s life-making.