Sometimes I Get Down (Ways To Self-Motivate)

Hi, I am Dana Jean Phoenix 'The First Lady of NuFunk' and sometimes I get down! There I said it. And that is the first step to not being stuck in a new funk right?!?! Well... yes, and no.

I've always been a pretty optimistic person. I grew up with very loving parents who encouraged me to express myself artistically and believe in what I do. But somewhere between confidently performing in all of my high school plays and releasing my first album I got scared. Frightened that I really couldn't cut it in the 'real world'. That all of my hard work really wouldn't be enough and that people would think I actually sucked! I developed an acute bought of stage fright. I had writers block and I couldn't get out of the funk. To make matters worse my mentor, at the time, made me feel like I was a total sell-out because I wanted to make songs that could get club and radio play. I was stuck, sad, and confused. I started becoming a recluse. I was living on junk food. I stopped going out and started obsessing about my career (or lack thereof). I was spiraling into a deep depression. I was on the cusp of quitting music and retreating into the wonderful world of retail. I tried to deluge myself with positive platitudes: I think I can I think I can! But to no avail. Then I heard about an audition to become a back up singer for the then Canadian queen of R&B, Jully Black. I wasn't going to go, but the last spark of hope in me forced me out the door and into the audition. I was shitting bricks, but I forced myself to stay calm. I fell back into my training, trusted my instincts, and forced myself to excel at the audition, and got the call. Almost the next day I was out on the road and getting ready to tour across the country. And an amazing thing happened as I had to prep a ton of new material, find suitable stage clothes, get my hair did, nails did, change a bunch of shifts at my job, call all of my friends, family, etc... I had absolutely no time for depression. I was waaaaay to busy for that shit!

After that I realized two things: 1) There will always be times when I'm going to feel unmotivated, in a creative rut, and/ or just plain blughck!; 2) When those times occur I have to DO something - eat a well balanced meal (I've prepared myself), get out of the house, go for a run (or the dreaded gym;), go to an open mic (get up and perform a song I've been afraid to do), get off the interweb, go see a show, go to the mall and people watch, list all of the successes of the last year, ANYTHING but wallow!! And I could always use new motivational tips and tidbits, so lemme know what you do to keep the fires stoked;)