Episode 87: Dreams and Creativity with Musician, Poet & Psychotherapist Linus Streckfus

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 shares several selections from it. 

For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to pay attention to your dreams, and to record them if possible in a dream journal or voice memo, and then to practice holding the images you receive as you move about your daily life to see what it inspires for you – perhaps a song or creative work!

Credits: The Syncreate podcast is created and hosted by Melinda Rothouse, and produced at Record ATX studios with in collaboration Michael Osborne and 14th Street Studios in Austin, Texas. Syncreate logo design by Dreux Carpenter.

If you enjoy this episode and want to learn more about the creative process, you might also like our conversations in Episode 9: Music and Psychology: "The Pocket" Experience with Dr. Jeff Mims, Episode 10: Imagination and Creativity with Psychologist and Creativity Coach Dr. Diana Rivera, and Episode 42: Creativity & Depth Psychology with Jennifer Leigh Selig. 

At Syncreate, we're here to support your creative endeavors. If you have an idea for a project or a new venture, and you’re not sure how to get it off the ground, find us at syncreate.org. Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools, and coaching, including a monthly creativity coaching group, to help you bring your work to the world. You can find more information on our website, where you can also find all of our podcast episodes. Find and connect with us on social media and YouTube under Syncreate. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review!

Episode-specific hyperlinks: 

Linus Streckfus on LinkedIn

A Little Book of Loteria Riddles on Poshmark

Linus’ Psychology Today Profile

Find A Little Book of Loteria Riddles at ATown Boutique

Show / permanent hyperlinks: 

The Syncreate Podcast

Syncreate Website

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Melinda Rothouse Website

Melinda Joy Music Website

Transcript

Melinda: Creativity and community are absolutely vital in challenging times. Welcome to Syncreate, a show where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology and spirituality. We believe everyone has the capacity to create. Our goal is to demystify the process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative. We talk with visionaries and change makers, and everyday creatives working in a wide range of fields and media - from the arts to science, business and technology.

We aim to illuminate the creative process - from imagination to innovation and everything in between. I'm Melinda Rothouse, and I help individuals and organizations bring their dreams and visions to life. At Syncreate, we’re here to support your creative endeavors, whatever that might look like. So if you have an idea for a project or a new venture, maybe a business idea or a creative work, and you're not quite sure how to get it off the ground, reach out to us at syncreate.org.

Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools and coaching to help bring your work to the world, including a monthly coaching group that happens the fourth Sunday of every month. So, check out the website for more details there. 

We would also love to get your feedback on the show. Whether you have ideas for episodes or guests, or just want to reach out to us based on some of the Pro Tips we share at the end of the episodes, and share your own creations with us, we’d love to hear from you, so please get in touch. 

So, my guest today is Linus Streckfus. He's a native Texan, a poet, musician, mental wellness advocate, counselor and psychotherapist, right here in Austin, Texas. He is also the author of A Little Book of Loteria Riddles, which we'll be talking about a little later in the show. And so, our focus today is about the connection between creativity, dreams and imagery, and how that shows up in both of our songwriting efforts and so on. So, enjoy. So, Linus, welcome to the show. 

Linus: Yeah. Thanks for having me, Melinda. It's really kind of a joy to be able to come here and to talk about dreams, creativity, the unconscious. 

Melinda: Yes. 

Linus: I love talking about this stuff. 

Melinda: Yeah. It's great. And so, you know, we've only met, I don't know, a while back - a year or two - I’ve lost track of the time. But you're a psychotherapist here in Austin, as well as a musician, and a poet. And every time we get together, we just have these really interesting and deep, and sort of like, rambling conversations about all of - 

Linus: All that. (Laughter) 

Melinda: - all of these topics that you just mentioned. And so, in some of our more recent conversations, we've been talking about dreams and how dreams relate to creativity. And we're both songwriters. And so, we've been kind of chatting about how our songwriting is influenced by our dreams. And I personally have been receiving probably most of my song ideas in the last year or two from dreams. Or that time around sleep. 

Linus: Fascinating. 

Melinda: Like that hypnagogic state, right? Like falling asleep, waking up, during a dream. Which for me is a really different way of going about things. And I know you're working on a collection of songs that is, at least in part, inspired by your dreams. So, I'm kind of curious, I don't know, just to start off, how did that come about? Have you always gotten ideas for songs from dreams, or is that a newer phenomenon for you? 

