LA RETOUR AU TRAVAIL

Well, here we are friends, September. It’s a most annoying month to write, the p and the t not being friends to my handwriting, but it’s my favourite time of year. The chill in the air is the signal that it is time to get back to work. I really had a delightful summer, spending a lot of time by the water and in the sun. So much so that I fell behind on the album release rollout that I had planned for November. That coupled with a delay in funding announcements, I have had to sit on my hands. At first, I couldn’t figure out if I had done it on purpose, a sabotage of sorts to my own success.

Then I came across a post on Instagram by the amazing psychologist Lisa Damour whom I’ve been following and reading from over the summer. She says something like this:

When your kids come home from school (on the first week) and say, I can’t do this, consider asking this question. Is it uncomfortable or is it unmanageable?

This was a question I needed to ask myself in the moment of deciding on whether or not to go ahead with a November release. I started to make a list of the things that were causing wrinkles in the plan (band availability, funding, debt, kids schedules, no artwork, no masters, etc.…) and it was clear to me that this was unmanageable, not just uncomfortable.

So, I’m writing a new plan, and I have every right to. I may have disappointed people, those who were accommodating their schedule to mine, taking risks on me. But I have to learn to be okay with disappointing others as it was going to compromise the quality of work that I had intended on putting out there and that is non-negotiable. To make my thought process complete, my new work season started as it does with a talk from our head of school, a woman who I am so grateful to be working for and to be in the presence of, Mrs. Carol Grant-Watt. She shared with us this beautiful video done by Dewitt Jones, a longtime photographer for National Geographic Magazine and a renowned lecturer. I can’t recommend this video enough if you are in a position of leadership. Towards the end, he pinpoints a conversation that he had when he first started at National Geographic with his supervisor. Dewitt was nervous, he felt like he didn’t belong there, but his boss said something magnificent that I think all women should hear.

Don’t prove yourself. Improve yourself.

Isn’t that a thing of beauty? Every day is an opportunity to do it differently. So, when you think you can’t change your mind because of how it might affect others, forget about it. It’s ok to not please people all the time. It’s not selfish. It’s a thing. And you’re doing it.