February 10, 2025 • 46 mins
Creativity is a powerful force but let’s be honest, balancing it with real life can feel impossible. Between work, family, and responsibilities, making time for your creative passions can seem like a dream that always takes a backseat. But what if you didn’t have to choose?
In this episode of Creative Living, Jane Clauss chats with Lauren Spangler, a creative coach and multi-talented artist, to break down how you can make your art work for you - without sacrificing stability, sanity, or the things that matter most.
Lauren shares her own story of overcoming a seven-year creative block and how she finally found a way to weave creativity into her busy life. She gives us practical tips on time management, mindset shifts, and reframing the link between creativity and financial security so you can stop debating and start doing.
Whether you’re a seasoned creative or just dipping your toes into artistic expression, this conversation will empower you to ditch the fear, embrace your passion, and make space for creativity, even in a jam-packed schedule. Lauren introduces game-changing strategies like “golden hour” and “sprinkle time” to help you integrate creativity into your daily routine.
If you’ve ever felt stuck between your creative dreams and real-life responsibilities, this episode is your sign to take-action. Tune in and redefine what it means to be a creative powerhouse!
Every part of this conversation is packed with insight! But if you’re looking for something specific, these timestamps will guide you.
[0:02:17 - 0:07:31] Meet Lauren Spangler! Jane introduces Lauren, a creative coach and multi-talented artist. They dive into the meaning behind “happiness is homemade”, the biggest creative blocks—like fear, overwhelm, and imposter syndrome—and the struggle of feeling like an artist inside but not actually living that creative life.
[0:07:31 - 0:14:40] Can creativity and financial stability coexist? Lauren shares how to move past the fear of financial risk, reframe stability and creativity as partners—not opposites, and her personal story of breaking free from a seven-year creative block.
[0:14:40 - 0:21:16] Strategies to make your art "work" for you! Jane and Lauren explore how to balance creativity with real life—on your own terms. They discuss how self-reflection can help you discover what drives your creativity and why defining success for yourself is a total game-changer.
[0:21:16 - 0:26:04] Mindset matters! Creativity starts in the mind, and Lauren shares why a mindset shift is key to overcoming blocks. Plus, her take on vision boards, choosing a “word of the year,” and other creative goal-setting techniques.
[0:26:04 - 0:32:50] What does creativity really mean? Lauren redefines creativity and explains why it’s something everyone should embrace—whether you think you’re an artist or not.
[0:32:50 - 0:43:42] Coaching, inspiration, and next steps. Lauren reflects on the most rewarding part of her work and shares ways listeners can connect with her, access resources, and start taking-action on their creative goals.
Creativity isn’t just something you do—it’s part of who you are. And as Lauren Spangler shared, you don’t have to choose between your passions and your responsibilities. With the right mindset and strategies, you can make
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Episode Transcript
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VO (00:00):
It's time to tantalize your earbuds with creative makers and
shakers. It's creative living.The podcast with Jane Clauss,
Jane Clauss (00:10):
Welcome to Creative living, where we help you live
better creatively. I'm JaneClauss, and as always, I am so
happy that you are here now, ifthere's one thing I believe it
is that happiness is homemade,and whether it's the joy of
crafting something beautiful orbuilding a life that you love or
(00:32):
finding time to pursue yourpassions, it's that joy that
starts with the choices we make.But seriously, let's be honest,
it's not always easy to balancecreativity with the realities of
life, of work, of family, all ofit, you know it. And if you've
ever felt like you're stuckchoosing between your dreams and
(00:54):
your responsibilities, and I'vesaid it in the past, in my own
life, that sometimes passion forcreativity can be a blessing and
a curse. So today, you are solucky for today, we're talking
to somebody who knows exactlyhow to help you make your art
work in your real life. LaurenSpangler, she is a creative
(01:18):
coach, an artist, a musician, awriter, a strategist, a mom, a
wife, and she helps peoplepursue their big, big creative
goals without sacrificingstability or sanity. Thank you.
Lauren is on the front line whenit comes to coaching creatives.
She's coached hundreds andhundreds of professionals to
(01:39):
define, achieve and set theirgoals. She's led workshops and
creativity mindset and goalsetting, and is trained by the
International guild ofprofessional coaches and the
Life Coach Training Institute.But aside from strategies,
Lauren says creativity isn'tjust something you do, it's part
of who you are. So she's heretoday to show us how to honor
(02:03):
that part of ourselves withoutsacrificing what matters most.
So stop debating whether youwant to pursue your creative
dreams and just start doing it.But before you start, let's
welcome to the show. LaurenSpangler, hey, Lauren, hi. Jane.
Lauren Spangler (02:18):
Oh my goodness. I've been looking forward to
this all week. I'm so glad to behere. Thank you for having me.
Jane Clauss (02:24):
I can't wait to dive into your brain, because
after that softball wind up. Imean, we have so many things to
talk about. So the one thing isthat I love how you turn my
tagline happiness is homemadeinto the perfect setup for
today's conversation. So when wesay happiness is homemade, what
does that phrase mean to you inyour own creative life?
Lauren Spangler (02:47):
You know, I think a lot of people imagine a
magic bullet that if they couldsomehow quit their day job, or
if they didn't have toddlernoses to wipe, and if they
didn't have doctors appointmentsto book, that somehow they could
create this big, wonderful pieceof art that would change
everything, and then they wouldbe the artist that they want to
be. And I've seen time and timeagain that the best art is made
(03:10):
by real people living reallives, and that the moment you
have right now, the day you haveright now, is exactly the right
time to make what you want tomake and to be the artist that
you want to be. And so, gosh,happiness is homemade.
Creativity is homemade. Your artdreams are homemade. It all
starts at home. It all startsright now in this messy,
(03:33):
imperfect life that we are allliving,
Jane Clauss (03:35):
but we're fearful the messy, imperfect life is
taking over. It's hanging overmy head. It's like this cave
that I live in, but it doesn'thave to be that way,
Lauren Spangler (03:44):
right? And here's here's the bad news,
Jane, is it's always going to bethere. It's always going to be
messy. That inbox is never goingto live at zero. Those kids are
never going to be healthy for 12months in a row. You're always
going to have things vying foryour attention, priorities that
you have to work to juggle.That's the bad news. It's never
going to get easier. The goodnews is that doesn't stop you.
(04:06):
It doesn't have to stop you. Youcan still write something
prolific and amazing, even ifyou have a head cold. You can
still paint the collectionyou've always been dreaming of,
even if you have to call theinsurance company halfway
through like it's it's not a anor it's an and it's not a I have
to wait for life to be perfect,to now take a leap of faith and
(04:29):
set out on my creative journey.It's that setting out on that
creative journey right now makesall of these imperfect real days
all the better. Bringing themtogether is really the best way
to do it. Yeah, because
Jane Clauss (04:40):
I think in hindsight, as you're saying all
of these great things, I'mthinking to myself, after you do
something and you overcome afear you overcome, I'm too busy,
then all of a sudden you do it,you're on the other side of it,
and you're like, Wow, that wassuch a great experience. Glad I
did that. Can't remember whatwas bothering me in the first
place, and it always ends upthat. Way,
Lauren Spangler (05:01):
absolutely it does. So if we can just time
travel a little bit to thatmoment after we've done the
thing, and we enjoy having donethe thing, and we can pull that
enthusiasm and that calm,relaxed happiness back to before
we've done the thing, and justlet go of the anxiety and
embrace the enjoyment that itbrings us. You know, that's all
(05:21):
you need. Just jump in. Just doit. It's easy. Water is fine,
right?
Jane Clauss (05:26):
Even if it is cold, it's a cold plunge, and that's
good for you anyway. So Right?Is fear, a common block that you
see among creatives. I want toget into some, you know,
overcoming those blocks andtaking some action like the just
do it. Just jump in the water.It's fine. What are the common
blocks?
Lauren Spangler (05:46):
Fear, stress, overwhelm. A lot of times we
blame it on a lack ofinspiration, or we give
ourselves a whole suite ofother, of other reasons to not
sit down and make the thing wewant to make. And a lot of times
we can trace it back to fear.Sometimes that fear has roots in
something that happened a longtime ago, some moment in your
(06:07):
life where your creativity maybewasn't received or appreciated
the way you had hoped for it tobe. Or maybe it's simply maybe
it's not something deep andemotional, maybe it's something
really tactical and practical,like you're tired at the end of
the day and you're scared thatif you pour all this attention
and energy into a creativeproject, that you're going to be
running on empty and havenothing left to give tomorrow
(06:29):
morning when you got to wake upearly and go to work or
whatever. Those blocks, gosh,there are as many different
creative blocks as there areartists, and the important part
is allowing yourself to face andfix those things so that they
don't hold you back from all thejuicy happiness and enjoyment
and depth that you canexperience once you get them out
(06:52):
of the way.
Jane Clauss (06:52):
I love juicy happiness. That's so great. So
we're looking at blocks that maystop you from pursuing your art
or your writing, or whateveryour creative passion is. Some
people are paralyzed by thoseblocks. They go to their
everyday job and they're theydon't start the the creative
(07:13):
part of it because of theblocks, but then they become
dissatisfied in their regularlife. What are their they're
taking that out on their coworkers or their family or their
friends. What do you say topeople who are paralyzed by just
starting it?
Lauren Spangler (07:31):
I get it. I've been there. I lived in a
creative block for seven years.I mean, these, these stuck
places, can be huge. We can getreally lost in the center of a
creative block, and it can startto just become a reality. I
would say, I think the biggestblock, the most common block, in
many of the people I work with,is that they feel like an artist
(07:55):
on the inside, and they havethis creative dream, and they
have this creative vision, butthey don't feel like it matches
their life on the outside, thatthey aren't living the life of
an artist, that the prioritiesand commitments and the
lifestyle that they've createdfor themselves, at some point,
they like, took an exit and thepaths diverged, and now they
(08:16):
feel like, you know, I I'vebuilt this life that doesn't
look like an artist's life tome, but gosh, this desire to be
an artist didn't go anywhere.It's still there under the
surface. It's still at the coreof me wanting to come out, and I
just have all this bottled upcreative potential that I'm
doing nothing with and and Ithink that's the worst block of
all, because you can't just stepaway from your creativity and
(08:40):
leave it behind, and yet you'renot stepping into it and
embracing it and living itfully. And that can be a really
painful block, and it can last areally long time for people
before they realize that theydon't have to keep those worlds
separate and they don't have tostay stuck. I
Jane Clauss (08:58):
love that you don't have to keep the world separate.
