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My name is Dashon and I'm an opera singer just like Chris. We met after many years of hearing of each other, but, as it often works in the classical singing world, we didn't meet each other until we were eating meringues together in the heart of Paris. C'est la vie! I have known Chris' wife Mireille Asselin, another amazingly accomplished opera singer (seriously, you have got to listen to her amazing voice!) for many years, and she has told me about Chris many times. To meet up with friends, old and new, is always a joy! Between bites of ...
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It’s amazing the excuses I can come up with when I don’t want to do something… During OFFICE HOURS last week I remembered a story that felt both ridiculous and very true. It was awhile ago… when I had just moved to Toronto, and was missing the physical activity that living on a farm used to provide by the shovel full. But I didn’t want to go to the gym. If I’m being honest, with the benefit of hindsight… I was a little scared to look stupid because I didn’t know what to do at a gym. I didn’t know ...
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This post originally appeared on Schmopera: an excellent site for all things opera.Auditioning is so freaking expensive. This is a fact. And it feels like it’s getting worse. After application fees, travel, accommodation, food, accompanist fees, and the 3 beers you need after they decided to only hear one aria even though you were banking on them asking for the Bellini... ...you’re probably not sitting on a whole lot of leftover cash. But you have to do it, right? How are you supposed to get work if you don’t show up? That’s right. You do have to audition. You do ...
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Who's it for: Unorganized people who want to be organized. What's it about: Building a money structure that actually fits your existing habits and behaviors. You know who I find annoying? Really organized people. People that have a system for everything. It’s not that they’re bad people, it’s that everything just seems so easy for them. I am NOT a particularly organized person. My desk is a hot mess of old coffee cups and papers scrawled with thoughts I swore were brilliant at the time. But I want to be organized. I feel like so many of my problems would ...
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Who it's for: Singers, Actors, Musicians (Performers)What it's about: How building a solid technique solved my stage fright, and can do the same thing for your money.What you get: Three places to start building a solid money technique.For the last 5 years I’ve been battling some fairly serious stage fright.  It started off mildly enough, but slowly grew into a completely debilitating force that took away any joy I used to have for being on stage. One of the many thoughts that started taking over my head was … “What if I open my mouth and my voice just… doesn’t work?” Not a ...
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Who it's for: Everyone (but especially peach lovers) What it's about: Saving is about prolonging enjoyment of something you love, and sometimes things that look like money.... aren't money. What you get: TWO FREE WORKSHEETS - one to help you start saving, and one to get you saving better than you already are.I love peach season. And this year has been a pleasure pandemonium (#fancywords). The last few weeks I've been gorging myself on fresh peaches at nearly every meal. And because my mind has no ability to structure itself, my peach fanaticism and my constant money thoughts have melded into two ...
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*The following is part 2 of a year-long series. If you want to start from the beginning, learn about who Lindsay is and check out how much debt she's starting with...  check out PART 1. Alright my friends! The first month of my debt-paying challenge is over, and let me tell you, it’s been a roller coaster. Like the start of any good financial challenge, it began by my going on a 4-day juice cleanse, and taking a purely personal trip to New York City for my birthday. Wait… what?! ...
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I knew that I had a problem with my money way before it all blew up in my face. I’m not dumb (mostly). I was aware of it. I just really didn't know what to do about it. We’ve all heard many stories that sound like this: “I lost all my money. I was so in debt, but it wasn’t until my car broke down and my record collection were stolen on the same day by my ex-lover’s new boyfriend that I finally decided to change my life.” It’s a rock bottom story. Rock bottom sucks, but sometimes it seems ...
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It has recently come to my attention that I’m really bad at follow through. I have big plans. Big ideas. In fact, the last few weeks have been full of statements like: “I think this year… once a month we should….* insert activity*" They’re all nice ideas, but since I’m up to a few dozen ‘once a month activities’, at this point my girlfriend is just rolling her eyes every time I send out a new one. She’s the one who very kindly informed me that maybe I should temper my expectations because I wasn’t the best at… following through ...
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“I don’t have enough money” Sometimes it boils down to something that simple. You have bills. You have things you ‘need’ to do. And you just plain can’t pay for them. I’ve been there. Lots of us have been there. It's a problem that always brought me to the great and powerful Google, desperately searching for something I hadn't yet thought of… and if that’s what brought you here, I’m really sorry. I know it's rough. I’m not going to offer a magic pill, or a 5-minutes-a-day solution. I have searched the world and come to the conclusion that there ...
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