Get Your Art In Gear

Winning is every day moving a step closer to your creative dreams being fulfilled. It is not the award nor the publishing deal, it is the thousands of steps you took no matter what to get there.

All we can do sometimes in life is give yourself a break and give yourself the gift of creating daily. It gives yourself hope and allows you then to find the strength to tackle the other not so fun challenges in life.
I dont want you to collapse in a ball and say this is too hard. Do reach out to friends and professional help if you are getting really stuck.

We only have so much willpower and decision making in us each day so use that wisely. Research shows you are more likely to have an affair if you are on a diet as being ‘good’ in one area makes us feel we can ‘treat’ ourselves in other areas in our life!
Barack Obama would always wear a blue suit and a blue shirt every day in the White House as he did not want to use his decision making skills on such an irrelevant to him issue given the multitude of decisions he did have to make. It seems Trump spends all his decision making crafting his tweets …

16. Take a singular step forward towards your dream. Every day.
That might be practising your guitar, work on the bridge of your song or the middle Act in your play. Maybe see if you can find a singular idea in your feature length film script to make a 5 minute short to then use to get funding for the 100 minute version.
It could be reaching out to a possible new agent.
If you vow to yourself, that you will honour yourself and take a step towards your creative career every day, even if it feels like a tiny shuffle, even if you hate your day job or you are on furlough and facing possible redundancy, just vow to yourself to take
Maybe get up earlier before work and kids as it will make your focus easier. It will make you feel that you are honouring yourself and your muse.
There are many theories about where the creative muse comes from, from the Greek ideas that the muse hids in the walls, to a wind that whistles through you . But in every case you have to do the work of manifesting the idea into a fully formed piece of work in whatever medium you feel is appropriate.
We have a duty to be prepared and showing up. Anyone you look at in the world history of making amazing work has just kept showing up. So however you define yourself as a creative, show up! Do the work. Vow to your life to step forward every day, even if you do not see the results today you are winning. Trust me.

I did a podcast episode called Whars Next? What is the next step? So ask yourself.

17) Read a biography or an autobiography at least once a month or even one a week, for a year and watch how your heart will strengthen and soar.
Soar like arms wide flying, not saw as in a block of wood ;)
Once you have read the story of someone’s life it will educate you on how they tackled their life.
Choose wildly different professions, outside your own as well. From politicians such as reading Nelson Mandela’s ‘ Long Walk To Freedom’ to Eartha Kitt not being able to marry the man she loved, a Hilton heir, because of her skin colour despite her fame, beauty and brilliance. I saw Eartha Kitt perform twice, when she was 80 and a few months before she died at 81 years of age. Knowing her past, having read two of the books she had written about her life made her amazing cabaret artistry even more powerful.

My world view has been changed slightly by every story of a life that I read. Sidney Poitier’s autobiography will never leave me, odd facts from it pop up at least once a month. How he discovered acting was as he searched for a new job as a dishwasher in NYC, the integrity he brought to the roles he would pick as a light to others in the black community. He had to learn to read properly so a fellow dishwasher, an Irish man, helped him between dishwashing sessions, he listened to the radio to learn to speak without only his original hard to understand according to him, Bahamian accent - he needed as an actor to be able to play other roles and this was in 1950s America!

Documentaries are also amazing, but do read as well, a documentary made by an external filmmaker is curated by the director and their access to footage will also dictate their viewpoint. Their view on that person (the recent Queen film was amazing but was told really as the making of Queen and their songs. Freddie Mercury the brilliant charming superhero, his sexuality and own angle was massively underplayed for the commercial good of the film.

So always see if you can get the story for the person themselves if possible, maybe as a follow up. If you particularly fascinated find two opposing versions of the same person.
I encourage you to do at least one a month.
You will be inspired, possibly made angry. I also think going to a charity or normal bookshop and picking a random biography, even of someone you can’t stand can be a real force to get you moving, even in anger ;)

18) Create a story or scene in your mind on what is in front of you. This is a development on a Boleslavsky acting exercise I used to do when I studied in LA.
Go out and sit in a park, on a sidewalk, in a coffee shop, with a note book. Sit somewhere where you can watch. Pick something, a couple walking past, a bird in a tree, the rush of water, a building. And think up, and journal, or draw, a story or a scene.
If it’s a human or a couple, what do you think are they conversing about, their inner thoughts, what are they saying vs what they are thinking, what is their greatest dream, or project them into the next day or next year. Watch their body language. If it is a building what happened in there last night.
Dream about what they might be saying, thinking about, are they flirting with each other or someone else?
Watch how close they stand to each other.
Boleslavsky’s exercise teaches you to study human behaviour as well which can be a creative source.
Now you may be a visual artist so you could think of how to show that in photos or a film, or as a writer what is the story.
Write down some ideas for 15 mins, virtually send them love from your heart, and then leave it.
Do this at least once a week for four weeks or even try 3 times a week, daily is better, for at least a month. It will sharpen your eye and your creative brain, plus you will start to think about using one of the scenes as a new project.
I take this a step further and wherever I travel, especially if it is on a crowded train, I look at people and find one thing that is fantastic about them. They may look exhausted but they could have kind eyes or fabulous nails.