A lot of people worry aboutfinancial stability. So it's
funny, this always comes up inthese in these episodes, I'm
always saying my parents like,you can't be a creative, cut
your hair and go to law school.And I was like, I can't do that
either. And so it was a thingwhen I was little. You know, you
can't be on the radio. You'llnever make any money. You can't
(09:19):
be a painter. That's an oldschool way of looking at things.
Some people may still be worriedabout putting their financial
stability in jeopardy because ofthat mindset. A lot of people
wait until they retire to dotheir creative thing. You see
tons of retirees like, well, Ididn't have time to do it, but
(09:40):
now I can, but you're saying,don't wait, if you feel like an
artist inside, you don't have tojeopardize, jeopardize your
financial stability. So startnow,
Lauren Spangler (09:51):
absolutely, absolutely, the day job is not
an enemy. The day job does notdetract or diminish from your
creativity. In fact, the day jobcan bring you stability and
security that actually help youopen to creative flow, right? I
mean, I think we are so used topitting stability and creativity
(10:12):
against each other, and I thinka lot of people feel this tug of
war inside, like I can either bepassionate and creative or I can
be reliable and steady andstable, and especially once
you've built your life around adegree of stability and you're
used to a certain flow of incomeand you like being richly
resourced. I think there's thisweird assumption that somehow,
(10:35):
in order to be creative, we haveto let go of that, and we have
to suddenly have a completelyuntethered, Bohemian, free range
lifestyle, which nothing againstthat. But if you're like me, you
have certain commitments andpriorities and kids to feed and
a mortgage to pay, and sometimesjust leaping off the edge of the
cliff and leaving your nine tofive forever is not an option.
And I'm here to say that's okay.There's actually nothing wrong
(10:58):
with that, and from a creativehealth perspective, it can
actually be a beautiful gift foryour financial stability to come
from somewhere else in yourcreative practice. It can
actually allow you the freedomwithin your creative practice to
do whatever you want to do andto create whatever is coming up
for you, because you're nottethered to any market trends,
(11:20):
and you're not concerned abouteconomic viability, because your
art is actually free of thatpressure. So, you know, does it
mean that you can't give 12hours a day to your art because
maybe nine of those hours arespent somewhere else? Sure. Is
that a bad thing? No, you know,it can. It's it can be part of
the reality in which you cancreate your very best work?
(11:41):
Yeah,
Jane Clauss (11:42):
I love the idea the stability of knowing that you're
getting a paycheck from your dayjob. But you can focus a little
bit on your creativity when youhave those moments, when you
have the time, when you have youknow the you schedule your time
blocks, and this is what I'mgoing to do this or just do it
when the inspiration strikes. Soit's not really an either or
(12:03):
mindset. It's a mindset of,yeah, I can do both
Lauren Spangler (12:07):
Exactly. And it's also a dismantling of this
archetype of the hobbyist,right? I think there's this
assumption that if you have aday job, if you're earning
income from something other thanyour art, then somehow you're a
less credible creator, and thatyour creations are are less
worth full less worthy, thatthey're not worth as much
(12:28):
because you're not being paidfor them. And I do think that
there's a very importantcategory of creators for whom
their art is a hobby. I thinkthat's beautiful. I think that's
wonderful. And I think we shouldall have hobbies. I also think
there's a category of people forwhom art is their essence, and
the art that they want to createis their mission. It is their
(12:48):
life's purpose, and it's farmore than a hobby. And I've seen
that an artist who is wellsupported, who has the
sovereignty of supportingthemselves financially and
allowing their day job to fundthe runway with their art as
they create the thing which isfar greater than a hobby
product, can be empowered in areally unique way, and that, you
(13:13):
know, you'd be shocked howimpactful of a body of work you
can actually create one smallstep at a time. You know, yes,
you may only be spending an houror two per day in your creative
space, but if you're spendingthat time with focus and with
flow and with consistency, youknow some of the best, some of
the best artwork in the worldwas created by people who spent
(13:36):
the bulk of their day in a dayjob, right? TS Eliot was a
banker. Harper Lee was a travelagent. Jackson Pollock was a
janitor. I mean, these areartists who understood that
their best work would not comeinto being unless they had a way
to support themselves, to keepfood on the table, to keep a
roof over their head. Sopersonally, I have deep respect
(13:58):
for any artist who chooses toback themselves in that way and
find creative ways to pay fortheir lifestyle while they're
making the work they want tobring into the world.
Jane Clauss (14:10):
I feel like I should go get a day job. I don't
want to get like. I don't wantto get too far away from this
comment, because I have a lot ofother things to ask you about,
and the how tos, but you hadsaid you lived in this stuck
world for seven years now, inthe intro, I said that you're,
you know, painting and music andwriting and coaching, and your
(14:32):
mother and a wife. Take us backto before you were a creative
coach, and you were stuck inthis for seven years. What was
happening.
Lauren Spangler (14:40):
So when I was little, I wanted two things. I
always wanted to be two things.On one hand, I wanted to be a
mom, and I wanted to have awarm, safe house full of
laughter with kids and with, youknow, the whole white picket
dream, right? I was lucky enoughto have that as a child. I
wanted to provide that andcreate a family of my own,
right. Yeah? Which takesstability. On the other hand, I
(15:03):
always loved to write storiesand to draw and to paint and
make music. And as a kid, I waseither like playing the piano or
laying down under the piano withmy sketchbook, like I was always
creating things. And I wanted tobe an artist, which takes
freedom. So I spent my teenyears, my college years,
studying music, studyingwriting, creating albums,
(15:25):
writing books, like just in thissuper generative, creative
space, I met my husband. He'screative as well. He likes to
write kids books. We wrote bookstogether. He was it was a blast.
And at some point, we decided wewere ready to create the family
now, we were ready to have thisreally stable home, and we were
ready to bring kids into theworld. And I kind of had this
(15:47):
moment of crisis where Irealized that the lifestyle I
had set up as an artist and thelifestyle I wanted to create as
a mother were like two separateplanets. I just had no idea how
to bridge the gap, yes, and soafter some heavy duty self
reflection, I kind of steppedaway from the art entirely. I
(16:09):
wound up moving back to myhometown. I got a corporate job,
got the health insurance, youknow, got the like, the nice
home that we could pay for therent. You know, we're no longer
like sharing an apartment withfive other people. You know, it
started to look like the type oflife that I could bring a family
into. And so I thought at thetime, great. You know, my art
(16:30):
was a beautiful chapter of mylife. I can do it again on the
side, maybe someday when I'mretired, I can go back full time
into being creative. And so Ihad my babies, I had my life. I
had my my wonderful job, which Iactually loved. I wound up
working up through the companyand becoming an executive
strategist, which is a role thatI absolutely adore. I have a
(16:52):
wonderful career that I amextremely grateful for. But at
some point along the way, Irealized that the person in me
who still wanted to write booksand write songs and paint
paintings as more than a hobbywas still there. And at some, at
some point, it became souncomfortable to try to ignore
(17:14):
that calling and to try todownplay it and to try to
relegate it to the side bars,like this hobby thing and and so
I started to explore like, Howcan I still provide the
stability that I want to providefor my children? I am not
willing to sacrifice oursecurity. I'm not willing to
sacrifice a bank account that Ican depend on. I'm not willing
(17:36):
to give up my retirementsavings. I'm not willing to step
away from the lifestyle ofstability that I was so proud to
have worked so hard for, and yetI was craving this freedom and
this expression. And so I, afterabout seven years, decided that
was so intolerably difficult totry to keep them separate that
(17:58):
they just had to come together,and it had to be something I
could create side by side, andthen, you know, gosh, it was a
whole bunch of trial and errorand scraped knees and figuring
out how to actually bring thosethings together. And eventually,
I'm so glad I did, because now Ifeel like I have the best of
both worlds,
Jane Clauss (18:15):
and I like that. A lot of times we wait and we wait
and put it on hold, and we put apin in it. We'll look at it
later. You could want to pursuethat big, huge creative dream,
and you're in something'sholding you back. You got to
keep it separate you, like thebank account, whatever, whatever
that is, you say that you canmake your art work for you,
(18:39):
which I love. So you have yourartwork, but your art is
working. How do you teach ortrain people to make their art
work?
Lauren Spangler (18:50):
Everybody has a different definition. You know,
I think even when I sit downwith artists who I consider to
be, you know, kindred spirits inthe creative world, when we get
to deep, deep, deep levels ofwhy we do art and what it means
to us. All of us are motivatedby different things, and so for
one person, having their artwork for them simply means that
(19:12):
they get to go into theircreative space and have total
creative freedom and just relaxand let it be an oasis where the
rest of the world falls away andthey just get to paint with
their watercolors and be mindfulfor another person, their art
working means that it's out inthe world doing something.
Perhaps they use their art asactivism, and they are telling
stories and shining light on thedark things that they want to
(19:34):
bring to the attention ofsociety. And so for their art to
work means that they're creatingsomething and showing it to
someone else in a way thatignites them and mobilizes them,
right? We all have differentvalues driving our creativity,
and so when I say, make your artwork, the first step is like,
what does that mean for you?What do you want your art to do?
(19:57):
And I think a lot of us justsort of. Default to this thought
that if our art is working, itmeans we're getting paid for it.
But I'll tell you what, I knowlots of artists who are being
financially compensated fortheir art, who still feel
creatively bankrupt, who don'tfeel like they're in deep
connection with their creativespirit, and who don't feel like
(20:17):
they are fulfilled and rewardedon a deep level by what they're
creating and what it's doing inthe world. So our first step is
always to figure out the realdeep core of what is driving you
to create and what that successactually means. And then we can
start to talk about what are themilestones for that? How do you
(20:38):
know when you've gotten there,what type of creative strategy
can lead to that, you know, andwe can start to orient the
creative practice and thecreative career path around the
deeper things that really mattermost.
