Balancing Grace, Grit & Taylor Swift

Grace & Grit - Finding Balance

As we move from October into November we are reminded of the change within us, around us and how to continue to foster or recalibrate the balance in our lives.

If you want to catch up on the October Themes you can do that with this video - remember it doesn’t need to be October to focus on these things you can do this at any point in your journey and on your own time line. I’m just trying to document this and find some order to my own creative chaos and until I come up with a better way this is it 🤷‍♀️ . I am very open to suggestions below though ↓

What’s up with me…

You can use this as a phone wall paper if you want - xoxo

Self Care Hard

I’m going to restart the Self Care Hard Challenge ang probably take an extra focus on Weeks 2 and Week 6 because these are the areas where I tend to slip off the most and lose traction in my own life. I love Week 5…BIG fan hahahaha and that’s where week 2 & 6 just get totally abandoned.

Taylor Swift

On this week’s podcast (you can listen below or here) I talk about duality themes (like grace and grit..two words on opposite ends of the spectrum that I think describe me well) and I attempt to tie it in to the October themes. Whether I do that successfully or not is up to you. I also bring up Taylor Swift (I mean ‘Midnights’ was just released and the entire internet is weighing in). While I’m no Swiftie (spelling?) I have seen her in concert and have performed a few of her songs at Karaoke…not well. I do love a good visual album and the content she created prior to the release date. I can appreciate a lot of it from different lenses as someone with a marketing background and as a creative. I love a good Easter Egg and try to infuse them in my own work and I cant believe I’m typing this but I I have a visual album on my vision/manifestation board… NO I will not be singing. Whether I create it for a singer or for myself, or another artist in another capacity I guess the universe will TBD.

Clarification

On this week’s podcast I talk about the listener feedback of the Self Care Challenge and how I didn’t feel a lot of people liked it because my podcast numbers took a dip. This was me sharing out loud and in real time my thoughts and it’s a lesson in it for me and others. I have become so programmed to create based on the immediate feedback of the internet, numbers, things going viral, etc because of social media. I think a lot of us fall into that and I am trying so hard not to. Also we can all end up like Kate Bush and have our song from 35 years ago become a hit.

I’m really proud of myself with the challenge. One because I made it for myself and two because I shared it for myself. When it didn’t “hit” right away I didn’t get upset or feel like I missed the mark. Because that’s not why I did it. Even though it was “different”, “maybe not on brand” or “entertaining” or people were wondering if I turned into a life coach now (someone asked my mom this)… I kept at it. I had this idea and I ran with it. And for the first time in a long while, I didn’t ask anyone what they thought, or how it could be better, or more polished. Regardless of numbers and immediate feedback; I took an idea I had in my head and I took it out of there and put it out in the world. Could it be better?…sure. Could it look aesthetically better? YES.. 100%. But for the first time I didn’t paralyze myself with doubt and criticism so early in the game…I waited 6 weeks and then looked at the podcast stats and website reviews hahahaha. I’m kidding. What I’m saying is this is new territory for me and I’m sharing that because, I want you to get inspired to let yourself past the criticism and the “all in your head stages” too.

Finally…Yes this is the last paragraph x Promise

As I said on the podcast I want to create a space for us to come together but that’s a bit more relaxed and less committal. I also want to create content and art and experiment without commitments or responsibilities to others currently and right now. So I’m going to attempt to post more routinely and regularly on here with the hopes that we can create conversation and connection in the comments.

Since many have found me through multiple social media platforms or corners of the internet it only makes sense that this be the spot for the hang. And in true Taylor Swift fashion it allows me to take some ownership back over my own creativity and build on my on turf and terms.

<3 Donna

PS: See you in the comments :)

I also took a detach weekend away in the woods with my spouse if you want to watch that for some reason