The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity
Welcome to Syncreate, where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology, and spirituality. Our goal is to demystify the creative process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative.
Creativity. It’s a word we throw around all the time, but what does it really mean? On the Syncreate Podcast, we share stories of the creative journey. We talk to changemakers, visionaries and everyday creatives working in a wide array of fields and disciplines. Our goal is to explore creativity in all its facets, and to gain a better understanding of the creative process – from imagination to innovation and everything in between.
The Syncreate Podcast is hosted by Melinda Rothouse, PhD. She helps individuals and organizations bring their creative dreams and visions to life through coaching, consulting, workshops, retreats, and now, this podcast. She's written two books on creativity, including Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities (winner of a Silver Nautilus Award for Creativity and Innovation), with Charlotte Gullick. She's also a musician (singer-songwriter and bass player) and photographer based in Austin, Texas.
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity
Episode 88: Creative Spark Series - Practicing Courage in Our Creativity with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
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 Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.
For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to build your courage muscle by doing something brave in service of your creativity, like telling someone how you feel, sharing a work-in-progress with someone you trust, taking a risk by singing or even humming in public, or whatever a step outside of your comfort zone looks like for you.
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 39: Sharing Work in Progress, Episode 82: Healing the Creative Wound and Episode 84: From Surviving to Thriving.
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, and we’re now on Patreon as well. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review! We’d love to hear your feedback as well, so drop us a line at info@syncreate.org.
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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 changemakers, and everyday creatives working in a wide range of fields and media - from the arts to science, technology and business.
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.
Charlotte: I'm Charlotte Gullick, and I'm a writer, educator, and writing coach. We are the coauthors of a book on the creative process, also called Syncreate. 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, now available in both print and audiobook format, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals.
We offer resources, creative process tools, and coaching to help you bring your work to the world, including our monthly Creativity Coaching group. We'd be delighted for you to join us. We'd also love to hear your feedback on the show. Please drop us a line at info@syncreate.org. We're looking for feedback on how we can improve the show, what's resonating for you and what future topics you'd like us to cover.
Hello everyone! Welcome to the Syncreate podcast, where we explore creativity, psychology, spirituality and about everything in between. (Laughter) So today, what we'd like to talk about is what it means to practice courage in our creativity, and how this can show up in our lives in other ways.
Okay. So, I've been thinking a lot about how when you're trying something out - something new - there's kind of this element of discomfort. And how we've heard that thing when, you know, the magic happens outside of your comfort zone. And that we need to stretch ourself a little bit. And what I've been thinking about is the connection between that and courage in the world.
And so, like, we start to practice creativity in new ways. Like, “Oh, I'm going to do something that makes me feel a little bit vulnerable.” Does that create the muscle memory so that we can be courageous and vulnerable in other ways? Is that making sense?
Melinda: Yeah, I think so. Like, I mean, I think with anything, the more you practice, the easier it becomes. Whether it's performing or public speaking or like you're saying, just being brave. You know, whether that's with our creativity or speaking up for what we believe in, or whatever that might be.
Charlotte: I think you've nailed it. So being brave, practicing being brave with ourselves, with other people. Maybe that’s speaking up when we need to voice a truth. It makes me think about the story by Tim O'Brien, who's a really great Texas author. And most people know the short story, The Things They Carried. Also, the name of the collection. And in the collection, there's this last story called The Lives of the Dead.
And it's an amazing, amazing short story. And it's about the narrator who falls in love with a young girl, when he's in fourth grade, and she has cancer. And other kids make fun of her. She's always wearing this cap, and they're trying to pull the cap off. And what Tim does in that story is he shows us that if we practice bravery, it is easier to do in the harder moments in our life.
So, he juxtaposes that with what it means to be in Vietnam and soldiers are being disrespectful to the dead. And he said, “If I had practiced courage, I maybe would have been able to stand up later on when it counted even more.”
Melinda: Wow. Yeah.
Charlotte: And I'm thinking about how it feels like the opportunities to find your courage are mounting. And that if we push ourselves a little bit with our creativity and practice courage, practice the muscle of bravery, that if we need it in the world outside our page or our studio, it will be a little bit easier to stand up for what is right.
Melinda: Yes. So, it makes me think of like, what's the neurophysiology of that? Right? So we talk about neuroplasticity and we have our habitual patterns, which are the neural pathways that are well-worn. And practicing being brave, it’s like any other habit or skill that we're trying to develop it. It requires creating new pathways. And then again, the more we do it, the more they become familiar or easy, right? It's like, we have to train ourselves just like we would in any other - like working out or whatever it might be.
Charlotte: And it makes think about, I did this summer school program when I was in high school, and I had an 80s asymmetrical haircut. (Laughter) And looked super shy and people would say hi to me, and I wouldn't hear it. Like, I didn't believe people would speak to me. So they didn't think I spoke English.
