Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mak (00:08):
I don't think I've seen a
sunset look like that in a very
long time.
Valerie (00:12):
I know it's amazing and
I'm not even going to try to
photograph it, because thephotograph doesn't ever do it
justice.
This is why I paint.
Mak (00:20):
It's so true, we've just
got the most stunning sunset
outside of our studio windowright now.
It's just beautiful.
Valerie (00:27):
It's incredible.
We're so excited to be herewith you again talking to you.
I am Valerie, this is myhusband, mac, and you are
listening to the UnboundCreative Podcast.
So today's episode have youseen?
Who hasn't seen the?
I don't know who needs to hearthis, but I feel like that's
(00:47):
like.
Mak (00:48):
that was like the headline
on Instagram for a while I don't
know who needs to hear this,but yeah, have you come on?
Valerie (00:56):
you've seen those posts
.
Mak (00:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've seen
those posts like those memes.
Valerie (00:58):
I don't know who needs
to hear this, but da da, da da
da.
And then they would saysomething and everybody was
posting that.
I feel like this episode isthat.
It's like I don't know whoneeds to hear this but that's
what we want to share today.
Okay, so what is what is thething that we just want
everybody to know?
We don't know who needs to hearthis, but you.
(01:20):
Just because everybody else isdoing it, doesn't mean that it's
good or right or what youshould be doing.
So many creatives get stuck andthis goes for everything.
I mean we could pull examplesfor everything but so many
creatives get stuck in shoulds.
(01:41):
I should be doing this, should,should, should.
Let's get should out of ourvocabulary, but I feel like the
shoulds come from what we deemeverybody else is doing, and
just because that is the norm orwhat society says or what
(02:03):
culture says, doesn't mean thatit is the best thing for you or
the best thing for creativity.
Mak (02:11):
Well, yeah, 100%.
Most people in the creativeworld.
They look at what's working andthen they say to themselves
well, I have to do that becausethat's what's working, and that
is outcome-oriented thinkingthat is designed for vanity, ego
(02:32):
, success, money-making, all ofthose things.
That's what that thinking is,and, rather than being someone
who follows trends and doingwhat everybody else is doing,
you're a creative.
Your job in the world is to settrends.
Your job is to come up with thenew thing.
(02:52):
There doesn't have to be anypressure around that, because
the new thing is just what feelsgood to you inside.
It's that simple, and so I seethis all the time where it's
like, oh, I should be doing thisand I should be doing this and
I should be doing this.
No, you should be doing whatfeels good.
Valerie (03:09):
But it's also like a
macro level thing, I feel like,
because, okay, I'm readingBeyond Anxiety right now by
Martha Beck and it is incredible, I'm only one chapter in in
full disclosure.
But I've heard her give a fewtalks about it, I've seen a few
reels of hers, I've listened toa few podcasts and now I'm a
(03:32):
chapter into the book and whatshe is saying is really mind
blowing.
But basically that the lefthemisphere of our brain is where
the fear lives.
It's the logic.
Of course we've heard like oh,left brain, right brain and then
the right brain is more of thatjoy center, the creativity,
(03:52):
that's where that lives and theywork like a toggle switch,
which is really crazy.
So our left brain is where theanxiety lives and it tends to be
a lot louder and very shouty.
And there's a phenomenon withthe left side of the brain that
we deem it to be truth, likewhatever comes from the left
(04:13):
side, because it is built tokeep us safe and it's rooted in
fear.
We automatically assume it'slike the negativity bias and we
assume that's true, real,happening, our anxiety is coming
true, and then the right sidethat holds our creativity and
holds those other feelings.
(04:34):
We look at that as unreliablefrom the same thing, which is
our brain telling stories, andthey're just kind of
hallucinations of our brain, butwe believe the left side to be
true.
So what ends up happening is inour culture.
We are just a very left-brained, centered culture and what
(04:58):
she's saying is even in, even inthe left brain issues like
anxiety.
Our culture tends to want to putleft brained solutions onto
left brain problems.
So for anxiety, for example,it's very left brain of us to be
(05:19):
like beat it down, overcome it.
I got to fight my anxiety, Igot to get past.
And what she's saying is, if weemploy more right brain
activity to the anxiety and comeat it with gentleness and
thinking, this is just a scaredanimal inside of us, how can we
(05:40):
make space for it?
How can we allow that to beseen and not just like beating
it down and taking almost awarrior approach?
