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 94: Creative Spark Series - The Joy in Collaboration with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
In this episode of our Creative Spark series, we explore the benefits of collaboration, including the synergy that arises when two or more people join together in a creative endeavor, which can yield fresh ideas and perspectives, camaraderie and teamwork, as well as joy, fun, and levity. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.
For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to find a person or group to collaborate with on some kind of community project. This could be within your household or family, or with a group of creative collaborators. Maybe it's a community garden or neighborhood art project - just have fun or perhaps find a way to benefit your local community.
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 31: The Power of Collaboration, Episode 51: Curiosity & Exploration, 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 change makers, 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 co-authors 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.
Melinda: Hi everyone! Welcome back to the Syncreate podcast and our Creative Spark Series. So, today we're going to talk a little bit about the joy in creative collaboration. And I just want to kick off this episode with a little shout out to my stepmother Shirley who recently, I went to visit my dad and stepmom, and they presented me with a little gift, which is this necklace which you might be able to see, which is the Syncreate logo.
And I was so shocked. I was so surprised and I didn't expect it. Didn't see that coming. It was such a thoughtful gift. And I think such a celebration of what we're doing. You know, they have a copy of the book, so it has the logo on it. And she had a friend who's a silversmith, and she asked her if she could make a necklace with the logo. So, just wanted to wear that in this Creative Spark Series in celebration. So, thank you, Shirley.
Charlotte What a cool, thoughtful gift.
Melinda: - Such a sweet - Yeah. So sweet. Yeah. Love it. So, I think that goes along with our theme for today. So, we talk often in this show about collaboration and kind of, the synergy of collaboration, which we have experienced with each other. And, you know, among many of our different endeavors over the years. And, you know, there's so many ways that creative collaboration could take place. I have a couple of conference presentations coming up where I'm collaborating with one or more folks, including my Saybrook colleague Robert Cleve, as well as two of my musical collaborators, Randy Langford, who I've had on the show. And Alisa Carr, who I'm going to be having on the show. So, stay tuned for that.
And, you know, I just find - and we've talked about this before - that there's a joy and a fun, and can be like, a levity when we collaborate, versus when we're trying to do something completely on our own. Right? And it's kind of a myth that we do anything completely on our own anyway. But some of our creative endeavors, like writing, perhaps can be more solitary at times. And then, another fun collaboration I have coming up - going to be in Ireland this summer and going to be shooting a music video for one of our songs. I didn't tell you that? (Laughter)
Charlotte: No!
Melinda: Yeah. Yeah. The duet with George, Out Of The Blue. We're going to make a video for it on location in Ireland, where I was originally inspired with the lyrics for the song, and then my other friend, Juraj from Iceland, is going to come down and help us film it. So, that's a fun collaboration. And, you know, I was thinking about like, all these things I have coming up and there's just like, this incredible satisfaction that comes from having an idea and dreaming it up and then, making it happen. It's like magic, literally. Right?
Like, I was in this place and I had this inspiration to write a song about it. And then, I ended up performing and recording it with someone else. And then we're going to go back to Ireland to make a video of it. And it's just like, it's the gift that keeps on giving, you know. (Laughter) And so many like, fun adventures in the process. So, how's that show up for you?
Charlotte: I'm flabbergasted by this video in Ireland.
Melinda: Yeah. Yeah. It’s going to be so fun. Stay tuned.
Charlotte: But it's making me think about, I mean, in addition to our collaboration, which has been super fruitful and awesome, and keeps unfolding, is with the colleague and I… I’ve been writing a paper about the summer school program, and we've had to pivot quite a bit about what we've been writing. And, you know, you get a little disheartened. And I've been at conferences where people are talking about the difficulty of what it means to erase their own work right now. And so we were a little discouraged. And then we got a proposal accepted. So, we'll be presenting at a conference in New York City in May, about this program on racial justice and education in higher ed.
And I think part of the joy of it is when, like, you're talking about the synergy. Like, who knew when you got that idea that you would end up - like, it's so cool! And then there's that other part of it is like, it helps when expectations aren't met that you have someone to commiserate with and someone to regroup with. And, you know, for me, it dissipates the disappointment. Knowing you're not in it alone. Then we're in a good position because we got this acceptance. But we were feeling pretty discouraged. I mean, and we have spent hours writing this paper. It’s like, 40 pages long. And, we can't - people are publishing different things right now. So, I think part of the joy of collaboration and the - like, the other half of that is like, the being able to commune, I think.
