#18 Laura Souza: The journey, not the finish line
Laura Souza
Laura Souza (she/her) is a connection coach certified in the Therapeutic Meditation Process™ (TMP) and Release The 3Ps™*. She supports moms (and moms-to-be) in finding balance in their lives through her 12-month Protect Your Peace program. In addition to her coaching work, Laura holds an MBA. She not only runs her own coaching business but also single-handedly manages a project manager venture, supporting clients across the United States. Laura is also a flutist, and we met almost 10 years ago through the flute community in Rochester.
Both of us are high-energy, optimistic humans, and the conversation was a full hour of excitement, mutual support, and a reminder of why we had connected years ago. When we were nearing the end of our chat, I asked Laura, “It seems perfection is a big theme for you, what do you think?” Without missing a beat, she exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, yes!”
Laura immediately mentions a book that she is currently reading, The 50% Rule by Erin Hatzikostas. The core idea is: “Merge half-normal with half-new.” As Hatzikostas puts it, “You don’t have to comply with the rules. Instead, learn the rules and then create your own jewels.” She also writes, “Stop following someone else’s dream and start snagging half their dream to craft an entirely new dream.”
For myself, at the time, I didn’t realize that I was taking half of an existing dream and crafting an entirely new one when writing Modal Flute Warmup. But looking back, that’s exactly what I did. I adapted an exercise by the renowned flutist and teacher Sam Baron called “One Motif, Fast Puff of Air,” expanding on it with my ideas. I looked at what kind of book I wanted to read and what I saw missing in the flute world—thus, my book was born. We, of course, build on others’s ideas. Steve Jobs famously said, “Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity - not a threat.”
This approach reminds me of the little gem of a book, Steal Like an Artist, which features quotes from David Bowie—“The only art I’ll ever study is stuff that I can steal from”—and T.S. Eliot—“Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal… good poets make it into something better, or at least something different.” There’s also a fantastic quote from the French writer André Gide: “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” Repeating something can allow us to see its value. Maybe if we focus on creating value rather than just earning money, we might be onto something.
Author and poet Mark McGuinness says, “If you forget about earning money and focus on creating value, you enter a different world. A world where your income is not tied to the effort you put in but to the value you create for others—whether that value is practical, financial, emotional, or experiential.” He adds, “There is virtually no limit to the value you can create for others.” By letting go of the need to “be successful” and instead thinking about what is valuable—perhaps helping others or being of service—we can create space for something unique within ourselves. Our creativity, when expressed authentically, becomes of service to others. Most importantly, following our instincts, our “obvious,” which is unique to each of us, leads to truly original work. (Thanks to Pippa Evans, and her wonderful book, Improv Your Life, and perhaps revisit Jon Russell’s post for more on this).
Laura Souza
Photo credit: Mike Stempler, https://shutterheadstudios.com/
