“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”

— Unknown Source

Soul of an Artist

Shoni: [00:00:00] What's up beautiful people. Welcome to the beauty and soul podcast where we talk about the - Bside of life, love and business. I'm your ho shin. Let's go ahead and start with our quote today's quote is every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist. Once we grow up, I don't know who wrote that quote, but I know if it's this episode.

So shout out to them for being a. So I titled this episode, the soul of an artist, because this week I saw a post on social media from one of the organizations I follow shout out to [00:01:00] amplify her voice. I really love their content. And if you're looking for a position in the music industry, you should definitely follow them on LinkedIn because they are always reposting positions in the music industry.

FY. So the post was talking about hustle culture in the music industry. Now this is a topic, a lot of people do not discuss. So I was happy to see this post for multiple reasons because hustle culture is toxic. You know, this, just suck it up, hurry up and get it over with overwork yourself team, no sleep mindset.

It's played out. It is played out and, you know, guys, we are on our healing journey. We are taking care of our minds, our bodies and our souls. So following that mindset in our career as artists, it's just not healthy. [00:02:00] It's not healthy. It's whack, actually zero stars. I do not recommend at all because it's not sustainable.

And it's about time. We get over it and treat ourselves better when it comes to our careers and our wellness. Unfortunately, as artists, we are expected to sacrifice our physical health, our mental health and, and our relationships, because we are blessed with the opportunity to offer our talent to the world.

Now, I wanna sit with that for a minute, having, having a talent. Creative talent is a blessing and we are offered the amazing opportunity to share it with the world. But that doesn't mean that we are expected to sacrifice our health and our relationships in order to share it with the world. And I think [00:03:00] a lot.

A lot of us and a lot of people in the music industry have been conditioned to feel that way. And I just wanna, I just wanna change that, that way of thinking, because it's not sustainable, it's not sustainable. There's a reason why so many artists, their health and their relationships,, deteriorate as they progress up the success ladder.

now no one ever talks about this, but it is definitely something I feel like should be discussed more often because having a talent, like I said, it is a blessing and we should treat it like that. So if we feel like our talent is a blessing, then that means the vessel that is coming through to provide the blessing should also be taken care of.

[00:04:00] I don't know, it just makes sense to me, but you know, who am I? Who am I? But like, I always say no one ever talks about the toll of becoming an artist. And once you get to a certain level, there are things that you have to do to sustain that success. But I don't believe that we should neglect ourselves in order.

To achieve whatever level that we are trying to achieve. I just don't subscribe to that. That is not my way of thinking. Um, and never has been, never will be. Now. I know fame is important to a lot of people, but we have to ask ourselves at what cause will you give up your soul just so you can have your name and lights, you know?

The limelight is bright. It, it really is. It shines, it [00:05:00] attracts a, a whole lot of different types of people, but we need to make sure we are taking care of ourselves. If we intend to continue to shine, that is a key point. We have to take care of ourselves. If we intend to continue to. Now how you take care of yourself, depends on you.

Whatever you need to do for yourself is what you need to do. Like for instance, I am recording this podcast two days later than I wanted to. Now I could have overextended myself and stayed on task and recorded it on my recording day, but I just wasn't physically. Able to, I wasn't at a hundred percent, I wouldn't have been able to show up to this show and offer [00:06:00] my, my thoughts and my voice, honestly, and at full capacity, because I wasn't at full capacity.

So, you know, I took some time for myself and I feel like there is nothing wrong with that. We need to get back to. Viewing ourselves as the priority, not our careers. So last episode, I talked about self care Sundays, and being intentional about arresting as performers this week. I want to talk about what happens when we are not intentional with our care as artists.

Number one thing, exhaustion that is a big, big. Like I know we grew up listening to Diddy and be like, team, no sleep. I don't need no sleep. I don't need no sleep. Yo. That was a lie. We need sleep. we need sleep. Our bodies need to go to [00:07:00] sleep. We need to be able to rest. And as creative people who are constantly using their brain, when are you going to give your brain?

To relax. How are you gonna come out with your next bets best hit or your next best book, if you haven't allowed yourself time to rest. So running on fumes is not a good thing. I remember this one, one, um, incident and I will never forget this. And this is why I always, always prioritize my, my rest. I, I did like a workout program for, for some ladies when I was in Atlanta, you know, just, I like doing little events and things like that.