Jane Clauss (20:51):
So when you're trying to figure out how to make
your art work for you, or how toachieve your big creative
dreams, it really is a deep diveinto yourself and into what you
want. And like you said,Everybody's different. Is that
sitting and thinking? Is thatmeditating? Is that writing
things down, or is that, again,different for everybody? Like,
(21:13):
what's the process?
Lauren Spangler (21:16):
Yeah, different for everyone. I mean, some
people the power of a journaland a pen and a candle, holy
smokes. I mean, they can, justlike, get straight to the bottom
of the ocean that way, andthat's beautiful. For a lot of
people talking it through with afriend. For some people having a
creativity coach guide themthrough that process and ask the
right questions to help themintrospect in a useful way, and
(21:39):
then take carry carry out ofthat things that are actually
actionable. Of course, I'mpartial to that. As a creativity
coach, I see the power of thatwork and the transformation it
can bring and the clarity it cancreate. But really, I think if
you are actively engaged in aconversation with yourself about
(21:59):
why you create and what you wantto do in the world with your
creativity, your creativity.It's great, like, whether that's
in the back of your mind asyou're working on your stuff,
whether that's something thatyou sort of think over on your
commute. You know, when you'rein those quiet moments in the
car and nobody's asking for yourattention, you know maybe you're
mulling over it. It's adifferent path for everyone to
(22:20):
reach that knowing. But I thinkonce you get there, you'll know,
because you feel clarity, andyou feel a lot of people feel a
boost of inspiration as soon asthey feel clear on what they're
doing and why they're doing it,there's like this sonic boom of
motivation to go do it. Sowhatever process it looks like
(22:40):
to take you there. I think youknow that you're there when you
can, when you can really sitdown and say, Yeah, today I'm
going to write a song, buthere's why I'm going to write
that song, and here's how I knowthat regardless of how this song
is received by anybody else inthe entire planet, here's how I
know that it's a success for me.Here's what that means. And to
be able to answer that questionis so freeing and so empowering,
(23:03):
and it really brings a sense ofcalm and an inspiration like
nothing else.
Jane Clauss (23:08):
Yeah, you're right about that. I mean, I'm just
sitting here listening, and it'severything you're saying is
hitting home. It's a struggle,and that moment of clarity is
amazing. And I think it's you'reright, sitting, driving Quiet.
It's a minute just to just tothink about yourself. I also
feel like it's a mindset shift.A lot of things I asked about
(23:32):
were you're frustrated, you justhave time or energy, you're
worried about a paycheck, thatall of these things that could
be a block, is about a mindsetshift that you're gonna do it
because it's something that youdream of, want to fulfills you,
whatever it may be. Talk aboutthe mindset shift. What does
(23:52):
that look like? Is it that Aha,moment of clarity that you just
talked about?
Lauren Spangler (23:59):
I'd say the mindset shift is a continual
practice. Jane, I mean, I Gosh,I'm shifting my mind. I'm
constantly working to cultivatethe mindset that helps me get
where I want to go, right? Thetruth is, failure kills way
fewer dreams than fear kills,and fear lives right between
your ears, and it's really up toyou whether you're viewing your
(24:23):
opportunities and yourexperiences and your capability
through the lens of fear, orwhether you're not, and it can
be really tricky, because ourminds are really wired for fear.
There's a lot of there's a lotof interesting science behind
why cognitively we are biasedtoward an outlook of fear, but
there's also a lot of sciencebehind how we can change that
(24:44):
cognitive bias, to be biased tosee the opportunity and to see
the safety in going out andtaking a completely reasonable
risk, like creating somethinggenuine. But it's an ongoing
practice. It's something that,yes, you can learn, you know,
God. You can learn theprinciples of mindset and
thought modeling in likeprobably 30 or 45 minutes. We
(25:06):
can sit down and talk throughit, and you'll be equipped with
everything you need to know. Butthe process of tending your
mindset and cultivating yourmindset, I want to say it's a
lifelong practice. I don't know.I'd love to meet somebody who
said, yeah, no, I did it foreight and a half years, and then
it just clicked one day. I neverhad to work on my mindset again
(25:26):
for me. For me, it is acontinual, ongoing practice that
I'll probably be doing till I'm100 does
Jane Clauss (25:33):
it start with a positive mental attitude?
Because I'm listening to themindset shift, and yes, it has
to be from starting with one daylasting your entire life, we can
talk ourselves out of anythingthat fear living between your
two ears is real, that littleperson on your shoulder that
says, Why are you doing that? OrAren't you ashamed? Or whatever
(25:55):
it may be, this mindset shiftshould last forever. But does it
start with just stayingpositive.
Lauren Spangler (26:04):
No, I used to think it did. And, God, I wish.
I wish it was that I'm doingwrong. I am. I'm actually, I'm
anti vision board. I'm anti, youknow, the the toxic pox
positivity, you know, alwayslook at the bright side. I
actually think the dark side isthere for a reason. This coming
from a recovering Pollyanna,right? I spent at least two
(26:27):
decades of my life just reallylooking at that bright side like
white knuckling onto that brightside. I've actually that never
worked for me. What I've foundworks better is to try to find a
place of neutrality, to say,Okay, what is happening to me
right now is simply happening.It is. It's neutral. I am
(26:49):
layering upon it aninterpretation that it's good,
bad, helpful, challenging,awesome, terrible, whatever that
is. And if I can peel that awayand look with a little bit more
objectivity at what's going on,I can then not only be grounded
in the reality of it, and not,you know, not delusionally, be
(27:09):
trying to exist in a differentplane. That's like, where
everything is, you know,happening wonderfully and
unfolding exactly as I want itto, because that may not be
real. Like, sometimes there arethings going on that are hard
and that we wouldn't have chosenfor ourselves, and yet we still
have to navigate them. But if wecan look at those things with
some neutrality and decide fromjust a real honest to goodness,
(27:33):
this is what is, and I get tochoose how I respond to it. I
get to choose what stories Itell myself about it. I think
that's where the real powerlies. And mind for me, mindset
work is about differentiatingthe truth of what is occurring
in my life and how I'minterpreting it, and then
choosing the interpretationsthat actually help me do what I
(27:56):
want to do and make of it what Iwant to make of it. Here's a
great example comparison. Wealways hear Comparison is the
thief of joy. Let's not evercompare. Beware to compare.
Here's here's what I think aboutcomparison. When you compare
from a distance, yes, it can bedeflating, it can become very
toxic, it can be a real waste oftime and energy. But if you
(28:21):
compare up close to someone whoreally is doing what you want to
do, and they're doing a littlebit better, and there are a few
steps ahead of you, and you holdyour work right up next to their
work, and you compare to learnand to say, what can I What can
I take from this person who Iadmire, and I want to compare
what I'm doing to what they'redoing, so that I can up my game
and I can model after them.Well, now all of a sudden,
(28:43):
comparison is actually a toolfor growth. It's actually
something that you might evenrecommend someone do, depending
on the circumstance. So there'sa lot to be had and how we
interpret and how we direct ourmind toward the patterns of
thought and the habits ofinterpreting our world in ways
(29:03):
that are productive and notlimiting.
Jane Clauss (29:06):
Yeah. So it's kind of like that other saying
imitation is the highest form offlattery. So if you watch
somebody that's doing somethingyou want to do, and you're
watching them closely and you'relearning their techniques or
tips, or you can learn fromthat, that's the similar
comparison.
Lauren Spangler (29:20):
Yeah, 100% Exactly. And so it's so, it's so
relative, it's so there's somuch nuance, and the context is
so important, and it's reallyhard to boil that all down into
just a pithy little five wordbumper sticker. But that's
because life is complex, andsometimes it's really hard to be
a human and parse through allthe complex experiences you're
(29:42):
having and decide how to makesense of it. But mindset work is
about making sense of it in away that serves you, in a way
that helps you reach whatevergoals it is you're you're
striving for. And I do thinkthere's incredible power in that
Jane Clauss (29:56):
you are like a therapist and also a creative.
Coach, this is all good stuff.So the vision board you're a no
on that. Are you in or out onword of the year to be your
compass.
Lauren Spangler (30:10):
Man, I love my word of the year through January
and February, I love it, and byMarch, I usually don't think
about it much. One year, I wrotemy word of the year on the front
of my planner, and made thisbeautiful art piece out of it.
And I thought, like, this willkeep it top of mind. I love word
of the year, and I and I also, Imean, I'm all about dreaming
(30:30):
big. I'm gonna sound like I'mjust kind of this pessimist,
which I'm not. But I, I, Iabsolutely, in fact, it's funny,
I spend tons of time with myclients, talking about, what is
your ideal day? What future doyou want to create for yourself?
Like, where do you want to go?Because I do think that our
human capacity for adventure andgrowth and all of that stuff is
(30:52):
limitless. I really, really do.I think that sometimes we make
the mistake myself, very muchincluded, of of, like choosing
this really big grand goal andmaking a beautiful vision board
about it, or choosing thisbeautiful word, but then, like,
not closing the gap to what weactually have to do to get
there, you know, like pick. SoI'm always a proponent of, set
(31:16):
the big goal, choose the granddream, pick the top of the
mountain peak that you want toclimb, and then down at your
feet on the trail and figure outwhat is the next step I have to
take to get up to the peak ofthat mountain. Because without
that second piece, all we'redoing is Dream gazing. We're not
actually we're not actuallycreating the life that we're
(31:37):
dreaming of. We're just sort ofdaydreaming about it. So I like
combining aspiration withaction, and I think that's where
vision boards happen. Is whereit becomes a vision board
attached to a plan. That's whereI get excited.
Jane Clauss (31:53):
So I get excited too. I want to take the next
step. Yes, we see the big dream.Yes, we want to go to the top of
the mountain, but you gotta takethe next step. So you could pick
your word great. You can writeyour dream. You can see it. You
gotta take the next step, andthen the next step, and then the
next step, which is so greatstrategy, that is my word of the
(32:14):
year. I don't know it just cameto me in November, and I'm like,
That's my word of the year. Sostrategy, which for me means
anything I say yes to in mylife, what's my strategy behind
it? It could be for, you know,professional or personal or
whatever it is, but you know,why are you doing this? Because
a lot of times I just do thingsto do it. No step, no second
(32:35):
step. There's no strategy. It'sa big vision. So when you look
at strategies, are therespecific strategies that you can
offer to take that next step,and then the third and then the
fourth?
