What’s one dumb thing that you used to believe in?

Similar to Danielle’s belief about their only being one soul mate for each person, I am recovering from the belief that we each have one singular purpose on this Earth. I used to think that this meant I would have one career, one area of study, one thing I did really well. In high school I even identified my Thing: Theatre.

I was seriously in love with acting and the whole theatrical universe. I loved the acceptance, the community, the long hours of work to create something good. I loved the history of theatre and all of the elements that contributed to a wonderful production, from the script to the actors to the lights and sound. I appreciated how a set supported the theme of the play, how lighting gave us actors a mood and a chance to shine.

I loved dissecting scripts and breaking them into “beats” so that the impact would be powerful. My favorite thing was the energy exchanged between performers and the audience. I loved that a work of fiction, properly executed, could make people think about things they never would have otherwise. Drama can express the human condition where facts and figures fail.

After I graduated, I decided a life in show business wasn’t really for me . I settled into a pays-the-bills job and waited for my new Grand Purpose to make itself known. For a while I thought it was education and pursued a master’s in that field. Education is still very important to me, but mainly my degree serves to let people know I’m capable of hard work and that I have a certain level of intelligence. What a pricey way to do that!

Upon finding myself unemployed three years ago, I stumbled upon the entrepreneurial path and Lady Myers’ Wordsmithing was born. I love working with words; reading them, writing them, editing them, coaching them into existence. But I don’t think it’s my One Grand Purpose. Career-wise, I have accepted that I will never have one.

Rally, I think, we all have the same purpose: to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. I first realized this truth back in my Catholic Church-attending days, but the concept goes beyond Christianity. To me, heaven is a place of love, peace and joy, so I try to bring more of those qualities into the world.

It is my purpose to fill up on those qualities so I can spread them as far and wide as possible. It doesn’t matter if I only reach a few people or thousands; each soul is vitally important and necessary. We can all live this purpose from wherever we are, whatever our circumstances. Even if you don’t believe in an afterlife, this life can only be made better by an increase in love, peace and joy.

I do still struggle with the whole Grand Purpose thing, especially  when love, peace, and joy aren’t advancing my career or growing my biz. It’s a hard belief to shift, the work of a lifetime. Every time I remember my true mission, though, I am moving in the right direction.

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Does this strike any chords in you? Want to share your one dumb belief? Please leave a comment!

If you’re signed up to receive Monthly Missives, you already know what this is about. Each month I set a challenge, and this month’s was to write a love letter to one of your favorite books.

The Book

Pawn of Prophecy (The Belgariad, No 1)

by David Eddings

The Letter

Dearest One,

It is hard to imagine that it’s been over 20 years since we met. Yet not a day goes by that I don’t feel your touch in some way. I had been a book lover for a few years already, but you opened me up to a passion that has seen me through the best and worst of times.

It began innocently enough. One day in the middle of my fifth grade year, I wandered into the school library looking for something to read. It didn’t take me long to zero in on you. Something about your colors, your name, your shapes caught my eye and I was irresistibly drawn to you. I checked you out and took you home, not knowing just what a treasure I held in my hands.

It was love at first word. I greedily ate up page after page, at times laughing, at times holding my breath, but always completely enthralled. I don’t remember how long I spent with you, but I do remember the disappointment which accompanied the end of the story and relinquishing you back to the library shelves. I mooned around for days, weeks, months. I relived the magic and heard the characters’ voices in my head everywhere I went. One of the best presents I have ever been blessed with was the boxed set that you belonged to. I delighted in continuing with the world you opened up for me, but as far as my fantasy travels have taken me, there is nothing like the First Time.

Fantasy remains my favorite genre. I owe it all to you, my love. Everything I read is held up to our time together. Your presence is always felt.

Recently I had the opportunity to share you with another young reader. I cannot tell you how excited I was that another generation would get to know you like I had. Sharing you the best way of saying “I love you” that I could think of. It was the bouquet of roses and the box of chocolates, a small way to show you how much you mean to me. She didn’t quite grasp you, which only makes me feel more special for being able to see your greatness.

