*Beware: Transcripts aren’t perfect!*

Hello, Merideth Hite Estevez, your host of the artists for joy podcast here! This is one of our bonus musical meditation episodes that show up in the feed between full-length ones where I put some of the music from the show center stage and offer you some FREE creativity coaching to help you find clarity, name what matters, and in today's case… slow down.

In last week’s episode, which by the way I recommend you pause this and jump back one in the feed if you haven’t heard it yet, it was all about finding harmony vs. hustle. Understanding that there will be marketing and hard work and pushing to a limit sometimes in the creative life, but remembering that there must be balance with that hustle mindset with one of harmony—and it’s that word we are going to focus on in today’s musical meditation, in a moment I’ll share some questions that will help you find balance and harmony in your life and slow down for a minute.

Today’s music features Marnie Laird of Brooklyn classical playing some Debussy and Brahms. Our theme song is by angela sheik.

Before we dive into the meditation, I’d love to share this voicemail I received from a listener (by the way if you want to leave me a voicemail our number is in the show notes for you each week.) Here’s what this listener said:

Hi, this is David, Love love loved the episode about anti-hustle I would like to be a member of the anti-hustle club. It’s important to market but we want to change our way of thinking about it so your podcast was so helpful for thinking of harmony. Seth Godin if you’re familiar with him, what’s it for, who is it for? We look at the how-tos and tactics too soon, I gotta put out a newsletter, we aren’t connected to our deep why, that’s part of it.

Yes, David thank you so much for calling in and leaving that message. He goes on to say that for him finding harmony means connecting to that deep why and not losing sight of that when we sell or share our work with the world.

I couldn’t agree more, David and so now I am going to help you practice finding some harmony, connect with your deep why, and release the stressful parts of hustle for just a moment

So find a comfortable spot to notice your breathing. If you think about it the human body knows more about harmony than we will ever understand. Without us knowing it is managing our digestive system, our nervous system, it is keeping our heart beating, our blood pumping, and so start now by working to find harmony with your body, through your breath. Slow down the rate of your exhale especially. Here’s an oboe breathing thing I do sometimes, breathe in through your mouth and when you breathe out of your nose, hold one nostril closed and push the air slowly out of the other nostrils, then take another deep breath in and exhale through the other nostril. Hopefully, you don’t have a cold or this could be problematic.

It might be easy to think that playing in tune, harmonizing well with others, in an orchestra or chamber ensemble requires the player to play softly and blend in with others by being less individual, but surprisingly that isn’t true. It is actually much easier to tune to a pitch that is full, resonant, and confidently placed in the center of the intended pitch. So remember this, finding harmony doesn’t mean you are becoming less than. It doesn’t mean you don’t care about the progress or the success, it just means you can balance your hard work and hustle with a sense of release, balance, and exhale. It means you stay connected to what matters most, and so are not pulled under by the weight of a single bad review, hard day, or creative challenge. Finding harmony in the face of hustle means crafting a sustainable, joyful creative life.

So as you listen to the music consider the following questions,

What is the current balance between your push to succeed and climb the ladder with rest and recalibration and restorative solitude? What needs to shift for you to feel more harmony, peace, and deep creative joy?

What do you want those who see, hear, and experience your work to feel or know? Do you feel or know those things yourself?

I’ll be back next week for another full-length episode. Until then take good care.