“When we get stuck in ego, achievements and accomplishments — stuck in self-doubt — stuck in ‘not enough’ syndrome, we need only to remember who we really are… and let go of these attachments” ~Andrea

Did you hear the story of how the Buddha became the Buddha?

Well, before he was a Buddha, he was a Prince named Siddartha Guatama. Prince Siddartha grew up sheltered and protected within the walls of the palace because his father didn’t want him to know the pain of suffering and death. But one day as a young man, the prince ventured out into the world, curious to learn what existed beyond the palace walls. He found pain, suffering and death and so he vowed to discover a way to put an end to all this suffering and so began a long arduous quest for enlightenment.

He tried EVERYTHING and nothing worked.

One day, he chose a bodhi tree and declared that he would sit beneath this tree until he found the way.

As you can imagine, the God of the Underworld, Mara, didn’t really want an end to his reign so he devised a plan to seduce the Prince Siddartha out from under that tree. Mara sent his 3 most beautiful daughters (Lust, Fulfillment, and Regret) to appeal to the young prince’s desires.

It didn’t work. Prince Siddartha had already let go of attachment.

So then Mara decided to scare the prince out from under the tree. He sent a legion of monstrous demons

The spears and arrows fell to the ground and turned to lotus flower blossoms at his feet. Prince Siddartha had already let go of fear.

And then Mara got crafty. He went to the prince himself and whispered in his ear, “You’re supposed to be a prince and one day, a king. How could you abandon your duty to your people and be so self-centered? Pursuing this thing called “enlightenment” — how selfish! Who do you think you are anyway?”

And Prince Siddartha felt the pangs of self-doubt — the most difficult challenge of all!

He knew he couldn’t face it alone, so he reach out his hand and touched the earth beneath him. He called out to the Earth Goddess and asked her to bear witness to his right to be here.

In that moment, the Earth rose to affirm his presence, Mara bowed in defeat, and Siddartha received the gift of enlightenment. He became the Buddha.

So maybe you didn’t know this story about the Buddha, but maybe you’ve heard of Brene Brown, author of Daring Greatly and most recently, Rising Strong.

Brene is best known for her two TED Talks on shame and vulnerability.

Okay… so what the heck to the Buddha and Brene Brown have in common?

Get episode 19 on iTunes to get the scoop!

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“‘The only unique contribution we will make in this world will be born out of creativity.” ~Brene Brown

The problem is that, according to Brene’s research, 85% of people are carrying shame around them and 50% of those people have shame wounds specifically around creativity.

The problem is that shame leads to self-doubt and when we are mired in self-doubt, it’s pretty hard to boldly share our true selves or make our creative work. So then what contribution can we possibly make?

Lucky for me, I am a very creative person. I’ve created blogs, businesses, meetup groups, nonprofit organizations, plays, films, stories, poetry (mostly bad), and THIS podcast!

In fact, I’m so good at creating, right now I’m creating an audio course on creating called How to Start (anything)!

So clearly, I don’t have to worry about self-doubt! Or do I…?

Links Galore

• My interview with Ellen Katz, psychotherapist, musician and leader of The Bhakti Caravan, the kirtan band with whom I sing
• Nikki Nigl’s About Women, where I first gave the talk upon which this episode is based
• Brene Brown on YouTube: on Shame and Vulnerability

A creative impostor challenge for you!

 

Ready to train yourself to be kinder to YOU?

May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I have ease.

Say these 4 phrases to yourself, out loud at first and then silently, as many times as you can whenever you can!

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Our first Creative Space Travel Retreat to New Orleans is in the works! Get the inside scoop…

 

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My How to Start e-course is designed to help you take those first few bold steps on your creative path no matter what! Truly, I’ve taken all the wisdom from my podcast guests, past teachers and a whole lot of experience with failure AND success. Coming soon — drop your email here for an invitation to join our next round!

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This episode was mixed by Edwin R. Ruiz of Mondo Machine.
The Creative Impostor theme music was created by JoVia Armstrong.

I want to hear from you. If you’re listening in iTunes, PLEASE leave a review. It’s how iTunes decides which shows people find when they are searching for specific topics like this one.

Also send me a message! What do you think so far? What’s your greatest impostor moment? Email your written comments or leave a voicemail using SpeakPipe — and when you do, I just may read the message or play your voice on a future episode.