Finding Your Voice And Doing It On Purpose - Samantha Sharpe
When I first started in my chosen industry, I didn’t know who I was. This much is obvious, from the way I flitted about. From one thing to the next, taking on any opportunity that felt like it would lead me closer to my dreams - even if those weren’t so clear either. A punk band here, a guitar lesson there.. my heart had always said that music was my calling, but my brain wasn’t quite putting the pieces together. I didn’t have an identity. I didn’t know how to define myself.
It’s a coming of age story, for sure, when you have to figure out who you are - and do it on purpose. But accepting that person, and stepping into that power.. that’s an entirely different one.
I’m older now than most of my favourite artists were when they got their “big break”, and that’s my own doing. In my lifetime, I’ve already had so many jobs, so many passing interests, that put my music career on hold. I’ve been a cashier, a baker, a personal trainer.. I’ve performed for toddlers as part of music-education, and I’ve sold socks out of a kiosk. All of these things, some may say they wasted my time - and time is so fleeting, as it were - but I realise now, that they were not wasteful years. I may be older now, and the blanket excuse of “having more life experience” may not quite cut it when you’ve spent those years selling dog kennels and goldfish food, but now I certainly know what I do NOT want to do.
Working in those places was not setting any fires in my heart, no matter how hard I tried. It was a paycheck, it was a place to be fired from (yeah, fully fired at 9am on a Monday at one of them, for not being passionate or happy in the position… who knew?!) And it was a stepping stone, to finding out what was real, and fulfilling, and going to give me what I needed in life. It was the first step on a long staircase, as I then went on to those small opportunities, not sure how to make it my own thing, but knowing that anything involving music was the right direction.
If you haven’t been so lucky as to “find your bliss” early in life, if there was never a voice in your head leading you a certain direction, it might be hard to imagine doing something you love. I know people who aren’t sure what they want to do in life, despite well-paying jobs and being on a career path that has taken them years to achieve. I have asked them… “well, what do you want to do?” It always comes out the same - “I don’t know.. but it’s not this.”
I suppose that’s step one, done. If you can’t see yourself in the job or the situation you’re in, happy, in a few more years, then you know you have to get out. Life is far too short to do a job you hate, waiting for the weekend, craving a vacation, until you eventually retire. The time won’t have been wasted, but you will have deprived yourself of some real, actual joy, and that I know for a fact.
But what do you do? Don’t quit, just yet. There’s a journey to be had, to finding out how to turn the volume up on that little voice inside. You know you aren’t feeling what you currently do, so figure out why. Is it isolating? Are you more of a people person? Is it the opposite? I had that when I worked in retail — it was far too people-y for my lone wolf sensibilities. Do you desire to help others, but you feel like you’re spinning your wheels in an office job? It’s time to start dabbling in what you feel drawn to.
Want to help people? Start volunteering in your spare time, and see how it makes you feel.
Want to write? Draw? Sing? There’s hundreds of thousands of courses, YouTube videos, blog posts, to help you find your way into it. Or, you could just start. Pick up a pencil.. hate it? Try painting. Want to sing but hate the songs on the radio? Maybe you could explore a new genre, figure out what you like with a randomised playlist on your favorite streaming service.. Or maybe you could write your own. The possibilities are endless.
People often tell me I’m brave for doing what I love, but I don’t see it that way. In fact, I’ve tried to contest that fact to those who say it; and been met with resistance, with uncomfortable, nervous laughter. My bank teller didn’t want me to say “you could do something you love, too”, because she then had to confront that very fact. She expressed to me, “you’re lucky you have a talent. I’m not good at anything.” Then went back to depositing my busking coins, a nervous smile on her face. I had hoped to give her, well, hope.. but it’s “brave” to do what you truly want, and she wasn’t feeling brave.
I want to dispel that falsity right now. It’s not brave - it’s vital.
We can’t all be rockstars, just like we can’t all be doctors, teachers, soldiers, firefighters.. you get the gist. It takes a certain something, and our society needs them all, but more than anything, we need people who thrive in their work. Be it a bank teller, or a crossing guard; if you love it, then disregard this whole blog post. I’m serious.
But if you’re feeling lost and stuck, if you do think it’s “brave to do what you love”, then I hope that you’re taking at least some of this on board.
The feeling when you step into your power, when you unleash what really makes your soul sing, no matter what it is, is like no other. You’ll know it when you feel it, and if you haven’t found it yet.. have hope. Your thing is out there. You just have to stick it out.
To listen to Sam’s music, check out her Spotify and Bandcamp! Go and show her some love!!
