We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Aim Me Smiley Renee Ananda a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Aim Me Smiley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

We, Aim Me and Renee, have been best friends since tour early teens when we met at an evangelical church outside of Louisville, Kentucky. Aim Me’s Dad, a deacon, was part of a mutiny that kicked Renee’s Dad, the pastor, out of the church. We remained friends and 12 years later- on a different spiritual journey- we fell in love. We shared a mutual vision of being traveling musicians who inspire a revolution of the spirit and courage of the heart. Following our bliss and freeing our dream, we picked up a guitar and an accordion and moved to New Orleans to become Troubadours of Divine Bliss. We started as street performers in the French Quarter during the holidays in 1995 singing Christmas carols . This experience launched us into our artistic path which has allowed us to tour througout America, Canada, Scandinavia and Europe pursuing our purpose and encouraging others to follow their artistic paths.

Aim Me Smiley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We want everyone to know they are loved and that they are love. It is our hearts desire and our life purpose to amplify love in all things.

Every facet of our creative work and inspiration are lit by the light of love. We look at our mission as you would a gemstone with many facets of aspiration or as a flower with many petals of inspiration

Music has been the trunk of our tree but there are many branches of our purpose. These include being advocates for this planet and its people as community organizers; being retreat leaders and inspirational speakers who help seekers heal their hearts and reveal their hopes and dreams; being trustees of our retreat land, Way of the Heart Woods, and protecting and preserving t64 acres in a land trust into perpetuity; being podcast hosts amplifying love and the voices of those who do; being intuitive heart healers who offer guidance as life coaches; being celebrants performing rituals and ceremonies for lifes pivotal moments.

We look at our work as being heart work – not hard work; blissness – not business. We want to help people fall in love with themselves, each other and this sacred Earth and to know their souls worth. We are here to help seekers follow their heart, free their dream and never dismiss their bliss!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Feeling like we are utilizing our particular gifts and fulfilling our purpose in the heart of service to others is the greatest reward. When someone shares with us how a song lyric broke them open, or how we dealt them hope delivering an inspiring message, or when they had that “aha” moment in a session with us that gave their would a place to heal and their purpose a place to reveal then that is when we feel immense satisfaction and inspiration to stay on the path.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

As creatives, we have learned that adaptation is our super power. Throughout 27 years of being Troubadours of Divine Bliss, we have had to shape shift time and time again. The industry changes and we learned it is necessary to acclimate. As musicians, we started out busking. This was a great initiation and training for what would come in our career. We learned early on to go with the flow, to soften when we came to the edges so that we could expand into possibilities that would exceed our expectations.

After 3 years of street performing in New Orleans our landlord decided to sell the house we were renting. We were homeless within a week. It was Summer and starting to get too hot to perform on the streets anyway. What did we do? We bought one-way tickets to Europe with absolutely no plan and no backing….just hearts ready to uplift spirits and embrace possibility. We ended up staying 6 months, traveling to 6 countries and experiencing the red carpet rolled out for us each and every step of the way. We learned then that if you keep walking in the direction of your dream the path will unfold and divine direction will show you the way!

We learned to never stop scheming and dreaming because there is always more to create and more ways to share than we can ever imagine. We just need to open our sails, keep them open and let the winds of change guide and direct us into new horizons.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.troubadoursofdivinebliss.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/troubadoursofdivinebliss/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/troubadoursdivinebliss
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/divinebliss
• Other: https://www.caravanoftheheart.com/ https://www.wayoftheheartwoods.org/