Start Before You’re Ready: Creative Courage and the Power of Experimentation (Part 8)🎧Episode 71

🎧 Episode #71 Start Before You’re Ready Creative Courage and the Power of Experimentation (Part 8)

Today's lesson is about starting before you are ready and having the courage to experiment and pursue the creative projects and hobbies that interest you. Whenever I start something new, I always research it. I can research it to death, but there comes a time when you've learned all you can from reading and you have to start doing. That's where I am with my audiobook narrating. After almost a year of coaching, my coach told me I was ready to start auditioning and booking my first audiobooks.

I was terrified, but excited. He said that, even though he would teach me all he could about the voiceover and narration business, acting, and performance, there were important things I could only learn by doing, and that producing each new book would push my skills to improve by a factor of at least 10.

So, I had to start before I was ready, and you know what happened? I got two books in a month of auditions. The first one just came out (see below), and the other one will be out shortly. At times, I was a complete mess – recording, proofing, editing, and mastering audio is a full-time job, but I did it, and my coach was right, I learned by leaps and bounds. My confidence is at an all-time high!

Now, it's your turn. Press play on today's episode, then start something before you feel ready. It will empower you.

💭Key Takeaways from this Episode:

• Belief from a parent, mentor, or coach can act as long-term "permission" to explore, pivot, and follow your creativity wherever it leads you.
• Experimentation is the first step in being creatively courageous. You are never going to begin a new project or learn a new skill as an expert. Expertise is acquired through hard work and practice. Some experiments are more successful than others.
• Being multi-passionate is valid. Pursue different careers and interests to deepen your sense of purpose and joy.
• Fear is a signal that you care and not something to shy away from. You want to get it right, and you will IF you invest enough hard work and time.
• Start before you are ready. Try to live with the uncomfortable feelings of failure, awkwardness, and messy middles. You will grow from them and transcend them if you stick to it.

The Bravesome Echo

By Jill Hodge

Before there was a thing to name
When ideas flowed free like valley streams
Colliding and all messy
Plentiful in the corners but still around the edges
Before it became what it was becoming
It was a yearning, ethereal and without form

But you clung to this thing that couldn’t be named
Small tendrils that broke through the first light
You nurtured the roots held on by the clay ground
You were its only sunlight, its rain and balmy breeze
You were its north and south, its east and west

Before the thing was good enough to show
You built it stone by stone, inch by inch,
the mortar, like blood pumping
in your full and aching heart
You hoped it would be understood
Seen as you saw the thing, tensing and relaxing
Until something shifted and the thing pushed through
The ground fell apart

And there behold the thing was living and others could see it
Touch it, believe it, and all those months when you were its only
Caretaker, you whispered a soft refrain, “You can do this”
“Yes, you must do this”
As you hardly believed it

But standing behind you, within you, around
That lonely voice is your own companion
feeding you so you could feed
Your thing

Knowing that those words were the only thing that made you care
The only thing that made you toil
The only thing that had you becoming

And if that voice was only yours, then be thankful for the bravesome echo.
If it was from someone dear, be thankful for the gentle warmth they shared
For the thing has become itself, and you are fuller still
Because you dove, headfirst, you dared

Journal Prompts to Explore Your Multi-passionate Creative Self

Here are some journal prompts to reflect on the people who support your creative endeavors and the actions you've taken to support yourself. Write or reflect on these prompts.

I was lucky to have my mom (my cheerleader) by my side growing up. She always believed in me, without question, but that didn’t mean she thought everything I touched would turn to gold or be successful. But she understood the value of striving, understood that it would enrich my life and offer fulfillment. She told me to go for it, told me I could do it if I wanted, and asked how she could help.

My mom’s 8th life lesson was that I have what it takes to pursue my creative passions. If I wanted to create something new, I could work towards it and know it was right to do because it called my heart. You can do it too – get started! 🌞

Podcast Music: My thanks to all the musicians who make incredible music and have the courage to put it out into the world. All music and sound effects for my podcast are sourced and licensed for use via Soundstripe.

Songs in this podcast episode: Quartz Stroll by Soulplusmind; Some Kind of Wonderful by Nu Alkemi$t; Con Sazón by In This World

Resources:

Juggler Francis Brunn

Prayers for When Anxiety Won't Let Go: Scripture-Rooted Prayers for Calm, Clarity, and Peace in Overwhelming Moments

Related Episodes:

The Healing Power of Touch - Lessons My Mama Taught Me (Part 7) - Episode 70

Learn the Language of Nature — Lessons My Mama Taught Me (Part 6) - Episode 69

Being Hateful is Incompatible with Being Whole – Lessons My Mama Taught Me (Part 5) - Episode 68

Giving Without Expectation – Lessons My Mama Taught Me (Part 4) - Episode 67

Take Notice of Little, Beautiful Things — Lessons My Mama Taught Me (Part 3) - Episode #66

Recognize the Good in Others — Lessons My Mama Taught Me (Part 2) – Episode #65

Let People Know You Love Them — Lessons My Mama Taught Me (Part 1) – Episode #64

Check out the resources on this website (and subscribe) to get podcast episodes, poems, articles, music playlists, and journal prompts delivered to your inbox.

Then, connect with me on Instagram. Let me know you hear me out there!

Journaling Resources

30-Day Journal Challenge (Writing Prompts to Get Started)

Here’s a fun & simple 30-day journal challenge for beginners (or those who need inspiration). Use the daily prompts to rediscover yourself.

Let the Verse FlowJill Hodge

Journaling 101: An Inspirational Guide to Start (or Revive) a Practice

Whether you write, doodle, draw, or keep memorable quotes, journaling uncovers YOU. Let your unconscious mind speak, download my free guide.

Let the Verse FlowJill Hodge

Let the Verse Flow (and its companion newsletter Flow & Voice) is a creative project created with love by writer, podcast host, and narrator Jill Hodge. If you subscribe today, you'll have full access to the website and newsletter, including articles, podcast episodes, and the Flow & Voice monthly note. Members are vital to building a rich community of diverse voices. Join us by subscribing today; consider a paid subscription to support Jill's work. Thank you!