19) Morning journalling or ‘Morning Pages’ as Julia Cameron calls them. There is no wrong way to do them., it is basically get 3 sheets of A4 paper and just write, by hand, no typing, dumping your thoughts first thing from the ‘I hate my’ to ‘I wish’ to ‘I wonder’ or ‘I could’.
Just say you will do them for a month every day.
It takes about 15 minutes maximum and before you get into the day. I personally then throw them away immediately – if I have written some ideas that I need to follow up, I just add those as singular sticky notes, but get rid of the junk. I never re-read mine.
I am the queen of sticky notes, in fact I may yet design a dress of sticky notes with a mini white board as a hat. Very drag race or Project Runway.

20) Become Your Own Cheerleader.
You need to really appreciate how fabulous you are and that you are doing the best you can.
One part L That exercise where you think every night, before you go to sleep, of three things you are grateful for that day. It works.
Or do it first thing in the morning asking ‘What was great about yesterday? What did I achieve yesterday? What three things am I grateful for right now?
And then What am I going to do today that is fabulous for moving my life forward’
Sometimes when I am doing my Singing Psychic show I feel called to say to someone as part of the ‘four-tune’ telling to look at themselves naked in the morning and pick one thing about your body you love, from your biceps to your heart. .. And pick another part the next day. For 30 days.

Just remember the world needs your fierce. It needs your art, your view,
Marianne Williamson’s quote ‘ we all have a light within us’ but it is our responsibility to polish that light, get out there and shine.
Knowing you are fighting through makes you mentally stronger.
I chant as it makes me go after bigger waves to ride in this life.


Seeing the incredible human you are., taking full responsibility for your life and taking a step forward every day are the magic three pillars to make your life and your art shine.

Roundup
Impressing yourself by getting through hard times and thriving. Hope is vital and it will give you strength to keep going through the mud. That is how you end up with an extraordinary life, by keep on fighting forward.

I am creating a toolkit with all 20 exercises in with further questions to really move you forward and giving it as a gift to everyone for the next two months – til November 18th 2020- to help you move your creative projects forward and get you loving your creativity again. If you would like a copy of this then either email me with the subject TOOLKIT to
[email protected]
Or go to www.loveyourcreativity.com and pop your email into the pop up and you will get the toolkit and checklist questions. I am getting this set up currently so any issues just email me

Aims of this podcast
I sometimes only seem to create when I have to create, under pressure or deadlines and then I moan about the rush. Ridiculous when I think about the fact I have chosen this creative life, or it has chosen me and I must follow my muse – often grumpily it seems! Hence this podcast is about what techniques we can all use to get the work done and out there, no matter what.

Exercises 11 to 15: 5 yet more ways to end overwhelm & find your joy again as a creative
So this is the 3rd in this four part podcast series – with another further five standalone exercises, that are practical, doable, bite-able, free or very cheap. So start here! No need to go back to last weeks ;)

If you have hope in your heart you will have more grit, more persistence, more ability to overcome the challenges of making your work.
That hope, that taking a step each day forward is vital at every stage. From the incubation period of ‘ I have this idea’ to research, to the technical decisions such as ‘what is my medium for this, film, novel, song, gallery exhibition’ and so what do I need to learn, produce, budget for, market, finish, oh and how do I sell my finished product?!!!
So this is a 4 part podcast series – with 5 exercises each that are practical, doable, bite-able.
Try one at a time, for a week at least – ideally minimum 21 days and if you can try for 100 days each then the new habit will get into your DNA.

Exercises 11 to 15
11) Tackle one hard thing one small bite at a time. Do you have a real life problem you are hiding from? Or maybe you have tried to deal with it, and yet it is not easily solvable?
The only way to win - first spiritually, then emotionally, then in reality is to look at the problem straight on and ask what is the next singular step I can take?
Fighting the fight you need with your power company or resolving something so you can move on, it releases stuck energy in your life and you are declaring to the universe that you have got this, you will not be defeated and you are taking real actions to upgrade yourself, change the circumstances and also change how you react. No more hiding!
Whether it is calling the company, asking for friends or legal advice, going to Citizens Advice Bureau, having to move home or keep trying to find a job in this difficult time, tough times happen. All we can do is our best every day and that can seem impossible to change our situations. The way to create hope that is solvable is by you taking the appropriate actions, one at a time.
I did a podcast on ‘Ask Whats Next’ on creating your projects but the question is just as valid in real life problems a la David Allen’s productivity book ‘Getting Things Done’.
Do you need to write a new CV, then go do it, do you need to get your debt levels brought down?
Devise a plan with small actionable steps and then follow it. Get support around you to help if you need, but you will start feeling hopeful and fierce again, once you start taking the actions to resolve the issue,
Get the energy moving!
12) Go to an exhibition (online if you can’t get there) but its better in person and just enjoy seeing and learning about what the curator has put together.
Seeing objects that people used or created, letters they may have written, is tremendously empowering and connecting.
I remember when I was researching for my sexual politics show on us all being judged by our sexuality ‘Queen Of The F*cking World’ seeing the Emma Hamilton exhibition in National Maritime Museum, Greenwich which had the fabulous tagline: Politician, celebrity, spy, muse. Oh and Lord Nelson’s lover’.
Again it forms a sense of connection and that struggles, as a human, as an artist is part of life. It is our choice how we tackle that and someone like Emma Hamilton from being so poor she was basically a prostitute to reaching the heights she did, to then ending up dying in prison, largely thanks to the British press and government propaganda.



