I don’t think I am alone in finding art very intimidating, but yet like all of us being I am inextricably drawn to it.

I had the chance to go to a concert last night with the band Queens of the Stone Age. I have seen them three times before, but never quite like this. For this tour, they were playing beautiful smaller venues, like the Boch Theater in Boston where I saw them. The tour was in support of their “Alive in the Catacombs” movie and album, which was recorded in the catacombs under Paris.

One of the things about this concert was the band’s request to get dressed up in your best attire for an experience unlike any other concert you’ve been to. And reading the reviews provided by attendees online, you can see that the concert produced such an effect. Like any good drama, the concert used a three-act structure put into parts that started very paired down into an orchestra of light, symphony, rock music, and drama. It was pretty remarkable, and as I watched it I couldn’t help but wonder about the creative and artistic minds that put this together. Not just the music, but all of it. Who are the minds that conceived it, and where does that come from? And as I sat there wishing I had taken more music lessons so I could produce such an experience for the world, I have to admit that I was both in awe and uplifted, and feeling diminished because of my lack of ability.

I’m sure if I would talk to the artists involved, and if you’re listening let me know, they would say that is not the point of artistic creation. It is not to make those non-creators feel insignificant, but rather to allow them to share in the potential of creation. We all have the potential for artistic expression and creation on whatever scale we can manage. What typically stands in our way is our own feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy. Those feelings get magnified when our initial attempts don’t meet with our own expectations. We are truly our own worst critics, and that art critic can be pretty unforgiving.

To help us with finding our inner artist and creative voice is Laura Patac. Laura grew up in Romania as a very shy and introverted child. One outlet she found was poetry. But she didn’t see this as a legitimate professional outlet. Rather, she studied mathematics in university, which led to a career in Western Union, culminating in being the VP and Head of Global Retail Product. But she retained her passion for and practice of poetry and story-telling, which she has turned into her book “Stories with Purpose.”

I talk with Laura about the importance of the arts, and with the arts and story telling there is no right nor wrong. She talks about the connection between poetry and mathematics. Both provided her with structure, self-expression, and a way to connect not just with others but herself.

We talk about the prevalence of imposter syndrome in women, and the importance of resilience when managing corporate environments. We explore the ways that we measure success and impact, and how story telling can help us define both. More importantly we talk about how to connect narrative with purpose to create a positive impact. She describes how she helps her clients tell their story and identify their purpose so they can have that positive impact on organizations and more.

Finally, she talks about how in between birth and death is choice, and we need to choose the version of ourselves that we create and present to the world.

Laura G. Patac LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-g-patac/

Empower Quest: https://empower-quest.com/

Stories with Purpose Book: https://www.storiesholdpurpose.com/book

Stories with Purpose Workbook: https://www.storiesholdpurpose.com/workbook-optin

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