The Dare Dreamer Movement by Julene Fleurmond

Corbin Bleu has been one of my favorite actors and performers since I was a teen watching him in High School Musical (you may even say I developed a slight crush back then – but I digress;). I love his approach to his work and how he doesn’t just label himself as a dancer, singer or actor but as an artist.

Here’s a quote I was inspired by from a recent interview he did after his stint at the Hollywood Bowl’s “Hairspray,” talking about music and how it connects us, and his advice to aspiring performers:

“I’ll never understand why…we can’t all feel free to sing whether good, bad, trained voice or not. When it comes to a profession, yes we should want the best of the best voices. But our society has made us feel as though if you don’t sing well, you shouldn’t.

“I recently visited Fiji and I experienced one of the most incredible things. Every person in the country will sing to you. They have native songs that everyone knows.

“For example there is a goodbye song, and every place I left in Fiji everybody sang this song to see us off. Music and singing are such inspirational and freeing tools. Everyone should use them!

“Words of wisdom for aspiring performers? Til the day we die, we are always learning. Who we become depends on how we apply what we’ve learned to better our lives. As performers, our position is to know and portray the lives of others. So the amount we can learn is multiplied.”

From an interview on Playbill.com

I’ve been taking part in CreativeLIVE‘s free online streaming courses, in topics raging from photography to Photoshop, for about a year now, and have continually been inspired! The latest course “Taking Care of Business” was taught by esteemed photographer Tamara Lackey who has paved a way with her photography studio, and who shared techniques for running a successful business and branding your uniqueness. You can watch the beginning of the course above to get a feel of it, and if you need direction in your own creative business, purchase the full course on the CreativeLIVE site.

I took in the course, pen in hand, scribbling down notes and pieces of creative wisdom. My favorite parts were the discussions about being yourself in business and presenting what makes you unique. Here are snippets of my notes below:

– Defining you is one of the hardest (but valuable) things you can do for your business
• What are you drawn to?
• What makes your soul shrivel inside? What makes you feel empty inside? Find someone else to outsource to
• What have you always thought that you could do that you haven’t?
• What are you really good at?
• When you’re about to do something but don’t because you’re afraid of how people will think of you, just do it. People will see you authentically! They’ll say, “Oh, there you are!”
• How much of you is about what other people think about you?

– The true entrepreneur is a doer not just a dreamer

– The War of Art
• A child does not always stop to think, be more childlike in your work
• Everybody faces resistance – especially artists – resistance tries to keep them from creating – wasting time

– “Don’t compromise yourself, you’re all you’ve got.” – Janis Joplin
– Your unique vision – not necessarily your strengths but your quirkiness – that’s what will draw people to you.

I really enjoyed this interview with beauty, fashion and celebrity photographer Matthew Jordan Smith which was part of the course, and filmed for Tamara’s reDefine Show, featuring creative people who are following their passions:

“Make sure you’re loving what you’re doing or you won’t stick with it…”
“You’ve gotta get out there and experience life and find your inspiration. When you get that and put what inspires you into your work that’s why nobody can copy your style, because your style comes from your heart and what inspires you…”

“…Once you’re in the mode of doing what you’re fearful of doing, the butterflies go away and it’s the best feeling ever…” – Matthew Jordan Smith

More About Tamara Lackey
Tamara Lackey is a renowned professional photographer, innovative entrepreneur, author, and web show personality. Her authentic lifestyle photography, from children’s portraits to celebrity portraits, is praised within her industry and published internationally. Tamara’s work has been featured in dozens of media outlets including Vogue, O – The Oprah Magazine, Town & Country, Parenting Magazine, Food & Wine, Men’s Journal, Professional Photographer Magazine, Rangefinder Magazine, NBC’s The Martha Stewart Show, ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, PBS’ Need to Know and NBC’s The Today Show.

Combining artistry with spontaneous authenticity, Tamara’s new web series, the reDefine Show, examines the inspiring stories of top-tier creative artists who make it work. Tamara’s interview style showcases her abiding interest in real conversations that share practical tips, innovative methods, and previews of the newest and most useful technologies on the market.

Visit Tamara Lackey’s Website

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars, to change the world.”
— Harriet Tubman

Love this quote; Harriet Tubman was one woman yet had so much impact on history and our world – proof of what just one dreamer and doer can do. What are we waiting for?

This design is available as a T-shirt or print from my Envibrance Dream Creations Store. Click here to visit the shop…

This TED Talk from a few months back featuring designer Jessi Arrington is so creative and quirky. Jessi is a self-proclaimed “color-loving…outfit-obsessed Brooklyn designer” who is determined to feed her love for passion only by shopping secondhand at flea markets and thrift stores. She also photographs and blogs a different “colorful, crazy outfit for every single occasion.” I love her care-free take on fashion to express herself, and how she doesn’t take her outfits or herself too seriously (which she shows in one of her tips: “Embrace your inner child. Sometimes people tell me that I look like I’m playing dress-up, or that I remind them of their seven year-old. I like to smile and say, ‘Thank you.’)

Visit Jessica’s blog to learn more about her take on the TED talk and her passion for fashion, used and unique.

” Jessi Arrington packed nothing for TED but 7 pairs of undies, buying the rest of her clothes in thrift stores around LA. It’s a meditation on conscious consumption — wrapped in a rainbow of color and creativity.”

From Jessi’s TED Talk
“…Confidence is key. If you think you look good in something, you almost certainly do. And if you don’t think you look good in something, you’re also probably right. I grew up with a mom who taught me this day-in and day-out. But it wasn’t until I turned 30 that I really got what this meant. And I’m going to break it down for you for just a second. If you believe you’re a beautiful person inside and out, there is no look that you can’t pull off. So there is no excuse for any of us here in this audience. We should be able to rock anything we want to rock.

“…Developing your own unique personal style is a really great way to tell the world something about you without having to say a word. It’s been proven to me time and time again as people have walked up to me this week simply because of what I’m wearing. And we’ve had great conversations…”

“So obviously this is not all going to fit back in my tiny suitcase. So before I go home to Brooklyn, I’m going to donate everything back. Because the lesson I’m trying to learn myself this week is that it’s okay to let go. I don’t need to get emotionally attached to these things, because around the corner, there is always going to be another crazy, colorful, shiny outfit just waiting for me, if I put a little love in my heart and look.” – Jessi Arrington

More About Jessi

Jessi Arrington is a founder and owner of WORKSHOP, a designer firm in Brooklyn. Her favorite color is rainbow and her default answer is YES. She’s taught Design Fundamentals at Touro College and given guest lectures at NYU; she’s a board member of AIGA/NY. Before co-founding WORKSHOP, she carried out branding for Brooklyn Brewery, Tomato Records and Lion Brand Yarn under the direction of Milton Glaser. She makes a hobby of wearing nothing new (except undies).
She blogs at LuckySoAndSo.com about design, consumption and color.

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” – Maya Angelou

I love this quote and how it reminds me of how what may appear beautiful (or successful and esteemed) may have been molded through a long period of trial, darkness, growth and solitude. What we believe to be an over night success is never really made over night. There’s always a journey that shapes us, and a process that graces us to achieve true beauty.

(Above: I loved this quote so much that I created a little photographic illustration, using my favorite brooch and bedspread).