Shows
Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE170. Assessing Safe vs. Unsafe When Interacting with the Neurotypical WorldIn which I discuss a recent mistake I made in following neurotypical advice, and the lesson I learned about how important it is for neurodivergent folks to know how to assess what is safe for their nervous systems before taking action.Also in this episode: my podcast's mini rebrand and a diagnosis I got this summer.My name is Kendra and I'm an AuDHD writer, podcaster, and erstwhile social scientist.
2025-10-2226 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE92. How to Handle Creative BoredomEvery creative will encounter boredom with their work and life at some point, and it can wreak havoc on our self-confidence, creative joy, and ability to see projects through to the end. The key to handling periods of creative boredom is not to try to avoid them, but to develop skills that help you move through them so you can continue to do your work and find new sources of inspiration. In this episode I talk about three root causes of creative boredom and give you a fix for each as well as a perspective change that will help...
2022-10-0739 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesHurricane Coming ThroughWe have a hurricane coming to Florida, so I'm taking this week off from producing a podcast episode to give myself time to prep for it. I'll see you back here next Friday!
2022-09-2801 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE91. How and Why Does Creativity Make Us Happy?Last week I looked at how suffering relates to creativity. This week I discuss how creativity can improve our lives! I talk about three different epistemological approaches to understanding how creativity can help us heal, increase our quality of life, and make us feel good: scientific, philosophical, and spiritual.Sources used in this episode:Article in Psychology today on the health benefits of creativity.Essay on the transmutation of energy by Ram Dass.
2022-09-2326 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE90. Do You Have to Suffer to Create Good Art? Kind Of, but Also Not ReallyI've had clients say to me that they feel they can't be "real" artists because they don't suffer enough. They feel like they're creative beings, but they're *gasp* pretty happy with their lives and therefore don't have much fodder for their creative work. In this episode I discuss my latest thoughts on the relationship between pain and creativity, and reassure you that if you are a human being (check?), you definitely have enough dark stuff to inform and enrich your creative work, and you don't have to suffer (much) to access it.
2022-09-1624 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE89. Mind-Wandering and the Default Mode Network's Role in CreativityI thought it was time to revisit mind-wandering and daydreaming and their role in creativity. In this episode I delve into the default mode network, comprised of the parts of our brain that switch on when we enter daydreaming mode, how it works, and its relationship with creativity. I also tackle how biases work their way into scientific studies (e.g. our societal bias against mind-wandering and the default mode network's role in thinking) and why I think it's important we challenge the assumptions underlying such studies.Article in the MIT Press ReaderArticle in...
2022-09-0932 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE88. Getting Through the Void Stage of the Creative ProcessHas this happened to you? You're on a roll with your creative project, getting stuff done, you feel enthusiastic and excited about your progress, and then bam! Something happens (usually some kind of setback), and suddenly you feel like you've fallen off the edge of the map. You're no longer clear on your goals, you doubt your talent and skills, and you wonder if it's a sign you should just give up. It's not! You've just entered the void. This is the part of the creative process where you enter the "here be dragons" land, a place where you...
2022-09-0241 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE87. My 2022 Update on Creative Entrepreneurship and Earning a Living as an ArtistThis is my yearly episode on trying to earn a living as a working creative, where I talk about all the behind-the-scenes stuff. These days a lot of people are giving creative entrepreneurship a try, and I think it's important for those of us who've been at it for a while to talk about the real experience of trying to earn a living off our creative work. Long story short, it's not easy, but over the past year I've come to a deeper understanding of what I want and what I'm willing to commit and sacrifice on my creative j...
2022-08-2627 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE86. The Feedback Episode: When to Ask--and Not Ask!--For It and How to Deal With ItI have two main pieces of advice when it comes to asking for and dealing with feedback. First, you don't have to be "good" at receiving feedback to ask for it. Some of us will never have a thick skin and that's okay. Second, if you are not sure exactly what you are hoping to get out of the feedback and ready to ask for and receive that specific advice, err on the side of not asking for feedback. Getting bad feedback or getting feedback at the wrong time can damage our creative practice and cause blocks. In this...
