Happy May 1st! Ya know the phrase April showers being May flowers? Well over here on the New England coast it has been raaaining which I LOVE and the cherry blossoms are starting to bloom and my gosh it is beautiful and I love spring and I am so excited to be living somewhere with seasons espresh now that we’re entering my favorite seasons (spring, summer, fall, so basically anything but winter lol)
I haven’t really blogged all month so I wanted to share some updates before I list my MAY manifestations/intentions.
The biggest thing that happened in April was preparing for and PERFORMING my one woman show in New York City!
I know that I have a tendency to work hard on a project then kinda “thank u, next” it as soon as it’s over so I move on to something else and never really give myself the time to revel in the sense of accomplishment, so I just want to acknowledge that now.
If you’ve been reading along, you know this one woman show has been one of my biggest projects for about a year now and it’s pretty amazing to think that I set this goal for myself and then just did it. I didn’t have a director, lighting designer, stage manager, producer, none of that. It was literally all me. I wrote it, directed, rehearsed by myself, and had to get all the elements ready for the performance.
It was NOT easy. I had to fight with myself almost every day to force myself to rehearse and work on it and throughout the process I kept thinking “I can’t wait til this is over so I can focus on other things”
Also, I was the only one keeping myself accountable so it was all up to ME how much I worked on it and I was constantly feeling like I wasn’t doing enough, hadn’t memorized it well enough, hadn’t rehearsed enough, etc.
On the actual day of the performance I was a nervous wreck. It was truly the first time I had ever shared something so personal and vulnerable in PUBLIC and all by myself for the first time.
I was hung up by the fact that it was just going to be me out there – no cast mates to lean onto if I stumble or forget a line or whatever else.
But deep down I knew I had to share this message and I knew all the self doubt and anxiety that was running through my mind was all part of the creative process and that I was doing the work I needed to be doing. My fears were affirming that I was indeed on the right path.
And….I’m happy to report that the performance went better than I could have hoped. When I’m on stage it affirms to me again and again that this is what I’m meant to do. Something lights up in me and I shine. I feel the most comfortable and most magical when I’m able to share my truth on stage.
I had so many loving and supportive people in the audience and I felt so so lucky to have so many people surrounding me in support.
I also know I have a tendency to want to do it alone and never involve anyone else in my projects or plans but again it was affirmation that I have support and people want to give support and I don’t need to be afraid to ask for help.
Another update is, I finished Marie Forleo’s B-School that I’ve been doing for the past 2 months!
I truly LOVED this program and can see that I will be using it and the knowledge I’ve gained into growing my creativity coaching business and in everything I do from acting to marketing my creative work to whatever else.
It truly teaches you how to market anything and showed me that if people aren’t seeing your work it doesn’t mean they don’t like it, it simply means you haven’t done the marketing work of identifying who your ideal customer is and what their needs/struggles/frustrations are and then cater your offering to speak to those needs and then it’s easy.
It’s really about aligning your message to the people you’re meant to serve.
I also finished my 6 week guitar class which I loved being in.
It’s amazing what can happen when you invest in and commit to something because I spent months “wishing” I could learn guitar and getting down on myself for not being disciplined enough to teach myself on YouTube, but I realized it wasn’t because I was too lazy it was because I didn’t even know how to start because I didn’t have any skills or guidance.
It reminded me of how important it is to get support and invest in something because if you really want to make a change, then taking that step will really make it happen.
Another big thing for April was my one year anniversary with my boyfriend, pax!
We went to block island which you can read all about here, but it’s been pretty amazing to reflect back on this time and see all the crazy, random synchronicities that brought us together.
It was soo unexpected and especially because I had just ended a 3 year relationship with my ex and just looking back to where I was at that place and then suddenly someone who is so perfect for me literally just landed in my lap.
It feels really divine and while I don’t know where it will go, it feels perfect for where I’m at in my life and journey now.
Now on to May Manifestations!
- The biggest thing happpening this month is…IM GOING TO HAWAII. Visiting Hawaii has been a life long dream for me and my mom, sister, nephew and I have had this trip planned since October so I’m ecstatic that it is FINALLY here.
I can’t wait to live my mermaid dreams on the island and spend some quality time with my mama and sister and adorable baby nephew.
- I started an instagram for my coaching adventures which has been super fun because it’s kinda like creating mini blog posts! That’s probably why I haven’t been posting on here so much because posting on there has been more of my focus. I need to figure out how to find more of my tribe on there, but if you wanna check it out here ya go @the_modernmermaid.
Now that my show is over, I’m like okay what’s my next creative project? What am I working on?
Cause if you know me, then you know that I always need to be working on some creative project.
While part of me wants to work on all the things, my biggest priority right now is my creativity coaching business so I really want to just channel all my creative & administrative energy into that so I can really grow it and start booking dem clientzzzz.
But also here’s a list of creative projects I’m thinking about just in case you were interested 🙂
- a memoir about my childhood
- a monologue project where I cover different popular songs such as My Humps and Fergalicious in a serious, dramatic monologue
- an ocean songs cabaret – a whole cabaret dedicated to songs about the ocean & mermaid life
- a second poetry book
- another one woman show about growing up on an ashram
ANYWAYS those will all come out sometime or another, but for now, I am honing in and focusing on growing my coaching business and enjoying the merm/island life in Hawaii!
What are you up to this month? What creative projects are you thinking about?
With love,
Merm Ley
Mermaid Musings 