Day 23- It's Time To Share Your LIGHT!

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"Whatever arrangement you have to do around you, of boundaries and who gets to be close...or far, and how much you look at social media...or don't, make those adjustments so you can hear yourself. When you can hear yourself you're that much closer to actually being able to feel your good life." -Adrienne Marie Brown

Welcome to DAY TWENTY THREE of our new 30-day COMMUNITY PROJECT where we make something with our hands every day in order to improve our mental health. We all realize that creativity heals...it's time to put that knowledge into action.

These episodes will exist here, marked with the days numbered, in order for you to follow along at any speed that you like. Miss a day? Doesn't matter. Just pick up right where you left off and keep making things. These episodes will give us all some accountability, but if you need more, pair up with a partner. It really does help!

Join our creative community by making something today, whether it's for five minutes or several hours—your brain will thank you. Let's do this thing together and turn all of this sh*t into something beautiful!

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Whatever arrangement you have to do around you of
boundaries and who gets to beclose or far and how much you
look at social media or don't,make those adjustments so you
can hear yourself.
When you can hear yourself,you're that much closer to
actually being able to feel yourgood life by Adrian Marie Brown.

(00:23):
I made tea this morning and Iused that yogi tea where you
have the little messages on theteabag.
And this morning's message saidthe world needs your unique
gifts.
I really do believe that so manypeople right now are looking for
a lighthouse.
We can't keep our stuff toourselves anymore, our light to

(00:47):
ourselves, our gifts, our art,our creations, anything that we
want to share.
If you feel that thing in youthat wants to share something,
just do it.
I finally just bought that book,We Need Your Art, by Amy McNee,
and I haven't read it yet, but Iwas listening to her speak and

(01:10):
she defined art, and the way sheexplained it was so perfect.
She said, anything we make withthe invitation to connect is
art.
This podcast is an invitation toconnect.
It's art.
When you put a picture of yourkid's birthday party on social
media, that's an invitation toconnect with people that want to

(01:34):
wish your child well.
The definition of art is sobroad, and it doesn't have to be
this unattainable thing that weall look up to.
It's literally anything we makewith the intention to connect.
And right now, everybody aroundus, they need that light.
They need a lighthouse.
They're looking for it.

(01:55):
And so you cannot allow anyvoice to be louder than your own
that you have in your own mind,in your own heart.
Just like Adrienne Marie Brownsaid, whatever you have to do,
whatever arrangement you have tomake around you, do it.
Make those adjustments so thatyou can hear your own creative

(02:18):
voice, your own heart, your ownthoughts, your own feelings.
And look for the lighthouses.
I've hit a turning pointrecently.
It was just like, you know what?
There is just an epidemic ofseriousness happening here in
the world, obviously, and in myown mind.

(02:38):
I have lost the ability to justlive with joy.
I was extremely sick, as you allknow, for most of August and was
just wallowing in my ownself-pity and negativity.
But it was good because I wasable to just kind of drown in
that so badly that when I didfind the light, it was like, oh

(03:03):
man, this I'm getting rid ofthis, and I'm bringing this into
my life.
Less focus on what I was gettingrid of, more focus on the things
that I wanted to bring into mylife.
I started this 30-day projectand I wanted it to be a creative
revival.

(03:23):
It took a really long time toreach that point, but now I can
tell you that after working onthis for much, much more than
the 23 days that I've airedhere, I am reaching that point
where I'm seeing that this isbecoming a creative revival.
So I started making someadjustments in my life.

(03:45):
I have reached this turningpoint where I'm beginning to
live more joyfully, even thoughthe world is burning.
Yes, it's possible.
My husband and I, we startedseeking out things that made us
laugh.
And so instead of watching thenews, we only allow ourselves
the daily show that is ComedyCentral.

