The Brave Artist

Thoughts on Success and What It Takes

Oct 22, 2024

Hey Readers!

I can’t believe it’s almost the end of October! It’s been a busy and blessed month. I’ve celebrated my children’s birthdays, gone to several book events, met so many readers and sold lots of books, all amongst my work as a lawyer, writing my next book, and releasing another. Every moment has been one big adventure. As they say, when you do what you love, you never work a day in your life. I’m grateful for every opportunity. I can’t thank all of you enough for your support!

For the past couple of days, I’ve been thinking about success. What does success mean? What does it mean to live your best life?

At some of my recent events, a few readers asked me these very questions. How do you do it? They asked. How do you balance it all? Where do you start? How can I start?

red brick wall with live, work, create. quote — Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

I won’t sugarcoat it. It’s difficult. Reaching for your dreams takes dedication, hard work, and sacrifice. I’ve been writing my entire life. I was first published thirty years ago. That’s right, 30 YEARS ago. I’ve studied writing for the past twenty years, in both the UCLA Writer’s Program and under my current teacher, John Truby. I’m still learning. I’m up early mornings and late nights. I hardly watch television. I write six days a week, sometimes seven. Even when I’m not writing, I’m writing, because I’m thinking about writing. Law school was the same. I spent a year just studying for the LSAT before even applying to law school. Another four years in law school and another year by the time the Bar was over. I sacrificed many things to make all of those dreams come true. There’s always a cost to reaching for your dreams.

But here’s the thing I learned: it’s always worth it to push your talents to the limit. To keep growing. Keep moving forward. Keep betting on yourself. When you step outside your comfort zone, you learn. You grow. You use those experiences to help others. And you can have more than one passion. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t.

Which reminds me.

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to visit The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, otherwise known as “The Kate.” If you’ve never been to The Kate, I highly recommend it. The performing arts center has a variety of entertainment options, including live music, comedy shows, concerts, theatre, musicals, and even Hollywood classic films. It’s also a museum dedicated to the famed actress Katherine Hepburn (who, fun fact, is my 8th cousin, 3x removed). The museum holds a collection of letters, photos, costumes, and even old movie scripts of the famed actress. Hepburn had a remarkable career, and The Kate offers such a unique insight into her life. Here are some pics of the museum!

After touring the museum, I attended the Debbie Gibson Electric Youth Acoustic Show. Yes, I am a Debbie Gibson fan (if you know me well, you know this!). I’ve loved her music since I was a kid.

While she may be best known for the teen sensation of the late 80s, she’s had a fabulous career far past those years. In fact, she’s not only the youngest female artist to write, produce, and perform a Billboard Hot 100 number-one single (no one has broken her record yet-not even Swift!) but she’s also starred in multiple roles on Broadway, done touring musicals, television and independent film, all while continuing to release music on her own label, as recent as 2021. Now, she tours independently, doing the entire show on her own with the help of her trusted crew, many of which were with her from the start.

I’ve had the chance to meet Debbie and can say she is incredibly nice in person. Not only that, but she thrives on connecting with her audience. She often goes out into the crowd to sing. She invites fans onstage to dance to her last song “We Could Be Together” (and yes, I did this once! Let’s hope it’s not out there on You Tube. You truly don’t want to see me dance, LOL).

The Point

Here’s the thing I realized at the last show (and yes, I am getting to a really long-winded point that is going to tie this all together!)—her passion for her art is sincere and contagious. I mean, you can’t you just see the pure happiness in this photo I snapped during the show? Just look at the joy on her face!

She talked a lot about success. What it means to her. Maybe it doesn’t “look” like success to others. After all, she went from selling out arenas to smaller venues. But she’s doing it. Still. Thirty-eight years later. Singing the songs she wrote as a young girl. And having fun with it. Some of her fans fly all over the world to see her. It’s truly an event.

To me, that’s inspiring. To continue to do your art no matter what. To have the courage to keep on creating, keep on evolving.

You see, when you follow your passions and your talents, you can’t fail. Why? Because you are too busy out there doing the best you can at being you.

silhouette of woman raising her right hand — Photo by William Farlow on Unsplash

Creating art is a divine experience, really. Stories, music, poetry, art, it’s a gift that transfers through the artist to its audience. It finds itself first inside the artist. You can’t experience it unless you're willing to tune into it. It takes courage to listen. To create. It’s an act of bravery to share.

So how do I do it? How can you do it? Just start. Stop overthinking it. Take a step. No matter how small. Gamble on yourself. Don’t measure your success to anyone else. Look instead at how you can use your talents to bring hope. Know you will make sacrifices for your art. But it’s worth it. Trust me.

As Debbie sings, in Electric Youth, “You can’t fight it, Live by it.”

Stay electric.

Till Next Time,

Sarah

AKA A Busy Lady

PS check out this entire episode dedicated to reviewing my novel, All These Threads of Time on KPL Lit Talks. When I saw they dedicated an entire episode , I was scared! Then I listened. This is a true testament in why you should always step outside your fear. Thank you KPL Lit Talk for this fabulous review!

A Busy Lady