13) Junk Or Joy.
#JunkOrJoy is a 100 day challenge to yourself where you look at your thoughts, habits and actions and decide in the moment if you are choosing to live from a place of negativity or indeed you choose joy.
I literally ask myself ' Is this Junk or is this joy' when negative thoughts pop up or I find myself overindulging in too much Netflix as opposed to working on my creative projects.
When obstacles hit us sometimes the only thing we can do is change how we are reacting to them by asking ‘Is this Junk or Is this Joy,?’ and then from there choosing to come from a wiser place.
It allows you not to get sucked into a spiral of negativity, but to be able to stop and say 'yes this is awful but let me focus on something else' whether that is planning your next life steps or indeed calling your bank manager.
I did an entire podcast episode on this so do listen if you want to learn more.




14) Chanting or meditation.
We all have different spiritual practices that work for us all but commit to daily practise of sone form of meditation you are happy with.. It works, all the science proves it so do it. They have tested brain waves patterns and you can see an absolute difference in what is happening in the brain.
The long you chant or meditate for, either in terms of length of practice such as for one year or ten years, or in terms of doing it for ten minutes or 30 minutes a day, the quicker your brain waves pattern change, your memory and decision making improves.
Tina Turner used chanting to find the strength to leave Ike and carve her own path. her West End musical has chanting at the beginning and end of each half to emphasise how important it was for her and indeed she has now written a book.
Headspace the meditation app is also great and has some free stress meditations on it.
The Royal Shakespeare Company Associate Artist, painter and choreographer Liz Ranken has a morning practise of exercise, chanting, mantras and mediation before she starts mixing her paints. Her first portrait is in London’s National Portrait Gallery!
Make it a non negotiable. Ten minutes a day start a new practise that works for you.

15) No alcohol or mind bending substances (I exclude caffeine) for a month.
This idea that creatives always have to be in an altered state via external substances to create, is a dangerous creative myth. I am not anti having a good time, and I do happily drink champagne, no plans on stopping that. But when you have lost your hope, life is hard or you can’t get your projects moving forward, getting serious about your art is vital. Clearing space in your mind, heart and in your body will re-ignite you.
Alcohol of course is a depressant. Drugs have a come down, hangovers, you don’t need either when you are fighting for your life and hope. I appreciate many people enjoy weed but it has the propensity to numb you out and being a successful creative requires a real fight.
So this is not an anti-fun for life argument , I love my full on annual two week partying rapture and chaos trip at Cannes Film festival each year and plan to keep on doing that. I was very sad about the 2020 festival being cancelled as I need my fun.
Just like with Footloose, the film, there is a time to dance. There is also a time to ‘werk, bitch’ and having a sober focused period of your choice, a week, a month, 3 months etc will help get you hoping and moving your creative life forward.
Do get professional help if you become very depressed and reach out.




…………………………

I am creating a toolkit with all 20 exercises in with further questions to really move you forward and giving it as a gift to everyone for the next two months – til November 18th 2020- to help you move your creative projects forward and get you loving your creativity again. If you would like a copy of this then either email me with the subject TOOLKIT to
[email protected]
Or go to www.loveyourcreativity.com and pop your email into the pop up and you will get the toolkit and checklist questions. I am getting this set up currently so any issues just email me

Aims of this podcast
I sometimes only seem to create when I have to create, under pressure or deadlines and then I moan about the rush. Ridiculous when I think about the fact I have chosen this creative life, or it has chosen me and I must follow my muse – often grumpily it seems! Or I do nothing and then feel guilty as I watch friends get with their own projects. Hence this podcast is about what techniques we can all use to get the work done and out there, no matter where you work full time as an actor, a choreographer or have a yearning to paint more over the weekends. I have been a creator of shows for nearly 20 years now, I have made every mistake going, met incredible people along the way and now am a world touring working creative still working at my craft.

About me, Marysia Trembecka

I am at heart a storyteller and this has translated from the initial creation of work to being a performer, including film and theatre acting, writing and performing international touring comedy shows to MCing.
Highlights include sell-out Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe shows, singing at the Royal Festival Hall in 23 different languages, as well as doing TEDx talks and corporate gigs, such as the Brit Awards Afterparty at the 02 as my ‘The Singing Psychic’ bio queen character.

My ‘THE SINGING PSYCHIC’ who ‘reads the songs in your heart’ also has a GAME SHOW version, and was a finalist in Best Show, Funny Women in 2016, I have also produced five webseries as the character including my 23 episode SONGS OF BREXIT webseries I made for the June 2016 EU Referendum, on the pros and cons of the EU
I also was awarded Arts Council funding for research on a solo show on how we are all judged by our sexuality, From this I then created another character ‘Queen Of The F*cking World’ which has also toured internationally
My film acting credits are on IMDB and indeed my projects are http://marysiatrembecka.com/media-gallery/
www.loveyourcreativity.com

What one goal would you choose to achieve by the end of 2020? What does your 2020 final victory look like to you?