So I had, did like a workout boot camp type of thing. And then the next day I had to sing [00:08:00] at church and I didn't think really much of it, you know, I wasn't prioritizing my rest or my nutrition. So I was just like, okay, you know, I'm gonna do this bootcamp and then I'm gonna wake up early tomorrow and go to church, sing, do my thing.

And I'll take a nap after church. That's what I thought. Y'all tell me why I passed out on stage at church in front of everybody that taught me a big, big lesson, big lesson. I am not invincible. I need to. So I'm gonna say the same thing to you guys. You are not invincible. You need to go to bed. Okay.

Another thing we, when you are not resting, you lack clarity of thought. You are not able to [00:09:00] create as,

as well as you would, if you were. I don't care what people say. People have made amazing songs. Um, I know a few people have made amazing songs, um, with lack of sleep and that's, that's wonderful for them, but how long are they going to be able to do that? Realistically? How long are you going to be able to put your brain under so much stress just for your.

Especially when this is something that you need to do every day. It just, it doesn't, it doesn't seem realistic to me. Hold on guys. I'm gonna sip some coffee because I don't want it to get cold and it's right here and it's amazing. And if you know me, I love coffee. So

[00:10:00] yeah. Ooh. It's just like a warm hug. Any who, so another thing that. That a lot of us artists, uh, have to deal with when it comes to not taking care of ourselves, um, is vocal fold damage. This is another thing I feel like people do not talk about. Um, but I'm so grateful that I've had, um, amazing, amazing teachers to teach me about vocal health because.

Sleep is a part of sustaining vocal health. Now I don't care if you are a singer like me, or if you're a rapper or if you are a public speaker or whatever your PO profession is, you need to rest when it comes to your voice. Because if you don't your voice, your vocal fold, your vocal folds will start to deteriorat.[00:11:00]

It'll start to be a lot of friction, you know? Um, and if there's a lot of friction, then you can develop vocal nodes and then those have to be removed via surgery. Now, if they're removed via surgery, there's potential that you will lose your voice. Um, I can't think of the famous, um, actress, but, um, oh, what is her name?

I wanna say Julie Andrews, but I don't, I don't wanna mess it up, but I know she's from, um, I can't think of the movie. I just know the song. Um, dang, what is it? Oh, gosh, medicine. Um, whoever that lady is, she had that issue as far as developing, um, vocal. Um, nodules on her vocal folds, [00:12:00] and that can come from vocal strain.

And you are straining because you are not taking care of your, your body, meaning you are not resting, meaning you are not warming up, meaning you are eating the wrong things, which, which include too much dairy, which means you're not drinking enough water. There are just so many different things that I feel.

Go untalked about when it comes to artists. And it's like, if you, if you love music, um, and your creativity, as much as I love music, then why would you do anything to cause harm to it? You know? So we have to take care of our bodies. We have to take care of our bodies. Um, so yeah. That's essentially what I want us to really, really start thinking about when it comes to creating, are we creating?[00:13:00]

Because we feel like we have to, we just gotta do something. We just, we just gotta, because you gotta ask yourself, are you creating out of a lack of mindset? Or are you creating because you feel like this is something I need to do right now. And if you feel like it's something that you need to do right now, and it's something that you are, you are called to do, then there is no need to rush.

Right? I'll always say when you're in alignment, people can Huff and they can puff, but they can't blow your house down because it's meant. It's meant for you. So that's what I wanted to talk about today on this episode of the beauty and soul podcast. Um, and before I get into this week's song, I just wanna know, are you following me on Spotify?

Because if you're not, you should be [00:14:00] because that is where the music is featured. Um, For copyright reasons, the music only shows up on Spotify. So I hope that you will tune in on Spotify as well. So you can hear what the featured song is. Um, but the featured song for this episode, Is by Tim's. I know everyone knows her and the song is free mind.

I hope you guys are able to free your mind and be at peace and take your time on this creative journey. It's it's a blessing. You are, you are meant to, to share your talent, but you don't have to sacrifice yourself in order to do it. All right guys. See you next time. Bye.[00:15:00]

Thank you for listening!

XOXO,

Shoni

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