Lisa for Real

062. Do we need to be better?

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What if the goal is not to be a bigger, better version of ourselves, but to be wholly ourselves – fully filled and satiated with life?

That would mean, instead of taking classes to fill the knowledge gaps to become a better artist, we simply do art more often.

Note – we aren’t doing art more often so that we can get “better.” That approach assumes that who we are is not enough. “More often” means doing it as we can, more often.

It’s quite simple. If we love it, we do it. Only the critics care about it being “better.”

Your whole self does not care if you are a better artist – it only cares that you express yourself every opportunity you can through art because you are an artist.

061. Beyond the job description

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If you’ve ever embarked on a quest to answer “Who am I?,” you have probably found many a dead-end.

We naturally try to answer with words that describe what we do.

But we are more than mom, teacher, entrepreneur, artist, lover, partner, activist, learner, writer, etc. And even if we were not limited by 140 characters or 10 second attention spans, there would not be enough room to fit it all in.

How about a different approach? How about asking – “What is my brand?”

A brand feeds all of our senses – sight, sound, taste, touch and smell which ultimately evokes experiences and emotions. How do you want people to feel when you interact with them?

A brand is about “how we do” and not about “what we do.”

That’s who you are.

060. Looking in the mirror

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Looking in the mirror is hard.

But there are people who look at us all the time.

Our children. Our partners. Our families. Our friends. Our neighbors.

Dozens of people who are not repulsed, but elated by the very being we see in the mirror.

And why is that?

Because of what they focus on vs. what we focus on.

We see the wrinkles and freckles and bags under our eyes whereas our children see the arms that embrace them. Our partners see the ears that listen to them. Our families see the fingers that text to check in on them. Our neighbors see the friendly face that greets them.

The same happens in our business. When we look at our business, it’s like looking in a mirror. Our vision is cluttered with all of the things that aren’t the “ideal.”

It takes a different set of eyes to appreciate and capture the things that light others up about you.

(If you want a different set of eyes infusing your Inner Spark into your marketing copy, reach out to me to learn more about my Light Them Up Marketing Audits!)

059. Make and break the rules

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Rules are meant to be broken.

Or so they say.

But who were the rules made by? Who enforces them? Who gets to break them?

In the western world, historically, the rules have been made for and permission to break them given to white, cisgender, heterosexual men, or at least the perpetuation of that false ideal.

Being told that rules are meant to be broken but not by us further puts us in our place, a place carved out for us but not by us.

It’s time to create our own rules. And then break them.

058. Shove your should’s

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Should’s are obligations and expectations for and by other people. They are the things we do to keep up, stay relevant, and be “better” but not necessarily true to ourselves.

What should’s really do are keep us small, quiet and standard.

As mothers, we are force fed three square meals of should’s everyday until the postpartum belly that they tell us is not normal busts out of our Spanx.

What about what we WANT?

What about what lights us up? What serves us? What ignites us?

What about feeling whole in the body and skin we have?

What about our dreams, desires, and passions?

I’ll take second helpings of those instead.

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