We all have had so many goals that got demolished this year and it is very important that we are compassionate to ourselves and others .
However I am using anger now, which can be incredibly useful in life. The Chancellor of the UK declared that the Arts are not viable and they are unskilled work… Looking at the US & UK politics right now from the Trump Biden debate that so wasn’t a debate, to Britain planning to break international law, it is easy to get anger and then depressed but actually anger that fuels us to keep moving forward to keep protesting what needs to.

Time to Step My EVERYTHING Up as it is 3 Months Til The End Of 2020

I invite you to join me so we can all say we made it through 2020. That we are all able to say that
‘In October, November, December 2020 I completely stepped up and changed what I needed to.’
Whether it’s getting involved in personal or creative projects to adding your reasoned voice to politics and the climate change crisis, it is about finding that inner core that says no I am not going down with the ship.

I know my artist career is in my hands, I always did. Forget doing OK, I have to step up
I want a victory – so draw it, paint it, see it and then go after it

The language I use is really the only way I can think about this.

Whatever your gender or how you identify we all have this core strength and feminine energy creates life, passion and fun ;)
This core energy should be really honoured, it is a powerhouse of strength that gives life to children and projects, passion that makes us stand up to protect each other and of course sexual energy that makes us feel fully in our body and fierce.

I will not allow the politicians and the environment to dictate my life, I am being safe in terms of lockdown but my activity, my mental health, how I can change my life every day, that is in my hands.

Exercises 6 to 10: 5 more ways to end overwhelm & find your joy again as a creative
So this is the 2nd in 4 part podcast series – with 5 more standalone exercises each that are practical, doable, bite-able. So start here! No need to go back to last weeks ;)

If you have hope in your heart you will have more grit, more persistence, more ability to overcome the challenges of making your work.
That hope, that taking a step each day forward is vital at every stage. From the incubation period of ‘ I have this idea’ to research, to the technical decisions such as ‘what is my medium for this, film, novel, song, gallery exhibition’ and so what do I need to learn, produce, budget for, market, finish, oh and how do I sell my finished product?!!!
So this is a 4 part podcast series – with 5 exercises each that are practical, doable, bite-able.
Try one at a time, for a week at least – ideally minimum 21 days and if you can try for 100 days each then the new habit will get into your DNA.

6) Create a Cheerleading Group:
Get a group of like-minded people, I think a group of 2 or 3 max, ideally in different work fields than you are. Agree to meet once a week, either virtually or in person, and each or all three of you have 5 minutes to say what you achieved in the last week, 5 minutes what you are going to achieve in the next week which you will report back on, and I will allow 5 minutes to say what you are struggling with, for their feedback and input.
It is for both or all three of you to both cheer and be cheered, to be that baton flying, puffball shaking cheerleader yelling ‘G O, Y O U!” If you want to dress up as cheerleaders for your weekly cheer then go for it. I suggest you commit for a 4 week initial period max and then you can both agree to keep on going if it works for both of you.
Tips:
Don’t interrupt and listen fully to the person being ‘cheered’
Consider texting in the week when you manage to win and achieve goals
Dress up like a cheerleader

7) Get learning about a particular artist, creative wonder or legend
It can be an actor, a filmmaker, a sculptor, a writer. It can be modern day or even go back to the Greeks. Spend one week on them and see what they have written, their work, how they feel about their work, with say a minimum 30 minutes each day learning. If they are a musician or group, listen to all their albums from the first to their last, read their very first and their last novel or film, look at how their art has changed.
Also look and see what you can find about them in terms of how they tackled life as an artist and also living as a human, the struggles they had.

Tips:
Watch/read/listen to their very first and last works.
Explore what is considered their ‘best’ work and their ‘worst”
See how their work has changed over their career
Read where you can on how they dealt with the struggles of their life, personal and career.
Did they have kids or not, married or not, how did they balance home life and creativity?
How did they fund their careers, did it change, did they have sponsors, a second job?
When your back is against the wall you will be inspired by them, their stories will imprint on you
Learn about very different fields will teach you on different approaches: –
Science – Isaac Newton did more to move our understanding of the world than anyone, he also was a hermit
Mathematician - Paul Erdős – he would turn up at other mathematicians houses and demand to do maths. The Erdos number is a very famous maths equivalent of the Kevin Bacon – 6 degrees of separation.. the smaller your number the more likely you are to have won a Nobel prize for Maths!
Nina Simone – her political and personal struggles whilst making incredible music
Clara Schuman - more famous than her husband when they married as a concert pianist, she struggled with many kids, Schumann’s mental health issues and she kept creating and playing whilst keeping the house and finances together.
Rudolf Nureyev – even in a world where they expect excellence, the other ballet stars were amazed by his work ethic. Plus of course his defection from Russia so he could dance his dreams.