Lauren Spangler (32:50):
Yeah, absolutely. You nailed it.
Strategy is, where do I want togo? And then how am I going to
get there from where I am rightnow? And so it's about picking
that big vision, that big word,and then choosing the next
tactical, practical thing youcan do to get there, I would
say, in the creative space, thestrategy I like to recommend for
(33:12):
people, especially who aretrying to, trying to dial in the
blending of these two worlds,right? They've got art on one
hand, they've got their reallife. On the other hand, they're
trying to figure out how to holdboth worlds at once. The best
strategy I like to offer to themis a strategy of combining
structure and freedom, combiningholding space very intentionally
(33:38):
with high consistency, verycarved out, very, you know, got
structured, I guess, combinedwith the flow and the freedom
and the grace to just dowhatever the heck they want to
do with that time. So what Icall this strategy is the golden
hour. I call it that because Ipractice taking a golden hour,
(33:59):
and for me, it's this Shining,shimmering, warm, sparkling part
of my day where I just get to dowhatever I want. And I find that
by carving out an hour, no more,no less, there's a lot of
structure in that, but withinthat hour, giving myself
permission to create absolutelyanything, to share it with
(34:20):
anyone or no one. I do have afew rules for my golden hour
that keep it functional for me,but this strategy has allowed me
to find really doable ways offitting my creativity into a
very busy schedule. As a workingmom of two, creativity coach,
etc, and also has allowed me thefreedom to grow and experiment
(34:43):
and explore my creativity inreally healthy ways that were
accessible to me when I was justdipping my toes back in after a
long time of not being supercreative and is still useful to
me now, even though, you know, Ispend hours a day in creative
work, I still carve out that onehour. Where I don't have a to do
list, where I just get to goplay. Yeah, I think, I think
(35:05):
that's the top strategy I findmyself recommending most often.
Jane Clauss (35:10):
I call it structum structure and freedom structure.
Yes, ma'am. I don't know exactlyI like the golden hour, although
I've got an hour to work out.I've got an hour to make dinner,
and now I get my freedom hour,and then I gotta work all day,
but I'm going to try to I'mgoing to implement that because
it's fun and it's my free time.I always say, give me one hour
(35:32):
of creativity and then go dowhatever you want. I don't care.
But the the moment that you loseyourself in that creativity,
whatever it means to you, you'regoing to feel so much better
when you're doing the rest ofit. I always say that medicine,
yeah, I think it's medicine too.And I also believe that
creativity needs to be talkedabout more. We have the news,
(35:53):
and we have lots of seriousprogramming that happens, but no
one's talking about creativity.No one's talking about, you
know, creativity and art and,yeah, sometimes, but it should
be, it should be a conversation,because I think it does help you
in so many ways, mentally,physically, in your life. It
helps you with balance, kind oflike your golden hour, that's,
(36:14):
that's, is that part of balance,work, life, family, balance,
adding that absolutely
Lauren Spangler (36:19):
and, you know, there are different strategies,
like the strategy of taking onefocused, uninterrupted hour per
day to create, I mean, that'swonderful. It's the gold
standard. The other strategythat I use often is something I
call sprinkle time, which is,okay, I don't have an hour today
because I'm running 100 miles anhour from one end of the city to
the other. My calendar, I'mdouble and triple booked all day
(36:40):
long. What am I going to do?There are still juicy little
moments of time, a few minuteswaiting in the lobby of the
doctor's appointment, a fewminutes between zoom calls where
I can sprinkle in a little bitof creativity, and I find that
it reinvigorates my spirit,helps me get me through the
crazy day. And actually, I havemade significant progress on
certain creative projects thathave happened entirely during
(37:02):
sprinkle time. So that's anotherstrategy, but that's why we have
to try and experiment withdifferent strategies, because
one person's solution is goingto look very different from
another person's. But it'salways worth figuring out what
the right strategy is for you,because, as you said, when you
are creatively healthy, there'sthis ripple effect, and it just
(37:23):
overflows into the rest of yourlife. You feel better, right?
It's so worth it. I know I'mpreaching to the choir. Here you
are preaching to the choir,
Jane Clauss (37:31):
finding it, but it's so much better to hear from
you than from me, because thisis what you do. You're a
creative coach. Sprinkle time isso great. I did some sprinkle
creative time. Today. I was onmy way to a little bit of a
workout, and I got detoured bymy craft studio, and I just
started sprinkling in somecreativity. I still got my
(37:51):
workout in. I still got to mywork, and then I had a little
bit of some sprinkle time beforeyou, and I started talking. So I
think that's fantastic. I didn'teven know I was doing some
sprinkle time with creativity,but I love
Lauren Spangler (38:02):
that you're being strategic. You're living
into your Word of the Year rightnow, Jane, the strategy without
you even realizing it.
Jane Clauss (38:09):
See, congratulations. Thank you so
much. I have so many things towork on, but if I could just
take one step, this is reallygood news. Lauren, you have
worked with creatives across theboard, from all industries, from
art to technology. Is there oneuniversal truth that you have
found for these creatives thatyou help
Lauren Spangler (38:30):
people can be really intimidated by the
thought of creativity and beingcreative, and they can wonder if
they are creative or not. Ifthey're creative enough for this
idea that they have. Are theycreative enough to pull it off?
Creativity is simple, and nomatter your field, no matter
your medium, no matter yourgoal, no matter the magnitude of
(38:52):
your project, creativity issimple. It's the act of making
something that wasn't therebefore, and we all do it, right?
It can be that you're making asong, a book, a poem, a
painting, or it can be thatyou're making a meal, that
you're making an outfit, thatyou're making a conversation.
You and I right now are making aconnection that wasn't here half
(39:14):
an hour ago. We're creatingideas that are hopefully
connecting with and helpingpeople who are listening to this
conversation, eventually, we'realways engaged in an act of
creation. And creativity is notsomething you have, it's not
something you do. It's a placethat you go within yourself, and
(39:35):
it's an experience. It's a mode,and you can get into the
practice of reaching thatcreative place within you more
often, more easily, but it'savailable to absolutely
everyone. You
Jane Clauss (39:51):
just answered it. I ask every single person the same
question. You answered italready, but I have to ask it.
What does creativity mean toyou? You,
Lauren Spangler (40:01):
yeah, making something that wasn't there, and
being able to access that partof your human spirit that allows
you to make something thatwasn't there. Creativity is the
magic of humanity, and we allcan tap into it anytime,
anyplace, for any reason.
Jane Clauss (40:17):
And you think it should be in the headline news
as well? Yeah,
Lauren Spangler (40:21):
man, if we were all engaged with our creativity,
it would be natural for us tostart creating things and ideas
and ways of being that wouldimprove our lives and our homes
and our communities and gosh, ifevery person on the planet was
creatively activated, I think wewould all be engaged in creating
(40:41):
the world we want to create in areally powerful way. I don't, I
don't know, it's this reallymagnificent and profound,
astounding idea to have everyonecreating and at the same time
it's really simple, like we'realready doing it, maybe just not
intentionally. That's
Jane Clauss (41:01):
right. As a creative coach, what's the most
rewarding part of what you do tohelp others dream big and make
it happen?
Lauren Spangler (41:12):
A lot of times when I first talk with somebody,
they're feeling stuck, they'refrustrated, they're overwhelmed.
A lot of times they're soulsick, and the fact that they are
not tending to their creativity,that they're not expressing
their creative self, starts tosort of eat away at their
(41:32):
happiness and their fulfillment,and it can show up as feeling
impatient with their children,feeling resentful of the job
that they have to keep tosupport their family, feeling
like they missed the boat ontheir calling, you know, like
they're not being the personthey were meant to be. And that
(41:52):
is so sad and so difficult towitness a person in pain because
they're not in alignment withwhat they feel like is most
important to them, and to workwith that person. And over, you
know, some weeks or a couplemonths, it's amazing how
(42:12):
quickly, actually, thistransformation can happen, where
they start to see that theystill can create the thing they
want to create, and they stillcan be the artist they want to
be, and they start to come alivein this new way. And suddenly
they aren't resentful of theirday job, because they see the
role that it plays in helpingsupport the life that they're
building. And they're notfeeling as worn down by the
(42:36):
daily grind, because they knowthat, yes, they're going to have
to pay the bills, yes, they'regoing to have to pick up the dog
poop in the yard, but they alsoget to do the things that matter
most to them. And there's thisdeep fountain of happiness that
starts to happen, and they startto be more playful parents and
more engaged employees and morejust more happy, fulfilled
(42:57):
people all around and to watchthat 180 to watch a person go
from blocked and struggling tosuddenly go to flowing and
excited and genuinely eager forthe next chapter of their life,
because they are already makingit into the life they want it to
be that that's the mostrewarding and exciting thing I
(43:21):
think I've ever experienced inmy life
Jane Clauss (43:24):
that is great. You and I are kindred souls. Friend.
I mean, you help. I preach. Weare in it together. Let's just
keep the creativity flowing andencouraging others to do the
same. Lauren Spangler, peopleneed you as their creative coach
if they want to learn more.Where do we find you? Do we have
social media websites, all thethings.
