September 1, 2025 • 30 mins
Mindfulness and self-care may feel like buzzwords, but for creatives they’re essential tools. In this episode, we dive into how nourishment, movement, therapy, and even moments of joy all feed back into creativity. We get real about the myth that misery fuels art—and why creating from a place of well-being is both sustainable and powerful. Join us as we reflect on the domino effect of self-care and creativity, and why giving yourself love and care is one of the most creative acts you can choose.
Thank you so much for listening.
If you know someone who needs this kind of gentle nudge, send it their way. The more kind, creative hearts in this space, the better.
And if something in this episode resonates or makes you smile, come say hi on Instagram @theartpeaceexperiment 🤍
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:03):
Welcome to the Art Peace Experiment.
We're your hosts, two artistsand friends.
I'm Tasha.
And I'm Brianna.
At the end of 2024, we decidedwe wanted to cultivate more
safety, peace, love, alignment,and excitement through our art
and our art practices.
(00:24):
So here we are sharing ourjourney with you.
And we're so excited you'rehere.
We hope you enjoy ourconversations.
They're honest, raw, just justtwo friends talking to each
other about the realities oflife and creativity.
We're so excited for you to joinus and be along with us for the
journey.
(00:47):
Mindfulness.
Self-care.
SPEAKER_00 (00:51):
Big
SPEAKER_01 (00:54):
buzzwords.
Whoa.
Starting it off strong.
I mean, we're going to talkabout it.
We're going to talk about howthose things relate to
creativity, how they can helpour creative practices, and kind
of what that means.
Yeah.
(01:14):
We're going to dive into it.
Okay.
Head first.
Let's go.
Yeah.
So I had a bit of an experiencethis week where I was painting
all day.
Wow.
It's a good day.
Yeah, it was a good day.
And I mean, this happens.
I have this experience regularlywhere I paint all day and then I
get up and realize, oh my gosh,I was hunched over all day.
(01:38):
I didn't move.
And I need to like do some yogaor something.
Stand up straight.
I forgot.
I have forgotten.
I've been painting all day and Iforgot how to stand up straight.
Now I am hunched overpermanently and cannot move.
Yeah.
(02:00):
And it's just sometimes it's assimple as that.
But, you know, taking care ofourselves is, I mean, it's
important for all of life.
Yeah.
But it also impacts ourcreativity and our creative
practices and, you know, thingsthat we need to do.
creativity is part of takingcare of ourselves and it's kind
(02:22):
of like the chicken or the eggwhich comes first but they just
they work together yeahinterconnected and woven
together that you can't reallyhave one without the other right
right so we're gonna have kindof a two-parter you know this
week we're gonna talk a littlebit about the the mindfulness
and there's gonna be somecrossover but we're gonna talk
about like taking care ofourselves so we can show up for
(02:44):
our creative practices yeah andthen next week we're going to
talk about kind of some easyentry creative ideas that are
like just some ideas to helpspark some ways to like bring
more creativity into your lifein an easy way natural way where
(03:08):
you don't have to have a wholestudio to be creative you don't
have to schedule a whole day topaint until you need yoga to
make life work again right moreeasy entry but yeah so have you
had experiences where I don'tknow like you feel like you
(03:31):
can't really show up for yourcreativity because you haven't
been taking care of yourself yesI yeah so I have kind of I don't
know an interesting experiencewith this I feel because I was
in a car accident in 2020 thatreally I got really debilitated
(03:54):
me I had a pretty bad neckinjury and brain injury and so I
couldn't really function muchbut I could sit and crochet so
it was like when I physicallycouldn't be up and doing the
creative outlets kind of reallysaved me
SPEAKER_00 (04:11):
yeah a bit
SPEAKER_01 (04:12):
but then I noticed as more time went on as I was
sitting you know at and notdoing like if I would, as I
healed, sorry, let me just getthis straight.
But as I healed and started tofeel better, if I sat too long
to keep doing my, you know, mycrochet or my painting or
whatever I was doing, coloringbooks, I would get so sore and
(04:36):
then I wouldn't be able to sitthere long.
And now, now it's a lot better.
But I do find that if I'm notgetting up and if I'm not, you
know, taking care of myself andstretching or whatever, like
moving if I'm not moving.
And if I'm not, there are otherthings too, like if I'm too
hungry or, you know, like Ican't pay attention, I can't
(04:57):
focus.
And so then I can't sit and domy creative work.
And it really does interconnect.
Like I needed the creativity tohelp me feel good and feel
creative and feel more myself.
And that helped me, you know,Yeah, I definitely experienced
(05:44):
that in a lot of different inall the areas.
I think it really affects allthe areas, but tell me a little
bit more about your experience.
Yeah, well, I'm very intoholistic medicine and all of
this and seeing a person as awhole being.
(06:06):
I love that.
Yeah, and I feel like sometimesour creativity, creative
practices, all of that gets putin the checkbox of something to
do for the day.
Instead of it being a part ofthe whole person.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And realizing that it's alllike, it's all connected.
(06:26):
It's all part of you.
It's an important part.
And it's not, it's not just partof a checklist to like check
off.
It's not part of your to dolist.
Right.
And, and it all works.
It all works together.
And, you know, if I eat potatochips for lunch, then I, It
(06:47):
affects, it affects mycreativity, affects my, uh, you
don't feel good.
You kind of spiral a little bit.
It's like, well, now I just wantto like watch Netflix and just
kind of feel very good.
Or if I don't, you know,exercise for a long time, then
the same thing.
And it kind of creates moreblocks.
(07:11):
Right.