8) Exercise:
Yes I know you don’t want to hear this but daily heart rate raising exercise is vital. Most people’s normal level of activity from the gym, swimming, even walking to work have been hugely disrupted with lockdown, including mine.
There is a great book called Spark by Dr John Ratey, if you google it there is even a video with some of the takeaways.
Basically daily exercise helps :
your brain grow,
helps willpower,
helps your mood,
Students who exercised before a language lesson retained an extra 25% of vocabulary!
Starting is the hardest thing so I suggest you get a friend and agree to text each other when you have done your days training. There are so many home workouts you can follow that finances are not an opt-out.
Just do it.
Daily.
Ideally in the morning before work.
Disadvantages;
-Make sure you start safely, be aware of your own capabilities, be wise.
- It will make you glow, people will flirt, you will feel fierce
Make it a Non-negotiable

9) Give yourself the gift of hope, joy and respecting your dream by creating a routine.
As an artist we often have large portions of time, and not strict routines. If we have a day job then that is the routine we work to. I find having large swathes of ‘creative time’ is a great excuse to procrastinate. So determine to be ‘at your desk’ at a set time eg 9am every day Monday to Friday for a month.
At your desk might mean practising your guitar, or learning a new technique.
Steven Pressfield in his brilliant book ‘The War of Art’ argues very successfully that we have to be like a martial artist, getting up and working on our craft every day. I say 9am but I often am up far earlier than that if I am not touring.
If you have a day job that pays the bills try getting up an hour earlier than you need so you can work on your ‘creative work’ and use that morning energy on what is most important to do, creating your work.
It is too easy to let money bringing activities overtake the importance of creation to the exclusion of all, get a healthy workable balance.
Read Twyla Tharp’s ‘This Creative Habit’
Use your morning energy well on your creative.

10) Create your own alter ego.
I have been touring as a cabaret artist for nearly 20 years now and seen the incredible shows and characters that many artists across the world create.
Apparently the term for me is a ‘bio queen’ as I have created characters The Singing Psychic, Queen Of The F*cking World plus others I created are extensions of me but definitely are not me.
Drag queens of course talk of their drag personas in the third person and I have always done that. The Singing Psychic is ‘she ‘ to me. Now you don’t have to take it as far as I have, touring the world and creating shows as these characters but if you did …
Create an alter ego what would that look like? From a bio queen to a drag queen or even a drag king.
Write down how they would look, how they sound, their dress, their situation, how they would respond.
What situation would you put them in?
What are their home lives and sexual relations like?
What are they particularly fierce at?
What is their point of view?
What do they really want?
Now you can take this all the way to an Instagram feed, or a novel or just have it in a notebook.
I suggest you spend a month thinking and writing about them, maybe ten minutes a day. It is fun and it will free you up.
…………………………

I am creating a toolkit with all 20 exercises in with further questions to really move you forward and giving it as a gift to everyone for the next two months – til November 18th 2020- to help you move your creative projects forward and get you loving your creativity again. If you would like a copy of this then either email me with the subject TOOLKIT to
[email protected]
Or go to www.loveyourcreativity.com and pop your email into the pop up and you will get the toolkit and checklist questions. I am getting this set up currently so any issues just email me

Aims of this podcast
I sometimes only seem to create when I have to create, under pressure or deadlines and then I moan about the rush. Ridiculous when I think about the fact I have chosen this creative life, or it has chosen me and I must follow my muse – often grumpily it seems! Or I do nothing and then feel guilty as I watch friends get with their own projects. Hence this podcast is about what techniques we can all use to get the work done and out there, no matter where you work full time as an actor, a choreographer or have a yearning to paint more over the weekends. I have been a creator of shows for nearly 20 years now, I have made every mistake going, met incredible people along the way and now am a world touring working creative still working at my craft.

About me, Marysia Trembecka

I am at heart a storyteller and this has translated from the initial creation of work to being a performer, including film and theatre acting, writing and performing international touring comedy shows to MCing.
Highlights include sell-out Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe shows, singing at the Royal Festival Hall in 23 different languages, as well as doing TEDx talks and corporate gigs, such as the Brit Awards Afterparty at the 02 as my ‘The Singing Psychic’ bio queen character.

My ‘THE SINGING PSYCHIC’ who ‘reads the songs in your heart’ also has a GAME SHOW version, and was a finalist in Best Show, Funny Women in 2016, I have also produced five webseries as the character including my 23 episode SONGS OF BREXIT webseries I made for the June 2016 EU Referendum, on the pros and cons of the EU
I also was awarded Arts Council funding for research on a solo show on how we are all judged by our sexuality, From this I then created another character ‘Queen Of The F*cking World’ which has also toured internationally
My film acting credits are on IMDB.

Exercises to end overwhelm & find your joy again as a creative
This is the first 5 practical exercises of my four part podcast series.
If you have hope in your heart you will have more grit, more persistence, more ability to overcome the challenges of making your work. That hope, that taking a step each day forward is vital at every stage. From the incubation period of ‘ I have this idea’ to research, to the technical decisions such as ‘what is my medium for this, film, novel, song, gallery exhibition’ and so what do I need to learn, produce, budget for, to the carving of ‘your ‘statue of David, ‘your art’..
Talking of the statue of David, Michelangelo was the third sculptor to have a go at carving that block of marble that was deemed of poor quality and too thin, the first two were incredibly famous and successful yet gave up yet he said ‘I just carved David out of the statue’.
Plus of course the now inevitable social media whilst you are making the work, then when your art is done the marketing, the sale of the work. All whilst keeping a roof over your head! That is a challenge all artists and creatives face, made worse by the current Covid situation
It is a hard time for artists with theatres closed, lack of gigs, missing the human interaction. Plus for many, our normal ways of keeping our own personal finances in order, often short term work have disappeared,
So this is a 4 part podcast series – with 5 exercises each that are practical, doable, bite-able.
Try one at a time, for a week at least – ideally minimum 21 days and if you can try for 100 days each then the new habit will get into your DNA.