Linus: Well, dreams have always kind of been there as an influence. As a creative, as an artist. And it's kind of hard to draw up an explanation or a justification. It's just kind of like, second nature to me. Just to be interested in that kind of material, that part of my experience. What comes up in my imagination and in my sleep. And so, those things find their way into my songwriting. But recently, I think it's been a little bit more of a program maybe. 

Melinda: Yeah. How so? 

Linus: Well, a little bit more… well, I'm becoming more interested in working with that type of material that comes up in that state and that - well, you know, when we're asleep, and our consciousness isn't working as it does in the everyday world, and yet, there's some kind of light that's shining in that dark of our sleep, and we're having experiences, with sensations, and we wake up and, you know, “What was that?” And it kind of gives an opportunity to express or put it into images or language. But I'm one of those people who, the more intensely my musical activity gets in my everyday waking life, the more it will appear in my dream life. 

So, there’s a little bit of carryover. And so, like, you were describing, your own process - the songs that you write that come during that window of time, maybe right before sleeping or maybe from a dream or upon waking up - yeah, that’s been happening with me. And so, it's an opportunity, I guess, to really just kind of lean in and try to make a different kind of thing that's a little less - that's a little more open. A little less results directed. I'm not sure what it’s going to be. 

Melinda: Exactly. 

Linus: But there's something there. There's something there that I want to play with. So, yeah. So, I have to kind of process it. 

Melinda: Yeah. I was thinking the same thing because, you know, I've written lyrics and poetry ever since I was a kid. And there's an intentionality around that, right? You're trying to convey something in words and maybe you're trying to rhyme it, maybe you’re not. But there's some sense of craft that's going into it. And then I would like take the lyrics and you know, often put it to some kind of music. Whether it's a bass line or I have a melody or something. But the songs that come in the dream life, they have a totally different quality to them. 

It's like the executive functioning mind is less in charge or maybe not at all in charge. And, as you said, it's coming more from the unconscious. And so, I'll just receive these snippets. It's like I'm hearing something on the radio. A melody, maybe some words. I don't know what it means. Sometimes it's in the context of an actual dream. 

I had one where I was walking in this market in a foreign country with some folks, and there was a musician playing, and she was singing this tune. And then, that's how I received this little snippet. Kind of the refrain of the song. But other times, if I'm just in bed and kind of falling asleep, sometimes I'll just hear something. It’s almost like I'm listening to the radio. It doesn't feel like it's coming from me, you know? And those just have a very different quality to them because they are more free, I guess, as you said. 

Linus: Yeah. More free. There's a little bit more mystery. There's a chance to be kind of curious about the piece, the thing. I can so relate to the part about, you know, you said you had this dream that someone was singing in the market and you kind of came up with this refrain. It kind of stuck with you. Yeah. I had that same type of experience a couple of weeks ago, and it was a positive dream, which was another kind of factor in, do I want to work with this? And create something from it. I'm more likely to - even though, sometimes when there's a dream that didn't feel so good, sometimes there's something important in there that's worth looking into. 

But, this particular dream, it was a positive dream. And, so I woke up and I had the refrain, and so, I grabbed for my phone. It was kind of nearby. I just kind of started to sing it into my phone because I was like, “I gotta catch this. I really want to catch this. It just feels kind of good. It's staying with me. I'm going to catch this.” And so I caught it. And then I kind of was lying there with it for a while. And then, I was up maybe an hour later and I was like, “Okay. It’s still there. I’m still kind of feeling it.” So I grab my guitar and I'm like, "I'm going to try to play. What is this refrain?” So I was playing like a little passage. It just kind of clicked. I was playing like, three times. And so, I guess it wasn't maybe until later in the day when I had a little more time where I kind of would try to develop it a little more. And just kind of put the two together, put the refrain with the music. 

So now, I kind of went in stages. So now, I'm like, maybe at stage four. Which it's developing a little further. I can kind of add a little more to it. And so that's another process of how do I add material to this? I have the refrain. So what do I do to find words for this? So, that's kind of where I'm at now. But it's very fun. It's very fun but very challenging. It’s very challenging. 

Melinda: It is. And you have to like, pay attention. So, I hear so many people say, “Well, I don't dream or…” Of course, we all dream on some level, but a lot of people don't remember their dreams. And of course, there's certain techniques for priming yourself to remember your dreams. Like keeping a little notebook by your bed and as soon as you wake up from a dream, writing it down. The more you do it, the more you're likely to remember, and so on. 

Linus: Yeah. I hear you. I mean, my intention is to encourage people to be curious about their dreams. I mean, dreaming is something that we all do, and it's everyday creativity. We don't all have access to our dreams. And some of us, we feel like we have too much access to our dreams. (Laughter) Right? 