Lauren Spangler (43:43):
So Lauren spangler.com, is the very best
place to hear what I'm workingon right now and to get the
latest resources. I've actuallybeen working on a top secret
project, which is not so topsecret, since I'm talking about
on a podcast right now, but itmight start with Bucha and end
with book. It's it's going to bean amazing resource for people
(44:05):
who really want a top to bottomguide for bringing their art and
their real life together that'sgoing to be coming out in just a
couple weeks. And so my websitewill be the number one best
place to find that. Also, ifpeople are listening to this
episode and wondering where theystand with their creative
health, like, are they reallybalancing their art in their
(44:27):
life, or are there things theycould be doing differently? I've
created a short self assessment.It's only 10 questions. It's
completely free. You don't evenneed to put in your email to
download it. It's completelyfree. On my website, I call it
my spark or sputter assessmentis your creativity in a spark or
sputter takes about 10 minutesto complete, and it helps you
zero in on the areas where youmight be experiencing a little
(44:49):
bit of blocks or imbalance, andhow you might be able to fix
those things to bring yourselfmore creative fulfillment. So go
to Lauren spangler.com/ Spark,you can get that assessment for
free. And then the last thingis, I hang out on Instagram, so
find me there. I'm at LaurenSpangler, a lot of times, share
what I'm working on right now orwhatever's on my mind, and I
(45:11):
would absolutely love to hearfrom you and just to connect.
Lawrence Spangler,
Jane Clauss (45:17):
amazing. Everybody needs you. Thank you for all of
your insight and thosestrategies. I have a renewed
sense of possibility, and I'mexcited to take the next step
that was really fun. So Laurenspangler.com, remember happiness
is homemade, and you can livecreatively. You can live better
(45:41):
creatively. Lauren Spangler,thank you for joining us on
creative living.
Lauren Spangler (45:46):
Thank you, Jane. I am such a fan of your
work. I am such a fan of theshow. It has just been an
absolute delight to be here withyou. Thank you so much. Live
better
VO (45:56):
creatively for more inspiration. Visit Jane
clauss.com, thank you forlistening. You.
It's time to tantalize your earbuds with creative makers and
shakers. It's creative living.The podcast with Jane Clauss,
Jane Clauss (00:10):
Welcome to Creative living, where we help you live
better creatively. I'm JaneClauss, and as always, I am so
happy that you are here now, ifthere's one thing I believe it
is that happiness is homemade,and whether it's the joy of
crafting something beautiful orbuilding a life that you love or
(00:32):
finding time to pursue yourpassions, it's that joy that
starts with the choices we make.But seriously, let's be honest,
it's not always easy to balancecreativity with the realities of
life, of work, of family, all ofit, you know it. And if you've
ever felt like you're stuckchoosing between your dreams and
(00:54):
your responsibilities, and I'vesaid it in the past, in my own
life, that sometimes passion forcreativity can be a blessing and
a curse. So today, you are solucky for today, we're talking
to somebody who knows exactlyhow to help you make your art
work in your real life. LaurenSpangler, she is a creative
(01:18):
coach, an artist, a musician, awriter, a strategist, a mom, a
wife, and she helps peoplepursue their big, big creative
goals without sacrificingstability or sanity. Thank you.
Lauren is on the front line whenit comes to coaching creatives.
She's coached hundreds andhundreds of professionals to
(01:39):
define, achieve and set theirgoals. She's led workshops and
creativity mindset and goalsetting, and is trained by the
International guild ofprofessional coaches and the
Life Coach Training Institute.But aside from strategies,
Lauren says creativity isn'tjust something you do, it's part
of who you are. So she's heretoday to show us how to honor
(02:03):
that part of ourselves withoutsacrificing what matters most.
So stop debating whether youwant to pursue your creative
dreams and just start doing it.But before you start, let's
welcome to the show. LaurenSpangler, hey, Lauren, hi. Jane.
Lauren Spangler (02:18):
Oh my goodness. I've been looking forward to
this all week. I'm so glad to behere. Thank you for having me.
Jane Clauss (02:24):
I can't wait to dive into your brain, because
after that softball wind up. Imean, we have so many things to
talk about. So the one thing isthat I love how you turn my
tagline happiness is homemadeinto the perfect setup for
today's conversation. So when wesay happiness is homemade, what
does that phrase mean to you inyour own creative life?
Lauren Spangler (02:47):
You know, I think a lot of people imagine a
magic bullet that if they couldsomehow quit their day job, or
if they didn't have toddlernoses to wipe, and if they
didn't have doctors appointmentsto book, that somehow they could
create this big, wonderful pieceof art that would change
everything, and then they wouldbe the artist that they want to
be. And I've seen time and timeagain that the best art is made
(03:10):
by real people living reallives, and that the moment you
have right now, the day you haveright now, is exactly the right
time to make what you want tomake and to be the artist that
you want to be. And so, gosh,happiness is homemade.
Creativity is homemade. Your artdreams are homemade. It all
starts at home. It all startsright now in this messy,
(03:33):
imperfect life that we are allliving,
Jane Clauss (03:35):
but we're fearful the messy, imperfect life is
taking over. It's hanging overmy head. It's like this cave
that I live in, but it doesn'thave to be that way,
Lauren Spangler (03:44):
right? And here's here's the bad news,
Jane, is it's always going to bethere. It's always going to be
messy. That inbox is never goingto live at zero. Those kids are
never going to be healthy for 12months in a row. You're always
going to have things vying foryour attention, priorities that
you have to work to juggle.That's the bad news. It's never
going to get easier. The goodnews is that doesn't stop you.
(04:06):
It doesn't have to stop you. Youcan still write something
prolific and amazing, even ifyou have a head cold. You can
still paint the collectionyou've always been dreaming of,
even if you have to call theinsurance company halfway
through like it's it's not a anor it's an and it's not a I have
to wait for life to be perfect,to now take a leap of faith and
(04:29):
set out on my creative journey.It's that setting out on that
creative journey right now makesall of these imperfect real days
all the better. Bringing themtogether is really the best way
to do it. Yeah, because
Jane Clauss (04:40):
I think in hindsight, as you're saying all
of these great things, I'mthinking to myself, after you do
something and you overcome afear you overcome, I'm too busy,
then all of a sudden you do it,you're on the other side of it,
and you're like, Wow, that wassuch a great experience. Glad I
did that. Can't remember whatwas bothering me in the first
place, and it always ends upthat. Way,
Lauren Spangler (05:01):
absolutely it does. So if we can just time
travel a little bit to thatmoment after we've done the
thing, and we enjoy having donethe thing, and we can pull that
enthusiasm and that calm,relaxed happiness back to before
we've done the thing, and justlet go of the anxiety and
embrace the enjoyment that itbrings us. You know, that's all
(05:21):
you need. Just jump in. Just doit. It's easy. Water is fine,
right?
Jane Clauss (05:26):
Even if it is cold, it's a cold plunge, and that's
good for you anyway. So Right?Is fear, a common block that you
see among creatives. I want toget into some, you know,
overcoming those blocks andtaking some action like the just
do it. Just jump in the water.It's fine. What are the common
blocks?
Lauren Spangler (05:46):
Fear, stress, overwhelm. A lot of times we
blame it on a lack ofinspiration, or we give
ourselves a whole suite ofother, of other reasons to not
sit down and make the thing wewant to make. And a lot of times
we can trace it back to fear.Sometimes that fear has roots in
something that happened a longtime ago, some moment in your
(06:07):
life where your creativity maybewasn't received or appreciated
the way you had hoped for it tobe. Or maybe it's simply maybe
it's not something deep andemotional, maybe it's something
really tactical and practical,like you're tired at the end of
the day and you're scared thatif you pour all this attention
and energy into a creativeproject, that you're going to be
running on empty and havenothing left to give tomorrow
(06:29):
morning when you got to wake upearly and go to work or
whatever. Those blocks, gosh,there are as many different
creative blocks as there areartists, and the important part
is allowing yourself to face andfix those things so that they
don't hold you back from all thejuicy happiness and enjoyment
and depth that you canexperience once you get them out
(06:52):
of the way.
Jane Clauss (06:52):
I love juicy happiness. That's so great. So
we're looking at blocks that maystop you from pursuing your art
or your writing, or whateveryour creative passion is. Some
people are paralyzed by thoseblocks. They go to their
everyday job and they're theydon't start the the creative
(07:13):
part of it because of theblocks, but then they become
dissatisfied in their regularlife. What are their they're
taking that out on their coworkers or their family or their
friends. What do you say topeople who are paralyzed by just
starting it?
Lauren Spangler (07:31):
I get it. I've been there. I lived in a
creative block for seven years.I mean, these, these stuck
places, can be huge. We can getreally lost in the center of a
creative block, and it can startto just become a reality. I
would say, I think the biggestblock, the most common block, in
many of the people I work with,is that they feel like an artist
(07:55):
on the inside, and they havethis creative dream, and they
have this creative vision, butthey don't feel like it matches
their life on the outside, thatthey aren't living the life of
an artist, that the prioritiesand commitments and the
lifestyle that they've createdfor themselves, at some point,
they like, took an exit and thepaths diverged, and now they
(08:16):
feel like, you know, I I'vebuilt this life that doesn't
look like an artist's life tome, but gosh, this desire to be
an artist didn't go anywhere.It's still there under the
surface. It's still at the coreof me wanting to come out, and I
just have all this bottled upcreative potential that I'm
doing nothing with and and Ithink that's the worst block of
all, because you can't just stepaway from your creativity and
(08:40):
leave it behind, and yet you'renot stepping into it and
embracing it and living itfully. And that can be a really
painful block, and it can last areally long time for people
before they realize that theydon't have to keep those worlds
separate and they don't have tostay stuck. I
Jane Clauss (08:58):
love that you don't have to keep the world separate.
A lot of people worry aboutfinancial stability. So it's
funny, this always comes up inthese in these episodes, I'm
always saying my parents like,you can't be a creative, cut
your hair and go to law school.And I was like, I can't do that
either. And so it was a thingwhen I was little. You know, you
can't be on the radio. You'llnever make any money. You can't
(09:19):
be a painter. That's an oldschool way of looking at things.