First 5 exerrcises are:

1)Get in Touch. Reconnect and speak to 3 people each week that you have not seen or spoken to in a while. This is not a sales call, nor a woe is me call, but a ‘how are you doing’, listening open hearted conversation. Yes you can talk about your struggles but hear about their life first. Reconnection with people you have worked with before, or studied with, far flung family members, people you have a mentor/ mentee relationship.
2)Go for a walk daily for at least 7 days. Solo, take your artist inner self and leave your bitchy inner critic voice at home. Really look around at the sky, the architecture, the trees. When your mind wanders to your own thoughts just focus on what you can see, hear and smell.
3)Go to a second hand bookshop and buy a book on something you think is bonkers, or outside your normal comfort zone. Decide you are definitely buying a book today – you can try more than one charity shop. Maybe a photo book on Moldovian dancing rituals, a play or novel you have never heard of, a self help book with a title that makes no sense, something with a great cover, arts books, a biography of an artist completely out of your field (more on biographies later). Read it and just enjoy learning something new
4)Define your own superpower. We all have a super power. With superheros it is their defining trait which often has a Kryptonite side. With my ‘The Singing Psychic character it is her ability to read songs in people’s hearts but on day to day basis we all know people who are effortlessly kind no matter what, who have patience and belief no matter what. Decide to really look at what yours is: an unrelenting belief on making your work, being able somehow to keep going, what is your one talent? What is the one thing you do better than anyone else. This is a subject that you should write about, hone, really understand, maybe ask some nice friends ‘ what is the one thing I am brilliant at’ on a personal or a professional level. Then start being aware when you are wielding that power or not using it. You need to get your cape or Wonder Woman cuffs on more. Be also aware of your kryptonite though, are yo u so good at helping others that you don’t take time out for yourself? Are you such a natural musician that you dont really practise and take your work seriously?
5)Become a whirling dervish. Dance in your kitchen. Traditionally this term refers to a 12th century Sufi spiritual practice where they whirled, twirled and howled in ecstasy. Bacchnalian rites involved sex, dancing, orgies and yes mind bending substances all to reach enlightenment, The modern day version is when we go clubbing or to a festival where a mass of people celebrates life, dancing, drinking, flirting together. In lockdown dancing with random strangers in the same space, is something I have missed so I suggest you start dancing in your kitchen. Pick some fabulous tunes and have a 15 minute boogie in your flat or cook with a dance radio station, it can be any kind of music but you need to be able to dance to it, and fall into it. Or you could listen to my weekly DJ Singing Psychic radio show where alongside my ‘four-tunes’ telling readings and ‘Song Of The Week’ I always make sure to put tunes in that get you get to your soul energy part of that whirling dervish space, being in the moment and grooving, forgetting the outside world.


I am creating a toolkit with all 20 exercises in with further questions to really move you forward and giving it as a gift to everyone for the next two months – til November 18th 2020- to help you move your creative projects forward and get you loving your creativity again. If you would like a copy of this then either email me with the subject TOOLKIT to
[email protected]
Or go to www.loveyourcreativity.com and pop your email into the pop up and you will get the toolkit and checklist questions. I am getting this set up currently so any issues just email me

Aims of this podcast
I sometimes only seem to create when I have to create, under pressure or deadlines and then I moan about the rush. Ridiculous when I think about the fact I have chosen this creative life, or it has chosen me and I must follow my muse – often grumpily it seems! Or I do nothing and then feel guilty as I watch friends get with their own projects. Hence this podcast is about what techniques we can all use to get the work done and out there, no matter where you work full time as an actor, a choreographer or have a yearning to paint more over the weekends. I have been a creator of shows for nearly 20 years now, I have made every mistake going, met incredible people along the way and now am a world touring working creative.

About me, Marysia Trembecka

I am at heart a storyteller and this has translated from the initial creation of work to being a performer, including film and theatre acting, writing and performing international touring comedy shows to MCing.
Highlights include sell-out Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe shows, singing at the Royal Festival Hall in 23 different languages, as well as doing TEDx talks and corporate gigs, such as the Brit Awards Afterparty at the 02 as my ‘The Singing Psychic’ bio queen character.

My ‘THE SINGING PSYCHIC’ who ‘reads the songs in your heart’ also has a GAME SHOW version, and was a finalist in Best Show, Funny Women in 2016, and I have toured internationally since then.

I have also produced five webseries as the character including my 23 episode SONGS OF BREXIT webseries I made for the June 2016 EU Referendum, on the pros and cons of the EU, I started the web series singing The Clash’s ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now’. It was very well received due to the blend of education and entertainment, and I ended up on London Live and even a BBC2 Live Debate on the National Living Wage amongst other press of the back of that.