2022-08-1936 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE85. What to Do When Your Artistic Plan Changes + When to Seek FeedbackI recently underwent a major change in my plans for my novel due to some feedback I received, and in this episode I discuss why it's important to be open to making such changes. They can lead to major creative growth, but it's also very difficult to accept a change in what we thought were our path and destination. I talk about how to know when you need to make changes, and how to know if you're on the right track. I also touch on seeking feedback and dealing with it (I'll be doing an entire episode on this...
2022-08-1227 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE84. The Two Kinds of Hard Work and Which Is More Important for Creatives & ArtistsThe reason we creatives and artists fail to reach goals and achieve dreams is because we misunderstand what kind of hard work is required. We put too much of our energy into the wrong kind of hard work, leaving us with nothing left to tackle the long-term struggles of the creative life. In this episode I discuss the two kinds of hard work and how to stop wasting so much energy on the wrong kind. I give you some tips on how to deal with the challenges that lay us low on our creative journeys and the surprisingly simple...
2022-08-0528 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE83. Interview! Jill Patterson and I Discuss Her Big Cycling Win + Handling the Ups and Downs of the Unconventional LifeMy sister is back! Jill Patterson, a competitive cyclist, is having a great year after experiencing a not-so-great one last year, and I invited her back on the podcast to talk about her recent big win and dealing with the ups and downs of racing. Our discussion encompasses the similarities and differences between the athletic and the creative life, and how we both handle the challenges associated with forging our own paths outside of conventional societal structures
2022-07-291h 00Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE82. Reconciling the Tension Between Making Art and the Business of ArtIf you've ever felt insecure or angry about the fact that putting your creative work out into the world often means commercializing it, and thus changing or diluting it, this episode is for you. I discuss that tension many artists feel between art as a joyful, and private, creative process and the cruel dictates of market constraints, but I take a different perspective: that those constraints can actually be used constructively, and lead to more joyful creative experiences. Making our art into a commercial product may not be the capitulation it can so often seem to be.
2022-07-2222 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE81. Do We Really Fear Success More Than Failure?You've probably heard somewhere along the way that what really holds us back is fear of success, not failure. I've never understood this, so in this episode I explore what it might mean and if it holds water. Stick around at the end of the episode for an update on how final edits are going on my novel, The Gentle History.Here is the blog post I mention, by Donald Latumahina.The episode I mention on how to judge your own creative work is #64
2022-07-1533 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE80. How to Be Your Own Biggest Fan (And Why It Matters for Creatives & Artists)In the creative life you must learn to be your own biggest fan: that's what's required to come through the myriad challenges you will face along the way. In this episode I discuss why it matters so much that you become your own biggest fan as a creative or artist, and what that looks like.
2022-07-0119 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE79. What the Heck Does "Trust the Process" Mean, Anyway?You've probably heard it before, this admonition to trust the process. It's one of those things that's easy to say, but difficult to grasp. What is "the process," and how do we operationalize the concept of trusting it? In this episode I talk about process in a way you may not have heard before, and offer a suggestion for how to trust the process that will make you feel like you have a more active role in your path forward as a creative. I also discuss a recent experience I had of creative failure, and why I think it's o...
2022-06-2419 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE78: Something New! An Exercise to Help You Find More Fulfillment AND Reach GoalsIn this episode I'm experimenting with something new: I've devised an exercise to help you figure out how to enjoy the process of reaching goals, not just the idea of reaching them. This exercise has a twofold purpose: to help you find more fulfillment and happiness in your day-to-day lives, and to help you develop internal motivation that is strong enough to keep you working toward goals past that initial burst of enthusiasm. This exercise is one I've done myself in various ways over the years in condensed form. I hope you find it useful in some way!
2022-06-1734 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE77. A Summer Update + ChallengeSummer is a special time, and it calls for some special activities. In this episode I discuss why and how this summer is one of transition for me in terms of my identity and my creative activities! I also issue a challenge to any who are interested in taking it up, one I myself am participating in. Finally, I discuss a brand new project I'm taking on, one that is purely for pleasure. Let's sink into summer and make this one about taking it easy and having fun!