Or if I don't drink enoughwater, then I get a headache and
then I don't want to, you know,then I can't, I just want to
like lay Lay down.
Functioning.
Yeah, exactly.
And same thing with emotionalthings that are going on.
When I finally went to therapyand made that a regular part of
(07:32):
my life, and I found a reallygood therapist that I really
resonated with who just got meand understood and had different
ways of helping me work throughthe emotional blocks and things
that I've been through and whenI started really taking care of
myself that way and healing itunlocked so much more of my
(07:56):
creative potential like yeah itallowed me more of that freedom
um so it all yeah it all worksit all works together and we
talked before about like mybiking yeah adventures and like
that exercise and how thathelped unlock more of my
creativity and yeah I just thinkI think it's important to just
(08:18):
recognize like you are a wholebeing it's not compartmentalized
no different aspects ofourselves i mean yeah it's just
it's all all works together itall works together and it's not
just one one thing at a time itjust one thing impacts all the
other things you know it's likea domino effect in a lot of ways
(08:38):
but it's like a circle dominothat just keeps going around and
around and around and it it itdoesn't uh it doesn't it stop in
one spot and then start inanother and then you know like
it just keeps going yeah yeahand then same with like um you
know like social interactionsand connect like making sure you
have like are filled with yourneed for like connection yeah
(09:03):
that also is huge yeah and itaffects your like mental state
like it's hard to get creativewhen you're depressed yeah it's
hard to do anything when you'redepressed it's so hard it's so
hard Yeah.
I mean, speaking for personalexperience, it really is so
hard.
I remember after, you know, Ihad some postpartum after having
(09:27):
my son and I didn't reallyrealize either, you know.
Yeah.
Like, it really is like a fog,right?
(09:49):
Oh, yeah.
And so, yeah, therapy definitelyhelped.
But social, you know, friendsand things like it, it really
does make a huge impact to haveyour community and to have– take
care of yourself mentally,emotionally, physically, all the
aspects.
SPEAKER_00 (10:08):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:09):
And to feel aligned in that way.
SPEAKER_00 (10:12):
Right.
And
SPEAKER_01 (10:12):
that is when all of the areas of yourself– are
feeling taken care of.
SPEAKER_00 (10:20):
They
SPEAKER_01 (10:21):
don't necessarily have to be like, everything's
going perfectly in my life.
SPEAKER_00 (10:27):
But
SPEAKER_01 (10:27):
when you're taking care of yourself in the ways
that you need, that's what'simportant, right?
And that's when the creativityreally opens up a lot more, I
feel like, when you're feelinglike you have space to do that,
when you're allowing yourself tohave space to do that.
Yeah.
So I found it really helpfulwhen I have had creative blocks
(10:50):
and feeling like, oh, I can'tcreate.
It's like, okay, look at my lifeas a whole.
Look at me as a whole being.
Yeah.
Where am I not getting thenurture and the love and the
support that I need?
It might be in my physicalbeing.
Yeah.
(11:16):
you know do I need more you knowmeditation more like yeah
something to connect with myselfam I needing a journal like am I
like emotional spiritual kind ofa little bit go together for me
but it's like am I having ablock that way am I am I going
through something hard therelike where you know where is the
(11:43):
like don't you don't need tojust jump to beating yourself up
of of not, you know, beingcreative or I should be able to
be doing this, you know, Ishould be doing this.
I should be doing that.
Yeah.
Or talking yourself out of itbecause of guilt of like, oh, I
should, I should be focusing onother things and making all the
excuses when really it's like,okay, okay, honey, let's look at
(12:05):
it.
Where are you?
Look, where are you needing somelove?
Where are you needing someattention?
And, and how can you be givingthat to yourself?
I heard this thing that wasreally impactful or early on in
my therapy days, but that it'snobody else's job to take care
(12:25):
of your needs.
And that was really impactfulbecause I feel like so often we
do make excuses on not evenknowingly, you know, but we're
like, oh, it's because of this.
Oh, because of that.
You know, we kind of like, ifthis were to change, then this,
you know, then it would bebetter.
(12:45):
Or if I just didn't, you Youknow, like if I was there, then
it would be fine.
But we kind of push off theresponsibility in some ways, you
know, of, I don't know, makingthings better for ourselves and
taking care of our needs.
Like it's just because ofoutside circumstances that my
needs aren't getting met.
Right?
Right.
(13:06):
And it's been so helpful for meto really change that mindset
and know that I– I can takecharge of my own self.
Yeah.
And I can take care, I can takecare of myself and I can figure
(13:26):
out how to get my needs met.
That doesn't mean that I have todo it all alone.
No.
And you should not what thatmeans.
And you shouldn't, right?
Right.
Not meant to be solitary.
We're not meant to be all alone.
Right.
But nobody can really heal you.
Right.
But yourself and, and we havethe power inside of our Mm-hmm.
(14:01):
um, like holding my power andwithin myself and, and saying, I
can do this.
And if I don't have a need met,well, let's think creatively.
Right.
Right.
If it's, you know, if it's notgetting that because of
something, like how can I get itmet in a different way, you
know, or what can I dodifferently?
(14:24):
And so, um, that, that reallyhelps, but yeah, definitely.
Um, it definitely all theaspects of life affect
creativity and creativityaffects all the aspects of life.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, sometimes showing up foryourself in certain ways is, is,
is an act of creativity, butalso the creativity helps like
(14:46):
it can help.
Like there are some creativepractices that are really good
for, you know, mental health andother things like they kind of,
it kind of gets all jumbledtogether.
So it was kind of hard beinglike, Oh, how do we separate
this conversation?
But it's okay.
Yeah.
two-parters.
