Why do money and selling sometimes feel icky? In part, it's because we're wired to give and receive freely. When you give your gifts freely and they are freely received, it feels great because it affirms the place inside you that was meant for giving and receiving freely. In contrast, our economic system denies our innate wiring and instead incentivizes us to extract as much as we can from each other. It's like having a friend show up at your birthday party, hand you a gift, and say, "Are you going to pay me for that, or what?" It would feel terrible because it suddenly becomes clear that your ..read more

(See below for an invitation to our second roundtable conversation about reimagining how we make a living in the arts.) What is it like to make a living in the arts? Many people outside the arts have an idealized view of what being a professional, or even hobbyist, musician or artist looks like. When I tell people I'm a professional violinist, they light up and tell me how much they love music and how they played piano when they were ten, and how much the arts mean to them. I get that enthusiasm. I love music, too. But the ugly truth is that being a professional musician or artist can be a re ..read more

(Plus, invitation to roundtable conversation on how to align your livelihood as an artist with your Soulforce. See below.) One of the most frustrating experiences as a musician or artist is creating something beautiful only to discover that your audiences don't seem to care. You're playing music for a restaurant and nobody's really listening. You've worked for months on an art exhibit, and only a handful of people show up. You're giving your young music students your best in your lessons, but then they don't practice. When this happens, it hurts. Why does it hurt? Simply put: you are wired to ..read more

https://youtu.be/ww3GcWW9rbw Why is it so hard for many musicians and artists to make a decent living? Fundamentally, it has to do with the conflict between the true purpose of the arts and the values of our market-based economic system. The true purpose of the arts is to provide avenues to beauty, truth, wholeness, and healing. However, the market can't put a price on any of these things, and so artists are forced to turn our art into a commodity, a stomach-turning conversion which saps our art of its aliveness and transformative potential. The answer? To align your livelihood with your deepe ..read more

https://youtu.be/MQoAW1bqPb8 When you learn ancient shamanic powers as a modern day performer, your performances will gain incredible depth and creative power. You will be able to lead your audiences on an entrancing experience, one that mimics the healing underworld journeys of ancient shamans. Is learning shamanism only for indigenous peoples? No, because, in truth, all humans come from shamanic roots. We're all indigenous to planet earth, and so we are all hardwired to benefit from shamanic practices. In this video, you will learn the connection of modern artistic performances to shamanism ..read more

https://youtu.be/kelFU9D3P7s Can your dark side make you a great musician or artist? The "shadow" is the part of your psyche that you hide, repress, or deny. But far from being the "bad" part of yourself, it's actually the greatest source of creative inspiration you have as an artist. And the life force energy that results from reintegrating your shadow may be the most life-giving gift you can give your audiences. In this video, you will learn about the shadow, how it can help your art, an example from a real-life Soulforce Arts workshop I taught, and a powerful exercise you can use to reinteg ..read more

https://youtu.be/xvY6UyRbwcg What do Spiral Dynamics stages Orange, Green, Yellow, and Turquoise look like in the arts? This video features an overview of each stage plus many examples of each stage as it shows up in the arts. Spiral Dynamics is a developmental model that describes the various stages of evolution that humans go through both individually and collectively, and which can help us understand how the growth of consciousness affects all areas of life, including the arts. Learning about how each stage shows up in the arts can help you grow and develop as a person, and then make art fr ..read more

https://youtu.be/vbW077wDh_U What do Spiral Dynamics stages Purple, Red, and Blue look like in the arts? This video features an overview of each stage plus many examples of each stage as it shows up in the arts. Spiral Dynamics is a developmental model that describes the various stages of evolution that humans go through both individually and collectively, and which can help us understand how the growth of consciousness affects all areas of life, including the arts. Learning about how each stage shows up in the arts can help you grow and develop as a person, and then make art from that more de ..read more

https://youtu.be/ftdfJk8BiWQ An overview of Spiral Dynamics, explanation of common misconceptions, and how it relates to the arts. Spiral Dynamics is a developmental model that describes the various stages of evolution that humans go through both individually and collectively, and which can help us understand how the growth of consciousness affects all areas of life, including the arts. First developed by Prof. Clare Graves in the 1960’s, it shows that each stage of development is characterized by a unique worldview or values system, one that builds on—but is no longer limited to—the previous ..read more

https://youtu.be/c6CBYMp2hz0 In order to awaken from the meaninglessness crisis that pervades our society, you need to grow your consciousness. The truth is that the meaninglessness so many people feel simply comes from having too limited a perspective on life. Unfortunately, the predominant perspectives in our society are modernism and postmodernism, neither of which give us a positive direction or a meaningful life. But when you grow your consciousness, you can transcend these perspectives and embrace something more meaningful. The great news is that artists have a vital role to play in help ..read more