What problem do you want to have?

Hello Carousellers,

First things first, I’ve changed the name of this Substack to Follow the Aliveness. This is partly because the word carousel has become quite synonymous with a certain Instagram post style, but also because Follow the Aliveness feels more illustrative of the Carousel model, which is all about noticing what feels alive. Let me know what you think!

Following the Aliveness can be wonderful - it can feel expansive, energising and full of variety. It can also feel overwhelming, scattered and confusing.

When it does, I come back to the question from Greg McKeown’s book ‘Essentialism’: ‘what problem do you want to have?’ Rather than asking what makes you happy, you get clear on the trade-offs.

By Following the Aliveness I've chosen occasional overwhelm and inconsistency around money. But if I were to leave this lifestyle, I’d be choosing the problem of in-authenticity and misalignment. Every time I weigh the trade-offs, I realise I’d rather embrace the inconsistencies, than live a life that no longer feels like mine.

I’ve been talking to friends about this - some who are in house in corporate jobs, some who have carved their own messy path - and we all agree it’s hard. There is no right decision, or perfect way to do this. But there is the feeling in your gut of where you need to be. And for me where I feel in alignment is always my compass.

Here's what following the aliveness has looked like recently:

• I’ve been touring the Noughtie 90s Piano Singalong around the UK, which has been consistently raucous. On paper it's nostalgia and ridiculousness. In reality it's another place where strangers become a room full of people singing at the top of their lungs together. I’ve enjoyed adding new songs into the set list - My Heart Will Go On and Lose Yourself going down particularly well! One gig was back in my hometown of Exeter, which is where I used to sit working out the chords to all the songs when it was actually the 90s! So quite a big full circle to be leading friends and Devonians through that.

  

• I’ve finished up my school year of coaching teachers in schools and am carving out an offer to take into companies. It’s been an interesting time going back into Linked In and digging out my spreadsheet from 2015 when I was first marketing Power of Uke. I had a little cry when I wondered what had happened to all of those connections, and then remembered that we’d had a massive global pandemic in the middle and gave myself a bit more compassion!

• I took Psy Fit, which is less than a year old, to two festivals. At Love Trails we had 150 people show up for a sweaty psy trance workout. I continue to see the threads between all my offerings of creating spaces of joyful abandon, connection and deep, deep release. Even though it may look totally different from coaching or singing folk songs - it’s another space where people can feel more alive. What is the thread between all of your seemingly unrelated projects? If you zoom out, who are you being?

• I sang folk songs at my friend Kim Willis’s book launch (No Fair Maidens - read it!) and also at her talk on goddesses in a welsh castle…!

• And… our podcast that we recorded about how we felt about not having children in our 40s (and the other lives that were possible) has been downloaded more than 1000 times! Listen here.

• I’ve taken on a studio space in Brighton once a week to do my in-person coaching, which I love! I have a bunch of excellent humans at the moment, all working on re-designing their lives, and creating offers that feel in alignment with who they are. And wow, what a gorgeous thing that the person who owns the space wants the contribution to be a non-monetary exchange. This makes the whole experience feel so much more nourishing. In the past year I have also swapped coaching for social media advice, mounting pictures on my wall, and someone helping me with my wardrobe. What non-monetary exchanges could you do in your life?

  

• I’m re-making my website and it’s looking beauuuutiful! I continue to find website making a big opportunity for decluttering committments and identities - who am I now, and what am I about? And there are going to be 6 individual Power Sessions that are all linked to the Carousel model, which I can’t wait to share with you all. Every website I've ever rebuilt has ended up being less about design and more about identity. What version of yourself are you still introducing people to that no longer quite fits?

I’d love to hear what’s alive for you right now.

Until next time,

Happy Carouselling and keep following the aliveness

Sarah x