Melinda: Right. Maybe. And maybe they're unsettling or whatever - 

Linus: Maybe they're unsettling. And we try to - there's ways to catch it. And writing is probably the easiest way to work with dream material. Writing or speaking it, dictating it, speaking it, catching it, somehow recording, putting it into language. And then yet, when we put it into language, we kind of lose something. We lose sight of the thing, of the experience. But we start to kind of, transform it just a bit so that we can work with it in our everyday life. 

Melinda: Like, there's an ephemerality about - there's like, a multi-dimensionality - but also an ephemerality about dreams. And right. You’re saying, where it's like, we’re almost taking it from three dimensions and putting it into two dimensions when we try to write it down. So like, something is lost, but then it also becomes more concrete.

Linus: It becomes a thing. It becomes a thing. Yeah, yeah. And that's kind of a language process. Seems like, to me. But dreams… images, imagery. Imagery is really - besides just sensations and the experiences - imagery is a really big part of it. The imagery kind of precedes the language. Even though, you know, things are said in our dreams. Language kinds of phenomena, kind of happen. You know, and sometimes it's not until writing it down that things will kind of like, click for us. And it's a curious, playful thing. I'm thinking of - actually, I will share a bit of my own personal life. 

Melinda: Yeah, please. 

Linus: I had a dream… there was two men on the phone talking, and one of the men was speaking in the voice of someone I actually know. And his name is Baldomero. Actually, he was in College Station, but the other man on the phone with him appeared later in the dream. He was sitting at a cafe, and he had a hat with a really interesting headband on it, and it was kind of an interesting - I thought it was kind of a curious hat. It kind of gave him a, kind of an authority to him, sitting there at the cafe. The dream kind of ended. But, I often try to bridge and I encourage this, besides, writing down dreams - is to try to find maybe a way to kind of bridge, hold the contents of a dream, and try to play and bring them into your everyday experience. 

So, I had just been mindful of that image of that hat, and just kind of keeping an eye out for maybe something in my everyday waking life that might kind of remind me of that. Or maybe I'm curious at the shop and maybe I’ll browse hats a little bit, and just kind of see what happens. You know, just to kind of pursue it a little bit. That's one kind of way of bridging. But I also was writing it down, and when I was writing it down, I was recording that the man's voice sounded like Baldomero, and then I was remembering – Baldomero’s – his nickname’s - Baldy. 

And so then, it was cracking me up because there seemed to be this kind of playful, kind of correspondence between, Baldy (the word bald), which, you know, is kind of a hairless head, and then a hat covering a hairless head. So there started to be this kind of interesting, funny kind of correspondence. And it’s kind of curious, kind of funny, but sometimes it can be like that. Investigating dreams in terms of language and thought. There’s like a pun-like quality. It starts to kind of surface, in the dream journal. So, yeah. It's kind of a funny thing. 

Melinda: Yeah. It is. And it's making me think about - I've had a couple dreams recently or relatively recently where, you know, the dream itself was like quite involved. And it was some sort of interpersonal situation involving somebody in my life. You know, different people in different dreams, but where, I was kind of watching this play out. One, it was like very cinematic, and in a certain way it was like quite vivid. And I think I mentioned this particular dream to you before where, you know, the events of the dream were quite shocking and upsetting. 

And I woke up and I was just like, message received. And this happened again recently with a different dream, different person. But it was like my unconscious was trying to tell me something about this relationship or about this person or, you know, whatever it was. And even though the details of the dreams kind of fade - and this recent one, I couldn't even - I know the person that was involved, I don't remember anything about the situation - but I just remember waking up and going, “Message received. I know a way forward here.” It’s so interesting. 

Linus: Yeah. It seems like there's almost kind of a visceral kind of quality upon waking. And it seems that there can be something in - I mean, it's kind of like, a timeless kind of theme about dreams and dreaming. It goes way, way, way, way, way back. You know, this first kind of recorded writings about dreams. Where the dreams come from? And, you know, all dreams they come from, the gods. Or they come from - kind of modern way would say, the conscience, - can kind of surface. And the dream, and we get the message, and that there's kind of almost like a corrective possibility there if we heed the messages from dreams. 

So, there's that. There’s always kind of been that - it seems like that's a very timeless kind of attitude to take about the importance of dreams, paying attention to dreams. And I like those stories because they highlight that there’s something really vital in this happening in dreams. And they're worth paying attention to, and that we really can, in a way, wake up to something that's happening. From us, within us, that's really important to our lives. 