My mind was blown by this.
Mak (05:53):
Which part of your mind,
the left side or the right side?
The?
Valerie (05:56):
whole thing, the whole
thing.
Because she's talking about allof these cultural ways of being
, and then you just have thislight bulb moment Because she's
talking about all of thesecultural ways of being, and then
you just have this light bulbmoment that goes oh my goodness,
everybody's doing it.
That is not a weird thing tosay.
I want to fight my anxiety.
(06:19):
But yet, is that the best thing?
No, it's actually not working.
Is that the best thing?
No, it's actually not working.
So just because it's culturallysaid to be the thing doesn't
make it good.
So it's just putting me in thisplace as creatives, and
especially as unbound creatives.
How do we question norms, evencultural norms, from a macro
(06:43):
level, how artists are treated,how creatives are treated Like
everybody?
If you've listened to any ofour episodes, you know by now we
are very against the struggling, suffering, starving artist
cliche.
So again, if that is what'smost widely viewed about
creatives and artists, thatdoesn't make it right, or?
Mak (07:06):
or true?
Valerie (07:07):
or true?
Mak (07:08):
yeah, it doesn't make it
true and uh, it's definitely not
true.
I mean, for, for so many peopleyou can, you will like live out
the thing that you believe ofyourself totally the stories
that we tell yes, and so if youare an artist of any kind and
(07:28):
you come at it from thestandpoint of every movie ever
made or every book ever written,where it's like, oh I am the,
you know, I'm the artiststruggling in the streets trying
to make things work and connectthe dots, then that's exactly
what you're gonna do.
Also, that doesn't have to bethe reality of it.
That doesn't have to be true.
(07:50):
You can literally change yourperspective and change your life
overnight, that quickly, andyou can say no, I am a confident
, strong, creative person who isgoing to succeed and I'm going
to create from a place of joyand love and I'm going to bring
beauty into the world in anynumber of ways, because this is
(08:13):
what I meant to do.
Now, feel the energy betweenthose two juxtapositions.
So the anxiety that you'retalking about is very left
brained, and you're right.
Like the left brain can't can'tcome up with a solution for its
own problem.
That's the beauty of the rightbrain.
(08:35):
The right brain is a reallyfantastic problem solver, but
we've been conditioned as asociety to not accept the
solutions from the right brain.
However, unless it's Disney,unless it's Steve Jobs, unless
it's Elon Musk, then we acceptthe right brain solutions.
Valerie (08:58):
But not at first.
Mak (08:59):
Exactly.
But this is what I'm saying is,everyone has like it's.
There is this meme that thethat, that because you know, an
engineering mind, which is theleft brain, says there's only
one solution to a problem andonce we find it, and it's the
most efficient solution, that'sit.
There can be no other solution.
But the right brain says, oh no, there's a thousand other
(09:22):
solutions.
They may not be as efficient,but when did efficiency become
the key factor?
You know what I mean, like.
So that's what's reallyfascinating about what you're
saying.
What I'm really interested inabout this topic is I actually
think the right brain has beenand always will be, the better
problem solver.
Valerie (09:42):
Yet in the world, in
society, society, we bow down to
the left brain well, becausethe right brain isn't rewarded
in the way the left brain is,which brings up a whole other
topic well, worse than that.
Mak (09:56):
The right brain is often
called crazy and has to prove
itself in order for people to go.
Oh wait, you wait.
You know what?
That isn't crazy.
Valerie (10:04):
Well, that is another
one of these kind of going
against the grain things, notonly the starving, struggling,
you know kind of meme that wesee, but also just, oh, that's
the flaky, flighty creativewho's like a little bit off, or
they're seen as rebellious,which was my story.
Mak (10:26):
I they're seen as
rebellious, which was my story.
I was always seen as rebelliousand we've been talking about
school a lot lately.
In in high school especially, Iwas hated by, and not like by,
my teachers.
They literally did not like mebecause I didn't.
I just didn't fit, it didn'twork for me and I didn't just
fall into line, which was a veryleft brain, like school is
(10:48):
structured, very left brain, andI was just like no, I'm not
going to do homework.
You gave you had me for sixhours today.
That's what I'm giving you whenI go home tonight.
I'm going to create and I'mgoing to do things.
So it's often seen asrebellious too, but that's not
(11:09):
the case.
Like I could have a lot ofreally great right brain
solutions that go againsteverything the left brain says
or left brain thinking groupsays.