2022-06-1021 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE76. Recognizing the Damage Formal Schooling Does to CreativityOur societal systems, including the public school system, are built to counteract subversive forces such as (too much) intellectual curiosity and creativity. We are socialized in ways of thinking and acting that run directly counter to the way creativity works. How can we begin to heal from the damage our formalized systems of learning do to our creative potential? By understanding that damage, and learning to sit with the paradoxes inherent in living within systems while seeking to transcend them through our art.
2022-06-0332 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE75. On Taking the Time You Need to Recover and AdjustHow much time should you take to rest and digest, recover from stress, and adjust to loss? As much time as you need.
2022-05-2722 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE74. When Change ComesAs I process the passing of my cat, Lucy, I contemplate why we so often fail to make the changes we need to in life: because change inevitably comes with loss. But change can also be used as a method of healing. Join me in this exploration of change, grief, and moving forward.
2022-05-2019 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesInterlude: My Cat LucyA little about my cat Lucy, who has reached the end of her life.
2022-05-1307 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE73. What, Exactly, Is the Creative Life?I used to think the creative life was only for "real" creatives or artists, the lucky few who are able to spend most of their day doing creative work and are probably also making a living from their art. But that's wrong. The creative life is available for anyone who wants it regardless of how much time you spend doing your creative work, and it is certainly not dependent on outside recognition of said work. There are a few simple things you can do to live the creative life, and I tell you about them in this episode.
2022-05-0622 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE72. Why I Don't Seek Balance and What I Do InsteadHave you ever felt like you're living at a distance from your own life, not really immersed in it in a way that feels fulfilling or joyful? The problem could be rooted in our misleading cultural ideas around seeking balance. What we see as finding balance in life is often merely a way of shuffling things around on our already overloaded plates. In this episode I talk about why I gave up on trying to have a balanced life and what I do instead. I also give you some tips on how I manage life without to-do lists, and...
2022-04-2925 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE71. Writing a Novel Without a Plan (The Intuitive Approach to Writing)In this episode I tell you what writing my novel, The Gentle History, has looked like. I am an intuitive discovery writer, which means that I rarely sit down with any kind of detailed idea of what I'm going to be writing that day. Whatever comes out when I'm in a flow state is unplanned and spontaneous, and may only loosely connect with my overarching idea of the novel, at least in early drafts. I get to know my characters and story as I go along, refining my ideas in each subsequent draft. This is not an efficient way...
2022-04-2236 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE70. Interview! Pete Mosley Discusses Being Quiet and His Work as an Advocate for Quiet InclusionPete is the Author of The Art of Shouting Quietly (2015) and A Quiet Person's Guide to Life+Work (due May 2022). His latest book is aimed at those who are quiet themselves or who know quiet people, love them, and/or work with or manage them. He identifies as Quiet person, here to support others that identify as quiet. He is an advocate for Quiet inclusion and runs workshops to bring quiet people and those who lead/manage them into alignment. He is a tutor for Barefoot Coaching Ltd – one of the UK’s premier coaching companies – and has a Postgr...
2022-04-151h 12Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE69. How to Write an eBook: The Indefinitive GuideI get meta in this episode by sharing about my creative practice of writing an ebook about creative practice. I credit my creative practice with everything good in my life, from my recovery from burnout, to finally finding my arena and my people, to finishing a novel, to my mental health management. I want to help other people develop their own life-affirming, fulfilling creative practice that helps them do good work, finish projects, and gives them a sense of purpose in life. I'm doing this episode for two reasons. The first is that I believe in the...
2022-04-0826 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE68. Interview! Sophia van Hees Discusses Growing Up Shy in Australia and Her Life as an ArtistIn this wide-ranging conversation, artist and fellow PhD Sophia van Hees and I parse the difference between terms such as introversion, shy, socially anxious, reserved, sensitive, and quiet, and discuss our experiences growing up as shy, reserved children in the US and Australia, respectively.Brave Snail DesignsSophia's InstagramFind more info on Sophia's tarot deck here.