Some people may still be worriedabout putting their financial
stability in jeopardy because ofthat mindset. A lot of people
wait until they retire to dotheir creative thing. You see
tons of retirees like, well, Ididn't have time to do it, but
(09:40):
now I can, but you're saying,don't wait, if you feel like an
artist inside, you don't have tojeopardize, jeopardize your
financial stability. So startnow,
Lauren Spangler (09:51):
absolutely, absolutely, the day job is not
an enemy. The day job does notdetract or diminish from your
creativity. In fact, the day jobcan bring you stability and
security that actually help youopen to creative flow, right? I
mean, I think we are so used topitting stability and creativity
(10:12):
against each other, and I thinka lot of people feel this tug of
war inside, like I can either bepassionate and creative or I can
be reliable and steady andstable, and especially once
you've built your life around adegree of stability and you're
used to a certain flow of incomeand you like being richly
resourced. I think there's thisweird assumption that somehow,
(10:35):
in order to be creative, we haveto let go of that, and we have
to suddenly have a completelyuntethered, Bohemian, free range
lifestyle, which nothing againstthat. But if you're like me, you
have certain commitments andpriorities and kids to feed and
a mortgage to pay, and sometimesjust leaping off the edge of the
cliff and leaving your nine tofive forever is not an option.
And I'm here to say that's okay.There's actually nothing wrong
(10:58):
with that, and from a creativehealth perspective, it can
actually be a beautiful gift foryour financial stability to come
from somewhere else in yourcreative practice. It can
actually allow you the freedomwithin your creative practice to
do whatever you want to do andto create whatever is coming up
for you, because you're nottethered to any market trends,
(11:20):
and you're not concerned abouteconomic viability, because your
art is actually free of thatpressure. So, you know, does it
mean that you can't give 12hours a day to your art because
maybe nine of those hours arespent somewhere else? Sure. Is
that a bad thing? No, you know,it can. It's it can be part of
the reality in which you cancreate your very best work?
(11:41):
Yeah,
Jane Clauss (11:42):
I love the idea the stability of knowing that you're
getting a paycheck from your dayjob. But you can focus a little
bit on your creativity when youhave those moments, when you
have the time, when you have youknow the you schedule your time
blocks, and this is what I'mgoing to do this or just do it
when the inspiration strikes. Soit's not really an either or
(12:03):
mindset. It's a mindset of,yeah, I can do both
Lauren Spangler (12:07):
Exactly. And it's also a dismantling of this
archetype of the hobbyist,right? I think there's this
assumption that if you have aday job, if you're earning
income from something other thanyour art, then somehow you're a
less credible creator, and thatyour creations are are less
worth full less worthy, thatthey're not worth as much
(12:28):
because you're not being paidfor them. And I do think that
there's a very importantcategory of creators for whom
their art is a hobby. I thinkthat's beautiful. I think that's
wonderful. And I think we shouldall have hobbies. I also think
there's a category of people forwhom art is their essence, and
the art that they want to createis their mission. It is their
(12:48):
life's purpose, and it's farmore than a hobby. And I've seen
that an artist who is wellsupported, who has the
sovereignty of supportingthemselves financially and
allowing their day job to fundthe runway with their art as
they create the thing which isfar greater than a hobby
product, can be empowered in areally unique way, and that, you
(13:13):
know, you'd be shocked howimpactful of a body of work you
can actually create one smallstep at a time. You know, yes,
you may only be spending an houror two per day in your creative
space, but if you're spendingthat time with focus and with
flow and with consistency, youknow some of the best, some of
the best artwork in the worldwas created by people who spent
(13:36):
the bulk of their day in a dayjob, right? TS Eliot was a
banker. Harper Lee was a travelagent. Jackson Pollock was a
janitor. I mean, these areartists who understood that
their best work would not comeinto being unless they had a way
to support themselves, to keepfood on the table, to keep a
roof over their head. Sopersonally, I have deep respect
(13:58):
for any artist who chooses toback themselves in that way and
find creative ways to pay fortheir lifestyle while they're
making the work they want tobring into the world.
Jane Clauss (14:10):
I feel like I should go get a day job. I don't
want to get like. I don't wantto get too far away from this
comment, because I have a lot ofother things to ask you about,
and the how tos, but you hadsaid you lived in this stuck
world for seven years now, inthe intro, I said that you're,
you know, painting and music andwriting and coaching, and your
(14:32):
mother and a wife. Take us backto before you were a creative
coach, and you were stuck inthis for seven years. What was
happening.
Lauren Spangler (14:40):
So when I was little, I wanted two things. I
always wanted to be two things.On one hand, I wanted to be a
mom, and I wanted to have awarm, safe house full of
laughter with kids and with, youknow, the whole white picket
dream, right? I was lucky enoughto have that as a child. I
wanted to provide that andcreate a family of my own,
right. Yeah? Which takesstability. On the other hand, I
(15:03):
always loved to write storiesand to draw and to paint and
make music. And as a kid, I waseither like playing the piano or
laying down under the piano withmy sketchbook, like I was always
creating things. And I wanted tobe an artist, which takes
freedom. So I spent my teenyears, my college years,
studying music, studyingwriting, creating albums,
(15:25):
writing books, like just in thissuper generative, creative
space, I met my husband. He'screative as well. He likes to
write kids books. We wrote bookstogether. He was it was a blast.
And at some point, we decided wewere ready to create the family
now, we were ready to have thisreally stable home, and we were
ready to bring kids into theworld. And I kind of had this
(15:47):
moment of crisis where Irealized that the lifestyle I
had set up as an artist and thelifestyle I wanted to create as
a mother were like two separateplanets. I just had no idea how
to bridge the gap, yes, and soafter some heavy duty self
reflection, I kind of steppedaway from the art entirely. I
(16:09):
wound up moving back to myhometown. I got a corporate job,
got the health insurance, youknow, got the like, the nice
home that we could pay for therent. You know, we're no longer
like sharing an apartment withfive other people. You know, it
started to look like the type oflife that I could bring a family
into. And so I thought at thetime, great. You know, my art
(16:30):
was a beautiful chapter of mylife. I can do it again on the
side, maybe someday when I'mretired, I can go back full time
into being creative. And so Ihad my babies, I had my life. I
had my my wonderful job, which Iactually loved. I wound up
working up through the companyand becoming an executive
strategist, which is a role thatI absolutely adore. I have a
(16:52):
wonderful career that I amextremely grateful for. But at
some point along the way, Irealized that the person in me
who still wanted to write booksand write songs and paint
paintings as more than a hobbywas still there. And at some, at
some point, it became souncomfortable to try to ignore
(17:14):
that calling and to try todownplay it and to try to
relegate it to the side bars,like this hobby thing and and so
I started to explore like, Howcan I still provide the
stability that I want to providefor my children? I am not
willing to sacrifice oursecurity. I'm not willing to
sacrifice a bank account that Ican depend on. I'm not willing
(17:36):
to give up my retirementsavings. I'm not willing to step
away from the lifestyle ofstability that I was so proud to
have worked so hard for, and yetI was craving this freedom and
this expression. And so I, afterabout seven years, decided that
was so intolerably difficult totry to keep them separate that
(17:58):
they just had to come together,and it had to be something I
could create side by side, andthen, you know, gosh, it was a
whole bunch of trial and errorand scraped knees and figuring
out how to actually bring thosethings together. And eventually,
I'm so glad I did, because now Ifeel like I have the best of
both worlds,
Jane Clauss (18:15):
and I like that. A lot of times we wait and we wait
and put it on hold, and we put apin in it. We'll look at it
later. You could want to pursuethat big, huge creative dream,
and you're in something'sholding you back. You got to
keep it separate you, like thebank account, whatever, whatever
that is, you say that you canmake your art work for you,
(18:39):
which I love. So you have yourartwork, but your art is
working. How do you teach ortrain people to make their art
work?
Lauren Spangler (18:50):
Everybody has a different definition. You know,
I think even when I sit downwith artists who I consider to
be, you know, kindred spirits inthe creative world, when we get
to deep, deep, deep levels ofwhy we do art and what it means
to us. All of us are motivatedby different things, and so for
one person, having their artwork for them simply means that
(19:12):
they get to go into theircreative space and have total
creative freedom and just relaxand let it be an oasis where the
rest of the world falls away andthey just get to paint with
their watercolors and be mindfulfor another person, their art
working means that it's out inthe world doing something.
Perhaps they use their art asactivism, and they are telling
stories and shining light on thedark things that they want to
(19:34):
bring to the attention ofsociety. And so for their art to
work means that they're creatingsomething and showing it to
someone else in a way thatignites them and mobilizes them,
right? We all have differentvalues driving our creativity,
and so when I say, make your artwork, the first step is like,
what does that mean for you?What do you want your art to do?
(19:57):
And I think a lot of us justsort of. Default to this thought
that if our art is working, itmeans we're getting paid for it.
But I'll tell you what, I knowlots of artists who are being
financially compensated fortheir art, who still feel
creatively bankrupt, who don'tfeel like they're in deep
connection with their creativespirit, and who don't feel like
(20:17):
they are fulfilled and rewardedon a deep level by what they're
creating and what it's doing inthe world. So our first step is
always to figure out the realdeep core of what is driving you
to create and what that successactually means. And then we can
start to talk about what are themilestones for that? How do you
(20:38):
know when you've gotten there,what type of creative strategy
can lead to that, you know, andwe can start to orient the
creative practice and thecreative career path around the
deeper things that really mattermost.
Jane Clauss (20:51):
So when you're trying to figure out how to make
your art work for you, or how toachieve your big creative
dreams, it really is a deep diveinto yourself and into what you
want. And like you said,Everybody's different. Is that
sitting and thinking? Is thatmeditating? Is that writing
things down, or is that, again,different for everybody? Like,
(21:13):
what's the process?
Lauren Spangler (21:16):
Yeah, different for everyone. I mean, some
people the power of a journaland a pen and a candle, holy
smokes. I mean, they can, justlike, get straight to the bottom
of the ocean that way, andthat's beautiful. For a lot of
people talking it through with afriend. For some people having a
creativity coach guide themthrough that process and ask the
right questions to help themintrospect in a useful way, and
(21:39):
then take carry carry out ofthat things that are actually
actionable. Of course, I'mpartial to that. As a creativity
coach, I see the power of thatwork and the transformation it
can bring and the clarity it cancreate. But really, I think if
you are actively engaged in aconversation with yourself about
(21:59):
why you create and what you wantto do in the world with your
creativity, your creativity.It's great, like, whether that's
in the back of your mind asyou're working on your stuff,
whether that's something thatyou sort of think over on your
commute. You know, when you'rein those quiet moments in the
car and nobody's asking for yourattention, you know maybe you're
mulling over it. It's adifferent path for everyone to
(22:20):
reach that knowing. But I thinkonce you get there, you'll know,
because you feel clarity, andyou feel a lot of people feel a
boost of inspiration as soon asthey feel clear on what they're
doing and why they're doing it,there's like this sonic boom of
motivation to go do it. Sowhatever process it looks like
(22:40):
to take you there. I think youknow that you're there when you
can, when you can really sitdown and say, Yeah, today I'm
going to write a song, buthere's why I'm going to write
that song, and here's how I knowthat regardless of how this song
is received by anybody else inthe entire planet, here's how I
know that it's a success for me.Here's what that means. And to
be able to answer that questionis so freeing and so empowering,
(23:03):
and it really brings a sense ofcalm and an inspiration like
nothing else.
