Why did I change the name of my Substack?

Where do I have to go now?

The original title of this publication was “Going Where We Have To Go.” It came from one of my favorite poems, “The Waking,” by Theodore Roethke. I liked that title because it showed two kinds of journeys: One where you go where you are required to be, and you learn; the other where you learn where you are required to be, and go there.

I think that subtlety is lost on most people. It’s vital to me. But as my wife often tells me, it’s not about me, it’s about you.

I recently changed my focus from “piano teacher who does creative things on the side” to “Performance and Confidence Coach.” And the thing I realized about why this is a better fit for me is that I’m always helping people find their voice.

I’ll continue teaching piano. I have over 30 students! I love them.

But my focus with them has always been on helping them find their voice, discover their confidence, collect the skills they need to say what they want to say.

I’ll continue being a creative. I have no choice! That stuff is how I communicate to the world.

But as a creative, I’m more interested in finding my voice than I am being famous, or even sharing what I’ve done. I use my creativity to be able to speak. The creativity is the air, rather than some final product. By writing songs, I allow myself to speak to myself, and to others. By writing books, I discover things in myself that I could only find by speaking them.

And I want to help other people do that.

Changing the name of this Substack allows me to incorporate everything I do under one umbrella. When I talk about creativity, I’ll be talking about finding our voices, and that’s the same thing I’ll be doing with my piano students, and with my clients as Performance and Confidence coach.

This is my focus, my reason for being.

I’m opening up a workshop for writers who want to speak but are afraid. It’s called “Unlock the Power of Your Voice: Confidence for Writers Who Want to Speak Up!”

You can register for it here: https://acole.net/finding-your-voice-public-speaking-workshop-for-writers

I’ll be offering spots in the workshop at the Early Bird Discount for four weeks. Now is the best time to register. Everyone will rush to take advantage of the Early Bird Rate and space is limited.

What questions can I answer?