I also was awarded Arts Council funding for research on a solo show on how we are all judged by our sexuality, so as part of that, I interviewed people on the cutting edge of sexual politics. From this I then created another character ‘Queen Of The F*cking World’ which has also toured internationally from Glasgow WOFF film festival in the female perspective strand to sell-out London, Edinburgh and Adelaide runs. I sing well and play the bass guitar and guitar in this show.

My film acting credits can be found on IMDB and indeed my projects are on my media gallery http://marysiatrembecka.com/media-gallery/
Marysia Trembecka
www.loveyourcreativity.com

Have you ever wondered what makes playing games so fun and addictive? Why can you spend hours playing a game without thinking, yet cant drag yourself to get working on your next creative project? This week’s podcast episode is about game-ification – using the very psychology and tricks that game manufacturers from Candy Crush to Call of Duty, Gardenscapes to Elder Scrolls to keep you fixated and playing, to game-ify your life and art.
Personally I love such games but I have to be careful as I get obsessed. I talk in the podcast about the following few tricks the game manufacturers from Xbox to Nintendo use, to get you that obsessed and excited about getting your own creative projects and more important challenges over line. Game-ify yourself ;)
1)Set short winnable challenges, not so hard or unfocused that they are un-winnable, but bit size pieces, so get to the end of this chapter, how to get this one issue fixed. Short so you can clearly see the specific task ahead, winnable so not impossible, but challenging as our brains love to be challenged.
2)Set novel challenges. Each stage in a game you have often different rules, new characters, a new battle, maybe new items to use, the rules are slightly different which stimulates you to have a go. Too easy its boring, too hard you give up
3)Tell yourself the story of what you are doing. In games you have a cool avatar, fighting to collect points to decorate a garden (Gardenscape) or extra power for the next level. You have a mission, yep even if you are playing candy crush – you will win this next stage! They will start flooding the screen with flowers and glittery stars. So set yourself clearly ‘why are you doing this?’ For me I am currently developing the next stage of my Singing Psychic character and I am hitting lots of new tech problems on the set up as I explore the world of the DJ Singing Psychic. But I can see the joy of me and the audience next summer in a field with me DJing, reading the songs in the audiences heart and probably playing some of my Game Show games and everyone dancing and laughing. I can see it, my story and it is total inspiring me every time to fight forward
NB I also whimsically suggest you dress up as your favourite superhero, Wakanda (RIP the amazing Chadwick Boseman) or Wonder Woman forever whilst tackling these challenges.. I have not tried this yet myself , but I will report back next week on it


Aims of this podcast
I sometimes only seem to create when I have to create, under pressure or deadlines and then I moan about the rush. Ridiculous when I think about the fact I have chosen this creative life, or it has chosen me and I must follow my muse – often grumpily it seems! Or I do nothing and then feel guilty as I watch friends get with their own projects. Hence this podcast is about what techniques we can all use to get the work done and out there, no matter where you work full time as an actor, a choreographer or have a yearning to paint more over the weekends.

About me, Marysia Trembecka

I am at heart a storyteller and this has translated from the initial creation of work to being a performer, including film and theatre acting, writing and performing international touring comedy shows to MCing.
Highlights include sell-out Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe shows, singing at the Royal Festival Hall in 23 different languages, as well as doing TEDx talks and corporate gigs, such as the Brit Awards Afterparty at the 02 as my ‘The Singing Psychic’ bio queen character.

My ‘THE SINGING PSYCHIC’ who ‘reads the songs in your heart’ also has a GAME SHOW version, and was a finalist in Best Show, Funny Women in 2016, and I have toured internationally since then.
I have also produced five webseries as the character including my 23 episode SONGS OF BREXIT webseries I made for the June 2016 EU Referendum, on the pros and cons of the EU, I started the web series singing The Clash’s ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now’. It was very well received due to the blend of education and entertainment, and I ended up on London Live and even a BBC2 Live Debate on the National Living Wage amongst other press of the back of that.


I also was awarded Arts Council funding for research on a solo show on how we are all judged by our sexuality, so as part of that, I interviewed people on the cutting edge of sexual politics. From this I then created another character ‘Queen Of The F*cking World’ which has also toured internationally from Glasgow WOFF film festival in the female perspective strand to sell-out London, Edinburgh and Adelaide runs. I sing well and play the bass guitar and guitar in this show.

My film acting credits can be found on IMDB and indeed my projects are on my media gallery http://marysiatrembecka.com/media-gallery/
Marysia Trembecka
www.loveyourcreativity.com

If you started today and spent one hour a day, you would reach that magic 10,000 hours mark of excellence in 27.4 years , If you spent four hours a day it would only take you 6.8 years to get to that level. We all know how prioritising our goals and working towards them daily, especially when you are a creative is a real key indicator of success. However we all have busy lives worsened at this time when many gigging artists don't have their normal level of income. So a real way to get hope back in your heart and get your projects started and completed is to start quitting things. If you choose to look at and decide to quit the things that 'waste time', you can use those 'stolen' hours and invest them into your creative dreams and projects.
Time with family and friends is golden but we all have habits that use time up that we could choose to spend more wisely elsewhere.

This podcast episode of Love Your Creativity And Make Money is all about the power of strategic quitting.