It's going to be good.
What was I going to say?
(15:06):
We aren't therapists.
No.
We're not doctors.
We're not healthcare providers.
We don't have any training.
We have been to therapy.
All we can share is our ownexperiences and our own learning
and what's helped us in ourpersonal life.
An art practice is not areplacement for therapy.
(15:31):
We're not going to promote thator like pretend like it is
that's the thing but it it is uhit's a helpful part of it.
Yeah.
You know, it's a part of thewhole, it's a part of, you know,
it will.
Self care.
Self care.
Like it all supports, it allsupports each other.
SPEAKER_00 (15:52):
And
SPEAKER_01 (15:53):
sometimes, you know, like I've been in a place where
I am like, I need like aprofessional to talk to and to
get insight and help from.
Yeah.
Who really, you know, likeunderstands like, you
SPEAKER_00 (16:07):
know,
SPEAKER_01 (16:07):
human psychology.
Right.
Exactly.
And give me, you know, anoutside perspective and then
other times it's like I justneed like a friend I just need
someone who will like just belike cheerleading yeah
commiserate with me and be therehave my back love me right it's
(16:29):
been a process of like justlearning what I need and getting
to a point of being able to behonest with myself yeah I feel
like that is the main thing isthat it is a process it's a big
learning curve yeah becausewe're not really taught how to
(16:49):
do this and and it does take alot of conscious effort to to
even recognize you knowrecognize our needs and what
we're what we're thinking whatwe're what our habits are you
know and what our ourperspective is and and it is a
process yeah yeah so if you'rehaving creative block Yeah.
(17:12):
Think of yourself as a wholebeing.
What do you need?
What areas of your life are youreally needing support?
And it's kind of like a clicheit feels like at this point to
be like, go exercise, eathealthy, go for a walk, do some
stretching, do some breathingexercises.
Right.
But it can be really helpful.
But the reason that it feelslike a cliche is because it
(17:35):
actually works.
And so that's why people say itall the time, because it does
make such a huge difference.
Yeah.
So just try, you know, just tryit.
See, see what works for you and,and treat it as an experiment.
Right.
Right.
What works for me?
Uh, sometimes I've had people,you know, share, like, tell me
(17:56):
to do this one thing and I tryit and I'm like, I really didn't
like that.
Right.
It just really didn't work.
That didn't work for me.
And you know, I'm going to addto this, like as creatives to
this list, just take in creativethings.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (18:11):
You
SPEAKER_01 (18:11):
know, like sometimes we're like output, output,
output.
Sometimes, you know, notice thebeautiful flowers.
Yeah.
Notice the sunset.
We just went through a phase of,I just want to watch Jane Austen
movie for a little bit.
Like, you know, and, and, youknow, sometimes it's, it's music
or books or another person'screativity that they put out
(18:34):
into the world.
Like just allowing yourselfspace to, to, um let that fill
you
SPEAKER_00 (18:43):
yeah
SPEAKER_01 (18:43):
just delight in it and enjoy it um we were just at
um we were just somewhere um ata pottery place and we were
watching this this man make avase and it we just sat there
and like watched him do this andit was like when I turned to you
and I was like that was sorelaxing like that was so fun to
(19:05):
watch it was really cool yeah toyou know watch someone else
create like that which I feellike you know that's I that's
why I get on to you know why Istart doom scrolling is I love
to watch people in theircreative creativity you know
that's really I love that butand so taking that you know in
(19:26):
moderation right we don't wantto just like sure go down that
and then never never createourselves but sometimes we do
need to be filled you know yeahand and so watching other
There's, you know, seeing othercreativity can do that, but
yeah, being in nature, seeing,seeing the, paying attention to
(19:48):
those things that are beautifuland delight us and taking that,
those moments, right.
And having that awareness,that's huge.
It makes such a huge differenceand it makes life so much more
enjoyable, you know, and, andspecial and, and taking in those
moments or it's just, it'spowerful.
(20:10):
And it makes a huge difference.
Yeah.
I find it so funny that in mediaand everything, there's like
this portrayal of artists aslike, I can only create if I'm
miserable.
Right.
And it's like what I'm feelingtruly miserable.
A lot of times it's really hardto actually.
I don't want to make anything.
(20:30):
Like, I don't resonate withthis.
I don't need to be miserable anddoing drugs to be creative.
I don't know.
I mean, sometimes.
getting creative helps me out ofthose places but I like
sometimes it's glorified to likesearch for the misery to yeah
(20:51):
like I can't create unless I'min this miserable place it's
like no more of that no more ofthat we're gonna create from a
place of joy yeah right but Imean it can be helpful like if
that's what you need you knowlike sometimes when I am
struggling and this was you knowwhen I was a teenager a lot too
I wouldn't if I was really sadum i would go play the piano and
(21:13):
i played really sad songs on thepiano you know yeah i mean i
don't think it helped me rightbut yeah that's not the only
place that the that thecreativity came from right and i
didn't feel like i have to be inthat mode to be a true artist
yeah i think that it's so sillyyeah so ridiculous yeah um yeah
(21:35):
and i wasn't at all saying likeif you're miserable don't create
it's like yeah i Like if it'snot coming, that's totally fine,
right?
It's totally fine.
If that's not something that youwant to be doing when you're
upset or sad or having lowmoments, then that's okay.
Don't beat yourself up about iteither.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But if you're feeling like, Ijust have to get this emotion
(21:57):
out of me.
Right.
Whether it's I'm miserable orI'm happy or, you know, like all
the emotions are valid.
Yeah.
Right.
And creating within any of thoseemotions is also valid.
