There is a certain wonderful side to being a writer.
It means that at any moment, out comes a splurge of words the likes of which have never been birthed on the planet before.
When writing, the person inside your soul is given life for the first time. The soulless is given words and thoughts breathed into life.
Without words, one could argue that no man could learn to think. After all, what are words but just thoughts made manifest using a similar medium across soundwaves?
Somehow, we have come to accept that some men can just be “rage monsters” and that some women can never be angry. I know that this situation can be difficult. I grew up most of my life in a family that was so terrified of anger that no matter what happened, no one was allowed to be angry.
Sadly, everyone’s reality is a complex emotional vortex.
The truth is that you can tell the size of a person’s character based on what makes them angry.
Do they get visibly irate when cut off in traffic?
Do they become frustrated when interrupted in a conversation?
Or are they someone who does not get offended easily?
Do they get mad for the sake of protecting others?
Do they become angry for a reason or without reason?
In truth, if you grew up and were not “allowed” to be angry, you likely became someone who was concerned about impressions and never actually learned that anger can protect you.
Anger is one of the few emotions that can lead to an explosive reaction. This is the reason why it has resulted in fear and stigma. The real question is, what is it being channeled into?
The biggest mistake by far is dismissing anger altogether.
For those who grew up with no anger at all, the best thing for them is to learn how to be angry.
This simply means recognizing the things that cause us grief were unjustified and actually hurt us. We just need people to hold space for us to be upset about real things that have hurt them.
In my case, it meant that I needed to have people who understood and did not try to stop me from reacting. Now, I am not someone who could easily feel anger. To this day, I can count the number of times I have truly felt anger on one hand.
I advise people who suffer from “nice-guy” or “nice-girl” syndrome to learn to be angry about the right things.
Any emotion gives us valuable information. It tells us that something has happened to cause a reaction inside of us.
Anger tells us that a boundary has been crossed in our internal world.
For some, anger tells us that we are too easily moved by things that do not matter in the long run. But for others, like me, your anger will tell you when there has been a real violation of trust in your life, relationships, or work.
Use anger constructively.
When directed, anger will fuel the right breakup, the right nonprofit, or the beginning of a cause. At the end of the day, we must be able to answer to ourselves for what we did or did not allow in our lives.
It was an honor to be interviewed by CanvasRebel this month. One of the things artists often wonder is “will anyone ever notice?” I so appreciate the time and the publicity that working with CanvasRebel created.
During the interview process, I realized a few things that I wanted to share.
Connections matter.
The reason I had the chance to interview with CanvasRebel is because a friend of mine who had been featured on Fox News made the connection for me. The lesson is simple, do not turn your nose up at any opportunity.
Publicity is a good thing in moderation.
I used to avoid publicity because I had an experience at a young age of what it might be like to be “famous”. As a teen, being a successful speaker carried a certain amount of recognition in my community. I remember being followed into bathrooms, stalked at lunch, and having kids take pictures of me at the gym to post on social media.
Ever since then, I never worked to build a platform and avoided social media. However, publicity pays.
As a small business owner, your good name is something to protect and we should not fear getting out into the public sphere. Choose your platforms with intention and your words with care.
Keep your thoughts in order.
When speaking to anyone publishing my words, I realized that my thoughts need to be free of clutter.
My message is the most impactful when it is clear and straightforward. However, I also try to not cut myself out of the answer. If I do, then I have become too concise.
Enjoy the becoming.
We all go through changes of seasons.
The past few months have been a long series of changes in my life, business, and public image. It has become more important than ever to know who I am and where I am going.
Evangelize for yourself!
Please excuse the turn of phrase, but any employee, business owner, or Entreprenuar needs to learn how to tell your story in a compelling way.
The people listening should know who you are, why you are here, and what you can do for them.
If interest so compels you, my full interview with CanvasRebel can be found here. Some of my interview was also featured in this article.
In writing, there is a concept known as ” finding your niche”. But what is a niche, and how would you find a suitable one for you?
There are many things to consider when beginning to look for a niche.
Here are a few steps to help any new or experienced writer find or step into a niche of your own.
Make a List
Listing out areas where you may be a good writer is a great place to start. Do you have an athlete’s background? Unique experiences with health? A strange delight for finding dog-related puns?
Use your specific background and talents to your advantage. Each piece of information that you know already results in less time for you to create a winning post or article.
Find Your Research Spark
Begin your adventure into writing with an idea of things you love to research. Not only will this help you begin to write, but it will help you not run out of information to write about in the near future.