And because you dare presentthose ideas, you're seen as
rebelling, when it's not thatyou're just trying to like.
Valerie (11:25):
Add to the conversation
but it kind of is rebelling
just because of the society thatwe're in that is leaning that
way, and the institutions thatare built that way, so much
based on fear and non-risk,taking and and falling in line
and everything so almost to be acreative and to be unbound.
(11:48):
It is an act of rebellion.
But what we're seeing is whatif that is correct?
Like what if that is the betterway to be or the way that we
are actually wired as humanbeings to be?
And I want to say too thatnobody is saying left brain is
(12:10):
bad or wrong.
That's not the case.
It's part of the humanexperience and the human just
existence.
We need both.
I think the issue becomes whenwe are so heavily weighted on on
one side without having a wholebrain understanding about how
(12:34):
we can operate in the world atour most, like, our best, our
Well, yeah.
Mak (12:39):
I don't think we're even
coming across that we're saying
left brain is bad.
But I will say this I think fora long time left brains have
been saying right brain is badand that's not the case.
Both are extremely necessaryand needed and useful.
And I want to go back to mypoint about rebellion.
My point there was we havelabeled rebellious as bad.
(13:05):
And so when you are creative andI know I'm talking to, I know
I'm talking to some people rightnow listening when you're
creative and you dare go againstthe grain and suggest something
and someone and people labelyou as rebellious for having an
idea and that could be in anysituation, it doesn't even have
to be with a piece of art.
If you found that you're on acommittee or you're in an HOA or
(13:30):
whatever and you have a reallycreative solution to a problem
and you bring it up and thenpeople go, I can't believe you
would even suggest somethinglike that.
Rebellion isn't always negative, but it has a negative
connotation and so that canforce a creative to shut down
right away because we don't wantto be seen as like a negative
person when the idea itself wasnot born out of someone trying
(13:54):
to like be a rebel.
They just had a creative ideaand I'm saying that's okay,
don't get yourself labeled.
Valerie (14:03):
Well, I think we need
to just break down the essence
of creativity at its core, whichis inherent risk-taking.
Without the risk-taking there'sno creativity.
There's no creativity Withoutdoing something differently.
You don't ever get anything new.
(14:23):
So it really just comes withthe territory of trying
different things and you'regoing to fail at some things and
you're going to make a mess andit's not going to work and
there are going to be all ofthese solutions that don't work.
That is just par for the course.
That's inherent to it.
But the beauty of it is we'remade for that as human beings.
(14:48):
We are natural puzzle solvers.
We why do we love mystery?
Why do we love?
We love to figure things out.
We love trying differentsolutions like a puzzle.
But again we have so manyvoices saying, including our own
fear, which again we realize,gets really, really loud and
(15:11):
tries to tell us that it's thetruth, that that is unsafe
because it's not familiar to us.
Mak (15:19):
I love that because my left
brain does present me with a
lot of challenges every singleday.
But what I have found is whenI'm caught up in something that
is stumping me or holding meback if I go for a walk or I
meditate, sometimes I'll jump inthe shower and it like gets my
(15:39):
right brain going and the rightbrain it tends to be what helps
me solve the problem is likewhere I solve the problem when
the left brain is hitting mewith an issue.
Valerie (15:51):
Well, that's.
What's so cool about it is thatwe have this.
We have this toggle switch thatwe're able to go between, but
yet so much of the voices areagainst that they're more in
that left side of the fear-basedand the figure it out and the
logic side, where so much of asolution to a problem is
(16:15):
actually not going to come fromlogic.
We think somehow that we'regoing to think our way out of a
box, but often the answers thatwe want don't come from that at
all, that we're not going tothink our way out of certain
problems, but yet our left braintricks us into thinking that
(16:37):
it's all about the thinking.
Mak (16:39):
Well, I think we're taught
forever that logic is the
solution to every problem, andit's a solution to a lot of
problems, but it isn't thesolution to every single problem
.
I mean this.
This sort of reminds me of likeone of my comedian I don't even
remember who it was at thispoint, but he had a joke and he
said why is it that two peoplemarry each other, one who is
(17:00):
super unorganized and one who'sreally organized?
And when the person who isunorganized comes home and they
put their keys on the counter,why is it that the organized
person says, no, you have totake the keys and hang them on
the hook by the door?
And it's that the unorganizedperson is wrong.
