The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity

In this episode of our Creative Spark series, we explore the benefits of collaboration, including the synergy that arises when two or more people join together in a creative endeavor, which can yield fresh ideas and perspectives, camaraderie and teamwork, as well as joy, fun, and levity. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process...

How do we work with the multiple energies, drives, and desires, sometimes conflicting, inside ourselves? Internal Family Sytems (IFS) is a therapeutic modality that focuses on healing the wounded and protective parts that we all carry within us, in service of internal connection and collaboration. Alisa Carr, LCSW, uses IFS in her therapeutic work to help clients find clarity, creativity, spiritual connection, and more satisfying r...

In this episode of our Creative Spark series, we discuss the inner mentor or inner coach as a counter-weight to the inner critic in our creativity, with inspiration from the book 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People by David Yeager, a professor of psychology at UT Austin. The ways we both challenge and support ourselves through our inner self-talk can make a big difference in our creative success. Are we beating ourselv...

How do we use our creativity to envision possibility and bring it into reality? Vlad Glăveanu, PhD, has spent his career exploring this question. He is the founder and president of the Possibility Studies Network (PSN). His work focuses on creativity, imagination, culture, collaboration, wonder, possibility, and societal challenges. He is a professor of psychology in the School of Psychology and Director of the DCU Centre for Possi...

,In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda shares insights from her new article in the academic journal Possibility Studies and Society on how we can use our creativity to make meaning of our experiences, particularly the difficult and challenging ones, in service of psychological growth. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Cre...

This episode features Tibetan Buddhist meditation teacher Drupon Lama Dorje, and his assistant and translator Carolina Putnam, in an exploration of the Buddhist teachings on mindfulness and self-cultivation, as well as the role of art and creativity in Buddhism and everyday life. Lama Dorje became a Buddhist monk at the age of five, completed extensive training in Buddhist studies and meditation, and now teaches all over the world,...

In this episode of our Creative Spark series, we explore how practicing courage in our creative expression can build bravery in other areas of our lives, from speaking our truth to public speaking and performing. Honoring our creativity also honors our authenticity, so we can embrace who we truly are. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Cr...

How do dreams and dreaming play a role in creativity? We explore this question with musician, poet, and psychotherapist Linus Streckfus, as Melinda and Linus share stories of how dreams fuel their songwriting, the unconscious processes at play in dreams, and the archetypal and metaphorical images that often result. We also discuss Linus’ new poetry release, A Little Book of Loteria Riddles, and his process of writing it, as he shar...

In this episode of our Creative Spark series, we share our own experience of receiving difficult feedback on one of our ideas, and how we dealt with it. It can be really vulnerable to receive critical or constructive feedback on our creative work, but if we can assume positive intent and digest it accordingly, it can result in a better quality final product. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insig...

What does it mean to walk a spiritual path, to live a spiritual life, in the midst of our busy lives, as householders, in these complex and challenging times? Wisdom Pathways Co-Founders Jenny Fairbank and Steven Ross emphasize the importance of cultivating our intuition, opening our hearts, and connecting in community. Jenny and Steven work with individuals and groups to help clarify their deepest purpose and calling, and transcen...

In this episode of our Creative Spark series, we reflect on how embracing creativity, community, and a bit of levity can help us move from surviving to thriving, especially in difficult times. Sometimes we think of creativity as a luxury, but what if it’s actually a necessity for getting through life and keeping our spirits up? Maybe it’s as simple as a quick reframe. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also incl...

Poet C. Prudence Arceneaux is Chair of the Creative Writing Department at Austin Community College. Her work has appeared in various journals, including The Academy of American Poets’ Poem-A-Day, Limestone, New Texas, African Voices and Inkwell. She is the author of two chapbooks of poetry — Dirt (awarded the 2018 Jean Pedrick Prize) and Liberty. Her new full-length collection Proprioception is now available Texas Review Press. Fel...

In this episode of our Creative Spark series, we explore what it means to heal the creative wound so we can fully embrace our creative selves. Many of us received messages in our youth that we weren’t creative or artistic, and we’ve internalized these messages in a way that stifle our creative expression. It’s important to recognize that these stories we tell ourselves may not be accurate, and that we can create new, more empowerin...

This episode features three medical innovators working at the intersection of orthopedic surgery, medical technology, and orthopedic research at the San Diego Spine Foundation (SDSF), Scripps Clinic, and the University of California San Diego (UCSD). 

Dr. Akbarnia is the Founder of the SDSF and former president of the Scoliosis Research Society, as well as a retired clinical professor and orthopedic surgeon. He developed an innovati...

In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Charlotte and Melinda share the experience of narrating the audio version of our Syncreate book, including our flubs, insecurities, and humorous moments, the highs and the lows, warts and all. We think it’s important to share our own process, and how we all inevitably stumble along the way to a finished creative product. So if you’ve ever wanted to peer behind the veil of the creative p...

As our guest, Jessica Arjet, describes in the episode, “one of the fundamental promises of improv is that you’re collaborating and working together to create something." It’s about being in the moment, saying yes, collaborating with others, and having fun! Jessica is a veteran improv performer, teacher, and the author of Conducting Chaos: A Guide to Teaching Improv to Kids and Teens. She is co-owner of the Hideout Theater in A...

In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda shares insights from her recent Art of Impermanence Retreat, an annual contemplative arts retreats she leads each January in Patzcuaro, Mexico with her colleague Jake Lorfing. The Art of Impermanence explores the Buddhist teachings on impermanence, and their relationship to creativity and the arts. Essentially, it’s a mindful approach to creativity, grounded in present-moment ex...

Beth Sundstrom, PhD, MPH, is a professor of health communication at the College of Charleston, where she is the Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URCA) and the Founding Director of the Women’s Health Research Team (WHRT). She is a Fulbright Research Grant recipient and leading expert on health communication and reproductive health. Beth conducts applied research that informs the development o...

Many of us aspire to a consistent, even daily, creative practice, but other life priorities and distractions make it difficult. So how can we commit to a regular practice in a way that feels sustainable and fun? We can begin by setting longer-term goals and then breaking them down into monthly, weekly, and daily tasks to make consistent progress over time. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insight...