I think this is interesting too,because I have, I've done art
therapy, like, you know, I'vegone to art therapy and so using
(22:22):
art as a therapeutic outlet, butit's also in a very specific
way, you know, because there areactual exercises and things that
are meant for certain things andfor, you know, in psychological
ways right that like help you oryour brain it's super cool you
(22:44):
should totally go check it outbecause the psychology and art
and like everything is it's veryfascinating and the way that
your brain works it's reallycool but um that that can it's
been super helpful and i'vereally loved it because it's
combined the creativity and theart with like therapy you know
and it's been really cool um andthen impactful for me personally
(23:06):
um but then in my own creativeoutlet in my own art outside of
therapy.
Like it's a little bit of adifferent thing, but it still
can have like therapy, like itstill can help me process or,
you know, it can help me feelbetter and get that out.
(23:27):
And, and, and what's the wordI'm looking for?
Like satisfy that need inside ofme.
Right.
And satisfy whatever feelingsI'm feeling.
And so anyways, but it's, it's alittle bit different, you know,
art therapy versus art as, as,you know, kind of therapy.
(23:48):
It's not necessarily therapy,but as of that creative, right.
Well, I mean, it can be so goodfor, for, you know, like you
said, mental health and, andthat, you know, part of that
healing process.
And, you know, I, when I wastrying to convince myself it was
safe and okay to be paintingTrita traditionally again.
(24:10):
I went through this wholejourney of like, I can't paint
traditionally.
That's too scary.
I'm not good enough.
I can't waste the paper, blah,blah, blah, blah, blah.
Yeah.
I ended up starting embroideringagain because that felt somehow
safer.
Yeah.
Right.
There wasn't this pressure of, Ihave to be this grand, great,
(24:32):
amazing artist.
Yeah.
It was just, I'm going to sewthis dinky little thing and I
don't know how to sew.
And so there's no pressure and Idon't know what I'm doing and
it's fine.
But then it became, it just, itwas fun.
It was just really fun.
And I got to, you know, sketchthe designs and it just became
(24:54):
another creative outlet for me.
But then I kind of got into the,some of the science of, cause I
was like, this is like calmingme down.
This is helping me feel good.
And so, yeah, I was like lookinginto like the science And same
with crochet and knitting whereit's just this like repetitive,
(25:15):
it's like really repetitivething can be really calming and
really good for the brain.
It can be very, um, you know,meditative and yeah, 100%.
I, it'd be so helpful.
Yeah.
I've been feeling so drawn to, Imean, I love to crochet.
I like, I've done embroiderytoo, and I think it's fantastic,
but I am in the crochet moderight now.
(25:37):
Yeah.
And, um, and I have been feelingso drawn to that in moments of
like I'm feeling anxious like Ijust want to sit down and just
crochet that's reallyinteresting because it does that
repetitive motion and stuff andit's like how many blankets do I
need right but I'll take somebut just the repeating that
(26:01):
movement and it's like I don'tknow it's creating something in
there you can see the growth ofthe of what you're making and
it's just it's very satisfyingand it's and it is it's calming
and it's and it's soothing andhelps to just feel like calm
that anxiety see I don't likecrocheting yeah I tried it
(26:24):
because I think a lot ofcrocheting things are very cute
and very cool and I was like ohI want to make these things and
then I tried it and I was like Ihave to count I have to do
numbers what and my hands get Ihave some issues with my hands
they get tense and yeah I can'tever get the stitches like even
and it's just like this isstressful I don't like this it's
(26:49):
okay so it's like not to likeI'm not bashing on crochet like
I love that you are because Ikind of live a little
vicariously through you it'slike I wanted to do this but
then I realized it wasn't for mebut I still gotta watch you do
it yeah satisfying to me um andthen I because of that I found
you know embroidery and it's youknow it's okay find the things
(27:10):
that work for you and if yourealize like this thing is
supposed to be good for me andit's supposed to help and I
don't like it that's like thistotally okay yeah there's
something else out there thatmight be great right and might
be helpful maybe you like tomake little pottery out of air
dry clay you know like I lovethat it's so fun little little
(27:33):
plates or bowls or whatever orwhatever you want to make oh my
gosh if that's your happy placeand you make make little air dry
clay figurines and things pleaseshare with us please show us we
want to see I would like to alsolive vicariously through you and
see what you're making pleaseyeah but I mean when I was
(27:53):
younger too like I mean I guessthis is getting into our next
week's conversation so we'lltalk more about this but when I
was younger I loved doing makingbracelets with beads you know
and it was so it was kind ofmeditative like that like
putting the bead It's thatrepetitive again.
(28:39):
and helpful to our mental healthand our emotional well-being.
Yeah.
And our growing and ourflourishing and connecting with
ourselves.
And being more aligned, whichreally helps with the depression
and the anxiety and all of thesethings.
(29:00):
So I love that.
I love that idea of coming backto ourselves and taking care of
ourselves as a whole being.
Yes.
Yeah.
So this week, think of somethingthat you find calming and, and
helpful, and maybe take a littletime, take a little time to do
it this week and share in thecomments below.
(29:22):
We'd love to hear from you.
Yeah.
And next week we'll dive intomore of our creative, uh, the
easy entry, low stress ways tojust include more creativity
into your life.
Yeah.
So check in next week.
We'll have a little, a littlesomething for you as well.
So we'll see you.
(29:43):
We'll see you next week.
That's it for today, friend.
Thanks for spending this timewith us.
We hope you're leaving with alittle more light, a little more
peace, and maybe even a nudge togo be creative just because it
brings a little more joy to yourlife.