And that can bring a lot of meaning. But what I'm struck by your story is this sense of clarity. You woke up with this clarity. “Oh! Okay.” And it seems that you had a sense that the interactions in the dream were about your everyday waking life, possibly, or that you knew what it was about. You knew what it was about. 

Melinda: Or like an archetypal - a magnified archetype version of everyday life. 

Linus: Yeah, yeah. You know, the way that I try to kind of - user-friendly, the idea of the archetypes in dreams. Because, you know, it's a kind of a technical, kind of conceptual, theoretical kind of construct, but it's just that the people and the characters, and the types that come up in your dreams, they're not always who you think they are. And you have to be open. You have to be open to looking a little deeper. You know, just because, Baldomero’s voice appeared in my dream, doesn’t mean this is about Baldomero. 

Melinda: No. Yeah. So, just to offer a little context to that, you know, there's a lot of different theories out there about dreams and what they mean or what they don't mean, and whether it's just, you know, processing the events of the day. Or whether they're just a physiological way of parsing what's happening in our mind or whatever. But of course, we both kind of follow, I think, safe to say, a more kind of Jungian view of this, where there is a significance of dreams and these archetypes. These images are related to our creativity. And they do carry some sort of meaning potentially. They have something useful to tell us, right? 

Linus: Yeah. Something useful to tell us. Something about our lives. Something about what our lives might become. Something about the energy. The energy that's within, that we might not be in touch with. 

Melinda: Yes. So, in your work as a psychotherapist, you also work with clients with their dreams. And I think you've already shared kind of some tips and suggestions if people are interested in working with their dreams. But, I don't know. I'm curious to hear just a little bit more about that process of, like, how might you go about working with a client who maybe brings up, “Oh, I had this dream…”? 

Linus: Yeah. Well, generally, I really want to encourage ways of working with dreams. Sharing the dream is pretty basic, but who do you share the dream with? Who do you share the dream with? And you might share the dream with a therapist. You might share the dream with an intimate other. You might really find something out about each other that you weren't aware of. Maybe that you didn't want to be aware of. (Laughter) Because there's possibly TMI involved. So sharing dreams is really important. Who do you share the dream with? Who do you share the dream with? Now, I really don't want to get into how do I work with dreams as a psychotherapist in the consulting room? There’s an art to it. There's a craft. And it can get kind of clinical, you know. But my purpose and my intention, in talking about dreams here is about dreams and everyday creativity. And sharing the dream. 

And I definitely think sharing the dream with a close other/a therapist is a really great way to kind of unlock the creative energy. That's the present there in our dreams. But it's working with dreams, sharing the dream, but also holding on to the - recording the dream - holding on to the dream, and then bridging somehow what you take from the dream experience into your everyday world. So, those are the really basic ways that I want to talk about today - encourage people to consider in their dream lives rather than the, you know - 

Melinda: The clinical side. 

Linus: Well, rather than what you do in your therapy - with your therapist - because there are different approaches. 

Melinda: Of course. Right. And everyone is different. Every therapist is different. 

Linus: Yeah. And for the really curious, especially around Jung (Carl Jung). Jung left a kind of a mammoth record of his own dreams and his own dream work. (Laughter) And, sometimes folks think, “Well, I've got to go all in and be like Carl Jung with my dreams.” But not everyone is called to have that kind of a relationship with their dream life. But, certainly, dreams, there’s something for everyone. And this part of life, it's really important, I think. And so, I just wonder if it's something that dreaming becomes so esoteric that it's something that people kind of get turned off to and kind of forget just the everyday magic of having a dream. You know? 

Melinda: It's like a gift in a way. Like, having a dream and remembering a dream. And from a creative perspective, it can be, like we've been talking about, just a sort of unexpected source of inspiration, right? That just kind of appears. 

Linus: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, the more that you open yourself up to that type of inspiration and that type of imaginative play - it’s like, developing your own mind in a way. It’s really - you’re developing a kind of thinking. It's a kind of a reflective type of thinking that's really useful. Really useful as a creative, especially. As someone who does creative work. Yeah. 

Melinda: So, the songs that you're working on, this kind of new collection - we’ve been talking about we're both kind of in the songwriting/recording mode. But, are there any in particular that come to mind that you might like to share that you've been working on, or just something about the process of that? 