Aims of this podcast
I sometimes only seem to create when I have to create, under pressure or deadlines and then I moan about the rush. Ridiculous when I think about the fact I have chosen this creative life, or it has chosen me and I must follow my muse – often grumpily it seems! Or I do nothing and then feel guilty as I watch friends get with their own projects. Hence this podcast is about what techniques we can all use to get the work done and out there, no matter where you work full time as an actor, a choreographer or have a yearning to paint more over the weekends.
Marysia Trembecka
www.loveyourcreativity.com
or for my media gallery http://marysiatrembecka.com/media-gallery/

This podcast is all about the power of acknowledging there will absolutely be challenges along the way of making every creative project come to life. From that initial exciting idea, to completion of the creative work, to then going out and selling it - be it a novel, a show, a TV script, there are always a myriad of challenges just waiting to trip you up.
From finding the time to get the project forward to technical issues in delivery, to financial budget constraints to then working out the creative arcs of a project, working with others and their time schedule and viewpoints, challenges will always come along. So understanding from the off it will be hard but doing it anyway really helps support you mentally to keep on going. And talking about hard, the relationships in your life from being loved up to love-lorn can completely help you fly or cause a real lack of focus for you creatively.
I also cover how you need to be compassionate with yourself and there is a special shout out to those who also have people they care for from children to other relatives, whose lives are even busier.

Aims of this podcast
I sometimes only seem to create when I have to create, under pressure or deadlines and then I moan about the rush. Ridiculous when I think about the fact I have chosen this creative life, or it has chosen me and I must follow my muse – often grumpily it seems! Or I do nothing and then feel guilty as I watch friends get with their own projects. Hence this podcast is about what techniques we can all use to get the work done and out there, no matter where you work full time as an actor, a choreographer or have a yearning to paint more over the weekends.
Marysia Trembecka
www.loveyourcreativity.com
or for my media gallery http://marysiatrembecka.com/media-gallery/

Marysia interviews Kenneth Collard, a real life successful working actor who has a huge CV from being in Cuckoo to Anna Karenina to many many TV series and commercials. This is a flashback episode, she did the interview in 2013 for her original podcast Love Your Creativity and yet so much of what Ken says about persistence and belief is so important right now.
In the interview we discuss auditions, showreels, research and the mental approach necessary to becoming a working actor and earning a living as one.
The fact that 95% of actors are not working did not worry Ken. He made a decision 13 years, that there is no reason why he should not be part of the 5% and started on a journey to change that. The starting point is always that it is possible to earn a living from what you do and what you love.
It is tough and difficult and when you get work there are always a new set of challenges, broadening your capacity, deepening your work and bringing something more wonderful than you have before.

If you strive to create something amazing it will always be challenging and that’s a good thing and make you raise your game.

His favourite quote is by Daisaku Ikeda, SGI President, the lay organisation of Nichiren Buddhists

“Press on, nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not, nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not, unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not, the world is full of educated derelicts. Perseverance and determination alone are omnipotent”

The Main Takeaway
The starting point is that it’s absolutely possible, there is no reason why, if you are half decent as an actor, there is no reason why you cant get consistent work.


Aims of this podcast
I sometimes only seem to create when I have to create, under pressure or deadlines and then I moan about the rush. Ridiculous when I think about the fact I have chosen this creative life, or it has chosen me and I must follow my muse – often grumpily it seems! Or I do nothing and then feel guilty as I watch friends get with their own projects. Hence this podcast is about what techniques we can all use to get the work done and out there, no matter where you work full time as an actor, a choreographer or have a yearning to paint more over the weekends.
Marysia Trembecka
www.loveyourcreativity.com
or for my media gallery http://marysiatrembecka.com/media-gallery/

#JunkOrJoy is my current 100 day challenge to myself where I am looking at my thoughts, habits and actions and deciding in the moment if I choosing to live from a place of negativity or indeed I choose joy. I literally ask myself ' Is this Junk or is this joy' when negative thoughts pop up or I find myself overindulging in too much Netflix as opposed to working on my creative projects. This is my invitation to you to have a go as the aim is to transform your life at this difficult time in our lives during the 2020 summer of lockdown (as opposed to the summer of love). When obstacles hit us sometimes the only thing we can do is change how we are reacting to them so this podcast looks at how I am looking at everything and asking Is this Junk or Is this Joy, and then from there choosing to come from a wiser place.
It allows you not to get sucked into a spiral of negativity, but to be able to stop and say 'yes this is awful but let me focus on something else' whether that is planning your next life steps or indeed calling your bank manager.
From cleaning up your headspace to being compassionate with yourself, when you yet again indulge in more of the habits that don't serve you in the long term, asking 'do this serve me? What is another way that will make me happier, more focused and in the long term reach my goals.

Aims of this podcast
I sometimes only seem to create when I have to create, under pressure or deadlines and then I moan about the rush. Ridiculous when I think about the fact I have chosen this creative life, or it has chosen me and I must follow my muse – often grumpily it seems! Or I do nothing and then feel guilty as I watch friends get with their own projects. Hence this podcast is about what techniques we can all use to get the work done and out there, no matter where you work full time as an actor, a choreographer or have a yearning to paint more over the weekends.
Marysia Trembecka
www.loveyourcreativity.com
or for my media gallery http://marysiatrembecka.com/media-gallery/