So I thank you, for the hours of pleasure you brought me when I was a schoolgirl, and for the lifetime of good reading you set me up for. I hope you are not jealous that I moved on. Nothing can ever take your place. You will forever hold a place of honor on my bookshelves.

All my love,

Initial Belief

People who own their own businesses went to business school, wear suits, and think in terms of spreadsheets.

That’s all fine but it certainly isn’t me. Probably isn’t you either.

Mindset Shift

You can define what entrepreneurship means to you.

One day a few years ago, I discovered blogs. One led to another led to another, and drips of inspiration became torrents. Everything I believed about business was turned on its head.

All kinds of people had businesses, from MBAs to hippies (for even more inspiration, look here):

• Author-Speaker-Educator Jonathan Fields
• Goddess Leonie Dawson
• Destuckifier Havi and her business partner, Selma the Duck.
• Nonconformity Artist Chris Guillebeau
• Singer-Songwriter-Coach Christine Kane
• Arts and Crafter Tara Swiger

These people were sharing their experiences, mostly for free, and I consumed voraciously. I began to believe that it was possible to become an entrepreneur, and the biggest step towards that was shifting my perception.

You can make the shift, too. In fact, that artsy imagination you were born with will be a boon as you stretch your entrepreneurial wings. Create a character that has your talent and also happens to be business savvy. If you can write it, you can become it.

Suggested Exercise

Make a list of everything the word “entrepreneur” means to you. Make another list like this substituting “artist” for “entrepreneur” (or musician, writer, healer, etc.). See if there is any common ground.

Do you have thoughts on this? Please share (but only if it’s comfortable) in the comments!

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I shake my affie-taffy for some of these people.

How do you want it all to feel?

I want my writing to feel like a zen sand garden.
I want my wordsmithing to feel like interior decorating, arranging and designing and accessorizing in aesthetically pleasing ways, both visually and spiritually.
I want my exercise to feel like a kids’ dance party.
I want my meditation sessions to feel like taking a luxurious bubble bath.
I want my relationships to feel like reading a good book.
I want my money flow to feel like a sustainable eco-system, the circle of giving-receiving-creating in abundance.
I want my mornings to feel like the hope of rebirth.
I want my evenings to feel like my favorite bathrobe, comforting and cozy and full of stars.

During my four years studying theatre at college, I fell more and more in love with the craft. In the last semester, I also discovered a talent and inclination for directing. I wanted to immerse myself in the theatre world and thought a graduate degree would be the logical next step.

After auditioning for grad school and not getting accepted anywhere, however, I had to face a hard reality. I could have moved to L.A. or New York and pounded the pavement, but that just didn’t appeal to me. I knew that to do that would mean developing a business acumen that I just had no interest in. Of all the vast choices offered in college, there were three areas I knew for sure I wanted to avoid like the plague: science, math, and business.

If I moved to an acting hot spot, I would be spending most of my time working a lousy job to pay the bills. The spare time I had would be spent in hustling, trying to find an agent and getting myself into auditions as often as possible. That wouldn’t leave much room for doing what I actually wanted to be doing: acting. So I decided to let that dream go. I still had an outlet for creative expression in my local theatre, so it wasn’t a total loss. The new challenge was to find my next dream, my new purpose in life, and I have been searching for the last ten years.

A couple of years ago I decided to do something I could never picture myself doing before: start a business. It turns out that a lot of my preconceptions about what it would take to do such a thing were misconceptions. The beauty that is the Internet connected me with people who taught me that business can be creative and that it’s not just for risk-happy extroverts. It’s a good thing I went on to get a master’s in education, because I am learning like crazy.

Perhaps you are facing a similar dilemma. You are an artist, a creator, and while the promise of indie publishing at first gave you the feeling that you could actually do this writing thing, you came to realize that it would mean becoming a business person as well. This can be a deflating realization, but I am here to help. Over the next few posts I will tell you about some important mindset shifts that will help you start feeling like your dream to be self-published (and making money at it) isn’t so far-fetched.

If there is anything you would like me to address in particular, do leave a comment or shoot me an email at cmyers@ladymyerswordsmithing.com.