Linus: Mmm-hmm. Well, I found myself writing a little bit of commentary on dreams. It really wasn't recently. It wasn't directly something that came from a dream. The other song I was telling you about, which the refrain was, “You do it well…” By the way. “You do it well.” So, I've had to kind of deconstruct and really kind of micromanage, that phrase to pick out, what is this about? You know, it seems pretty obvious, right? (Laughter) Seems pretty obvious. But yeah, as creatives, we kind of have to thoroughly process the material and really, like, parse it out. “What else could this be?” 

I've got to kind of, you know, create more content from this. But so there’s that type of song. But recently I found myself writing lyrics that was more a commentary on dreaming. It was something about having a dream and not being sure if it was your dream. Having a dream and being like, was this my dream or was this your dream? It was that kind of a thing. And that was kind of a fun, kind of place to go in this song. The song's about a relationship. Song is about relationship. So, you know. 

Melinda: Sure. They often are. (Laughter) 

Linus: Yeah. Most of them probably are. 

Melinda: But that thing about, like, is it my dream or someone else’s? 

Linus: I think it came from your mind. Right? Wait, whose mind did this dream come from? 

Melinda: Well, that happened with us one time because we were having a conversation about dreams. And you were talking about your mother. And, you know, both of our mothers have passed at this point, mine more recently. And you were talking about your mom and her kind of religious devotion, this and that. And then, you know, my mom had recently passed. She wasn't religious at all. But then, subsequent to that, within the next day or two, I had a dream where I was on a road trip with my mom, and then in tandem with my dad and stepmother, and my mom wanted to stop and go into this church, which would have been very unlike her. But I felt distinctly like my dream was influenced by our conversation. 

Linus: Yeah. We get influenced by one another. And some of that material gets stirred up and then we have a dream and it's kind of a reflection on our waking life experience. But there’s much to be said about that, about dreams… where do they come from and the personal or the transpersonal, or the pre-personal aspects of dreams. Which it's all there. It must be. And with Carl Jung, you know, the collective unconscious, and the archetypes. So, there's this idea, this kind of communal storehouse of experiences and images that are available to our dreaming selves. 

So, and then even in - from a psycho (I guess) analytic perspective, psychotherapy perspective - there’s the whole, I guess you could say, phenomena of influence of therapy on dreaming. Where it gets feedback or there becomes a feedback loop, where it goes back into the therapy. 

And so, that becomes, more material to develop. So, a lot can be said about that quality to dream material that seems to not always be so personal. And yet, when we work with it and create meaning out of it, we're integrating it. We're integrating into our own experience. 

Melinda: Yes. Yeah. It’s making me think - I just submitted this article for revision to an academic journal, which I think I told you about and it ended up being you know, this like huge process that took me like a year and a half. I finally finished it. 

Linus: I know about long processes. 

Melinda: It got accepted by the way. 

Linus: Awesome! That’s great. Congrats! 

Melinda: Accepted with no further revisions.

Linus: Good for you. 

Melinda: But it was about the role of creativity and meaning in psychological development across the lifespan. So, just a little topic. But what you're saying makes me think about, you know, the more that we self-reflect, the more we work with our dreams (but work with any sort of experiences in our lives - whether we journal, whether we express that artistically in some way), it’s like, expanding the sphere of our being-ness. It’s enlivening. About becoming. 

Linus: Dreams are about becoming. 

Melinda: About becoming.

Linus: Yeah, becoming. Dreams are about becoming. But that's so elusive though. It is so elusive because it's as if - dreams are active and passive, you know. They’re both.. We’re listening. But there's an aspect sometimes it seems like we're speaking, but what is speaking through us in dreams? But dreams are going forwards and backwards at the same time, it seems like sometimes, from some center. And we work with it and then something will click. Something will click. And then it’s as if some new development can kind of unfold from going there. 

Melinda: Yeah. And important to note, also from a Jungian perspective, when we dream about other people like your friend that you mentioned, it's not necessarily about that person. From a Jungian perspective, everything in the dream, every person, every setting, every situation, every feeling is an aspect of ourselves, right? 

Linus: Yeah. That’s kind of a - it’s a very kind of Jungian way to look at it. And I think that’s a really useful way to look at it and it’s challenging. It can be challenging. It can be really challenging. Because there's things we encounter in our dream life that can seem so alien. And so frightening or foreign. That we don't see that there's an opportunity to understand something about ourselves. 

Melinda: Right. When that gets into the idea of the shadow, I think also. 