If anything in this episodespoke to your heart, sparked a
thought, or made you smile, we'dlove it if you'd follow the
(30:06):
show, leave a quick five-starreview, or share it with someone
who might need a little creativeencouragement too.
And remember, your creativitymatters.
Your voice matters.
You matter.
We're cheering you on Alwaysuntil next time, keep making,
keep softening and keep showingup as your whole beautiful self.
Welcome to the Art Peace Experiment.
We're your hosts, two artistsand friends.
I'm Tasha.
And I'm Brianna.
At the end of 2024, we decidedwe wanted to cultivate more
safety, peace, love, alignment,and excitement through our art
and our art practices.
(00:24):
So here we are sharing ourjourney with you.
And we're so excited you'rehere.
We hope you enjoy ourconversations.
They're honest, raw, just justtwo friends talking to each
other about the realities oflife and creativity.
We're so excited for you to joinus and be along with us for the
journey.
(00:47):
Mindfulness.
Self-care.
SPEAKER_00 (00:51):
Big
SPEAKER_01 (00:54):
buzzwords.
Whoa.
Starting it off strong.
I mean, we're going to talkabout it.
We're going to talk about howthose things relate to
creativity, how they can helpour creative practices, and kind
of what that means.
Yeah.
(01:14):
We're going to dive into it.
Okay.
Head first.
Let's go.
Yeah.
So I had a bit of an experiencethis week where I was painting
all day.
Wow.
It's a good day.
Yeah, it was a good day.
And I mean, this happens.
I have this experience regularlywhere I paint all day and then I
get up and realize, oh my gosh,I was hunched over all day.
(01:38):
I didn't move.
And I need to like do some yogaor something.
Stand up straight.
I forgot.
I have forgotten.
I've been painting all day and Iforgot how to stand up straight.
Now I am hunched overpermanently and cannot move.
Yeah.
(02:00):
And it's just sometimes it's assimple as that.
But, you know, taking care ofourselves is, I mean, it's
important for all of life.
Yeah.
But it also impacts ourcreativity and our creative
practices and, you know, thingsthat we need to do.
creativity is part of takingcare of ourselves and it's kind
(02:22):
of like the chicken or the eggwhich comes first but they just
they work together yeahinterconnected and woven
together that you can't reallyhave one without the other right
right so we're gonna have kindof a two-parter you know this
week we're gonna talk a littlebit about the the mindfulness
and there's gonna be somecrossover but we're gonna talk
about like taking care ofourselves so we can show up for
(02:44):
our creative practices yeah andthen next week we're going to
talk about kind of some easyentry creative ideas that are
like just some ideas to helpspark some ways to like bring
more creativity into your lifein an easy way natural way where
(03:08):
you don't have to have a wholestudio to be creative you don't
have to schedule a whole day topaint until you need yoga to
make life work again right moreeasy entry but yeah so have you
had experiences where I don'tknow like you feel like you
(03:31):
can't really show up for yourcreativity because you haven't
been taking care of yourself yesI yeah so I have kind of I don't
know an interesting experiencewith this I feel because I was
in a car accident in 2020 thatreally I got really debilitated
(03:54):
me I had a pretty bad neckinjury and brain injury and so I
couldn't really function muchbut I could sit and crochet so
it was like when I physicallycouldn't be up and doing the
creative outlets kind of reallysaved me
SPEAKER_00 (04:11):
yeah a bit
SPEAKER_01 (04:12):
but then I noticed as more time went on as I was
sitting you know at and notdoing like if I would, as I
healed, sorry, let me just getthis straight.
But as I healed and started tofeel better, if I sat too long
to keep doing my, you know, mycrochet or my painting or
whatever I was doing, coloringbooks, I would get so sore and
(04:36):
then I wouldn't be able to sitthere long.
And now, now it's a lot better.
But I do find that if I'm notgetting up and if I'm not, you
know, taking care of myself andstretching or whatever, like
moving if I'm not moving.
And if I'm not, there are otherthings too, like if I'm too
hungry or, you know, like Ican't pay attention, I can't
(04:57):
focus.
And so then I can't sit and domy creative work.
And it really does interconnect.
Like I needed the creativity tohelp me feel good and feel
creative and feel more myself.
And that helped me, you know,Yeah, I definitely experienced
(05:44):
that in a lot of different inall the areas.
I think it really affects allthe areas, but tell me a little
bit more about your experience.
Yeah, well, I'm very intoholistic medicine and all of
this and seeing a person as awhole being.
(06:06):
I love that.
Yeah, and I feel like sometimesour creativity, creative
practices, all of that gets putin the checkbox of something to
do for the day.
Instead of it being a part ofthe whole person.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And realizing that it's alllike, it's all connected.
(06:26):
It's all part of you.
It's an important part.
And it's not, it's not just partof a checklist to like check
off.
It's not part of your to dolist.
Right.
And, and it all works.
It all works together.
And, you know, if I eat potatochips for lunch, then I, It
(06:47):
affects, it affects mycreativity, affects my, uh, you
don't feel good.
You kind of spiral a little bit.
It's like, well, now I just wantto like watch Netflix and just
kind of feel very good.
Or if I don't, you know,exercise for a long time, then
the same thing.
And it kind of creates moreblocks.
(07:11):
Right.
Or if I don't drink enoughwater, then I get a headache and
then I don't want to, you know,then I can't, I just want to
like lay Lay down.
Functioning.
Yeah, exactly.
And same thing with emotionalthings that are going on.
