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 102: Creative Spark Series - Creativity as a Path of Adventure with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
In this episode of our Creative Spark series, Melinda and Charlotte explore creativity as a path of adventure, sharing specific examples from their own lives and creative journeys. Embracing our creativity brings many benefits, including the unanticipated experiences and connections that follow when we say yes to our creative urges, impulses, and callings. 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 say yes to the next wild request in your life, whether external or internal, and see where it takes 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 35: Navigating the Creative Wilderness, Episode 82: Healing the Creative Wound, and Episode 100: Celebrating and Reflecting.
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! We’d love to hear your feedback as well, so drop us a line at info@syncreate.org.
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Melinda: Hey everyone. Before we begin today, we wanted to invite your feedback on the show. We'd really love to hear your thoughts on potential topics and guests, as well as what you enjoy about the show and how we can make it even better. So please email us your thoughts at info@syncreate.org and we'll follow up with you.
Creativity and community are absolutely vital in challenging times. Creativity is also consistently named one of the top skills of the 21st century, particularly with the advent of AI. 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.
What holds us back? Why do we get stuck and how can we fully embrace our creativity? 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.
Charlotte: Hi. And I'm Charlotte Gulick, 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!
Hello everyone! Welcome to the Syncreate podcast. We're so excited that you're with us, and we really do want to hear your feedback about what we could cover on the show and how we can help you be more empowered. So today, we're going to talk about the places you go and creativity as a path of adventure. And Melinda and I, we spend a lot of time together talking about creativity. And we're kind of doing this like pull back view of, like, you know, creativity is basically everywhere, and it is for everyone.
And maybe one of the things we could offer our audience and ourselves is the idea of, how do we appreciate and cultivate gratitude for how creativity is just already part of our life? And so what we like to do today is expand the idea of creativity to the idea of like, where do we go? Where has it taken us? If we had not been people who said ‘yes’ to creativity, we may not have these experiences in our lives. So we wanted to talk about that.
To just kind of recap that, creativity brings us a lot of benefits beyond the obvious, and we want to talk about the places you can go, both literally and figuratively, with your creativity. So for me, someone who said ‘yes’ to creativity as a way to kind-of finish college because I was not doing great in my undergrad experiences. And it’s when I started to write a novel that I started to find some traction in my own academic studies. Because for me, I needed to bridge where I came from to was where I was going. And so, creativity and specifically writing, became that path.
And it led me to all kinds of people and all kinds of adventures. But one of them is like, if you would have told 17 year-old Charlotte that she would go to Burning Man (laughter), I think she would have been like, “What?!” So, yes, I have been to Burning Man, old school Burning Man, when it was like in the 90s. And it was a wild, intense experience, but I probably would have never said ‘yes’ to that, if I hadn't said ‘yes’ to my creativity. How about you, Melinda? Does anything pop into your head?
Melinda: Well, I'm actually curious. How did 17 year-old Charlotte, like, get into writing specifically? Like, I don't know if I've ever heard that story of how you actually got interested in writing and pursuing writing so seriously.
Charlotte: Do you want the flash fiction or the novel version? (Laughter)
Melinda: Well… (laughter)
Charlotte: So, I was at community college. I was the first in my family to go to college. And I was struggling a lot, but I was a reader. Like, I had read a lot. And I had a professor write on one of my papers that I had written right at the last minute. He's like, “This is brief, but brilliant. You should consider an English major. You're a natural.”
Melinda: Wow. Amazing.
Charlotte: I'm like, “Okay.” So, that's the power of someone saying, “Hey, you might have a little bit of an affinity for this.” And then, when I transferred to UC Santa Cruz, I got into the Creative Writing major, which was at that time, really hard to get into. I tried three times.
Melinda: Oh, wow.
Charlotte: And it's actually through poetry that I was accepted. Not with my fiction.
Melinda: Amazing. But persistence.
Charlotte: Yes.
Melinda: You didn't give up.
Charlotte: Part of it - I didn't. And I had a friend who was doing it, and I really wanted to be in it with her.
Melinda: Cool.
Charlotte: But there was something about writing that made me, again, feel like I could bridge these worlds that I had my different feet in. Apparently. Sounds like I have eight feet. (Laughter)
Melinda: Are you a writer?
Charlotte: Yeah. So then I started a novel in the undergraduate class, and that person became my thesis advisor. And then I wrote the first part of it, and I got a Dean’s Honor award for that. Undergraduate thesis.
