Well...are you?
Ok good to hear! Me neither.
But wait a second, and let me give things a good think.
1. I just think about things as usual, and I increase them, or I spin faster in my mind and end up having no idea what I'm thinking or feeling because I'm just freaking out, shutting down, having a pity-party or losing/winning the blame-game...
2. I give things an actual good think, and dive into my huge repertoire/arsenal of fear replacements.
When I am rested and present enough to choose well, I can get fearless and perform my best.
We want to get fearless somehow...and there are millions of ways to do that, many of which we've covered in these newsletters, and we'll cover many more in future ones!
We want to get fearless well, and then have that fearless state last as long as possible. Sometimes in concert, my fearless state can last for 5 seconds in a row before I find something else to fear on some level. At that time, I repeat my fear-replacement process with a different fearless weapon or tool. Over and over again...
It's not about being fearless forever. Much like how I've heard smokers don't quit smoking for the rest of their lives, but rather they quit until the next urge. We want to replace our fear for right now. We'll get to the next fear moment whenever it comes. Both my mother and father quit smoking...a few times each, heh. We had boxes of gum and mints in every room in the house for them to use to replace their smoking urges. Often we had a very confusing smoky-minty-pigfarm aroma in the house!
It's about replacing our destructive habit with another habit that is constructive...or at least at first, choosing something less destructive.
For fear replacements, my first step is to look at the moment I'm in right now.
"Am I Fearless Right Now?"
Here's something I have on my studio door that I pondered today. Ohhhh, it's good:
If you're fearing something, ask yourself if you're able to do something about whatever you're fearing. Have that question and answer be enough for right here, right now. There's no drama or emotion in your thoughts...only the questions and answers shown above in that graphic.
Whatever creation theory or god or science you believe in, the serenity prayer is something that guides me well many many times a day:
This is at the very least, a thought process to solve the type of fear we call "Worry". Worry is an extra wild and complicated choice because often, worry is fearing fear. Wild stuff, eh? Worry is a common type of fear, and usually stays around because we haven't simplified our choices. The above graphic guide and Serenity Prayer do just that! You will find more often than not that this thought process can take you through situations that you may have previously succeeded at complicating into drama.
Good luck today, and this week.
Good luck and good thought!
Remember to help your friends through too...
Stay fearless my friends,
Jeff
You're Best
You really are best.
Nope, not a typo...I just like trying to make the newsletter titles have a little
hmmmmm at first. Last week's message was for us to "Have a Good Worst". Now lets
look at how You're Best.
You are the best version of yourself. This is true on many levels.
You're the best you in existence.
Jeff and Nina Nelsen to be artists in residence Jan. 21-23
PRESS RELEASE
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS
COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS AND COMMUNICATION
Contact: Brent Shires, (501) 450-5768; bshires@uca.edu
January 16, 2014
JEFF AND NINA NELSEN TO BE ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE JAN. 21-23
By Cassidy Crawford
College of Fine Arts and Communication Media Office
CONWAY — Horn player Jeff Nelsen and soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen will be on the University of Central Arkansas campus Jan. 21-23 as artists in residence.
Besides a public recital on Friday, Jan. 23, in the Snow Fine Arts Center Recital Hall, Jeff Nelsen, a music professor at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a former member of Canadian Brass, the long-running, popular brass quintet, hopes to help people in reducing performance anxiety with his seminar, “Fearless Performance.” Three sessions are scheduled: Class 1 from 7:30-9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 21; Class 2 on Thursday, Jan. 22, from 1:40-2:30 p.m.; and Class 3, from 2-3 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 23.
“The ‘Fearless Performance’ seminars do not have to be attended in sequence to be beneficial,” said Dr. Brent Shires, horn professor at UCA and the faculty sponsor for the residency. “Any one of them is useful by itself.”
The program for the Jan. 23 public concert will include vocal selections by Nina Yoshida Nelsen, including art pieces by Saint-Saens and Brahms. Jeff Nelsen will perform Bach and some blues. Together they will present duets, such as “Con te partiro” and a set of specially composed songs based on Brian Andreas’ “Story People” vignettes. UCA piano lecturer Terrie Shires will join the Nelsens on piano for this program.
All of the above events are scheduled for the Recital Hall and are free and open to the public.
Friday, Jan. 23 will feature a hands-on session for high school horn players and interested teachers. From 5-7 p.m., Brent Shires will hold the clinic “Making All-State on Horn.” Horn players are invited to bring their instruments and participate in this class where tips and techniques will be helpful for those aspiring to make the February Arkansas All-State ensembles in Hot Springs. Even those who aren’t qualifiers will still learn necessary techniques and approaches that can be applied to everyday horn playing as well as next year’s tryouts.
For more information about the Nelsen residency, contact Brent Shires at (501) 450-5768 or bshires@uca.edu.
The Artist in Residence program is funded by UCA’s arts fee and is administered by the College of Fine Arts and Communication. For more information about the program, call the Office of the Dean, College of Fine Arts and Communication, at (501) 450-3293 or e-mail jdmiller@uca.edu.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Communication, Mass Communication and Theatre, Music and Writing. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visit www.uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.
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