Living Life Your Way.... Interview with Chantilly

I've been working hard the last few months at overcoming my fears and following my dreams. So I'm running a series of interview with inspiring people to see what part fear has played in their life and how they've overcome it to live life their way...



 **********************************

Hey! Tell us a little about yourself.

Hello there! I'm Chantilly. I do a lot of things, but I'm probably best known for my singing, songwriting, and blogging. I post about my life adventures, as well as outfits and music-related stuff. I've toured, I've put out an album, I've met lots of incredible souls along the way.

Music is something I've always put my heart fully into, and something I'll probably never be able to stop doing even if I tried. Right now I'm making a new album with my producer friend Saul! He's a super nice human being, and makes my songs sound like super-human versions of themselves. I couldn't be prouder of what we've done, and the experience has been dreamy, exciting, and rewarding. We're almost finished, and it'll be out in the next few months... be on the lookout!


Is the life you lead now the life you've always dreamt of?
What a loaded question! Yes and no. Since I was small, I've always wanted to be a singer and live in NYC. When I was little, I used to tell my mom- "I know you love me, but I'm not always going to be around. Someday I'm going to move away and have my own apartment in New York City."

Well it so happens that I've put out an album and live in Brooklyn. So yes, I'd say you can make your dreams come true if you try hard enough. What they never tell you is the sheer amount of work and sacrifice that goes into it. That and, "success" isn't always what it looks like, or what you think it will be.

 

When you have faced difficulties, what has been your inspiration to keep going?
So I'm in this rainy, muddy ditch and keep trying to climb my way out. But it's slippery and crumbly, and my grip keeps faltering. I fall again and again. I lay at the bottom each time and think, "There is no way I can keep going." I wallow for awhile. But sooner or later I look around at where I am. It's cold and uncomfortable. My back is against rocks. I'm filthy, in the mud, and getting rained on. I start to think, "There is no way I can stay here." I get up. I try again. I claw harder this time.

My inspiration to keep going during hard times, is that the idea of staying where I am is intolerable to me. There is simply no choice but to keep moving, growing, changing.

Fear affects us all at some point. What part has fear played in your life and how have you overcome it?

Fear is a difficult topic. It's something I've been studying for years, because I've had so many issues with it... I've wondered often how to overcome it, get rid of it, and never feel it.

It turns out that fear is a totally natural part of the human emotional range. Every person is born with the capacity to have fear, and it can be very useful. It can tell us when there's danger, when not to trust someone, or when we need to get out of a situation. There is a reason for it.

The problem happens when most of us experience a synthetic, exaggerated version of this fear. Which might be associated with a particular trauma for us, or a combination of other emotions.

The short answer is, I've never been able to just "get rid of" fear. I don't think it's healthy, as you'd just be burying it. Over the years, I've learned to just let myself experience it. Tell myself that it's okay. And when I experience extreme fear, I know that I'm triggered into some part of my emotions that doesn't even have to do with the actual situation I'm afraid of. I try figure out what that is, and give myself a lot of patience and acceptance.

And then, I do whatever it is that I am afraid of :)

What advice would you offer on following your heart and living your dreams?

This will not be the popular answer, but I've followed my heart often... and things have not always magically been okay for me, or lead me to the path that I've wanted. However, this doesn't mean that it did not lead me towards the path that I was *supposed* to be on. Sometimes the things that we want are not always the things that are for us.

I think the real magic of living the dream is in opening your eyes to the abundance all around you. To be open to experiences that you might not think you'd ever have or want. This does NOT mean stop following your dreams! Indeed, I still have my eye on the ultimate prize- I'd love to be able to make a comfortable living for myself with music someday and/ or run my own successful business.

But what is the ultimate prize *really*? Peace. Happiness. We get caught up in thinking it should be these other things. But what is success without happiness? What value do completed goals even have if I'm too busy stressing myself out to enjoy them?


What do you think are the three most important things you need to lead a happy and radiant life?

Acceptance- make peace with where you're at, even if you'd rather be somewhere else.

Love- yourself, others, animals, the earth. Respect everyone and everything around you... in my experience, giving love opens you up to recieving it more.

And tenacity. Never stop trying. This might sound contradictary to the first point but not so. Acknowledging that you're in a certain place doesn't mean you're never going to move somewhere else... perhaps somewhere better this time. It's in my nature to be determined, so this has always worked for me :)

 

BLOG/TWITTER/BANDCAMP/YOUTUBE