Melinda: Wow. You go, girl. That's amazing.
Charlotte: But, yeah, saying ‘yes’ to someone who said, “I suggest this. I can see something for you in this.” And me not even being able to recognize it myself. And someone saying, “I think this path could be for you.”
Melinda: And that's a testament to, you know - I talked about this actually in the episode that's coming out tomorrow with Eck from Google. I was like, “How does a guy from South Bend, Indiana, get a PhD in Computer Science and Cognitive Science, and end up being a Senior Research Director at Google?” And he was like, “Well, I had a conversation with someone some time, and they encouraged me to go back and get my PhD in. That conversation changed my life.”
Like, you know, the power of one conversation and a little bit of encouragement, versus how many of us get feedback from a young age. “Well, you're not creative, or maybe you shouldn't pursue that…” Or, you know… and those things stick with us. So, both the positive and the negative.
Charlotte: It’s incredible. I actually had an essay published recently about, someone in graduate school saying, “You can't do it.” And I think it's called, “A closed door is not a wall”, or something like that. But this like, someone in position of power. These two people kind-of in my life, one saying, “Go for it.” The other one saying, “You can't do it.” And how I floundered for a little while. And I think in the essay, I talk about how like, story was a dangerous distance from me.
Melinda: That's a beautiful turn of phrase.
Charlotte: Like, and I needed to bring it back. Like, bring the creative relationship back.
Melinda: Yeah. That's beautiful. And I think, again, it really illustrates, you know, that we have to believe in ourselves, even if other people aren't believing in us at that moment. You know, like, you applied three times to the Creative program and Creative Writing program at Santa Cruz and, you know, you didn't give up. You know, you got some positive feedback, you got some negative feedback, but you kept going.
And I think, you know, that's the key. You know, so many people, you hear about their trajectory and their arc in, you know, creative paths or in life more broadly. And so, much is it of it is about persistence. Maybe even more so than raw talent.
Charlotte: Absolutely. Persistence is huge. And I think there's this, for me, having grown up in a pretty strict religion. And I'm not part of that religion anymore. But I thought for a long time that, like, faith wasn't mine because I wasn't in that religion. And actually, where faith has come is in creative process. So, it's not like… it's a persistence in the process. And, you know, of course, there's ego involved, but in a way it's like, “Oh, I'm beholden to these things that I could bring into the world. And I have to believe in them.” I have to have faith in the process, even when it feels like I'm not sure what to do with this. I need to wait and gain the skills.
Melinda: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful. So, you know, I guess I'll share a little bit about my trip this summer. I talked about it before I went in some of our episodes, but now I've, you know, gone and come back. So, I went to Iceland this summer. I did a month-long artist residency, had lots of fun adventures over there, and then went from there to Ireland, presented at a conference with some friends and colleagues, and then shot a music video in the southwest of Ireland. So stay tuned. That'll be coming out at some point.
But, you know, like, taking a leap to apply for something, and then going and embracing it. I used the time at the artist residency to work primarily on my music, which was such - it was so amazing to just have time and space to just sit there for hours and work on a song. You know, I had a bunch of song ideas, but they weren't fully developed. And just to have like, open time to work on it. Such a a beautiful luxury and a gift.
And I got to go to an amazing place in the process. Two amazing places, you know? So it's like, we're talking about sort of, creativity is a path of adventure. And, you know, I met a woman at the residency who kind of is like a residency hopper. (Laughter) You know, there's people that just go around the world and do these artists residencies and spend a month here and a month there, and, you know, it's kind of a cool thing if you can swing it, you know?
Charlotte: Yeah. So, same question back at you. What would 17 year-old Melinda have thought of Iceland/Ireland/music video?
Melinda: Yeah. I mean, I think I would have been like, “Yes. Let’s do it…” You know? (Laughter) But, maybe not knowing quite how to get there.
Charlotte: Until that, partly like, closing the gap on how to do the thing.
Melinda: Yeah. Yeah. Like, “Oh, an artist residency is a thing that you can do?” and like, “How do you find them and how do you apply for that?” And, you know, I think you've inspired me with that because you've done a number of writing residencies. And, I mean, I was familiar with the concept, and I've done one in Mexico previously, but, you know, just again, seeing other people do it. Like you said, your friend was in the program. You wanted to do it with her.
You know, we get inspired by each other, and that's part of it. The places that you go is the people that you meet along the way. And once you start to sort of build your tribe of fellow creatives, you know, we inspire each other to do things maybe we wouldn't have done otherwise.