Linus: With Jungian work, you can consider the shadow. And there's Jungian thinkers, like James Hillman, for instance, who elaborates about the underworld of dreams. The underworld of dreams. And that the dreams are really otherworldly. And we contain these multitudes within us. That, you know, it's coming from our dreaming experience. And yet, you know, the people sometimes that we encounter in dreams are like the shades. The shades maybe are described from Hades in Greek mythology. 

So, I think that James Hillman is really interesting that he kind of develops how there is a kind of, an otherworldly, non-personal, non-mind, aspect to dreams that's kind of a little bit more on the extreme. But what you were talking about - the different figures that come up in dreams, being aspects of ourselves is a very constructive, productive way to work with the material to reflect on oneself for what's happening for one's life. 

Melinda: Yeah, definitely. And like, again, what is the appearance of this person in a dream (in my dream), what is that telling or revealing about my experience? Or how I'm - maybe not what’s happening with the other person, but how I'm relating with that other person or what that person perhaps represents within my psyche. Right? 

Linus: Gives a lot to reflect on. A lot to reflect on, to consider. What's happening in our everyday interactions? And it's almost as if, sometimes we get access to the knowledge that we didn't know we had. About ourselves and about our lives. “Oh, yeah. Well, I might have a dream on an old friend named Lucy.” You know, but when I'm recording the dream, I'm laughing because, “Oh, Linus and Lucy.” (Laughter) My name is Linus. Is this some kind of a weird joke about, you know, a Peanuts reference in my dream? But then, you know, consider, “Well, is this about my old friend Lucy?” Or maybe, playing with the meanings again. 

Lucy, you know… what is Lucy? Lucy. What does Lucy mean? Lucy means light. Is this something about light? You know, so, you can see how creatives, artists can really get a flow going with dreams. Playing with the images, the people, the language, and being open to imagining, what is this? What is this? What might this be about? And just not knowing. 

Melinda: Right. And that idea of the becoming because, you know, creativity is connected to associative thinking. Making connections between seemingly unrelated things. So there's like, you know, unlimited potential there. Like, just what you said - Lucy, what does that represent? What does that mean? What's the etymology of the word? There's so many places you could go with that. 

Linus: Exploring. You get to explore. And you get to engage in reflective thinking. Reflective thinking. Which is a really great faculty of the mind to work with. That dreamscape, that opportunity. Yeah, yeah. 

Melinda: So, I want to make sure we also have time - you mentioned that we contain multitudes and you're also a poet. 

Linus: (Laughter) Yeah. 

Melinda: And you have this lovely book that you've composed. 

Linus: Yeah. The Loteria riddles. (Laughter) 

Melinda: The Loteria riddles. A Little Book of Loteria Riddles. 

Linus: I too have written Loteria riddles. 

Melinda: Tell us a little bit about that. 

Linus: Oh, gosh. A fun project. A fun project. I was working on it for quite a while. It was kind of a bit of a pastime for me. Finding the form of these poems wasn’t an exploration. But it was inspired by, I guess what you might call a folk art tradition. I guess it kind of depends on who you talk to, but Loteria is a kind of a popular tradition from Mexico. That does cross the border, of course. And it's very popular here in Texas. And we've become really familiar with the imagery and the icons of Loteria. There's a series of cards, and it’s a game that’s played, and there are traditions to playing this game. And the traditions go back a very long ways. 

But, the form of the game that we have these days was kind of from a manufactured version of the game. The imagery became very popular. But the series of cards, I used those cards to compose poems. And it started as just kind of a creative writing exercise, and turned into a journey of composing a full-length work. So, yeah. So I composed one poem for each card. And this isn't really an incredibly original, innovative thing to do. People are doing this all over the country. Writing poems based on Loteria cards, and it's a great thing to do. 

Melinda: Sure, sure. It's an awesome creative prompt, right? Because, you know, in creativity it’s helpful to have some kind of structure, right? So you have an image from one of these cards and you write - and in this case, a sort of a riddle or a short poem somehow inspired by that card. 

Linus: Yeah. There is a kind of, maybe a riddle tradition. They’re called dichos. Refranes. Sayings that go with the card. This is part the folk art tradition, I guess you could say. Someone’s a caller. You draw the card and you say the little saying. And then the players will mark it on the game board. And you're going for patterns on your game board. But, yeah, there's a tradition to that. It took me a while to come around to that because, actually the pieces began as longer poems. As longer poems. Like little mini episodes. 

And, over the course of time, as I kind of distilled them down, kind of whipped them into more shape, there was something else - maybe in the spirit, maybe in the spirit of the game - the game itself. It was about creating a little riddle or little saying or a funny little verse. But that's what they became. They started to kind of follow more of the traditional type of approach to pairing verses with the imagery. 

