Over the years, have you found that you’ve gotten busier and busier with seemingly unimportant tasks? Has your everyday routine overshadowed your passions and interests?
Working too much is easy to do, and happens to a lot of us!
Because we need to make a living, we can easily sideline other interests in order to put all our energy into our work. Often, we also have partners and families that demand (and deserve!) our attention. Before we know it, we’re running hard just to keep up.
But after years of doubling your efforts to keep work and family in balance, you may realize you miss some long-lost parts of yourself. It might be listening to the music you love. It could be playing an instrument. Or maybe you loved art or the written word.
These passions are far from lost. You can recapture those feelings! Rediscover music and art to rekindle your internal passion and bring richness to your life again.
Consider these ideas to bring back some of those lost loves:
1. Dig up your old music and start listening. If your music is on cassette tapes, have the tunes transferred to CDs or MP3s.
• If you no longer have the music, buy some of it again. Focus on your favorites. Sometimes, older CDs are reasonably priced. Try secondhand stores or CD resellers.
• If you like, download your old music onto your MP3 player or smart phone. Take it with you to your favorite places.
• Chisel out 15 to 30 minutes daily to listen to the music you’ve missed. Many people like to do this during their commute. Regardless of when you choose to listen, it will replenish you and lift your mood.
2. Get out your instrument and play. If you used to play music and you’ve still got your instrument, pull it out of the closet and see how you feel with it in your hands. Can you play any songs at all? Try it and see how it goes.
• If you’ve got your music books, get them out also. Start practicing again, even 15 minutes a day.
• In the event you don’t have your instrument, search your soul. Do you really want to play again? If so, look for a used instrument on Craigslist or in your local newspaper. Make it a personal goal to find the right instrument for you.
3. Find your way back to art museums and galleries. If you’ve been a lover of art in the past and you miss it, discover that passion all over again. Check out your local and area art museums and galleries to whet your appetite.
• Remind yourself that you’re worth whatever time it takes to devote to these awesome sights and experiences.
• Start reading again about the latest works. Find books about new art that you’ve been too busy to learn about for the past few years. Or study a period or an artist that has always intrigued you. Delve into the subject you adore.
4. Artists, find your tools. If you used to sketch or draw, maybe you’ve got some of your art supplies somewhere in a drawer or closet.
• Locate your art instruments and lay them where you can see them. If your art tools are still usable, set aside a couple of hours to work with them and see what you can do.
• In the event you no longer have your tools, go down to your local discount store or art shop and pick up a few supplies. Then, just jump in!
• Worry less about what you create and focus more on the process. Artists take wonderful emotional journeys as they compose their works. Let yourself go and see what happens.
Regardless of the degree of your interest in music or art in the past, pursue it now with intensity. Rediscovering art and music will thoroughly enrich your existence. You’ll revive the passion and deep joy you so deserve and your whole life will resonate with your satisfaction.