Charlotte: And I think, like, the being open… that other part of creativity is like, being open to your ideas and open to adventures, and being open to what the definition of creativity can be. So I've been to Burning Man. I've also sat on panels on death and dying. Because people wanted to hear a critical thinking approach to death and dying. And I mean, again, 17 year old Charlotte would be like, “Why? What would I have to offer about that?” But it's that openness. Like, all the places you'll go, you can't even anticipate it. And that's also part of the adventure too. Like, I wonder where I'm going to go when I say ‘yes’ to the world if I open up. Like, living creatively.
Melinda: Yeah. And that reminds me of another person who inspired me so many years ago, and I'm not even sure I can remember her name correctly… and when I was in college my junior year, instead of going abroad per se, I did this Semester at Sea program, which was not a cruise ship. It was 135ft double masted schooner, and we sailed from Woods Hole, Massachusetts, to the Caribbean. And we had to do rotating watch and science experiments in close quarters and, you know, navigate by the stars and all this.
Charlotte: How long was it?
Melinda: It was… we did classes for six weeks on land in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. And then we were on the ship for six weeks.
Charlotte: Wow!
Melinda: Six weeks. And we left Massachusetts, and we did a transect of the Gulf Stream out in the, you know, middle of the Atlantic. And then went south, didn't see land for three weeks. In like, an old school sailing ship basically, you know. (Laughter) But anyway, one of the women who was on staff - she was one of the scientists on staff - and she was really cool. And she was a research scientist who had worked quite a bit in Antarctica, on a research vessel. And, I can say Antarctica! (Laughter) It took a little effort. I think her name was Maria, I want to say. But anyway… she was telling me all about her life as a scientist and going to, you know, basically the South Pole and doing research and biology stuff down there.
And it was just like, “Wow!” Like, that's a thing you can do as a career. How cool. You know. I haven't made it there myself yet, but it was kind of like, “Wow. I'd love to do that one day.” So, you know, we meet people and they broaden our horizons. You know, we take a leap to do one thing that might be out of our comfort zone, and then we meet someone, and they've done this other amazing thing, and it just opens up the world.
Charlotte: That’s set in that openness that we were talking about too.
Melinda: Exactly.
Charlotte: I have one more story.
Melinda: Yes, please.
Charlotte: Remember when we went on a retreat, you and I, and we stayed at a little cabin and we went out on a canoe and there was a water moccasin.
Melinda: Yeah. (Laughter) And we were oh, so calm. “Let's just go this way. “ (Laughter)
Charlotte: Yeah. So with thinking about that, like, if we hadn't been on a creative retreat, we wouldn't have seen the water moccasin, and we wouldn't know how quiet and calm we could be when we needed to be.
Melinda: Under pressure. Right. We didn't scream and thrash and tip the boat. You know, “Let’s just go this way.”
Charlotte: “Oh, I think that's a snake.” “I think that’s a snake too.”
Melinda: “Let’s hope it doesn't drop into our boat.” (Laughter)
Charlotte: Hallelujah, that it did not!
Melinda: Yes, exactly. So you never know. You never know where your creativity can take you.
Charlotte: It could take you to Burning Man. It could take you to sailing ships. It could take you to death panels. It could take you to snakes and Iceland. Like, all over the place.
Melinda: All over. Exactly. (Laughter) So what's our Pro Tip for today?
Charlotte: Our Pro Tip is to encourage listeners to take a leap. Take a risk. Say ‘yes’ to the Nile - say ‘yes’ to the next wild request in your life. Whether it comes from inside or outside of yourself. So…
Melinda: And it could be the Nile.
Charlotte: It could be the Nile.
Melinda: Egypt. (Laughter)
Charlotte: It could be. It could be. But I think what we're suggesting is, if there's a part of you that's a little bit like, “I want to do something a little bit out of my comfort zone. And I want to say ‘yes’ to that, but I'm uncertain…” Melinda and I are encouraging you to say ‘yes’.
And you never know where that will - in itself, it has value - but you also don't know where that will lead. And probably it will open up things you couldn't anticipate or even imagine.
Melinda: Yes. Yes. Beautiful.
Charlotte: Thank you for joining the Syncreate podcast today. Find and connect with us on YouTube and social media under @syncreate. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe and leave a review.
Melinda: We're recording today at Record ATX Studios in Austin, Texas with Charlotte 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.
