Meet Merideth Hite Estevez | Oboist & Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Merideth Hite Estevez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Merideth Hite, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important factor behind my success is…. redefining “success.”

When we live in unity with our unique core values, we achieve something better than success. We find sustainable joy. Taking the time to do the work of belonging first to yourself by getting to the core of who you are and what you want, will help you define success on your terms. It’s the only way to stop living someone else’s life and step into your own story. Getting a coach to come alongside me as I did that work and finding support as I made the sometimes-scary changes that did lead to more joy was the best decision I ever made. Perhaps real success requires you to stop seeking success at all and go after joy instead. When we do that, we get success thrown in.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Standing on the corner of West 65th Street and Broadway at my Juilliard graduation, smiling for my dad’s camera phone, all I could think was, “How am I supposed to do this for the rest of my life when I don’t even like music anymore?” I had done everything right and had everything going for me. I was an Ivy League graduate and a Fulbright scholar. I had just received the doctorate from the apex of music institutions in America, and I was so burnt out and creatively lost I was not sure how to go on. I began the long journey toward creative recovery when my husband gifted me a copy of Julia Cameron’s book “The Artist’s Way.” He encouraged me to explore the intersection between my spiritual seeking and my creativity, and it was through this work that I ultimately found healing. I started leading creative recovery groups in 2017, and this year, we had over 3k artists register to join us from all over the world on Zoom, seeking creative joy. I’m proud to say I not only recovered my joy for music, but I also found a new aspect of my creative life: writing. I started collecting stories of my own journey and those of others along the path, and I am thrilled to say that my first traditionally published book, “The Artist’s Joy,” is out now. It is a coaching resource for artists who are struggling, and it includes everything I have been learning on this spiritual path to higher creativity and more joy. It is my dream that it will be a guide I so badly needed on that New York City Street that day back in 2013.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am so grateful to my parents, who always made it safe for me to be myself, and my husband, Edwin, who helped me believe all the truest things I know.

Website: https://artistsforjoy.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artistsforjoy/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistsforjoy

Image Credits
Mariah Kasten Photography