Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Shankland.
Shannon, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
In my early 20s, I was living in Texas and on the fast-track for the American dream – I had a great job, successful husband, gorgeous home… the whole nine yards. And to top it off – we were really young. The world was at our feet.
I started having some health issues and went in for a routine MRI, but they ended up finding something far more serious than they expected. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Due to its location in my brain, my neurosurgeon deemed it too dangerous to even biopsy, let alone remove. My best option was to play chicken with the invader that had taken up residence in my head; to wait until the risk of leaving it in outweighs the risk of taking it out.
All at once I became acutely aware of my mortality. I knew that what lay ahead was either high-risk brain surgery or death. Of course, it took time to grieve and to process – but once I did, I realized that this diagnosis was literally the best thing that has ever happened to me. Here’s the thing: we are all dying – but so few of us act like it. I was given the gift of awareness of the brevity of life. It changed my worldview, it changed my goals, and it changed the way I live my daily life.
As I came to terms with the hand I’d been dealt I began stripping away all of the things that did not set me on fire with passion. The rule I now live by is: If it’s not a “hell yes” – it’s a no. I became ruthless about releasing all of the people, places, and activities that didn’t enrich my life.
Eventually, I decided that my conventional life in the rat-race – my career, my house, even my marriage – was not at all what I wanted; it was what I was supposed to want. I slowly let each of those things go. It broke my heart, but I knew it was what I needed to do. Once I had stripped my life down to the bare essentials, I packed up my few remaining possessions in the back of my car and headed to California.
Out of all the places I could have ended up – I had a very specific reason for moving to Southern California. I came here in order to study under a man I had long revered for his work in positive psychology. His name is Dr. Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi and he is the man who discovered the altered state of consciousness he called “Flow.” Flow is essentially when you’re “in the zone;” when you are so completely absorbed in what you’re doing that nothing else seems to exist. You lose track of time and distraction. It is an attentional singularity.
Many people know exactly what I’m talking about when I describe it – they just never had a word for it before. Flow is quite literally peaked human experience; the pinnacle of what we as human beings are capable of. I am captivated and fascinated by it and it is what I want to devote my life to, so I came to California to study under the most qualified man to teach me. Now I am two and a half years into my Ph.D. program at Claremont Graduate University and am in love with what I get to study on a daily basis. I have always had a passion for music. I started singing almost as soon as I could talk.
Music was always the way I related to the world. And to myself. It was how I processed emotions and connections with others. I got my first Walkman (the cassette tape kind!) when I was six and I had my headphones on literally all the time. I’ve wanted to be a singer ever since I can remember. It was the only thing about me that never wavered. But as I got older, I began to think that it was an impractical dream. It was a career path characterized by uncertainty, instability, and steep odds. I decided to let go of that dream and to take the well-traveled path.
When I had my post-tumor-diagnosis shift in thinking – I also revisited the idea of having music be a part of my life. I bought a used guitar and began teaching myself. Thanks to the encouragement of a friend, I even performed in a few coffee shops in Texas. It was terrifying and intimidating, but it tapped into something deep and passionate inside me.
I realized that music was part of who I was at my core and I needed to make sure it was part of my life.
After moving to California I wanted to challenge myself to overcome my insecurities/stage fright and go to open mics. I finally worked up the nerve to play a couple of songs at an open mic at a restaurant in Claremont called The Junction. After I played, the owner (Johan) asked me if I had enough material to play a two-hour set. I told him yes and he said he wanted to book me for the following Friday. I worked nonstop that week learning enough material to fill a whole two hours (because I definitely did not have that sort of repertoire – but was not about to say no to such an exciting opportunity!).
The gig went really well and I’ve been playing there every month for the last two years.
The Junction quickly became my home-base as a musician. I am so thankful to Johan and to The Junction because they saw something in me as an artist and it helped me to see that potential in myself. These last two years I’ve gone through an incredible metamorphosis as an artist. I started as a scared girl playing covers at sleepy little coffee shops and am now playing to crowds of upwards of 100 people, recording an EP, and collaborating with incredible musicians on original music.
Being Ph.D. student is still my day job, but I’m getting closer to a 50/50 split between being a musician and being a grad student. I’m fully invested now and am excited to see where I can take it. One thing I’ve learned over the last several years is that life is too short to be afraid of failing. Run full force towards anything that makes you feel alive, because in the grand scheme of things, even if you fail miserably, nothing *truly* bad is going to happen. We’re all dying anyway. You only get one shot at this and I plan to live every second I have left living life to the fullest.
So here I am a (nearly) 30-year-old divorcee, full-time student, hippie-backpacker, musician, and artist. My path is unconventional, to say the least. And I wouldn’t change a thing.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
For me, music is about connection. Connecting people with one another and with themselves. Music has been the language of my soul my entire life. It’s how I’ve made sense of my pain. It has shaped the narrative of my life experience. It is my desire to do that for other people. To help them to feel; to facilitate human connection. The emotional resonance that comes from two strangers being moved by the same song can be so profound and so intimate. That is the gift that I want to give the world. That is what I think the world needs more of.
Artists rarely, if ever pursue art for the money. Nonetheless, we all have bills and responsibilities and many aspiring artists are discouraged from pursuing art due to financial reasons. Any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with prospective artists?
I think it was in the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert that I first came across the idea that you should never force your art to feed you. I really took that to heart and I think it has made a huge difference in my ability to keep my art “pure” for lack of a better word. I can allow myself complete artistic freedom without forcing or constricting the creative process because I’m counting on it to pay my rent. The first time I was paid for my music it was $15 in tips that I made at a coffee shop. I immediately came home, put a jar on the top of my fridge, and put the money in it.
I stashed away every penny I made in that jar until I had enough to buy myself a new guitar. I have maintained that same approach ever since. My mason jar has since evolved into a bank account, but the idea is the same. I don’t touch the money I make from my music – I set it aside to fund all of my music-related costs. Financially – my art is self-sustaining. I never have the excuse not to invest in better equipment or recording costs due to finances – if my music earns the money then it gets the investment.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I play live shows a couple of times a month. They’re usually in the Inland Empire – mostly in the Claremont area. I also post a lot of stuff on Instagram, so that’s a great way to connect with me and stay up to date on what I’ve got in the works. My drummer, collaborator, and partner in crime, Nick Johnson, and I are feverishly working on an EP that we hope to have out by the end of the year, so definitely stay tuned for more on that as we make progress!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shannonshankland.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @shannonshankland
- Facebook: @shannonshankland
Image Credit:
Jonathan Aragon, Comic Cure
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