Melinda: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And to celebrate with both the joys and commiserate with the setbacks or the challenges. Yeah. Yeah. So important. So, you know, collaboration can look a lot of different ways. You know, it can be formal or informal. It could be with your family, cooking a meal together. Or you know, I feel like we all have to find ways to collaborate with the people around us, you know, just to get through life. Right. (Laughter)
Charlotte: Absolutely. Well, and I don't know if I talked about this on the show before, but I went to a yoga class in the last couple of months, and though it was a substitute teacher and she was talking about - she was just naming our internal organs, and she's like, “We normally don't hear about them unless it's with pathology. So let's just name, you know, the kidneys, the liver, the pancreas.” And she's like, “It’s our first community.” And I just was really like, “Oh, we’re never alone. I’ve got my pancreas with me or whatever.” (Laughter) This idea that we're in collaboration with our own bodies as well.
Melinda: I know. the human body is this incredible collaboration, and it's something that, for the most part, the activity of our internal organs is not, you know, doesn't rise to the level of consciousness. Unless we're in pain or something. Right? So it's just like, everything is just humming along and all the organs that are required just to like, digest… it’s amazing.
Charlotte: It is. And that makes me think about the, you know, the - it's kind of a mindset that looks at/encourages us to think about the ways that the universe is collaborating with us, rather than conspiring against. And a lot of that has to do with mindset. And, I mean, it's complicated because there are a lot of factors that influence those things. But, you know, standing in the sun could be seen as a collaboration between you and - if you can call it the farfetched star. That doesn't make sense. (Laughter)
Melinda: The farfetched star. I love that. (Laughter) I think that's like, we got to use that. Is that a song? Is it a title of a piece? I don’t know.
Charlotte: Okay. I don't know.
Melinda: A far-fetched star. Yeah. And I mean, not to be cliche, but sometimes I'm stopped in my tracks just thinking about how amazing it is that we're here at all. That we exist in the first place in this vast universe. And that we somehow found ourselves alive on a planet that supports life. And we've come this far, wherever we are in our lives, you know. Like, it’s pretty incredible odds.
Charlotte: It is.
Melinda: But going back to the digestive organs, it made me think about, the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. And when she goes to the ashram in India and she's meditating, and the instruction from the teacher while they're meditating is, “Smile in your liver.” (Laughter) And sometimes, I'm thinking about that when I'm meditating. And it's just like, “Happy liver”. And I don't know, it just changes everything. It just changes the whole vibe. Yeah. So, smile in your liver.
Charlotte: We got dahlia bulbs today.
Melinda: Oh, yeah.
Charlotte: It’s one of my favorite flowers. And now they will be planted with the sense of collaboration with the earth.
Melinda: Yes. Absolutely. And I see you have some lovely flowers behind you. It’s very nice.
Charlotte: These are actually paper flowers.
Melinda: They're paper?
Charlotte: Yeah.
Melinda: I never would have known. Wow.
Charlotte: Brandy McQuirter, Marcus McQuirter’s partner, who - Marcus has been on the show - this is one of her things that she does, is make these paper flowers.
Melinda: That's so cool. Beautiful.
Charlotte: And they take hours.
Melinda: Wow.
Charlotte: And they made the move across from Texas to New York. So, yeah.
Melinda: Yeah. That’s incredible. Wow, I love that. Yeah.
Charlotte: So, like. (Laughter)
Melinda: Great. So our Pro Tip for today is to find a person or multiple people, a group, to collaborate with on some kind of community project that could be within your household, within your family. Maybe you have a group of creative collaborators. Maybe it's a community garden. But just something that you can get together and work with some people on to just have fun or perhaps be of benefit to your local community.
Charlotte: My sister is the co-president at the local food co-op annual meeting and I went and the woman (the guest speaker) is helping people form a power collaborative to compete with the local energy company.
Melinda: Wow.
Charlotte: And it's so cool.
Melinda: Like, so people are getting solar panels or what? How does that work?
Charlotte: So, it’s a not for profit model. So that it would bring prices way down. And it's been done in rural communities in the United States, and it's been really successful. And, just thinking about ways that people can collaborate is, I met that woman and now I'm signed up and now I'm going to be like, I’m going to write local people. And, you know, because I think going local is very helpful. Yeah. So there's so many ways to collaborate.
Melinda: So many ways. Yeah. Like, if you see a need and no one else is filling it, start it.
Charlotte: Do it.
Melinda: Do it. (Laughter) 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.