(17:21):
Why is it never that theunorganized spouse says to the
organized one why are youhanging your keys up on the hook
when you can just chuck themanywhere?
And that's funny because it'sreal, because who says that
that's the right way to do it?
Yeah, you want to know whereyour keys are all the time.
(17:41):
Fine, logically, that's whereyou put them, but in the moment,
maybe chucking them somewherewas the best motion.
So my point here is that I feellike throughout history, all
the logic, the logical thinkers,the logic, all that stuff has
been crammed into creatives'faces, saying you must conform
(18:01):
to the logic.
Somehow it has become what isaccepted.
When creativity is what drivesa vast majority of problem
solving out there, there is agood marriage of the two, then
that's the ultimate solution artand science.
But for some reason I feel likethe more logic,
(18:26):
scientific-minded idea is whatis prevailing and saying no, we
don't want creative solutions,we want logical solutions.
And that leaves creativestranded.
Valerie (18:42):
Well, I think we see
where this came from in school.
We kind of talked about that alittle bit ago, that that system
, and we've been talking aboutschool a lot lately because I'm
seeing just part of thealgorithm of reels that I'm
(19:03):
seeing and I've just gotten intoa bunch of things about
education and finding out thatthe current school system is as
a result of Rockefeller and allof the industrialization that
they wanted children to be ableto sit for long periods of time
doing mundane tasks, answer to abell, to make them good workers
(19:25):
, to put them into the factorywork workforce and everything.
Mak (19:29):
So creativity everything
everything standardized make
everyone the same right.
Valerie (19:36):
So doesn't it make
sense now and this is new, I
just found that out this wholesystem is less than 200 years
old, or something like that.
Yeah, so now we are seeing aculture who has been influenced
by this way of being, and itmakes sense that creativity
(20:01):
culturally at the moment just isnot viewed in in maybe the the
best, the best way.
Mak (20:11):
Yeah, it's so funny because
it is I think we mentioned this
a couple episodes ago where ifyou, if you say, I want to go be
an artist, that's what I wantto do for a living.
I want to make art, and it canbe any kind musician, singer,
visual art, whatever.
I want to be a dancer, I wantto be on Broadway, I don't care
(20:33):
what it is, you want to make artyou are laughed at and people
are pretty much saying well,what's your backup plan?
What's your backup plan?
If you say I want to be anattorney, nobody asks you what
your backup plan is.
But you are in that category ofokay, this is probably not going
(21:00):
to work.
This person's life is going tospiral out of control.
They're going to be poor,they're going to be all these
terrible things until you makeit and then then you're fine,
then everything's great.
There's no middle.
You know it's like.
It's like people could say Iwant to be an attorney and go to
college and fail the bar 10times and they've got to do like
(21:25):
out of wait tables or dowhatever they need to do to get
by, but nobody looks at that asbad because that's an accepted
profession.
You know that's like oh OK, no,you're going to be fine doing
that, but if you want to go be adancer on Broadway, well then
you're crazy.
Valerie (21:42):
Well, I think the sad
thing is that way of thinking
that's maybe been so prevalentin our culture stops so many
people from even having anendeavor and a hobby, because
that becomes another level thatpeople say oh, you want to spend
real time and real money doingsome of these creative endeavors
(22:05):
or just going down an artisticpath.
I think immediately people say,well, where's it headed?
That's very left brain again tothink of.
Well, where is this leading?
What is the point in doing this,what is the outcome?
And if it's not going to beyour outcome, and if it's not
going to be your profession, orif it's not going to be
something that you end up makingmoney from or that becomes, I
(22:27):
think, the natural thing thatpeople will ask like, oh well,
where's it going, what are youdoing with it?
But it almost can't be just forthe joy of it and for for the
love of it and for the love ofit and because we are literally
wired and built for it.
Mak (22:43):
And likewise so many people
.
Well, not likewise.
I'm going to further your point.
So we have what's unfortunateis a lot of people going into.
They get MBAs or marketingdegrees or whatever and they go
out into the quote unquote realworld and they get into the
corporate America and they getthose jobs.
But they would have beenfantastic artists because they
(23:08):
were shut down to the idea ofleaning into their creativity
and I think later in life yousee that start to come out in
other ways because they begin toregret the fact that they
didn't act on it properly.
When, when they had all thewhen you can take all the risk
when you're young and you cantake all the risk, you don't,
(23:28):
and then you regret it later.
