Money Date With Goapele: Getting Closer To Your Dreams
/Every Friday I recommend having a money date…with a mimosa. Hence the name of my blog, Money & Mimosas.
Your money date is a sacred ritual to review your finances, celebrate your wins, and reflect on how you used your money to make a difference. Feel free to do it alone or with your money buddy. If you’d like a step-by-step guide for your money date, click here to download your free checklist.
In these money date articles, I feature a celebrity and the lessons we can learn from her approach to business. This week’s money date features Goapele and how her approach to music and business is giving me life.
As I’ve shared with my Money & Mimosas subscribed readers, these last five or so months of 2020 has been a beautiful season of solitude for me. I have limited the number of calls I take, removed social media, and reduced the amount of time I spend on the internet. Instead, filling my time with walks in nature and deepening my connection with my fiancé and close girlfriends. This period has reawakened dormant desires within me, including my desire to explore artistic endeavors.
This is a sneak peek of a project I’m working on…stay tuned.
As an artist, one of my favorite mediums of expression is writing. Money & Mimosas is one outlet, and it is a deeply fulfilling one because I have created a sacred space that gives voice to my financial experience as a Black woman living in the United States.
However, it is simply one outlet. Another outlet my soul is yearning to explore is poetry. I wrote my first poem at the age of six and I am ready to give space to this side of my artistry to fully self-actualize.
I see poetry as therapy. It helps me process feelings and excavates my subconscious to reveal hidden truths. It also allows me to alchemize all the inspiration I find around me - rushing rivers, marigold aspens, snow-capped mountains, foxes and roadrunners that appear in our backyard, star-filled nights, and skies lit by the full moon.
Zion National Park. Photo by Nick Chandler (my wonderful fiancé)
As I work on my first collection of poems - to be published in 2021- I am also looking to a handful of other artists for inspiration. Specifically, musicians who evoke a sense of stillness and truth in their work.
One of those artists is Goapele. Goapele, whose name means to move forward in Setswana (a Southern African language) has been an inspiration of mine for many, many years. She is originally from Oakland, and one year Nick and I saw her perform live at Yoshi’s in Jack London Square.
Her soulful voice, melodic beats, and enrapturing lyrics ground me in the present moment while also inspiring me to dream bigger. Many of you may be familiar with her song, Closer. The lyrics are a mantra to anyone committed to the journey of self-actualization.
Closer to my dreams
It's coming over me
I'm getting higher
Closer to my dreams
I'm getting higher and higher
Feel it in my sleep-Goapele
As I listen to Goapele’s music, song by song and album by album, I am also indulging in her interviews. Her cool, calm demeanor when she speaks reveals a glimpse of a deep consciousness residing within the artist. Through her craft and in interviews, she effortlessly shares her multidimensional perspective on death, injustice, joy, motherhood, and many other philosophical insights.
One of the many messages she shares in her interviews that have stuck with me is that “you can be an artist and a normal person.” Growing up, Goapele was surrounded by musicians, performers, and artists who were exceptional at their craft and maintained a down to earth presence. Down to earth meaning that they did not feel the need to develop an alter ego in order to tap into their artistry. While there is nothing wrong with having a stage name and a distinct identity to express your artistry, Goapele found this approach is not needed to create powerful music.
As I am creating my first collection of poems and an entire creative concept around expressing my craft, I was reflecting on the idea of creating an alter ego along with my art. Similar to Beyoncé’s Sasha Fierce. But, then as I was writing one of my poems which explores the integration of all sides of your personality, I realized an alter ego would continue to perpetuate the fractured self. A disjointed, disconnected, sense of self that only leads to further inner destruction. As I was pondering this, I stumbled across two of Goapele’s interviews where she states with eloquence and deep clarity that an artist can be a normal person.
Isn’t it lovely how the Universe knows exactly what you need to hear when you need to hear it?
Integrating all sides of ourselves is a recurring theme within Money & Mimosas and I’m glad I was able to receive a refresher on this lesson. If you wish to dive deeper into this philosophy, check out the first episode of the Money Sex Power podcast where I explore the Eve vs. Lilith living within women with my guest, Chriselda Pacheco. In my recap of the first episode of Money Sex Power, I shared the human experience as a woman is a tale of inner conflict. It’s a journey of uniting the inner will to become whole in order to fully step into your power. A power that embodies all sides of yourself.