2022-04-011h 01Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE67. Dealing With Writer's BlockDoes writer's block exist? Yes it does. In this episode I challenge those who say it's not a real thing by exploring my own recent experience with it. In my opinion, writer's block isn't just being unable to write, it's broader than that, and I talk about why, the reasons behind writer's block, what it looks like, and how I deal with it. This isn't your typical perspective (when is anything I do typical lol), and hopefully it will enlighten you a bit about the condition of writer's block and give you some more tools to deal with it...
2022-03-2530 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE66. Becoming a Knight of Faith in YourselfWhat do you do when the path ahead seems hopeless, and you feel resignation coming over you? I contemplate this through a personal reckoning with Kierkegaard's contrasting Knight of Faith and Knight of Resignation archetypes.When You Don't Have the Privilege of Mental Health
2022-03-1820 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE65. In Which I Read One of My Short StoriesI had a discouraging week, and so to cheer myself up I decided to give myself a break from doing a regular podcast episode and read you one of my short stories instead! This is the first time I have shared my fiction on this podcast. The story is called "The Memory of Trees," and it's about a woman going to visit the mother of her childhood best friend, a friend who once shared a terrible secret with her.
2022-03-1137 min
Experientially SpeakingThe purpose and impact of ERGs with VW's Kendra PattersonVolkswagen's Kendra Patterson joins the podcast along with RedPeg's Anna Sanders and Michael Nelson to discuss the impact of employee resource groups both within the workplace and in the community. We cover how ERGs get started in organizations large (Volkswagen) and small (RedPeg), how they approach programming, how they hold leadership accountable to drive policy change, and much more.
2022-03-0453 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE64. How to Judge the Value of Your Creative WorkIt is notoriously difficult for creatives and artists to judge their own work. We cycle through extremes: one day we think we're awesome, the next we think we must have been delusional to believe we had any talent. We're even worse when it comes to other people's judgements of our work: a single critical comment can derail us for weeks, months, years. Given our sensitivities, how can we ever know the true value of our work? How do we know if it's any good, worth spending time on, putting out into the world?In this episode I...
2022-03-0427 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE63. Let's Normalize Complex Feelings, Shall We?I've never been the type of person who has one feeling about anything. As an Enneagram 4, I put equal value on the lighter and the darker emotions, and I've never understood our cultural obsession with positivity. Lately, though, many people have been speaking up about toxic positivity, a type of social pressure put on us to perform positive thoughts and feelings. I couldn't be more wholeheartedly in favor of opening up space for darker emotions.My hope is that we can move to a place where not only the challenging side of the emotional spectrum is accepted...
2022-02-2523 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE62. Interview! Matthew Bellringer on Neurodiversity (ADHD & HSP) and CreativityIn this episode Matthew Bellringer and I flip the script on neurodiversity, exploring it from a generative and validating perspective. Matthew is one of the most eloquent speakers I've come across on the subjects of neurodiversity and what it looks like and feels like for a neurodiverse person. As someone with ADHD and who also identifies as an HSP, Matthew speaks to both. His perspective is science-informed yet anchored in the subjective individual experience, which matches very well with my own way of seeing the world. We discuss different kinds of creativity, its links to neurodiversity, seeking accommodation at...
2022-02-181h 17Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE61. Life as a Continuous Intentional Return to the SelfIs being performative always bad? Not when it functions to give you a better understanding of your true nature. In this episode I discuss performativity and authenticity, and the cycle of separation from and return to the self that constitutes fulfilling our potential as human beings. Learn the difference between the discomfort of straying from your true nature and the uncomfortableness of going against convention or expectation, as well as how to use performativity as a counterintuitive methodology for developing more self-confidence and greater peace with yourself and the world. This will especially resonate with INFPs and INFJs, who...
2022-02-1119 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE60. The To-Do List ExperimentWhat happens when you've been living to-do list free and decide to make one? Listen to find out! You'll hear about the astonishing experience I recently had when I decided to make a seemingly benign to-do list to help me find activities to fill some of the open spaces in my life. I thought it would help me fill that time with activities that have value to me, but it had totally unforeseen and unfortunate consequences. I discuss the two different ways to view and experience time, which one modern Western society socializes us into, and why I have...
