We were lucky to catch up with Lucy Claire recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lucy, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
I struggled a lot with insecurity and self hate for a very long time. I wanted to love myself and I tried to do all the “right” things. Like maybe if I was healthy enough, I would feel differently, I’d be cured.
But I remember being asked if I accepted myself and a lightbulb went off.
I was trying to love a person I didn’t even accept. I moved the bar down a few rungs. I shifted focus. I didn’t need to love myself. I needed to accept her and give her the best shot possible.
And the really magical part is that once I transformed this aspect of my life, I fell wildly in love with who I am all on my own.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I make my own music, and I also front a rock band called Panda Forces. I am working on releasing new music through both monikers. I am also a poet.
What I really love about the things I get to create is that I have chosen to live a radically vulnerable and honest life. At this point, there is nothing I am too ashamed to put into my art. I take the most lonely and dark parts of myself and invite the world in. I hope people listen and feel that togetherness. It’s a big middle finger to the whole idea of shame. Isn’t the human experience beautiful? Parts are staggeringly painful. Parts are breathtaking and intoxicating. Aren’t we so lucky?
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions and admit when you don’t know something. Especially if you’re a woman or part of another marginalized group. People will want to undermine you. Take their power away by being unafraid to be the least knowledgeable, least experienced or least skilled person in the room. I’m not a great musician because I know a lot about guitar. I’m a great musician because I know a lot about story and emotion. We all have room at the table and there’s room to learn from one another.
And on that note, find out who you are and what you have to say. So much of my improvement as a vocalist has come from experimenting, doing a really bad job, and making the wrong choices. That led me to figuring out exactly what works for me and now I’m always improving and growing.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
This past year has been a huge shift for me. The lesson is ultimately to let go of expectations for how anything is supposed to look. Invite in the idea of doing it differently than you dreamed. I tried for a long time to make music my main thing, and all other career aspirations secondary. Now I’m finding something more stable and using that to fund better studio recordings. I’m shifting from performing a lot to recording and releasing more. And it will inevitably shift again and again. The point is I’m not in charge. None of us are. When life pushes you away from your goal, it’s usually pushing you towards your dream.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Pandaforces.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/mamabirdwords
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PandaForcesBand
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mamabirdwords?si=FO_YtKBDbdBX06ac
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lucyfrompandaforces
Image Credits
Pony Pics Photography
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