Jane Clauss (23:08):
Yeah, you're right about that. I mean, I'm just
sitting here listening, and it'severything you're saying is
hitting home. It's a struggle,and that moment of clarity is
amazing. And I think it's you'reright, sitting, driving Quiet.
It's a minute just to just tothink about yourself. I also
feel like it's a mindset shift.A lot of things I asked about
(23:32):
were you're frustrated, you justhave time or energy, you're
worried about a paycheck, thatall of these things that could
be a block, is about a mindsetshift that you're gonna do it
because it's something that youdream of, want to fulfills you,
whatever it may be. Talk aboutthe mindset shift. What does
(23:52):
that look like? Is it that Aha,moment of clarity that you just
talked about?
Lauren Spangler (23:59):
I'd say the mindset shift is a continual
practice. Jane, I mean, I Gosh,I'm shifting my mind. I'm
constantly working to cultivatethe mindset that helps me get
where I want to go, right? Thetruth is, failure kills way
fewer dreams than fear kills,and fear lives right between
your ears, and it's really up toyou whether you're viewing your
(24:23):
opportunities and yourexperiences and your capability
through the lens of fear, orwhether you're not, and it can
be really tricky, because ourminds are really wired for fear.
There's a lot of there's a lotof interesting science behind
why cognitively we are biasedtoward an outlook of fear, but
there's also a lot of sciencebehind how we can change that
(24:44):
cognitive bias, to be biased tosee the opportunity and to see
the safety in going out andtaking a completely reasonable
risk, like creating somethinggenuine. But it's an ongoing
practice. It's something that,yes, you can learn, you know,
God. You can learn theprinciples of mindset and
thought modeling in likeprobably 30 or 45 minutes. We
(25:06):
can sit down and talk throughit, and you'll be equipped with
everything you need to know. Butthe process of tending your
mindset and cultivating yourmindset, I want to say it's a
lifelong practice. I don't know.I'd love to meet somebody who
said, yeah, no, I did it foreight and a half years, and then
it just clicked one day. I neverhad to work on my mindset again
(25:26):
for me. For me, it is acontinual, ongoing practice that
I'll probably be doing till I'm100 does
Jane Clauss (25:33):
it start with a positive mental attitude?
Because I'm listening to themindset shift, and yes, it has
to be from starting with one daylasting your entire life, we can
talk ourselves out of anythingthat fear living between your
two ears is real, that littleperson on your shoulder that
says, Why are you doing that? OrAren't you ashamed? Or whatever
(25:55):
it may be, this mindset shiftshould last forever. But does it
start with just stayingpositive.
Lauren Spangler (26:04):
No, I used to think it did. And, God, I wish.
I wish it was that I'm doingwrong. I am. I'm actually, I'm
anti vision board. I'm anti, youknow, the the toxic pox
positivity, you know, alwayslook at the bright side. I
actually think the dark side isthere for a reason. This coming
from a recovering Pollyanna,right? I spent at least two
(26:27):
decades of my life just reallylooking at that bright side like
white knuckling onto that brightside. I've actually that never
worked for me. What I've foundworks better is to try to find a
place of neutrality, to say,Okay, what is happening to me
right now is simply happening.It is. It's neutral. I am
(26:49):
layering upon it aninterpretation that it's good,
bad, helpful, challenging,awesome, terrible, whatever that
is. And if I can peel that awayand look with a little bit more
objectivity at what's going on,I can then not only be grounded
in the reality of it, and not,you know, not delusionally, be
(27:09):
trying to exist in a differentplane. That's like, where
everything is, you know,happening wonderfully and
unfolding exactly as I want itto, because that may not be
real. Like, sometimes there arethings going on that are hard
and that we wouldn't have chosenfor ourselves, and yet we still
have to navigate them. But if wecan look at those things with
some neutrality and decide fromjust a real honest to goodness,
(27:33):
this is what is, and I get tochoose how I respond to it. I
get to choose what stories Itell myself about it. I think
that's where the real powerlies. And mind for me, mindset
work is about differentiatingthe truth of what is occurring
in my life and how I'minterpreting it, and then
choosing the interpretationsthat actually help me do what I
(27:56):
want to do and make of it what Iwant to make of it. Here's a
great example comparison. Wealways hear Comparison is the
thief of joy. Let's not evercompare. Beware to compare.
Here's here's what I think aboutcomparison. When you compare
from a distance, yes, it can bedeflating, it can become very
toxic, it can be a real waste oftime and energy. But if you
(28:21):
compare up close to someone whoreally is doing what you want to
do, and they're doing a littlebit better, and there are a few
steps ahead of you, and you holdyour work right up next to their
work, and you compare to learnand to say, what can I What can
I take from this person who Iadmire, and I want to compare
what I'm doing to what they'redoing, so that I can up my game
and I can model after them.Well, now all of a sudden,
(28:43):
comparison is actually a toolfor growth. It's actually
something that you might evenrecommend someone do, depending
on the circumstance. So there'sa lot to be had and how we
interpret and how we direct ourmind toward the patterns of
thought and the habits ofinterpreting our world in ways
(29:03):
that are productive and notlimiting.
Jane Clauss (29:06):
Yeah. So it's kind of like that other saying
imitation is the highest form offlattery. So if you watch
somebody that's doing somethingyou want to do, and you're
watching them closely and you'relearning their techniques or
tips, or you can learn fromthat, that's the similar
comparison.
Lauren Spangler (29:20):
Yeah, 100% Exactly. And so it's so, it's so
relative, it's so there's somuch nuance, and the context is
so important, and it's reallyhard to boil that all down into
just a pithy little five wordbumper sticker. But that's
because life is complex, andsometimes it's really hard to be
a human and parse through allthe complex experiences you're
(29:42):
having and decide how to makesense of it. But mindset work is
about making sense of it in away that serves you, in a way
that helps you reach whatevergoals it is you're you're
striving for. And I do thinkthere's incredible power in that
Jane Clauss (29:56):
you are like a therapist and also a creative.
Coach, this is all good stuff.So the vision board you're a no
on that. Are you in or out onword of the year to be your
compass.
Lauren Spangler (30:10):
Man, I love my word of the year through January
and February, I love it, and byMarch, I usually don't think
about it much. One year, I wrotemy word of the year on the front
of my planner, and made thisbeautiful art piece out of it.
And I thought, like, this willkeep it top of mind. I love word
of the year, and I and I also, Imean, I'm all about dreaming
(30:30):
big. I'm gonna sound like I'mjust kind of this pessimist,
which I'm not. But I, I, Iabsolutely, in fact, it's funny,
I spend tons of time with myclients, talking about, what is
your ideal day? What future doyou want to create for yourself?
Like, where do you want to go?Because I do think that our
human capacity for adventure andgrowth and all of that stuff is
(30:52):
limitless. I really, really do.I think that sometimes we make
the mistake myself, very muchincluded, of of, like choosing
this really big grand goal andmaking a beautiful vision board
about it, or choosing thisbeautiful word, but then, like,
not closing the gap to what weactually have to do to get
there, you know, like pick. SoI'm always a proponent of, set
(31:16):
the big goal, choose the granddream, pick the top of the
mountain peak that you want toclimb, and then down at your
feet on the trail and figure outwhat is the next step I have to
take to get up to the peak ofthat mountain. Because without
that second piece, all we'redoing is Dream gazing. We're not
actually we're not actuallycreating the life that we're
(31:37):
dreaming of. We're just sort ofdaydreaming about it. So I like
combining aspiration withaction, and I think that's where
vision boards happen. Is whereit becomes a vision board
attached to a plan. That's whereI get excited.
Jane Clauss (31:53):
So I get excited too. I want to take the next
step. Yes, we see the big dream.Yes, we want to go to the top of
the mountain, but you gotta takethe next step. So you could pick
your word great. You can writeyour dream. You can see it. You
gotta take the next step, andthen the next step, and then the
next step, which is so greatstrategy, that is my word of the
(32:14):
year. I don't know it just cameto me in November, and I'm like,
That's my word of the year. Sostrategy, which for me means
anything I say yes to in mylife, what's my strategy behind
it? It could be for, you know,professional or personal or
whatever it is, but you know,why are you doing this? Because
a lot of times I just do thingsto do it. No step, no second
(32:35):
step. There's no strategy. It'sa big vision. So when you look
at strategies, are therespecific strategies that you can
offer to take that next step,and then the third and then the
fourth?
Lauren Spangler (32:50):
Yeah, absolutely. You nailed it.
Strategy is, where do I want togo? And then how am I going to
get there from where I am rightnow? And so it's about picking
that big vision, that big word,and then choosing the next
tactical, practical thing youcan do to get there, I would
say, in the creative space, thestrategy I like to recommend for
(33:12):
people, especially who aretrying to, trying to dial in the
blending of these two worlds,right? They've got art on one
hand, they've got their reallife. On the other hand, they're
trying to figure out how to holdboth worlds at once. The best
strategy I like to offer to themis a strategy of combining
structure and freedom, combiningholding space very intentionally
(33:38):
with high consistency, verycarved out, very, you know, got
structured, I guess, combinedwith the flow and the freedom
and the grace to just dowhatever the heck they want to
do with that time. So what Icall this strategy is the golden
hour. I call it that because Ipractice taking a golden hour,
(33:59):
and for me, it's this Shining,shimmering, warm, sparkling part
of my day where I just get to dowhatever I want. And I find that
by carving out an hour, no more,no less, there's a lot of
structure in that, but withinthat hour, giving myself
permission to create absolutelyanything, to share it with
(34:20):
anyone or no one. I do have afew rules for my golden hour
that keep it functional for me,but this strategy has allowed me
to find really doable ways offitting my creativity into a
very busy schedule. As a workingmom of two, creativity coach,
etc, and also has allowed me thefreedom to grow and experiment
(34:43):
and explore my creativity inreally healthy ways that were
accessible to me when I was justdipping my toes back in after a
long time of not being supercreative and is still useful to
me now, even though, you know, Ispend hours a day in creative
work, I still carve out that onehour. Where I don't have a to do
list, where I just get to goplay. Yeah, I think, I think
(35:05):
that's the top strategy I findmyself recommending most often.
