Inspirational Tips: Signs May Be Unreliable So Be Sure to Bring a Compass

Hello everyone! I've been thinking of you and hope that you all had a wonderful and relaxing Memorial Day weekend :)

As working artists and writers we have many jobs but none may be as frightening and simultaneously exhilarating as carving our own path. When you pursue a career as a lawyer or a doctor, there is a more concrete trail to follow. A certain amount of schooling that is needed and, within the field itself, people often share in achieving similar milestones and/or overcoming comparable hurdles. Becoming an artist does not provide such a set path. To become an artist who creates and sells their wares, one must begin by standing before a thick forest.

As I move toward the soaring trees, I use my heart, mind, spirit, passion, and signs to guide me. Yes, I am a sign seeker; my use of said signs is completely subjective however. Amid the forest, I stop to look for the connections in things, connections provided by the Universe that illuminate the path my life should follow. The connections could be as random as hearing a specific song on the radio.

“Oh,” I think to myself, “I haven’t heard this in forever. Wow, I was jst thinkinhg about so and so, so this must mean that they are thinking about me.”

Or the ones where someone randomly mentions something about an idea I’ve quietly been thinking about and I think, “That means I should go after that particular dream.”

I find it funny that the signs are always positive in telling me I should go after something; they never seem to be negative. Why is that? If I had to guess I'd say that it's because I use “signs” as a way to convince myself to do something I already know I want to do but am simply too unsure or scared to go after. Signs are the accessory of my personal kindergarten teacher.

I won’t lie, on the really tough days there have been times that I wished the signs would lead me to that spot in the forest where someone would step out from behind a tall tree, take my hand and lead me down a more readily traversed path. In fact, I hoped that person had a little red wagon I could sit in so that they could just pull me along the suddenly well paved road I’d somehow overlooked. That someone, my personal kindergarten teacher, would explain what is expected of me and then spell out in a step-by-step fashion exactly what I should do to get where I want to be. But right in the middle of that thought, I lose the comfort of my little wagon and begin to feel the pressure of shackles on my arms and wrists.

It is not a sign or a teacher or a leader that I need, it is trust. I need enough inner trust to say to myself, “Natasha, you’re on the right path. Don’t give up.” That one sentence gives me the power I need to fight.

The freedom of wandering, carving my own path, creating things that never existed before they leaped out of my imagination, propels me out of my wagon and sets my soul on fire. I run through the forest ignoring “signs” all around me. Instead, I use the sound of my own inner compass to guide me. When I finally stop look around, I find that the world around me is filled with luscious color and the sounds of creatures I’ve never seen before building and playing. If I’d taken any other way, if I'd blindly followed a ready-made trail, I’d never have stumbled across this beauty or learned from others. In that moment I feel whole and my heart beats one sentence over and over again, “You are on the right path. Trust yourself.”

Despite the lack of a road before me, I believe in what I am doing and where I am going - the unveiling of the children’s TST and Participant Choice themes solidified that for me. This weekend, I brainstormed some new ideas that will be taking shape and I realized that I love this forest and all its magical creatures. I’m so very glad I jumped out of that wagon, stopped fearing the unknown and stopped looking for someone to hold my hand and lead me forward. I’ve become my own forest ranger and as find my way, I find myself.

There is a forest. Lucky are we who get to wander around in it without a set course. Armed with heart, mind, soul, passion, and an inner compass we walk toward those soaring trees with our heads held high and ready ourselves for the adventure of a lifetime.