Valerie (23:30):
Well, this is another
thing.
This goes with another exampleof what we're talking about in
this whole episode is, justbecause this is what the norm is
, or what the masses do, doesnot make it the right way.
Why don't we ask more questions, just in general and in our
society?
Why are we pressuring 18 yearolds 18,?
(23:54):
Why are we pressuring them tohave their whole lives figured
out?
Why are we taking childhood andessentially make it resume,
building for what they're goingto do for the rest of their life
and how much pressure that is?
I remember feeling thatpressure.
It didn't feel like you couldmake a mistake.
(24:15):
I'm going to choose the wrongcollege, I'm going to choose the
wrong major.
I'm going to screw up big timeand I was.
I've said this before on thepodcast.
I was a school person, I wasvery much, and now, as an adult,
I'm like, oh my goodness, I waslooking for such external
validation and I think a lot ofpeople pleasing is coming from
(24:38):
it.
Mak (24:38):
I think that's a huge part
of it and I'm getting the good
grades and it's.
Valerie (24:42):
I'm pleasing.
I'm pleasing to the teacher andI'm doing what I'm told and I'm
you know, oh, how much that goesinto it.
And then you couple that withbeing 18 years old and it's so
much pressure, like you're gonnamake some kind of huge mistake
with your whole life, becausethat's how people are talking.
(25:05):
This is gonna be determiningyour whole life, because that's
how people are talking.
This is going to be determiningyour whole life and you have to
choose this.
It's like, oh, my goodness andI think that a lot of people,
whether or not they even want tomake a profession out of the
arts but maybe there was just adifferent path, maybe there was
(25:26):
just something else that wouldhave been chosen, with a little
bit of a less pressure and alittle bit less of the should
word.
Mak (25:33):
Well, and the thing is is
OK, obviously, not everyone who
wants to sing is going to becomeTaylor Swift, and not everyone
who wants to dance is going toend up on Broadway.
But you never know where that'sgoing to go if you're allowed
to experiment, and that'sexactly what you're saying.
So, okay, you might go to NewYork to try to become a dancer
(25:54):
on Broadway, but you end upmeandering your way into another
job or another profession oranother creative outlet that you
love even more.
And it isn't about fame andfortune, it's just about finding
something that fills you up.
But this left side logicalthinking says nope, you've got
(26:15):
to have it figured out beforeyou start and you got to stick
to the plan.
And if you deviate from theplan, then you're going to fail.
So don't deviate from the plan,Don't be creative, Put your
head down, do the work, get ajob, buy a house, go into debt
and live.
Live that life, because that'swhat everybody else is doing.
(26:38):
That's what everybody else isdoing.
That's the American dream, andwhat we're saying is not so.
If that's you, okay, like I want, let's give some practical
advice here.
If that's you, if you're inthat right now and this is resin
, and it might even be makingyou a little mad.
Then here's here's what I wouldsay it's never too late.
(26:59):
It's never too late to begin toexplore something a tugging
deep down.
I don't care what it isSomething deep down that's a
little creative for you, thatyou've.
You could even just be liketinkering in your garage with
you know, taking apartelectronics, I don't know Just
(27:20):
something that you've alwayswanted to do and mess around
with.
Start doing it.
It's not too late.
Do and mess around with.
Valerie (27:26):
Start doing it.
It's not too late.
The left side is going to shoutand say where's it headed,
Where's it?
Mak (27:34):
headed.
What's the outcome?
Where is all of this going?
What's the strategy?
Oh, that is the big one.
Can you make money?
Can you make money doing this?
Do you have time?
Valerie (27:41):
Right.
Mak (27:42):
Yeah.
Valerie (27:43):
But knowing that that
is going to shout at you because
that's how it's just wired todo, then you can know all right,
I'm retraining myself just togo toward these creative aspects
and try it out, and it doesn'thave to go anywhere.
You don't have to know.
(28:03):
There is no strategy herebecause, just as you said, Mac,
the best stories, the peoplewith the best stories who are
doing really cool things.
That tends to be the story.
Mak (28:14):
Yeah, that never started
out, they're meandering their
way there.
Valerie (28:17):
Exactly how many
podcasts do you listen to of
people who have done really,really cool things in creativity
, in business, in art, inanything, and their story is
this.
So I sat down and I wrote up ahundred page document of exactly
how it was all going to go, andI mapped out that this was
(28:40):
going to be what happened in ayear from now, and then in five
years I'm going to do da, da, da, da, da da.