(04:07):
Ours is on Paramount, and Ithink it's also on Hulu, but
that is the only news I'mallowing myself to watch now.
And I'm telling you, we laughout loud.
Just in stitches.
And not just the Jon Stewartpart.
All of those guys on the andlady on that show, I highly,

(04:28):
highly recommend it.
I'm also listening to upliftingfunny things like Good Hang with
Amy Poehler, her podcast, andshe just had Kristen Wig on
today.
Go to that first.
Holy crap, that is such a good,funny episode.
I exchanged my ultra seriousdeep book reading fiction for a

(04:54):
new one, and I started readingSandwich.
Everybody's talking about it byCatherine Newman.
It was a little difficult for meto adjust to a lighter fiction
book because I'm I really getdeeply involved in things like
The Nightingale, but I'm reallyloving it now and I get why
everybody loves it.

(05:15):
Highly recommend.
And what else?
This weekend, we justcelebrated.
We celebrated all weekend long.
It was my daughter's birthday,and we had a little party at my
mom's with the cousins.
And then during the weekend, wespent the whole day at Wild
Rivers Water Park with 10 kids,which was really fun.

(05:39):
And then we went straight toOhana Fest, which is this
awesome music festival thatEddie Vetter puts on every year,
which is like down the streetfrom our house.
Holy cow.
Green Day was so good.
They sounded exactly the same asthey did, you know, years and
years ago.

(06:00):
It was the best show.
Talk about collectiveeffervescence and being
surrounded by so manylike-minded people.
He was talking about fascism andsay no to secret police in the
streets and the all of the stuffand all the cheering and just

(06:23):
like-minded people who careabout others.
It felt so good.
I would say that I'm still on ahigh right now, and it was, you
know, three, four days ago, andI'm still feeling that high.
I'm seeking it out, you know?
Cutting down or cutting outcompletely of social media is

(06:44):
gonna really help you start tohear your own voice again.
I can tell you that.
You know, you can get back tothe sorting through of your own
thoughts, your own emotions,your own feelings instead of
feeling all these things from8,000 other people.
You're like, okay, I'm justlistening to my own voice right

(07:06):
now.
What do I feel like doing?
I keep quitting social media,feeling amazing.
I'll keep it up for two weeks.
I'll be like, oh wow, I'm nevergoing back.
This is so good.
And then something brings meback, and it's kind of like
you've been building thisbeautiful little drawing on your

(07:29):
etch a sketch, and you've beenworking on it for days, just you
know, keeping it in the safelittle corner, and then you
decide to go and shake it all upand erase it all, and that's
what it does every time I goback to social media.
So I don't know.

(07:49):
Even though I like to focus moreon what we want to bring into
our lives, I do highly recommendlimiting social media as much as
possible if you want to hearyour own voice.
Go sit a while with nature, theunpaid therapist, listen to the
birds chirp, the leaves rustlein the wind, whatever you can

(08:13):
hear, the ocean possibly.
And slowly but surely your ownvoice will begin to reappear.
Sometimes you just need a goodwalk, a good laugh, a funny
show.
Pick up a cool art book, maybejust go to the library and look
through them.
Start seeking out things thatjust make you feel more free.

(08:35):
Free to think your own thoughtsand hear your own voice and
share it with the world becauseeverybody is looking for a
lighthouse right now.
And the world really does needwhatever unique gift you have to
offer.
I'm excited to get more into WeNeed Your Art by Amy McNey.

(08:57):
I really like her on Instagram,and funny thing, I was just
thumbing through it right when Igot it to kind of see what it
was about, and immediately shestarted talking about one of my
favorite books, Your Brain onArt.
And she talks about it a lot.
So that was a really good signfor me.

(09:18):
Also, check her out on Substack,Amy McNee.
I've been following her.
This is why I finally bought thebook.
Um, she is just so open with herentire process.
She's even been like sharing hernumbers of book sales, which
I've never seen somebody do.

(09:39):
And it would surprise you.
Well, she's done a TED talk, andyou would think she is just
selling hundreds of thousands ofbooks.
But um, it's not the case.
And it's really cool whensomebody can be just that open
and honest.
And that's it for today.
Get out there and allow no voiceto be louder than your own.

(10:01):
And until we meet again, staycurious.