When I finally went to therapyand made that a regular part of
(07:32):
my life, and I found a reallygood therapist that I really
resonated with who just got meand understood and had different
ways of helping me work throughthe emotional blocks and things
that I've been through and whenI started really taking care of
myself that way and healing itunlocked so much more of my
(07:56):
creative potential like yeah itallowed me more of that freedom
um so it all yeah it all worksit all works together and we
talked before about like mybiking yeah adventures and like
that exercise and how thathelped unlock more of my
creativity and yeah I just thinkI think it's important to just
(08:18):
recognize like you are a wholebeing it's not compartmentalized
no different aspects ofourselves i mean yeah it's just
it's all all works together itall works together and it's not
just one one thing at a time itjust one thing impacts all the
other things you know it's likea domino effect in a lot of ways
(08:38):
but it's like a circle dominothat just keeps going around and
around and around and it it itdoesn't uh it doesn't it stop in
one spot and then start inanother and then you know like
it just keeps going yeah yeahand then same with like um you
know like social interactionsand connect like making sure you
have like are filled with yourneed for like connection yeah
(09:03):
that also is huge yeah and itaffects your like mental state
like it's hard to get creativewhen you're depressed yeah it's
hard to do anything when you'redepressed it's so hard it's so
hard Yeah.
I mean, speaking for personalexperience, it really is so
hard.
I remember after, you know, Ihad some postpartum after having
(09:27):
my son and I didn't reallyrealize either, you know.
Yeah.
Like, it really is like a fog,right?
(09:49):
Oh, yeah.
And so, yeah, therapy definitelyhelped.
But social, you know, friendsand things like it, it really
does make a huge impact to haveyour community and to have– take
care of yourself mentally,emotionally, physically, all the
aspects.
SPEAKER_00 (10:08):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:09):
And to feel aligned in that way.
SPEAKER_00 (10:12):
Right.
And
SPEAKER_01 (10:12):
that is when all of the areas of yourself– are
feeling taken care of.
SPEAKER_00 (10:20):
They
SPEAKER_01 (10:21):
don't necessarily have to be like, everything's
going perfectly in my life.
SPEAKER_00 (10:27):
But
SPEAKER_01 (10:27):
when you're taking care of yourself in the ways
that you need, that's what'simportant, right?
And that's when the creativityreally opens up a lot more, I
feel like, when you're feelinglike you have space to do that,
when you're allowing yourself tohave space to do that.
Yeah.
So I found it really helpfulwhen I have had creative blocks
(10:50):
and feeling like, oh, I can'tcreate.
It's like, okay, look at my lifeas a whole.
Look at me as a whole being.
Yeah.
Where am I not getting thenurture and the love and the
support that I need?
It might be in my physicalbeing.
Yeah.
(11:16):
you know do I need more you knowmeditation more like yeah
something to connect with myselfam I needing a journal like am I
like emotional spiritual kind ofa little bit go together for me
but it's like am I having ablock that way am I am I going
through something hard therelike where you know where is the
(11:43):
like don't you don't need tojust jump to beating yourself up
of of not, you know, beingcreative or I should be able to
be doing this, you know, Ishould be doing this.
I should be doing that.
Yeah.
Or talking yourself out of itbecause of guilt of like, oh, I
should, I should be focusing onother things and making all the
excuses when really it's like,okay, okay, honey, let's look at
(12:05):
it.
Where are you?
Look, where are you needing somelove?
Where are you needing someattention?
And, and how can you be givingthat to yourself?
I heard this thing that wasreally impactful or early on in
my therapy days, but that it'snobody else's job to take care
(12:25):
of your needs.
And that was really impactfulbecause I feel like so often we
do make excuses on not evenknowingly, you know, but we're
like, oh, it's because of this.
Oh, because of that.
You know, we kind of like, ifthis were to change, then this,
you know, then it would bebetter.
(12:45):
Or if I just didn't, you Youknow, like if I was there, then
it would be fine.
But we kind of push off theresponsibility in some ways, you
know, of, I don't know, makingthings better for ourselves and
taking care of our needs.
Like it's just because ofoutside circumstances that my
needs aren't getting met.
Right?
Right.
(13:06):
And it's been so helpful for meto really change that mindset
and know that I– I can takecharge of my own self.
Yeah.
And I can take care, I can takecare of myself and I can figure
(13:26):
out how to get my needs met.
That doesn't mean that I have todo it all alone.
No.
And you should not what thatmeans.
And you shouldn't, right?
Right.
Not meant to be solitary.
We're not meant to be all alone.
Right.
But nobody can really heal you.
Right.
But yourself and, and we havethe power inside of our Mm-hmm.
(14:01):
um, like holding my power andwithin myself and, and saying, I
can do this.
And if I don't have a need met,well, let's think creatively.
Right.
Right.
If it's, you know, if it's notgetting that because of
something, like how can I get itmet in a different way, you
know, or what can I dodifferently?
(14:24):
And so, um, that, that reallyhelps, but yeah, definitely.
Um, it definitely all theaspects of life affect
creativity and creativityaffects all the aspects of life.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, sometimes showing up foryourself in certain ways is, is,
is an act of creativity, butalso the creativity helps like
(14:46):
it can help.
Like there are some creativepractices that are really good
for, you know, mental health andother things like they kind of,
it kind of gets all jumbledtogether.
So it was kind of hard beinglike, Oh, how do we separate
this conversation?
But it's okay.
Yeah.
two-parters.
It's going to be good.
What was I going to say?
(15:06):
We aren't therapists.
No.
We're not doctors.
We're not healthcare providers.
We don't have any training.
We have been to therapy.
All we can share is our ownexperiences and our own learning
and what's helped us in ourpersonal life.
An art practice is not areplacement for therapy.
