The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity

How do we work with self-doubt and mental health in our creative process? Dreux Carpenter is a multi creative and communications professional; he's a graphic designer, writer, and offers proofreading and editing services. He holds both Masters and MFA degrees in Writing and Consciousness, one from the New College of California and the other from the California Institute of Integral Studies. He served on the board of the Writer...

.In this episode of our Creative Spark series, we discuss the connections between humor, creativity, and health, specifically how we can use our creativity to find humor in difficult situations, including end-of-life medical situations. Melinda and Charlotte share their own experiences of medical challenges and sitting with dying parents who maintained their sense of humor to the end. This episode, like the mini-episodes that prece...

Geoffrey Good is a renowned fine jewelry designer based in Hudson, New York, internationally recognized for his elegant, minimalist designs. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, he has established himself as a master craftsman and artist, known for his attention to detail and exceptional skill in creating exquisite pieces of jewelry. Geoffrey discovered his passion for jewelry in college after designing a pair of earri...

In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda shares insights and reflections from her recent experience attending and presenting at the Creativity Conference at Southern Oregon University, connecting  and collaborating with friends and colleagues, and getting energized from being around others studying creativity. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guid...

Brian Kirven is a poet, traveler, and teacher living in Point Reyes Station in Northern California. He's the author of Shorelines: A Traveler Comes Home to the Tide Zone. He's served as a California Poet in the Schools, as well as the Poetry Inside Out program, and hosted a radio show on KWMR in Point Reyes for many years. His poetry has been featured in numerous literary journals, including California Quarterly, Invernes...

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...