Aligned Artist’s Circle - DMV

Creative Works in Progress

Sat, Aug 29 · 2:00 PM EDT

Location not specified yet

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much to everyone who has attended our meetups and shared your work, listened, encouraged someone else, or simply showed up.

We will still be meeting this fall at my studio in Manassas! However, I will be closing this Meetup group, as the organizer fee is now almost $200.

If you'd like to hear about upcoming gatherings, just send me a quick email at catherine.doss@gmail.com with subject MEETUP and I'll add you to the list. I'll send upcoming dates and a SignUpGenius by email.

You are always welcome to come share a creative work in progress—or simply come and listen.

You can also find me here:
Instagram: @catherinemcdoss
Facebook: CatherineMCDoss
YouTube: @catedoss
WhatsApp: +1 949-300-0857

And before I close this Meetup group (or Meetup closes it, I'm really not sure what will happen because I can not pay that fee again), I want to say something to those of you who have been interested but haven't quite made it through the door yet.

I finally watched a YouTube video that had been sitting on my watchlist for years about creating an evening routine. Years!

So believe me, I understand what it is like to have every intention of doing something and to keep waiting for the right time.
But if you haven't discovered this already: the perfect time never arrives.

Honestly, I was terrified the first time I attended a meetup of pianists—and these people were my friends! I was afraid they would judge me. I was afraid I wouldn't play well enough. I was uncomfortable.
And I went anyway.

Sometimes we beat ourselves up for that discomfort. We tell ourselves we shouldn't be nervous, shouldn't be afraid, should be further along, should have practiced more, should feel more confident.
But discomfort doesn't mean you shouldn't be there. Discomfort means that you are growing.

It is okay to be uncomfortable. It is okay to be nervous. It is okay to show up before you feel ready. IT IS MORE THAN OKAY, it's a good thing!

You don't need to punish yourself for any of it.
Judgment has such a bad name, but I have also come to appreciate the difference between judgment and discernment:
Judgment says:
“This is wrong.”
Discernment says:
“This is no longer serving me.”

Some of the greatest improvement I have made since graduating from conservatory has come from sharing unfinished work with other artists. Not polished work. Not perfect work. Work in progress.
That is why I created this group.

We have all skill levels, and I promise you: we get it. You can play, read something you've written, share another creative project, or simply come and listen. You do not have to prove anything.

This particular opportunity won't be around forever, and I will probably be moving in the near future. So if you have been thinking about coming but waiting until you feel more prepared, more confident, or more “ready”:
shoot me an email, and join us.

I would love to see you this fall.

Much love,
Cate

P.S. The video I mentioned is Recharge Your Mind with This Evening Routine from a Monk's Perspective on YouTube.