And then now, here I am, onthis podcast talking about the
thing that I did Never.
Never, ever ever.
Mak (28:51):
Never once, never once in
the history of anything has that
happened.
No, as someone who has writtenmultiple business plans, because
when you want money from a bank, you have to write a business
plan, even though they neverread it and I know they don't,
because I would put things in itthat they would obviously
mention and no one ever readthem.
(29:12):
But a business plan.
When I'm working with a newclient, if they have a business
plan, the first thing I tellthem to do is throw it away,
burn it, get rid of it, becauseyou might miss out on 10 or 12
different opportunities.
You might miss out on 30opportunities.
That would be explosive growthfor your business because it
(29:36):
wasn't part of the plan.
Because we've been taught thatwe need to stay inside the lane
that's cool and stick with theplan and the plan.
You.
You need to, in your life, befully capable and willing to
pivot at any moment and embracethe pivot.
It might feel difficult orweird for a moment or two, but
(30:01):
embrace it.
And if you so, if you are, ifyou are running a business right
now or whatever, and you have abusiness, there's nothing wrong
with having goals and havingframeworks and systems.
Those are all good things thatare needed, but if you have like
a five or ten year plan, I'dget rid of it because you never
know where you're gonna go.
Valerie (30:23):
And this just goes back
to school again.
There is that very defined pathin school and getting good
grades and there is no room forfailure, there's no room for
experimentation, there's nowiggle room there at all.
But is that how we as humanbeings are designed?
(30:45):
And the answer is no.
And if we think about, like wewere saying, the stories of the
people who have done thesereally amazing things and really
creative things, even ifsomebody says, hey, I knew, like
I always just wanted to dance,or I always just knew I wanted
(31:05):
to do that, I still guaranteethe way they got there looked
differently than what theyexpected and it had the twists
and turns.
And, exactly like you said, wewon't see the opportunities that
are there if we are so laserfocused on an outcome.
Laser focused on an outcome.
(31:31):
There could be 10 differentoptions here to go down.
That could be.
That could lead to a veryfulfilling life but we get stuck
.
Mak (31:37):
You can see a microcosm of
this almost every time you watch
beat bobby flay, which you know.
I'm a big fan of that show and Ithink I'm a big fan of it for
this reason, because a lot oftimes, bobby himself, the chefs
who are on there, bobby himselfthey're going to say this is
what I'm going to do, and then,oh, they burnt the onions, or
(31:59):
the oven wasn't hot enough, orthe ingredient was missing, or
they forgot to do this, or thesalt was too much, and they have
to on the fly because they onlyhave 40 minutes, in some cases
20 minutes, to correct.
Now imagine if they had a planand they said yep, no, I'm going
(32:20):
to, I'm making tacos and that'swhat I'm doing, even though I
don't have any tortilla shells.
And so they go back to thebeginning and they start making
tortilla shells with threeminutes left.
It wouldn't work and I haveseen it happen so many times
where Bobby is literallychanging the entire dish within
seven minutes of the bell goingoff wins, because he's not rigid
(32:44):
.
He understands that he's got tobe creatively flexible in the
moment in order to get theoutcome, and the outcome could
be 180 degrees away from wherehe started, and that's how you
want to live.
That's how you want to liveyour life as a creative.
Valerie (33:03):
And exercising just
your creativity in general helps
you be that way.
That's something that I amconstantly preaching is that
having any type of art form orbeing in just the creation
process making something, baking, gardening, painting, any of
(33:27):
that it will actually teach youon this smaller level how to let
go, how to be flexible.
If you are able to not fear ablank page and you're not afraid
of making a mess on a blanksheet, then you can take that
into your greater life, becausethat skill is a skill that is
(33:50):
going to get you.
Mak (33:51):
so so far, I just heard a
great interview with Jerry
Seinfeld and he said there's nosuch thing as writer's block.
He said all there is is someonewho is scared and afraid to
make a mess.
He goes writer's block is not athing.
(34:11):
He's like you're just afraid tofail, you're afraid to look
like an idiot, you're afraid tobe stupid.
And he said but you're going tobe stupid, you're going to fail
, you're going to look like anidiot, but you just write and
you write and you write Untilyou're no longer afraid.
There's no fear of the blankpage anymore when you get over
(34:32):
the mess, when you get overneeding to have a plan or
needing to know the outcomebefore you begin.