(15:31):
We're not going to promote thator like pretend like it is
that's the thing but it it is uhit's a helpful part of it.
Yeah.
You know, it's a part of thewhole, it's a part of, you know,
it will.
Self care.
Self care.
Like it all supports, it allsupports each other.
SPEAKER_00 (15:52):
And
SPEAKER_01 (15:53):
sometimes, you know, like I've been in a place where
I am like, I need like aprofessional to talk to and to
get insight and help from.
Yeah.
Who really, you know, likeunderstands like, you
SPEAKER_00 (16:07):
know,
SPEAKER_01 (16:07):
human psychology.
Right.
Exactly.
And give me, you know, anoutside perspective and then
other times it's like I justneed like a friend I just need
someone who will like just belike cheerleading yeah
commiserate with me and be therehave my back love me right it's
(16:29):
been a process of like justlearning what I need and getting
to a point of being able to behonest with myself yeah I feel
like that is the main thing isthat it is a process it's a big
learning curve yeah becausewe're not really taught how to
(16:49):
do this and and it does take alot of conscious effort to to
even recognize you knowrecognize our needs and what
we're what we're thinking whatwe're what our habits are you
know and what our ourperspective is and and it is a
process yeah yeah so if you'rehaving creative block Yeah.
(17:12):
Think of yourself as a wholebeing.
What do you need?
What areas of your life are youreally needing support?
And it's kind of like a clicheit feels like at this point to
be like, go exercise, eathealthy, go for a walk, do some
stretching, do some breathingexercises.
Right.
But it can be really helpful.
But the reason that it feelslike a cliche is because it
(17:35):
actually works.
And so that's why people say itall the time, because it does
make such a huge difference.
Yeah.
So just try, you know, just tryit.
See, see what works for you and,and treat it as an experiment.
Right.
Right.
What works for me?
Uh, sometimes I've had people,you know, share, like, tell me
(17:56):
to do this one thing and I tryit and I'm like, I really didn't
like that.
Right.
It just really didn't work.
That didn't work for me.
And you know, I'm going to addto this, like as creatives to
this list, just take in creativethings.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (18:11):
You
SPEAKER_01 (18:11):
know, like sometimes we're like output, output,
output.
Sometimes, you know, notice thebeautiful flowers.
Yeah.
Notice the sunset.
We just went through a phase of,I just want to watch Jane Austen
movie for a little bit.
Like, you know, and, and, youknow, sometimes it's, it's music
or books or another person'screativity that they put out
(18:34):
into the world.
Like just allowing yourselfspace to, to, um let that fill
you
SPEAKER_00 (18:43):
yeah
SPEAKER_01 (18:43):
just delight in it and enjoy it um we were just at
um we were just somewhere um ata pottery place and we were
watching this this man make avase and it we just sat there
and like watched him do this andit was like when I turned to you
and I was like that was sorelaxing like that was so fun to
(19:05):
watch it was really cool yeah toyou know watch someone else
create like that which I feellike you know that's I that's
why I get on to you know why Istart doom scrolling is I love
to watch people in theircreative creativity you know
that's really I love that butand so taking that you know in
(19:26):
moderation right we don't wantto just like sure go down that
and then never never createourselves but sometimes we do
need to be filled you know yeahand and so watching other
There's, you know, seeing othercreativity can do that, but
yeah, being in nature, seeing,seeing the, paying attention to
(19:48):
those things that are beautifuland delight us and taking that,
those moments, right.
And having that awareness,that's huge.
It makes such a huge differenceand it makes life so much more
enjoyable, you know, and, andspecial and, and taking in those
moments or it's just, it'spowerful.
(20:10):
And it makes a huge difference.
Yeah.
I find it so funny that in mediaand everything, there's like
this portrayal of artists aslike, I can only create if I'm
miserable.
Right.
And it's like what I'm feelingtruly miserable.
A lot of times it's really hardto actually.
I don't want to make anything.
(20:30):
Like, I don't resonate withthis.
I don't need to be miserable anddoing drugs to be creative.
I don't know.
I mean, sometimes.
getting creative helps me out ofthose places but I like
sometimes it's glorified to likesearch for the misery to yeah
(20:51):
like I can't create unless I'min this miserable place it's
like no more of that no more ofthat we're gonna create from a
place of joy yeah right but Imean it can be helpful like if
that's what you need you knowlike sometimes when I am
struggling and this was you knowwhen I was a teenager a lot too
I wouldn't if I was really sadum i would go play the piano and
(21:13):
i played really sad songs on thepiano you know yeah i mean i
don't think it helped me rightbut yeah that's not the only
place that the that thecreativity came from right and i
didn't feel like i have to be inthat mode to be a true artist
yeah i think that it's so sillyyeah so ridiculous yeah um yeah
(21:35):
and i wasn't at all saying likeif you're miserable don't create
it's like yeah i Like if it'snot coming, that's totally fine,
right?
It's totally fine.
If that's not something that youwant to be doing when you're
upset or sad or having lowmoments, then that's okay.
Don't beat yourself up about iteither.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But if you're feeling like, Ijust have to get this emotion
(21:57):
out of me.
Right.
Whether it's I'm miserable orI'm happy or, you know, like all
the emotions are valid.
Yeah.
Right.
And creating within any of thoseemotions is also valid.
I think this is interesting too,because I have, I've done art
therapy, like, you know, I'vegone to art therapy and so using
(22:22):
art as a therapeutic outlet, butit's also in a very specific
way, you know, because there areactual exercises and things that
are meant for certain things andfor, you know, in psychological
ways right that like help you oryour brain it's super cool you
(22:44):
should totally go check it outbecause the psychology and art
and like everything is it's veryfascinating and the way that
your brain works it's reallycool but um that that can it's
been super helpful and i'vereally loved it because it's
combined the creativity and theart with like therapy you know
and it's been really cool um andthen impactful for me personally
(23:06):
um but then in my own creativeoutlet in my own art outside of
therapy.
