A story suitable for The Lion Gate

Hi there, you lovely lot,

A few weeks have passed since I last wrote to you. How are you doing on your quest to find, own, and love your uniqueness? Have you made any progress?

Finding ways to express our” specialness” and our inspiration is not always easy.
We run into all kinds of obstacles that demand us to reorganize our lives and make room for ourselves.

At those times, when everyday life is too stressful and filled with chores, I feel gloomy and low, to the degree that I toy with the idea of letting those lofty dreams go altogether. Overwhelm whispers that it may be better to give the whole thing up and get peace of mind again. Even if it would be boring, it would be safe and a lot less stressful.

However, I have a favourite hack I turn to when I feel that first spiralling negativity starting to negotiate with me. I thought today, when the Lion Gate is opened at its widest, would be a perfect time to share it with you. It is said to be the time of year when we get assistance manifesting what we truly desire in life.

My hack

My personal antidote is a very special friend of mine. I see him much less often than I would like to, but each time we meet, I get a boost of inspiration. Today, I will introduce you to my awesome friend, Christian. He is a guy I totally adore!

We have had a lot of fun over the years. We have been on crazy road trips in the South Americas but have travelled equally far on our musical adventures, through time and genres, from our comfortable living rooms. I have Christian to thank for introducing me to everything from Carlos Gardel to Mano Negra.

Many a time, as dawn has broken, I have looked around me at a bunch of exhausted explorers spread out on different sofas or chairs after one of these musical odysseys. All using their last resources of strength to hum along with Edith Piaf, David Bowie, Japan, or any other of our favourites we have saved for last. Musical bliss.

But this particular story began on an ordinary Saturday. My husband and I were invited to spend the afternoon with Christian and his family. Kids (none over 7 years old) roamed around, and the grown-ups met in chunks of interesting conversations blended with music and laughter. I had that comfortable feeling you get when hanging out with people you really like on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

At some point, we started to talk about how difficult it is to carve out time for that which makes us feel truly alive and happy. The low-grade depressive feeling of waking up every morning to a day filled with logistics, responsibilities and unending to-do lists.

I take for granted that you also are familiar with those – the shoulds, the musts and the have-tos. When the day is over, going to bed feels unsatisfying and sad because there has been very little or no room for what feels the most important. Of course, we can pat ourselves on the back for the many boxes on the list that have been ticked, but the sadness springs from the fact that very little or nothing of what we LOVE to do has made much progress.

Christian suddenly stood up and said: Come, I will show you something… We followed him into the hallway of their apartment.

…and he opened the door to a closet

Behind the door, he had set up a miniature music studio. A keyboard and a few black boxes of tech equipment (those slightly scary things with a lot of buttons, levers and strange names). His lifelong muse; his passion for music, composing and performing, continued to call upon him even though life slowly brought new responsibilities to him. And yet, despite all the common stepping stones in adult life, career, relationship, mortgage, a family, his muse continued to call so loudly on him, refusing to be ignored. So, he decided to walk towards her again, and the first step was this closet.  

I cannot say if it was his joy that hooked into my own longing to create or if I got a whiff of the inspiration floating out from his musical lair, but I felt a rush of hope and determination. At that moment, a part of me shook me wide awake and said: Hey, sunshine, you better remember this!!!

Later on, I realized why it was so important to remember because it is a moment I have returned to so many times.

For Christian, this closet studio was the beautiful beginning of something really extraordinary.

Today, he is labelled a” Verified Artist” on Spotify (here we go again, and no, they do not sponsor me (yet) –  it is true love from my side!).

Along the way, he has met people with whom to collaborate, found his sound, and evolved as a songwriter, musician, and singer.

To me, he is a brilliant example of what happens if we invest in what we love and give our creative expression as free reins as we can. It opens up wonderful things both for us and inside us. But we need to have enough nerve to believe in our dreams and take our deep-seated longing seriously.

The” doing” is the trick.

If we allow things to unfold step by step, we will find what we need along the way. It is not only the resources and the people we attract; we also get to see our own uniqueness express itself and evolve – we become friends with our creative mojo.

On this side of the Atlantic, it all began in the closet, where Christian started to make music and share it online. This got him in touch with New York-based Jonathan Mooney, and together, they formed Johnathan Christian. With great enthusiasm, they launched into creating and recording music without even having met in person. They describe their vibe as ” a soundtrack to a dark thriller.”

The moral sense of this story is obvious to me. If a father of three with a full-time job finds the courage to believe in and pursue his dream and carve out enough space for his passion and joy in a packed calendar, how can I tell myself that “it’s impossible”?

Perhaps Christian makes you think of someone close to you, who has been as brave and hopeful. Is there someone who can be your magical antidote to keep the “it’s never-going-to-work” voices in your head at bay? If not, give this a bit of thought. Find them and hang them on your tool belt to use when you run up against limiting beliefs about what you are capable of…

The other side of the coin is worth pondering on a little bit as well. Allowing ourselves to follow our dreams and turn our inspiration into something creates ripple effects. Therefore, do not underestimate yourself and the impression you have on those around you. Maybe you are someone’s role model,  courage-builder and source of inspiration without knowing it. By giving yourself the permission to pursue your dreams and find an outlet for your creativity to express itself, you will encourage others. You might become someone’s antidote against lurking self-sabotage, as Christian has been mine for so many years.

Sending them out into the world

I suspect that most of the time, we are unaware that we have transformed the trajectory of someone else’s life.

When I recently told Christian what a life-altering turning point that Saturday afternoon had been for me and what an incredible source of inspiration he is, he looked genuinely surprised. And in a way, I guess that is the true gift we bring to the world (even if this is an outworn cliché). We imbue our inspiration into that which we truly love and enjoy creating, and then we send them off into the world where they can live their own lives. Our creations are free to touch the hearts of those who need them while we are busy with our next dream, project or idea.

I would have inserted a little video here, that I recorded this summer, but I couldn’t figure out how to change it into the right format. I have been served a learning opportunity here, and it will help me test out “doing theory” ;). Will the right information show up? Meanwhile, you will be able to watch it on Magic Mittens’ pages on Instagram and Facebook. Find and follow me there if you are curious.

I hope today’s post has given you some courage to dream your dreams. If you are still struggling inside to take that first step, I hope will you find your version of Christian’s closet. And to the “verified artist”, himself, I would like to say:

– Monsieur Granquist, you rock!!!!

Much love,

Carin