Melinda: Oh, wow.
Charlotte: So they thought I was a foreign exchange student from France. I guess, because of my hair. (Laughter) And like, if you would have told that person who thought people wouldn't say hi to her like that, what I did yesterday when I was at the Educational Summit at Vassar, where there was the former Under Secretary of Education under Obama and Biden and, you know, two heads of foundations. Like, I was one of the speakers at that event.
Melinda: Amazing.
Charlotte: And so, thinking about those the incremental ways that we build courage.
Melinda: Yes. Yes. And it makes me think about, you know, I've spoken about this before on the show, but when I was a kid, I was quite quiet and shy also. But I really wanted to sing. But it was hard. It didn't come. Like, I liked the singing part, but the getting up in front of people part - I would just literally shake and my face would turn bright red. But for some reason, I pushed through that because I really wanted to do it. And again, over time, the more I would get up in front of people and perform, now it's almost second nature, you know? But it's a long journey. It doesn't happen overnight, right? (Laughter) Yeah.
Charlotte: And, you know, I just feel like I want to be a person who - because we are in history now.
Melinda: Yes.
Charlotte: I think that's a part of, like - “Well, if I had been alive during those times, I would have been one of those people on the right side of history.” But we have the choice now to be on the right side of history. And for me, I'm just really feeling that link between bravery with creativity, and bravery in the world. What does it mean to stand up for people who, when maybe the stakes aren't so high for me because of the way that I look or my citizenship status or, you know, those different things? So, I'm just, you know, I'm really thinking about how important the creative process is in teaching us bravery.
Melinda: Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's one of the reasons that we do this show. Right? To kind of put that out there into the world. Something positive, and something empowering that people might be able to benefit from.
Charlotte: Well, I'm getting this idea, like, when we practice creativity, we're standing up for ourselves.
Melinda: Yeah. Yeah. Because our creativity is connected to our vital life force and our fundamental capacities of being human. And so, to honor our creativity, is to honor our authenticity, and truly embrace who we are. And sometimes that means going against the grain of society or what people think we should be doing with ourselves, or whatever.
Charlotte: And I think the other part of it is that it is - forces that be count on people staying afraid.
Melinda: Yeah.
Charlotte: And so, practicing bravery in small and large ways is key to resistance.
Melinda: Yeah. And I was in a retreat with my friends Jenny and Steven that I just had on the show in Episode 85, this past weekend. And, you know, when we were talking about - we were completing the retreat and talking about going back out into the world - it’s so important to remember that we all have more power and more agency than we realize. You know, we might be freaked out by what's happening in the world, but we don't have to stay small.
Charlotte: What is it? “Speak your truth even if your voice shakes.”
Melinda: Yes.
Charlotte: That’s what has been sticking with me quite a bit.
Melinda: Yes, definitely. And these are those times.
Charlotte: We are in them. (Laughter)
Melinda: So, what’s our Pro Tip for today?
Charlotte: The Pro Tip is to challenge ourselves to practice your courage muscle. Strengthen it a bit. Practice your courage muscle by doing a brave thing. So, what is brave can vary so wildly from person to person. But here are some examples. Talk to a stranger. Share a morsel of your work. Maybe it's one line. You’re like, “I've written a new short story, and I've never shared any of my writing with anyone. And so I'm going to - will you listen to one line?”
Tell someone how you feel. Practicing vulnerability, because that's also key to creativity. Or, if you're someone like me who would love to be able to sing - and I'll do it in odd, overblown ways - but, like, maybe I could hum. (Laughter) Like, you know. (Hums) l would never sing a song. (Laughter) I'll do that nutty stuff. But maybe what I might do is hum in public. (Hums) You know?
Melinda: Just a little thing.
Charlotte: Yeah. That feels very brave to me. Easy to do it now.
Melinda: Yeah, and it it makes me think about - I just want to give a shout out to the people that are in our coaching group. We have so many brave souls that are putting themselves out there in so many amazing way. Always submitting their stories and their work to different, you know, contests and publications. And that can be very nerve wracking. But, you know, when you see someone else doing it, it gives you in turn, more courage to do it, and vice versa. Maybe when people see you putting yourself out there, they will feel more willing to take a risk.
Charlotte: I think another way of saying this is as we practice our creativity, “Courage begets courage. Creativity begets creativity.”
Melinda: Yes. Beautiful. 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 if you have feedback on any of our episodes, you've tried out the Pro Tips, you have thoughts on potential guests or topics, please drop us a line.
Charlotte: We're recording today at Record ATX Studios in Austin with Charlotte (me!), joining us from the Hudson Valley. The podcast is produced in collaboration with Mike Osborne at 14th Street Studios. Thanks so much for being with us. And see you next time.
