Barb Lyon
Voice Artist

Mid-August handed me a two-for-one on rejection. I lost a booking to another voice talent that week that sounded really promising, and a few days later I took Friday — my dog, not the day off — to a rally obedience trial hoping to knock out two more legs toward her Rally Master title. Normally, failing either one of those would've been enough to wreck my mood for a day. Somehow, together, they didn't. Bouncing back from rejection was something I did without thinking.

I enjoy art. Not like a collector or anything, but I do appreciate it. I was one credit away from an art minor in college. Personally, I gravitate to the California Impressionists. They make me think of a time when the country was unspoiled, when you might gaze across a vista and see a herd of elk drinking at a stream. I get lost in those paintings.

Some days inspiration shows up like a polite houseguest. It knocks. You open the door. It sits down at the table and gets right to work. The words flow. The ideas line up. And for a brief moment you wonder why anyone ever complains about the creative process. Those days are wonderful. They are also…not most days. Most days inspiration is nowhere to be found. Not late. Not stuck in traffic. Just gone.