Jane Clauss (35:10):
I call it structum structure and freedom structure.
Yes, ma'am. I don't know exactlyI like the golden hour, although
I've got an hour to work out.I've got an hour to make dinner,
and now I get my freedom hour,and then I gotta work all day,
but I'm going to try to I'mgoing to implement that because
it's fun and it's my free time.I always say, give me one hour
(35:32):
of creativity and then go dowhatever you want. I don't care.
But the the moment that you loseyourself in that creativity,
whatever it means to you, you'regoing to feel so much better
when you're doing the rest ofit. I always say that medicine,
yeah, I think it's medicine too.And I also believe that
creativity needs to be talkedabout more. We have the news,
(35:53):
and we have lots of seriousprogramming that happens, but no
one's talking about creativity.No one's talking about, you
know, creativity and art and,yeah, sometimes, but it should
be, it should be a conversation,because I think it does help you
in so many ways, mentally,physically, in your life. It
helps you with balance, kind oflike your golden hour, that's,
(36:14):
that's, is that part of balance,work, life, family, balance,
adding that absolutely
Lauren Spangler (36:19):
and, you know, there are different strategies,
like the strategy of taking onefocused, uninterrupted hour per
day to create, I mean, that'swonderful. It's the gold
standard. The other strategythat I use often is something I
call sprinkle time, which is,okay, I don't have an hour today
because I'm running 100 miles anhour from one end of the city to
the other. My calendar, I'mdouble and triple booked all day
(36:40):
long. What am I going to do?There are still juicy little
moments of time, a few minuteswaiting in the lobby of the
doctor's appointment, a fewminutes between zoom calls where
I can sprinkle in a little bitof creativity, and I find that
it reinvigorates my spirit,helps me get me through the
crazy day. And actually, I havemade significant progress on
certain creative projects thathave happened entirely during
(37:02):
sprinkle time. So that's anotherstrategy, but that's why we have
to try and experiment withdifferent strategies, because
one person's solution is goingto look very different from
another person's. But it'salways worth figuring out what
the right strategy is for you,because, as you said, when you
are creatively healthy, there'sthis ripple effect, and it just
(37:23):
overflows into the rest of yourlife. You feel better, right?
It's so worth it. I know I'mpreaching to the choir. Here you
are preaching to the choir,
Jane Clauss (37:31):
finding it, but it's so much better to hear from
you than from me, because thisis what you do. You're a
creative coach. Sprinkle time isso great. I did some sprinkle
creative time. Today. I was onmy way to a little bit of a
workout, and I got detoured bymy craft studio, and I just
started sprinkling in somecreativity. I still got my
(37:51):
workout in. I still got to mywork, and then I had a little
bit of some sprinkle time beforeyou, and I started talking. So I
think that's fantastic. I didn'teven know I was doing some
sprinkle time with creativity,but I love
Lauren Spangler (38:02):
that you're being strategic. You're living
into your Word of the Year rightnow, Jane, the strategy without
you even realizing it.
Jane Clauss (38:09):
See, congratulations. Thank you so
much. I have so many things towork on, but if I could just
take one step, this is reallygood news. Lauren, you have
worked with creatives across theboard, from all industries, from
art to technology. Is there oneuniversal truth that you have
found for these creatives thatyou help
Lauren Spangler (38:30):
people can be really intimidated by the
thought of creativity and beingcreative, and they can wonder if
they are creative or not. Ifthey're creative enough for this
idea that they have. Are theycreative enough to pull it off?
Creativity is simple, and nomatter your field, no matter
your medium, no matter yourgoal, no matter the magnitude of
(38:52):
your project, creativity issimple. It's the act of making
something that wasn't therebefore, and we all do it, right?
It can be that you're making asong, a book, a poem, a
painting, or it can be thatyou're making a meal, that
you're making an outfit, thatyou're making a conversation.
You and I right now are making aconnection that wasn't here half
(39:14):
an hour ago. We're creatingideas that are hopefully
connecting with and helpingpeople who are listening to this
conversation, eventually, we'realways engaged in an act of
creation. And creativity is notsomething you have, it's not
something you do. It's a placethat you go within yourself, and
(39:35):
it's an experience. It's a mode,and you can get into the
practice of reaching thatcreative place within you more
often, more easily, but it'savailable to absolutely
everyone. You
Jane Clauss (39:51):
just answered it. I ask every single person the same
question. You answered italready, but I have to ask it.
What does creativity mean toyou? You,
Lauren Spangler (40:01):
yeah, making something that wasn't there, and
being able to access that partof your human spirit that allows
you to make something thatwasn't there. Creativity is the
magic of humanity, and we allcan tap into it anytime,
anyplace, for any reason.
Jane Clauss (40:17):
And you think it should be in the headline news
as well? Yeah,
Lauren Spangler (40:21):
man, if we were all engaged with our creativity,
it would be natural for us tostart creating things and ideas
and ways of being that wouldimprove our lives and our homes
and our communities and gosh, ifevery person on the planet was
creatively activated, I think wewould all be engaged in creating
(40:41):
the world we want to create in areally powerful way. I don't, I
don't know, it's this reallymagnificent and profound,
astounding idea to have everyonecreating and at the same time
it's really simple, like we'realready doing it, maybe just not
intentionally. That's
Jane Clauss (41:01):
right. As a creative coach, what's the most
rewarding part of what you do tohelp others dream big and make
it happen?
Lauren Spangler (41:12):
A lot of times when I first talk with somebody,
they're feeling stuck, they'refrustrated, they're overwhelmed.
A lot of times they're soulsick, and the fact that they are
not tending to their creativity,that they're not expressing
their creative self, starts tosort of eat away at their
(41:32):
happiness and their fulfillment,and it can show up as feeling
impatient with their children,feeling resentful of the job
that they have to keep tosupport their family, feeling
like they missed the boat ontheir calling, you know, like
they're not being the personthey were meant to be. And that
(41:52):
is so sad and so difficult towitness a person in pain because
they're not in alignment withwhat they feel like is most
important to them, and to workwith that person. And over, you
know, some weeks or a couplemonths, it's amazing how
(42:12):
quickly, actually, thistransformation can happen, where
they start to see that theystill can create the thing they
want to create, and they stillcan be the artist they want to
be, and they start to come alivein this new way. And suddenly
they aren't resentful of theirday job, because they see the
role that it plays in helpingsupport the life that they're
building. And they're notfeeling as worn down by the
(42:36):
daily grind, because they knowthat, yes, they're going to have
to pay the bills, yes, they'regoing to have to pick up the dog
poop in the yard, but they alsoget to do the things that matter
most to them. And there's thisdeep fountain of happiness that
starts to happen, and they startto be more playful parents and
more engaged employees and morejust more happy, fulfilled
(42:57):
people all around and to watchthat 180 to watch a person go
from blocked and struggling tosuddenly go to flowing and
excited and genuinely eager forthe next chapter of their life,
because they are already makingit into the life they want it to
be that that's the mostrewarding and exciting thing I
(43:21):
think I've ever experienced inmy life
Jane Clauss (43:24):
that is great. You and I are kindred souls. Friend.
I mean, you help. I preach. Weare in it together. Let's just
keep the creativity flowing andencouraging others to do the
same. Lauren Spangler, peopleneed you as their creative coach
if they want to learn more.Where do we find you? Do we have
social media websites, all thethings.
Lauren Spangler (43:43):
So Lauren spangler.com, is the very best
place to hear what I'm workingon right now and to get the
latest resources. I've actuallybeen working on a top secret
project, which is not so topsecret, since I'm talking about
on a podcast right now, but itmight start with Bucha and end
with book. It's it's going to bean amazing resource for people
(44:05):
who really want a top to bottomguide for bringing their art and
their real life together that'sgoing to be coming out in just a
couple weeks. And so my websitewill be the number one best
place to find that. Also, ifpeople are listening to this
episode and wondering where theystand with their creative
health, like, are they reallybalancing their art in their
(44:27):
life, or are there things theycould be doing differently? I've
created a short self assessment.It's only 10 questions. It's
completely free. You don't evenneed to put in your email to
download it. It's completelyfree. On my website, I call it
my spark or sputter assessmentis your creativity in a spark or
sputter takes about 10 minutesto complete, and it helps you
zero in on the areas where youmight be experiencing a little
(44:49):
bit of blocks or imbalance, andhow you might be able to fix
those things to bring yourselfmore creative fulfillment. So go
to Lauren spangler.com/ Spark,you can get that assessment for
free. And then the last thingis, I hang out on Instagram, so
find me there. I'm at LaurenSpangler, a lot of times, share
what I'm working on right now orwhatever's on my mind, and I
(45:11):
would absolutely love to hearfrom you and just to connect.
Lawrence Spangler,
Jane Clauss (45:17):
amazing. Everybody needs you. Thank you for all of
your insight and thosestrategies. I have a renewed
sense of possibility, and I'mexcited to take the next step
that was really fun. So Laurenspangler.com, remember happiness
is homemade, and you can livecreatively. You can live better
(45:41):
creatively. Lauren Spangler,thank you for joining us on
creative living.
Lauren Spangler (45:46):
Thank you, Jane. I am such a fan of your
work. I am such a fan of theshow. It has just been an
absolute delight to be here withyou. Thank you so much. Live
better
VO (45:56):
creatively for more inspiration. Visit Jane
clauss.com, thank you forlistening. You.
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