Are you not a natural researcher? No problem. Take some time thinking about those long internet dives you did when you found something that really grips your imagination. That is your research drive. It could be dogs, comedy shows, travel, food, or the most recent football game. Any of those areas could be your niche! If you find the idea that puts a fire into your brain, chase it down!
Navigate Your Market
Here is an interesting thought, navigate your specific market. Are you wanting to be a blog content creator? Or are you looking to write in-depth research articles on economics and politics? Depending on your direction in writing, you will need to navigate the market differently.
For example, if you would like to write one day for The Economist or Forbes, you will likely need to write well-documented and researched articles. However, if your dream is to run your own food blog, you may just want to start with more generic content creation in the food industry.
Spend some time researching your specific idea of writing and tailor your articles to that area. Inside of your niche, this will help you turn that little fire into a steady blaze.
Remember, finding a niche in writing takes time and effort. All great things begin with a single step. If you never begin, how could you expect a good ending? Begin writing, work smart, and writing can become a great asset to you.
Set to Rock and Roll classics that keep the audience grooving to the beat, Visions of Virtue is one of the untold wonders of the New York Dance Scene from Spring 2022. The powerful dancers of the Pandora Ballet Company rock the stage from opening to closing with a bang.
Lara Ebell, Perseverance, Pink, Choreography by Tallia A. Patrone
The challenges that the group overcame in order to perform are nothing short of astounding. Not only did the theatre change its policies multiple times causing the entire cast to conform to stricter and stricter guidelines, but the cast itself lost several members the day before opening night.
Tallia Petrone, acting as a director, choreographer, and performer, pulled herculean feats to make the show possible. With the support of her friends and family, some of whom had flown from across the country, the show went on. She said in a private interview that her number one priority was making sure the entire cast was safe and all stakeholders reimbursed for their investment in the company. For the professional dancers, the show was a volunteer effort on the part of the dancers to pull the show together. The director’s integrity is what kept up the morale of the cast throughout the various challenges of bringing this work to the stage.
Visions of Virtue is a ballet about a prince trapped within his own dream. He comes face to face with his demons, and is forced to see the path to enlightenment. Set to rock music, this ballet brings gothic themes into the 21st Century.
God brings the light out of the dark places. He brings the strong, clinging trees out of the broken foundation of a cracked mountain. Levity slices in the tight confines of cages and the highest mountains are couched beneath the deepest waves of a raging sea.
The waves breaking over you are to wash the gritty sands of humanity off so that you radiate the joyous face of your Father. Stars shine brightest on the darkest nights, we would not see them in the light of the dawn. Only the dark gives light its reason for living.
God, I repent for any fear and unbelief I have held onto that I would or could not change. Remove any doubt from your calling on my life and make my anointing clear. Clear my path, God!
Help me make decisions that leave my paths as clear as the day! God, your business is in putting things right. Bring right into my life. In Psalm 19, the Psalmist says, “God’s business is putting things right; He loves getting the lines straight, setting us straight. Once we’re standing tall, we can look him straight in the eye” (Ps 19, MSG).
Help us understand that our words carry weight, God, transform our words to be blessings and not curses. Release me from the guilt that my past words caused harm and help me take responsibility for those hurts where it is possible.
Strengthen the harvesters during this season. Renew their strength today as we walk forward to the harvest you have set before us.
My family has been described by a close friend as the closest living likeness to the Von Trapp family. The Von Trapp family was a family where all the members were singers and used their gifts to great effect to escape persecution during World War II.
Although we are not all professional singers, all seven of my siblings and myself were trained on the piano and other instruments until we graduated high school. Out of those eight kids, two of us are professional musicians while three others have gone to high levels for their ages and grades.
Taryn Starr at the Piano
I wanted to give anyone who visited my site a chance to see into my musical background and history. I began playing piano at the age of seven and was formally trained in classical piano until I turned eighteen. After that, I continued my training on my own and never gave up the habit of practicing each morning.
If you meet me while I am performing somewhere, I typically describe myself as a honkytonk pianist. If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry! The Honkytonk era of piano happened in the 1940’s, but it raised pianists like Ernest Tubb and Hank Williams.
Rachel Enos Photography
I draw a lot of my style from Ragtime, Big Band styles, and smooth improv jazz. I love playing songs from Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Scott Joplin, George Gershwin, and of course, Billy Joel and Elton John.
In case you noticed, I’m pretty eclectic and even venture into a lot of classical music and have played rock songs on the piano. I love people and I love bringing music to them and light to the atmosphere I play in.
Taryn Starr 