2022-02-0422 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE59. How I Manage My Depression Through Creative PracticeI sought out regular treatments for decades to help me manage my depression, and nothing worked until I finally decided to step into my identity as a creative & artist and commit to making creative practice the center of my life. In this episode I talk about how and why creative practice is my anti-depressant of choice, why it's the only thing that's worked for me, and what my creative practice looks like (it's not just sitting down to write!).My standard disclaimer about mental health subjects applies here. This is my personal story. I'm not a medical...
2022-01-2834 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE58. Think You Need More Self-Discipline? You Probably Actually Need LessDoes this sound familiar? You start off a creative project full of enthusiasm, and in the beginning you're able to regularly put in the work needed to reach your goal, but over time your motivation fades, you have to increasingly discipline yourself into doing the work, you start slacking off, and then finally are unable to make yourself do any work at all. You've failed, and you castigate yourself for being lazy and undisciplined. Good news! You're not lazy or undisciplined, you just haven't figured out how to develop motivation for long-term projects. Self-discipline works well in...
2022-01-2132 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE57. Interview! Frances Khalastchi on the Many Meanings and Uses of ArtFrances Khalastchi runs Better Bolder Braver (along with her partner Simon Batchelar), an online community for coaches that helps them learn how to market themselves in a way that feels natural, ethical, and authentic to them. In this episode we discuss her fascinating and winding path to starting her own business and the many meanings and uses of art. Frances has a background in art history and has an informed and interesting perspective on these issues. As I discuss in my summation at the end of the interview, my own perspective on my creative work has been broadened and...
2022-01-141h 37Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE56. It's Never Too Late, aka What Would Betty White Say?Happy New Year! In this first episode of 2022 I'm doing things a bit different. As I evolve as a creative, so does my work here on the podcast and elsewhere. That's how I keep things fresh for myself, which keeps me motivated and inspired. In this episode I discuss why it's not too late for you to achieve your creative dreams no matter what age you are, and suggest that when we feel discouraged we ask ourselves, what would Betty White say?Read the blog post this episode is based on here.
2022-01-0716 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE55. An Anti-Resolution New YearMy wish for all of us going into the new year is to NOT clutter our brains up with goals, resolutions, self-improvement plans, and the like. I want to encourage us to see the new year as an opportunity for personal empowerment through connecting with our true desires AND developing our confidence that we can actually achieve them. This is not an episode that includes tips, directives, or prescriptions. Instead I offer a visualization that can help us come back into ourselves and locate our internal source of personal power. The episode on goal setting is #8.
2021-12-3118 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE54. Making Friends With Your Ultradian RhythmYou've heard of the circadian rhythm, I'm sure, but did you know there are others that govern our daily functioning? One is the ultradian rhythm, which occurs in ~90 minute itervals through the day and night. The ultradian rhythm influences everything from our REM sleep to how long we can effectively focus on tasks.For years I felt something was wrong with me that I have a very clear 60-90 minute window for doing concentration-heavy tasks like creative writing. I'd hear self-proclaimed "serious" writers talk about how they write for 4 hours a day and feel like I must...
2021-12-2432 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE53. The Challenges of Creative Entrepreneurship as an Introverted HSPThis special holiday season episode is part of the bonus content from my Patreon. In it I talk about the challenges I face doing business as an introverted HSP. You'll also hear my thoughts on the forced and often aggressive positivity you see in the public sphere of the creator economy, why I not only accept but embrace the darker/heavier emotions of the human experience, and my gratitude that I've finally committed to a life of creative fulfillment. Thank you to all my listeners for supporting my podcast and a special thank you to my Patreon supporters! I'll...
2021-12-1737 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE52. Doing Procrastination the Right Way (for Enhanced Creativity)Today I have a happy holiday surprise for you! It is the one-year anniversary of my podcast, and I wanted to do something special for all my wonderfully supportive listeners. So for the next two weeks, I will be releasing episodes that are part of my Patreon bonus content.In this episode I discuss why and how procrastination can be used as a creativity tool through an in-depth analysis of a recently published (2020) article by Jihae Shin and Adam M. Grant in the Academy of Management Journal. You can access a pre-publication version of the article here.