Like it's a little bit of adifferent thing, but it still
can have like therapy, like itstill can help me process or,
you know, it can help me feelbetter and get that out.
(23:27):
And, and, and what's the wordI'm looking for?
Like satisfy that need inside ofme.
Right.
And satisfy whatever feelingsI'm feeling.
And so anyways, but it's, it's alittle bit different, you know,
art therapy versus art as, as,you know, kind of therapy.
(23:48):
It's not necessarily therapy,but as of that creative, right.
Well, I mean, it can be so goodfor, for, you know, like you
said, mental health and, andthat, you know, part of that
healing process.
And, you know, I, when I wastrying to convince myself it was
safe and okay to be paintingTrita traditionally again.
(24:10):
I went through this wholejourney of like, I can't paint
traditionally.
That's too scary.
I'm not good enough.
I can't waste the paper, blah,blah, blah, blah, blah.
Yeah.
I ended up starting embroideringagain because that felt somehow
safer.
Yeah.
Right.
There wasn't this pressure of, Ihave to be this grand, great,
(24:32):
amazing artist.
Yeah.
It was just, I'm going to sewthis dinky little thing and I
don't know how to sew.
And so there's no pressure and Idon't know what I'm doing and
it's fine.
But then it became, it just, itwas fun.
It was just really fun.
And I got to, you know, sketchthe designs and it just became
(24:54):
another creative outlet for me.
But then I kind of got into the,some of the science of, cause I
was like, this is like calmingme down.
This is helping me feel good.
And so, yeah, I was like lookinginto like the science And same
with crochet and knitting whereit's just this like repetitive,
(25:15):
it's like really repetitivething can be really calming and
really good for the brain.
It can be very, um, you know,meditative and yeah, 100%.
I, it'd be so helpful.
Yeah.
I've been feeling so drawn to, Imean, I love to crochet.
I like, I've done embroiderytoo, and I think it's fantastic,
but I am in the crochet moderight now.
(25:37):
Yeah.
And, um, and I have been feelingso drawn to that in moments of
like I'm feeling anxious like Ijust want to sit down and just
crochet that's reallyinteresting because it does that
repetitive motion and stuff andit's like how many blankets do I
need right but I'll take somebut just the repeating that
(26:01):
movement and it's like I don'tknow it's creating something in
there you can see the growth ofthe of what you're making and
it's just it's very satisfyingand it's and it is it's calming
and it's and it's soothing andhelps to just feel like calm
that anxiety see I don't likecrocheting yeah I tried it
(26:24):
because I think a lot ofcrocheting things are very cute
and very cool and I was like ohI want to make these things and
then I tried it and I was like Ihave to count I have to do
numbers what and my hands get Ihave some issues with my hands
they get tense and yeah I can'tever get the stitches like even
and it's just like this isstressful I don't like this it's
(26:49):
okay so it's like not to likeI'm not bashing on crochet like
I love that you are because Ikind of live a little
vicariously through you it'slike I wanted to do this but
then I realized it wasn't for mebut I still gotta watch you do
it yeah satisfying to me um andthen I because of that I found
you know embroidery and it's youknow it's okay find the things
(27:10):
that work for you and if yourealize like this thing is
supposed to be good for me andit's supposed to help and I
don't like it that's like thistotally okay yeah there's
something else out there thatmight be great right and might
be helpful maybe you like tomake little pottery out of air
dry clay you know like I lovethat it's so fun little little
(27:33):
plates or bowls or whatever orwhatever you want to make oh my
gosh if that's your happy placeand you make make little air dry
clay figurines and things pleaseshare with us please show us we
want to see I would like to alsolive vicariously through you and
see what you're making pleaseyeah but I mean when I was
(27:53):
younger too like I mean I guessthis is getting into our next
week's conversation so we'lltalk more about this but when I
was younger I loved doing makingbracelets with beads you know
and it was so it was kind ofmeditative like that like
putting the bead It's thatrepetitive again.
(28:39):
and helpful to our mental healthand our emotional well-being.
Yeah.
And our growing and ourflourishing and connecting with
ourselves.
And being more aligned, whichreally helps with the depression
and the anxiety and all of thesethings.
(29:00):
So I love that.
I love that idea of coming backto ourselves and taking care of
ourselves as a whole being.
Yes.
Yeah.
So this week, think of somethingthat you find calming and, and
helpful, and maybe take a littletime, take a little time to do
it this week and share in thecomments below.
(29:22):
We'd love to hear from you.
Yeah.
And next week we'll dive intomore of our creative, uh, the
easy entry, low stress ways tojust include more creativity
into your life.
Yeah.
So check in next week.
We'll have a little, a littlesomething for you as well.
So we'll see you.
(29:43):
We'll see you next week.
That's it for today, friend.
Thanks for spending this timewith us.
We hope you're leaving with alittle more light, a little more
peace, and maybe even a nudge togo be creative just because it
brings a little more joy to yourlife.
If anything in this episodespoke to your heart, sparked a
thought, or made you smile, we'dlove it if you'd follow the
(30:06):
show, leave a quick five-starreview, or share it with someone
who might need a little creativeencouragement too.
And remember, your creativitymatters.
Your voice matters.
You matter.
We're cheering you on Alwaysuntil next time, keep making,
keep softening and keep showingup as your whole beautiful self.
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