Liz Gilbert and Cryptic Crosswords are my new flow state
Also, I think I'm scared of Substack.
Hello Carousellers,
It’s so interesting. I’ve just been writing a Carousel to you all, and then I noticed an editing voice come in to say ‘this isn’t strategic’ and that there needs to be a bigger purpose to these emails. Or a plan. Or for it to be ‘useful’ to you all.
And then I remembered that the whole point of Carousel is that it’s about going with what feels alive. It has to feel in flow, rather than forced.
I think it might be partly because of how Substack is changing. Beforehand I felt like I was writing an email to a group of people; now it feels much more visible and like another form of social media. I’m much more aware of how posts are doing and people going ‘viral’ on Substack. Oh man, another thing to measure ourselves against. THIS ISN’T FUN.
I know it’s up to me to not get sucked into the drama of this. And that I get to choose how I write, when I write, what I write. I’m wondering if others are feeling the grumblings of the inner demons a little more with Substack these days?
So anyway, here’s what’s feeling alive today and here’s what I’d like to say…
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
I have just devoured Liz Gilbert on two podcast episodes and I can’t get enough of that woman. These are the kind of episodes that 3 minutes in you’re already sending them on to 50 friends saying ‘OMG. LISTEN!’ So here you go too:
One of the things I love is how she talks about how to decide which projects to work on. She says she has so many competing ideas that intermittently she will get her projects to ‘pitch to her’ to put forward why she should dedicate her life to them. And she often has projects circling around for years before she brings them in. How very Carousel. I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to hear someone talk in this way. About what it’s like to bring ideas in. To commit to them. To be surrounded by ideas wanting your attention.
Both Liz and Marie Forleo talk about the need to make sure the things you’re working on are meeting the goal you have for your life at that moment (which, by the way, can be FREEDOM or JOY or something, as well as a financial or specific career goal). I thought of this this afternoon as I went straight from the airport to a rehearsal in Brighton for a Halloween gig tomorrow night. I asked myself, is this something I should be spending my time on? Is it helping me work towards my ‘goals’? What I do know is that when I’m playing the piano in a band, it is a total flow state for me. Everything melts away, time stops. I’m just in it. And actually, moments like that are how I want to spend my life. That’s the goal.
I have just been in Malta for a week with my family celebrating my Dad’s 70th birthday. I feel incredibly lucky that much of this week was spent with my 8 month old niece. Being with a baby is the epitome of being in the moment. It’s joy. It’s laughing at the silliest things. It’s an outpouring of tears because that’s how it is in that moment (I actually got her to pick a tarot card and she chose ‘WILD’ which her parents agreed was pretty apt. Okay, I didn’t get her to pick one, as she’s 8 months old, but I got her to put her hand over the pack and this is the one she touched. START THEM EARLY.)
Being in the sea is another one. Time stops. Problems melt away. BLISS.
Coaching for me is also an incredibly soupy activity… connecting in with another human and floating around in the exploration. Timelessness.
And recently, I’ve discovered a new flow state - CRYPTIC CROSSWORDS. I love word play, and languages, and puzzles, and so this is the dream. If you’re like me and have spent years wanting to be good at Cryptic Crosswords but not knowing where to start may I recommend these three resources:
Every Saturday do the Guardian Quick Cryptic. This is the easiest one and they only have a set number of types of clues. At the start I still couldn’t understand them at all, in which case, go to…
Fifteensquared. This is a blog which breaks down every crossword in every newspaper and how they got the answers. I’ve learned so much from this! It’s like learning a new language.
Have a look at the ‘Ultimate Beginners’ Guide’, which the Guardian put out last week.
I’ve absolutely LOVED doing these and have found myself locked into a grid for hours. It’s like a linguistic meditation!
Is this earning me money? Not yet.
Is it bringing me joy and helping me feel present? HELL YEAH.
I have not always been strategic with my portfolio career about earning money. Or thinking about long term growth strategy. Or prioritising this sort of success. But I have committed to following the aliveness. And when I was invited to perform in this gig for Halloween with a new group of musicians in Brighton, it was a full body yes.
I also know that it’s not always about that particular project. You follow the yes with a small thing and it leads you to meet someone who has a whole other thing that ends up being a BIG thing.
I can trace my two main clients for Power of Uke back to a hen do I went to in 2016. I ran a small workshop there for my friend but another hen thought it would work really well at a Learning and Development festival she’d been to. That’s where I met the heads of L+D and decision makers for some huge companies, who have been a huge percentage of my income since.
My Coaching for Teachers work only came about because I (reluctantly!) said yes to some supply teaching post-Covid. Once I was in the school the headteacher started asking me about other things I did, including coaching. 'Oh we’re looking to hire a coach here. Send me a proposal.’ The supply teaching lasted about 3 days, but I’ve been working as a coach at that school (and many others) for 3 years now.
And I’ve already seen that the gig I’m doing this week is with some epic people who put on lots of great events in Brighton and beyond… so it’s bigger than this one gig.
So, perhaps, after all, there is some strategy here. Keep following the nudges and full body yesses, and be open to what might emerge the other side. Trust that something is leading you to that person / opportunity / venue / city. You just never know why you’re being drawn to it. But allow yourself to be drawn to things.
Crikey, we need to earn money don’t we. And this can all feel very nebulous and unpredictable. And I guess this free-styling Carousel life is not for everyone. But I do think that the money doesn’t always come from the thing you think you’re making money from. And I wonder if that’s the leap we need to make…
Now just gotta surrender to how those Cryptic Crosswords are going to help me make the big time.
Until next time,
Sarah x
ps. if you’re in Brighton come to our gig at The Walrus tomorrow night (31st Oct) and say hi!
If you’re new here, Carousel is a way of showing up to your life by honouring what feels most alive.
Here’s 3 things from my Carousel from my decade of working in this way:
📺 My first ever comedy video to go viral - a song about GDPR to the tune of YMCA. By the way this was my first take of this video, I didn’t do subtitles and I just sort of uploaded it for fun. But it was out in the world the day people had to do the GDPR changeover so people needed some JOY. I ended up on BBC Radio Devon, and was hired to perform the song at an office summer party! People still tell me they use it for GDPR training sessions as some light relief.
🎧 An amazing episode of my podcast with
about designing a life you love. Selina was my inspiration and first guide for how to create a life where I felt like I could play. I could talk to her for hours about this stuff. And she’s such a champion of Carousel, too :)📖 What if it was going to take a year? An issue of Carousel about allowing longer for big transitions (and being open to how we might meet our needs)
Gorgeous and timely musings here for me, babe. Thank you 💚
Really enjoy this one, Sarah!!!