Melinda: Yeah. And the poems themselves - your poems - are sort of reflective and existential, but also kind of humorous, right? 

Linus: Yeah. Humor is important. It has to be. There's kind of a lightness to it. These are riddles. There has to be kind of an aspect of fun. I mean, after all, Loteria is a game. It’s a game. So, yeah, I did try to write humor into it. 

Melinda: Would you share a couple of them with us? 

Linus: Okay. I could do that. 

Melinda: Do you have some favorites? 

Linus: I will just choose them at random. 

Melinda: At random? Okay, good. Perfect. (Laughter) Even better. Let's see what arises. 

Linus: I will choose at random. 

Melinda: I feel like we're about to experience magic trick here. (Laughter) 

Linus: Right? There’s that quality to it. There's that quality of enchantment to it. 

Melinda: Yes, totally. 

Linus: It can be very fun. Okay. Okay, so I'm just paging here. Okay. So I've come to El Borracho. (Laughter) “I tried to drink her, like trying to drink a river.” 

Melinda: There you go. And El Borracho is the drunk, right? 

Linus: The drunk one. (Laughter) So, yeah. 

Melinda: I love it. 

Linus: On another one. Or wait, actually, to truly do a random, I have to not know if it's front or back. I can't know if it’s front or back, you know. Okay. Same one. (Laughter) 

Melinda: Well, there’s the same here. 

Linus: Same one. Okay. Okay. La Chalupa. 

Melinda: La Chalupa. Okay. 

Linus: ”Your voice, silver and well, gathers me fruit and flower, on a little boat, like a little shell.” 

Melinda: Beautiful. 

Linus: And then we'll do one more.

Melinda: Yes. 

Linus: El Diablito. 

Melinda: Ooh! The little devil. 

Linus: “Dance with the devil, less than me. Then whip me with a blessing.”

Melinda: Ooh! What I love about these is that speaking of containing multitudes, like, they're so short and yet, they contain so much. It's almost like each one is a little world unto itself. And where could you even go with that? You know, it's kind of making me think, one could even use these poems as prompts or jumping off points for their own creative exploration in a way. 

Linus: Yeah. That’s praise. Because, I think that's the objective of poetry, to kind of spark the imagination. And it's not really trying to be high-art poetry, even though the level of processing I did was - I probably labored over a bit more than just coming up with a coming up with a light, lyrical riddle. But even in the traditional refranes or the dichos, they spin all kinds of things in from the imagination. All kinds of things. And the rhythm that's used in the language, and the rhyming that's used in the language, it can be “It is what it is”, or you can really look a little further, and dig a little deeper, and hold it in your imagination a little longer, and see what else you get. 

So, yeah. It was really fun to work with imagery in this way. Writing based on a very focused image because of the card. Each present a singular image. And then, of course, all kinds of associations will flood into the mind and you have to kind of have a sense of where are you, - where are you coming from? 

Melinda: And how are you connecting to this particular image? And what do you see there and what does it spark for you? 

Linus: And, yeah. Creating meaning for yourself, but also, as a creative, as an artist, part of my objective is to create something that has an unopened quality to it, so that the reader can kind of complete it with their own imagination. So, there's a kind of a participation that's being offered. Hopefully. But thanks for those kind words about the work. I'm glad you enjoyed it. 

Melinda: Yes. Of course. And I understand that you have a slightly, kind of updated, revised version of the book that's now available in hardcover. 

Linus: This first version that I’ve given you a copy of is kind of a signed, numbered version that was kind of a first - 

Melinda: (Laughter) A collector's item. 

Linus: Yeah. If you want to call it a collector's item, sure. So, I made just, you know, just a few at first. So, now that the work's been out there and I've had more readers, and it's kind of landed, I'm publishing now a hardcover version. It's all the same. There's a couple of tweaks. There’s a couple tweaks. You know, as artists and creators, we always kind of engage with the process. So I changed La Sirena, for instance. La Sirena. I had to redo La Sirena because I realized I didn't even get the tail in there. I didn't get the tail in there. 

Now, come on, how fun is a mermaid without the tail? (Laughter) I was like, “I've got to get the tail in there.” So, I kind of had to retouch that one, of course. Of course, the tail is at the very end. And there was a couple other ones I had to retouch. I couldn't quite get the El Bandolón right. Which is the little stringed instrument. Probably because I get kind of attached to my own stringed instrument. I kind of think I ironed that one out. So, there was a couple little tweaks, but yeah, we'll see where that one's going to be, here in Austin. Maybe - I'd like to have it at the library bookstore. We'll see. 