2021-12-1032 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE51. Recognizing and Managing Burnout BEFORE It Gets BadBy the time you're in burnout, it's too late to manage it. You're in recovery mode. And it's a lot harder to recover from burnout than to manage it before it gets bad. In this episode I talk about the two kinds of burnout (why one you may actually want to experience, but the other kind you definitely don't), how to recognize when burnout is imminent, and what to do about it.Also, an update on my path to publication with my novel!Here is Mark Steadman's podcast resource community Podcode Plus.The...
2021-12-0343 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE50. How Do We Know What We Really Want in Life?Have you ever thought you wanted something, but it didn't turn out as great as you expected? Or thought something would make you happy but it doesn't? It's confusing when we get what we think we want but don't feel as good about it as we'd expected. We can begin to doubt that we know ourselves, or that we have the capability to make good decisions for ourselves.The problem isn't that we don't know how to make good decisions. It's that we're basing decisions on the wrong information. In this episode I talk about how we...
2021-11-1928 min
Delightful DissentDoing it wrong? - Kendra PattersonHave you ever struggled to do things the same way as everyone else? Even when you know your way works for you, and works well, people insist you do it "properly". You might even start to doubt yourself, and to worry that there's something fundamentally wrong with you.
Join Kendra Patterson and I as we "do it wrong". We'll explore the relationship between what we do and what happens. We'll look at they way privileging one experience of the world limits us all. We'll share our own experiences of doing things right for us even when we're...
2021-11-161h 04Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE49. Interview! Jas Hothi Talks the Empowerment of Self-Publication and Taking the Downtime You Need as an Empath/HSPJas Hothi is a writer following his dream. He started blogging in 2015 when he left his corporate job, and he is passionate about ‘writing freely’ and making an income from doing so. He recently published his debut book, The Indie Author, sharing the raw and honest stories of writers all over the world who have self-published books. Jas is an INFP, cares a lot about ‘freedom’, and enjoys coffee shops, mini-adventures, and sunny days.In this interview we discuss the self-publication process, why he's an advocate for self-publication, being an empath, justifying our downtime needs (we both need sig...
2021-11-121h 10Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE48. Dealing With Creative Rejection as an HSP Part 2In part 2 of my miniseries on creative rejection I tell you all about my coping techniques, the ones that worked and didn't work (but were still useful!) during my recent experience with creative rejection, and what I learned from it all. Whether or not you are an HSP, this episode will be useful to you! Here are some of the things I cover:Why it's so important that you actually enjoy your creative practice.How to accept the truth that the creative life will always include rejection no matter how successful you are.The 100% / 0% rule.My favorite of...
2021-11-0540 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE47. Dealing With Creative Rejection as an HSP Part 1In this first episode of a two-part series, I talk about why HSPs struggle so much with creative rejection through the lens of my recent experience of entering the PitchWars competition (see E41 about my writing journey for more on that). If you are an HSP and feel it has held you back from pursuing your creative dreams, rest assured you are not alone! I'm right there with you. I don't sugarcoat things in this episode. I talk about how and why HSPs have difficulty managing the stress of putting their work out there into the world. It's not...
2021-10-2927 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE46. The Benefits of Seeing Creative Practice as SacredMost of us see creativity as something we do when we have the time for it. After all the things we have to do are done, then we'll have the space to really focus on our creative practice. But this perspective of how creativity fits into our lives is one of the major reasons we suffer from blocks. What if instead we saw creativity as integral to a healthy, happy life, something sacred that we always find time for? In this episode I talk about how elevating creative practice to something that is sacred (or at minimum, is a...
2021-10-2226 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE45. Interview! Carlos Saba Talks Combining Creativity with EntrepreneurshipCarlos Saba is a co-founder (along with Laurence McCahill) of the Happy Startup School, an online community for people looking to do heart-centered business in creative ways. Like myself, he is a PhD holder who has taken an unconventional route in life. In this episode he talks about his own journey to getting the PhD and beyond, the importance of centering fun in our lives, and the possibilities for doing business if you are a creative or artist that do not sacrifice your creative space and vision. If Carlos has one message for people, it is that it is...
