Beth BlattI was going to write 500 words about my charitable music business, Hope Sings (http://hopesings.squarespace.com).
I was also going to regale you with my back story – I write musicals and wanted to do something that had more impact and was more international. The mission: To harness the power of song to help empower, inspire and connect women around the world by raising awareness of various causes. The journey: To focus on “singing” microfinance success stories in Latin America to opening up to different stories and countries and genres. The successes: Writing the theme song for UN Women, the new United Nations entity, which we are now producing with a galaxy of international singing stars (click here for more info: www.hopesings.net).
But that’s not what’s on my mind right now.
What’s on my mind is this: Where’s the line between improving who you are and accepting who you are?
The old saying goes, as we get older, we become more accepting of ourselves. But is that always a good thing?
Case in point: Last night, I went to a cocktail party for my son’s new school. I started chatting with another mom who happens to be a concert pianist. We didn’t talk about our kids for very long before we slid into sharing about ourselves – and soon we were brainstorming an idea for a show. I was so excited!
Until this morning. When I realized…this is what I do. I get fired up about a new project, put a ton of time and energy into it, then neglect what’s already on my plate – which then crumbles from lack of attention and momentum.
I have developed 10 shows, of which three have been produced. Now, that may be par for the course in musical theatre land. But I lament my poor unborn babies.
My innate passion is starting, not finishing. When I lived in Tokyo, my friends used to kid me about the “F” word – focus. I’ve always loved juggling lot of projects at once.
But back to my current conundrum. As synchronicity would have it, yesterday, a few hours before the cocktail party, I happened to clean out all my old show files. Was I making room for something new to come in? Or being reminded not to do the same thing again?
My COO at Hope Sings reminds me daily about “laser-like focus.” She keeps me from chasing squirrels (remember the movie “Up” where the dog loses his focus the minute a squirrel runs by?). And I have gotten better. I write my goals every day and line up my to-do’s and get them done. There’s less joy. But more sense of accomplishment. Is that what growing up feels like?
But what now? Do I chastise my eager inner child and finish what’s on my plate? Or do I “follow my bliss” and hope I have enough bandwidth to run Hope Sings, complete the musical I’m already working on, and take on developing this new piece (which has so much potential…)?
Where’s the line between accepting yourself and improving yourself?
I’d love to hear your stories