Melinda: Yeah. Well, we're kind of getting to the end of our time, and I usually like to end each episode with what I call a Creativity Pro Tip, which is something that, listeners/watchers can sort of take with them and run with and try out on their own. So, we've talked about a lot of different possibilities for kind of creative prompts, working with dreams or working with images. But, you know, for those who might be interested in exploring this connection between creativity, dreams, imagery, what's a practice that they could quickly engage with and experiment with? 

Linus: Holding the image.

Melinda: Yeah. 

Linus: Holding the image, and how long can you hold the image in an intentional way? Just being aware, just having active in your imagination while you're in your everyday life and spotting, spotting any kind of correspondences. And just and just keeping it active in your imagination. See what that brings. See what that brings. How the work might develop for you as you hold the image. 

Melinda: Yeah, I love that. Yeah. And that also - because that idea of holding the image kind of comes from Hillman and I believe also, right? This idea of just staying with a particular image. You know, in the New York Times, they have a series where they share a piece of art and they ask you to just look at the piece of art for ten minutes, without stopping, which is actually surprisingly difficult. 

Linus: Okay. Okay, so that's a kind of a focus concentration thing. Now, what I'm talking about actually is a bit different. So, if I could kind of clarify… 

Melinda: Please. Yeah. 

Linus: But I like this idea of the focus, right? You’re focusing. Focusing is going like this. Concentration is like, how long can you hold it? But what I'm talking about is holding it in your imagination. Holding it in your imagination. Keeping it active, right? In your everyday waking life, even when you step away from your desk. Right. Or from your studio, stepping away. But holding it lightly. You know, but having it be active. And try to find correspondences, rhymes in your everyday life. And just notice. Notice how active it can be in your imagination. And then bring that back to your studio. This is what I'm talking about. So, not so much holding yourself right there with it - 

Melinda: Like, looking at it. But just keeping it in mind as you move about your life. 

Linus: Keeping it in mind as you move about your life. Kind of in an actively engaged way. So, yeah. You know, we're bombarded with so much in our immediate culture. 

Melinda: So much. 

Linus: Combined with so many things that we're not really so interested in seeing, but they keep coming at us again and again. And oftentimes there’s a kind of repetition quality to it. Things that we might not be wanting to think about. So, it kind of - it’s a nice practice to consider - what is it that you (in an intentional way), do you want to hold in your imagination? And to try practicing holding that in your imagination. Yeah. In looking for it in your everyday life. So, does that work as a Pro Tip? 

Melinda: Yeah, I love that. I love it. Let’s run with that. 

Linus: Okay. We’re going to run with that. I can't wait to hear what people report. (Laughter)

Melinda: Yeah. Let us know if you try this out. Love to hear what you come up with. 

Linus: This is helpful. 

Melinda: So, if people want to learn more about you, the book, your music, your psychotherapy work, what's the best ways for them to find you?

Linus: Yeah. Well, you can find me online on my website. My book right now is not available through the commercial market, Amazon Marketplace. Actually, I was trying to find alternate kind of platforms for it. Actually, we landed on Poshmark, believe it or not. 

Melinda: Okay. Great. 

Linus: So, you can find the book actually, right now - this limited artists edition - you can find that on Poshmark online. 

Melinda: We'll give a link to that in the show notes. 

Linus: And the book is on sale at some gift shops around here in Austin. It’s not really available outside of Austin. Possibly there will be a link on my website where you can order it from me online. But, if you're interested in finding me and finding my practice as a therapist, you can find me on Psychology Today. I think I'm the only Linus on Psychology Today. (Laughter) So you can type Linus, and it will prompt you to land on me. So, yeah. 

Melinda: Okay. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. This has been such a fun chat. 

Linus: Thank you. Yeah. This has been wonderful. I really appreciate this dialog that we continue and come back to. 

Melinda: Yes. Always. 

Linus: And I really appreciate you and the work that you're doing. Thanks for having me. 

Melinda: Thank you so much. Find and connect with us on YouTube and social media under @syncreate. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review. And again, we'd love to hear from you, so reach out to us any time with ideas for potential guests or topics that you'd like to see covered. 

We're recording today at Record ATX Studios here in Austin, Texas, live with Linus Streckfus. The podcast is produced in collaboration with Mike Osborne at 14th Street Studios. 

Thanks.