Some of the best stuff that I'veever created had nothing to do
do with I was starting in onepoint and got to another point
and it was way better thananything I could have dreamed up
(34:53):
at the beginning.
And that's that's I.
That's like every every billyjoel talking about writing new
york state of mind.
He wrote it in what?
15 minutes or something.
That's not.
He didn't sit down with a planto write this epic song.
That would be like careerdefining.
He just was in the moment andhe wrote something.
Valerie (35:12):
I think it's really
cool that how we often do one
thing is how we do everything.
So it's easy to write thesethings off, these practices,
these creative ways of being.
But it all is a muscle.
It's all associated to acreative muscle.
We've said before, business iscreative.
(35:35):
The more we can infuseeverything we do with this
mindset of make a mess, not betied to the outcome.
Let's see where it leads, let'sbe flexible.
What you're going to end updoing is you're going to trust
yourself.
You're going to realize, oh, Ican make a mess and survive.
I can take those pieces, I canturn it into something else.
(35:59):
Or if it goes in the trash,it's okay, I can try again
tomorrow.
If you look like an idiot, it'sokay.
You know, this is part of thejourney.
The more you exercise thatmuscle, even in small ways, it
will change your life, and Iwill shout that from the
rooftops.
Painting, creating thesecreative things not only will
(36:22):
heal you and, as Martha Begg, wetalked about beyond anxiety
will show.
That is a toggle that willsilence the anxiety part of us,
but it also becomes a trainingground for life.
We are built that way, we aremade that way.
So if you have had a tug onyour heart to try something.
(36:44):
We just want to encourage youthat go for it.
That is what's real.
It's not what everybody else isdoing.
It is not what culture issaying.
It's not what society is saying.
It is you trusting yourself andwe want to give you the
permission slip that you aremade to create.
You are made to be creative.
That is what is to be trusted,not the shoulds, not the.
(37:08):
Go to school, get a job, get adegree, get a how da, da, da da,
like all that stuff that is, ifyou're feeling like there's
something in your body sayingthis feels true for you, it's
because it is, and you get totrust that.
Mak (37:23):
So do that today.
If it's a little step, take alittle step forward.
Take a little step forward.
And if you're someone who is ina creative industry and you've
been holding back, now's thetime to let go.
You have permission.
Say the weird thing, do theweird thing, make the mess.
Don't worry about looking likean idiot, because everyone will
(37:44):
forget about it five secondsafter it's over.
They about looking like anidiot because everyone will
forget about it Five secondsafter it's over.
They're going to move on to thenext thing.
Just do it.
Just go for it.
Just start.
Please, just do it.
Valerie (37:54):
The trade-off here is
you in your power and in your
magic, and we truly believe thatevery single human being has
that unique flavor of magic anda spark that only you have.
And you tapping into that, youtapping into that light within
you and cultivating safetyaround, doing that at a true
(38:20):
bodily level, especially if wehave all of this conditioning on
us to not be that way.
But the more you do it, themore you cultivate that safety
around it, and then the morecomes from it, the more you will
start to feel like you.
I'm always saying what I'mdoing isn't teaching people how
to paint, I'm teaching them howto come home to themselves and
(38:42):
their creativity and their magicand their fire.
And their creativity and theirmagic and their fire.
And from that place there's notelling what is going to happen.
And it's you living lit up, youliving unstuck.
Mak (38:56):
Versus doing what everybody
else is doing and walking
through life like a zombie.
Right, don't do it anymore.
Valerie (39:02):
So if you're hearing
yourself say should, if you're
looking at everybody else andsaying, well, this is the norm,
norm does not mean right, sowe'll leave you with that.
Thank you so much for beinghere and listening to the
Unbound Creative.
If this episode spoke to you,if it really helped you, we
would be so thrilled if youwould leave us a review that
(39:25):
really, really helps us, thathelps other creatives find this
podcast.
Subscribe too.
That would be so thrilled ifyou would leave us a review that
really, really helps us, thathelps other creatives find this
podcast subscribe too.
That would be a big uh big help,we would appreciate it because
we're still at the baby stagesof of this and we're doing
things messy right alongsideeverybody with this podcast is
not perfect, but we don't care,we're just plugging away yeah,
(39:45):
so we really appreciate yousticking with us and listening,
and we'll see you next time.
Bye-bye, bye.