Hello beautiful people!
Let’s set some criteria.
Now, we don’t come pre-loaded for those muscles to be all that strong. As creatives, we’re frequently reminded by “the powers that be” exactly how SMALL we are. How LITTLE power we have. In fact, in many cases, we’re over-trained for being a doormat. A pushover. A victim.
I like to say we’re just more practiced at those things. And we can become more practiced at the higher-enoughness activities and setpoints too. We just need more… practice. Of course.
While we’re here, engaged in this 100-day workout, one of the biggest gifts we can give ourselves is the space to get real. Be open. Finally unpack that crap that — if we don’t deal with it — travels with us like a backpack of uncastable stress and anxiety into every audition, every meeting, every encounter with a potential rep or collaborator or fan.
We have a saying in Expansive Capacity: Better out than in.
Because as unpleasant as some of those emotions may be sometimes, they do far more damage when they’re carted around inside of us, little ticking timebombs just waiting for the most inopportune moment to go off.
So… I don’t know how much y’all know about my health odyssey of recent years, but in case you’re not fully aware and you like lots of context, I put a bit of info about it here.
Short version with no context: I spent all of 2018 healing. Deeply. I saw specialists from all over the world. I did a quarter of the year on bedrest. I was hospitalized. I did RTT, acupuncture, and of course all the western medicine options (short of exploratory surgery) as well.
And during that year, I had to make a trip into a room that might as well have had a banner hanging up above the door that read, “INSIDE: ALL THE REASONS BONNIE DRANK.”
In prepping for this trip home, we developed Baseline Criteria.
Have a listen.
Today’s work: Come up with some Baseline Criteria for a few things today. What’s the BC for your shift at the ol’ survival job? A kind smile exchanged, fully meant? Everything else is Bonus Points. What’s the BC for that self-tape you need to knock out today? Having less frustration with your lighting set-up than you had last time? Everything else is Bonus Points. What’s the BC for the next convo you have with your partner? Openness? Presence? Connection? Everything else is Bonus Points.
And do you have something farther out on the horizon — a higher-stakes event or experience you’re feeling some anxiety about? Can you set some Baseline Criteria so you can exhale about the rest of it?
Share below how setting Baseline Criteria — and living more in the Bonus Points stage of life — sounds to you. Freeing? Intimidating? Luxuriously self-care-filled? Right on time?
’til tomorrow… stay ninja!