2021-10-151h 28Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE44. The Uses of Irrationality. Or, What Listening to Your Feelings Really Looks LikeBeing irrational is bad, right? Not always. Sometimes our culture labels something as irrational because it challenges cultural control. If you find that all the things you thought would make you happy in life don't, and you have a feeling that you're missing something, it could be because you have learned to distrust your own feelings and eschew making decisions based on them...because to do so would be irrational. In this episode I discuss how cultural conditioning works on us and how to get back in touch with your feelings so you can make decisions that lead to...
2021-10-0837 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE43. Everyone Is Creative and Creativity Is for EveryoneSo many people don't believe in their own creative capacities. They think that they're not one of the "really" creative ones. But everyone is creative, and everyone has the capacity to be highly creative. In this episode I talk about how we define creativity, what creativity actually is, and what holds us back from seeing ourselves as creative or making time for creativity. My main point? That everyone is creative - it's an actual cognitive function and we all have it. YOU are creative. But creativity can be challenging, and in this episode I talk about why, and how...
2021-10-0136 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE42. How I Went From Thinking Networking Is a Dirty Word to Loving ItThat's right, I actually love networking now, and that's saying something for a shy, sensitive introvert with social anxiety! In this episode I give you all the tips I've learned over the past 1.5 years of running my own creative business. The reason I used to hate networking is because I had a misunderstanding about what it actually is. There is a way to approach networking if you are shy, introverted, socially anxious, and/or an HSP that will make networking both enjoyable and effective!Note: Haven promotion no longer active.
2021-09-2430 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE41. The One About Writing: My Writing Journey and Path Toward PublicationI don't think I've ever been this excited about a Stepping Off Now episode! I share all about my writing journey, including my previous failures to get published (ouch), how deciding not to seek publication of any kind for my work for a number of years helped me reconnect with my creative inspiration, and how I feel about now being back on a path toward publication with my newly completed novel (suffice it to say, those feelings are complicated! I know you expect nothing less from me haha). Plus, I have some exciting news! Andy Mort, the...
2021-09-1743 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE40. Interview! Samara Powers Talks Ministry as a Non-Theist, Alternative Family/Relationship Models, and So Much MoreWe cover so much in this interview that I hardly know how to introduce it! We talk about Samara's journey to Ministry as a non-theist Unitarian, how to be an individual in community, her struggles with autoimmune and mental health issues, how to reconcile chaos and disorder, the links between poetry and math, her possible ADHD (seeking diagnosis), and more.Here is Samara in her own words:Samara Powers is a self-described generalist and aficionado of Dad Jokes, and user of she and they pronouns. Her life experience ranges from theatrical training to hospitality to...
2021-09-101h 51Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE39. How Anti-Productivity Practices Help With Burnout Recovery and CreativityI figured it was time for an update on my intentional practice of wasting time! I first talked about this in episode 3, and since then anti-productivity practices like wasting time have become even more important in my life as I grow my creative business. In this episode I get into the backstory of how I started wasting time and its relationship with burnout, both as a symptom and a path toward recovery. My life looks very different post-burnout from what it looked like before burnout, and I discuss what my intentional anti-productivity practices have to do with...
2021-09-0337 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE38. A Craving for Solitude + A Report From My Summer of SolitudeI have always felt guilty about my strong craving for solitude. Is something wrong with me? Am I a weirdo? Does desiring so much solitude mean I don't deserve to have intimate relationships? The answers to those questions are no, no, and...wait for it...no! In this episode I talk about the role solitude has played in my life from childhood to now, and advance the theory that creative types need significant periods of solitude not only in order to do their work but to feel alive and inspired. But how can we obtain the solitude...
2021-08-2738 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE37. How to Survive Periods of Inertia in a Transformation-Driven LifeYou know that feeling of inertia we all get sometimes, when doing something, anything, to improve our lives just seems so hard? Maybe you're dealing with exhaustion and burnout, maybe it's fear that's holding you back. Or maybe you just have no idea what your next step could be. What do you do when you are in a period in your life when you're just kind of doing...nothing?This episode is an appeal to see these periods of doing nothing as a valuable and necessary part of a transformation-driven life. Don't want to grow and change...
