Tags: #notes-app #sing-your-heart-out [[0010. my manhattan]] | [[0012. of two places]]. I joined this leadership coaching group a few months back. I could go on and on about the reasoning for this decision but in short - I feel I lack focus, need experienced coaches and other ambitious peers to talk to and gain perspective and build relationships with as I go on this journey of self-discovery. In the last session we given this scenario to prompt us to understand and workshop what our values are. If someone offered you a billboard that will be seen by millions driving back and forth on the interestate every single day, what would you put on it? What would you write on it? What immediately came to mind for me to frame this challenge was how "[Protect Your Heart](https://protectyoheart.life/about/)" is written all over NYC sidewalks. When I first saw this, after a quick Google, I discovered that it's "meant to inspire people to prioritize self-care and pay attention to the condition of one’s heart from a spiritual standpoint". Not a bad thing to inspire people to do. So if I had a billboard, or even a NYC sidewalk, what would I write? I wrote a few things on an envelope, the nearest scrap of paper I could find on my messy desk. *Examine your heart*, as a modern take on Socrates' call to live a life worth living, the examined life. *Give your heart*, as a call to action to live fearlessly, give your love freely to the things you love and the people you love. Ultimately I thought about something I wrote in [[0003. kelly clarkson and singing your heart out]] and landed on *Sing your heart out*. > Today, with the amount of production that goes into music, it is refreshing (to me!) to straight up just watch someone sing their heart out by themselves on a stage. In watching back Kelly's performances, and when I think about music performances that I love the most, it's the sheer vulnerability on stage, taking your lived experiences and transforming it into art. the act of singing your heart out. I want to see more of that. I want to do more of that. What does *Sing your heart out* mean to me? To me, singing your heart out is about living authentically without fear, without reservations, without all the social bloatware preloaded on us by society, school, family. It's about honesty, openness, vulnerability, expression, courage. Being honest with yourself, being open to love, being vulnerable with the people who matter, expressing who you are, and the immense courage it takes to live life in that way. What would the world be like if we were all less afraid to show others who we are? What would the world be like if we were all more accepting of others as they are? There's something beautiful about that moment when someone is ready and willing to show the world who they are, to *sing their heart out*, finds a place or community that is ready and willing to accept them as they are. One place I personally feel this way is karaoke. You are encouraged to sing your favorite tune (*sing your heart out*), no matter how good or bad you are at singing, and everyone is accepting, because the point is to have fun. Having fun. That is another important value. What did *Sing your heart out* mean to the rest of the group? - authenticity - go for it - daring - be brave - encouragement - no judgment - playfulness - don't care what other people think - expression - march to beat of your own drum - celebrate - have fun - living fully - trusting intuition - not being afraid to dance - freedom - doesn't have to be perfect There is incredible power in workshopping values with your peers, by the way. There's such a wide breadth of perspectives and delight in the unexpected. And I think for the most part, they were all on the money! A lot of what they said resonated. I plan to explore this more in subsequent notes, but here's a quick recap of my thoughts on the list: >What resonated most: daring, playfulness, march to beat of your own drum, celebrate, have fun, expression, trusting intuition, not being afraid to dance, doesn't have to be perfect. >What I struggle with: trusting intuition, not being afraid to dance, doesn't have to be perfect, don't care what other people think. >One I'm curious about: authenticity - initial reaction is this sounds right, is about being true to yourself, but there's a resistance I feel to connecting *sing your heart out* with *authenticity*, I should explore this more. One thing I'm teasing out that is important to note: understanding who you are/what you want/what you're about can be a tricky struggle for some, especially if you're burdened with some of that social burdenware. It has been for me. For a very long time I thought it was all about starting with sitting down, meditating, analyzing my thoughts, know thyself, trying to figure out who I am. But you can't really **sit down** and try to figure out who you are. You have to go out and be who you are. Go try new things, did that feel right? Did that make you feel a certain resonance? Yes? Reflect on that. The whole singing your heart out and being honest and daring thing can be tough sometimes. When I really reallllllly think about it, we lie. A lot. Oh, not maliciously, but "Ooh yeah that's interesting." *That fucking bores me to death.* "Sounds good, I'll get working on it." *That is a terrible decision, but you're the boss.* "Cool!" *Not cool at all.* Taken to an extreme, one might on occasion feel like it's an affront to their heart to have to wake up every day and work, like for most people their jobs might be fine-*fineeeeee*, but most are not working their jobs because it's where they march to the beat of their own drums. Check out r/antiwork if you want to be bummed out for eternity. But what other things do we value that work might be helping us fulfill? Learning? Providing for ourselves and our families? Putting your all into stepping stones to greater things? I try to ground myself on that, anyway. >What this is not about: going out and being an asshole, telling people that what interests them is boring as shit, or quitting your job (although you do you!). >What this is about: examining what makes you tick, what makes you feel like *you*, and figuring out how to maximize the amount of that in your life. Without reservation. --- Created: December 7, 2022 Last Modified: December 7, 2022