2021-08-2032 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE36. Interview! Chrissa Trudelle Talks Personality Typology (Myers-Briggs & Enneagram) and the Cognitive Side of FlowIn this episode I interview Chrissa Trudelle, a fellow INFP, and we talk all things personality typology! Both being INFPs, we have many points of resonance, but as I'm an Enneagram 4 and she's a 9, we also diverge on many points. You'll hear about how being an HSP interfaces with being certain personality types in the Myers-Briggs and Enneagram systems, the difference between INFPs and INFJs, and what it's like for Chrissa, an INFP, to be married to an INFJ.Chrissa has a science background and has taken workshops on flow, so we also discuss the cognitive side...
2021-08-131h 17Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE35. Oops, I Went and Made a Manifesto: Thoughts On Doing Creative Entrepreneurship My WaySo this was supposed to be an episode on identifying what motivates us and using that to guide us through periods of doubt, but it turned into a bit of a manifesto on how I want to do business as a creative. Here it is in a nutshell: I want to fit business into a creative model, rather than trying to fit my creativity into a business model. What does that mean? Stick with me as I continue down this long and challenging road of creative entrepreneurship, because I aim to find out! Also in this episode: Ho...
2021-08-0627 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE34. The One About Mental Health: All About My Struggles With Depression As a Creative Sensitive TypeI've struggled with depression since childhood, and in this episode I tell you all about it. You'll hear about the two different kinds of depression I have, what they feel like when they hit, and how I'm dealing with a current bout of what I call the "depression flu." I discuss why I think depression is an inevitable and even important part of my experience as a human on this planet, and what it has to do with my creative, highly sensitive personality. Finally, I share my thoughts on how depression is conceptualized within the medical establishment, and why...
2021-07-3033 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE33. What I've Learned About Maintaining a Consistent Creative PracticeDuring my decades as creative writer, my greatest struggle has been consistency of habit. I always had to force myself to sit down and write on a daily basis. I started and abandoned writing projects constantly (four novels, at least that many blogs). When I started up my creative business in 2020, I knew that needed to change. I had to find a way to maintain consistency because my plan was to grow my business through weekly blog posts and later through weekly podcast episodes. If I have to miss a week sometimes, fine - life happens. But I wanted...
2021-07-2335 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE32. Interview! Ann Wainscott Talks the Alchemy of Teaching and Creativity as TransformationIn this episode I talk to Dr. Ann Wainscott, a politics professor I met in grad school. Ann is one of the most naturally creative and intuitive people I know, and it's evident in how she lives her life on a daily basis. In this interview she talks about studying to be an end-of-life doula, the rituals she uses to get into creative flow, and how teaching is an alchemy that leads to transformation. This is a DEEP conversation that challenged my ideas about creative identity, what creativity is, and what purpose it serves. In other words, it's just...
2021-07-1657 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE31. Using Active Flow in Your Creative Practice: Here's How I Do ItWould you believe I didn't understand flow until recently? I could tell when it happened - it's that feeling when you lose track of time and your surroundings, and your creativity just flows - but I didn't know how to make it happen. It seemed like I had no control over when it did. I just had to hope I'd get lucky when I sat down to write. I was determined to figure out how to facilitate active flow so I could have more control over my creative process (if you're wondering why I call it "active" flow, it's...
2021-07-0946 min
Happy MBABeing a Late Bloomer with Kendra PattersonWhat if you don’t agree with mainstream definitions of success?What if, when looking at what everyone seems to value and strive for, you start to feel like “do I actually belong here?”You see the well trodden path to successThe one validated by the hundreds of thousands that have gone before you. Each of their steps deepening the footprints of those that went before. As if this is the only way.But it isn’t.Not ev...
2021-07-0746 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE30. Do You Remember When You Stopped Having Fun?Being a grownup isn't supposed to be fun. Sure, there can be fun moments here and there, but mostly it's about responsibilities. Somewhere along the way we lose our ability to get lost in creative play. Do you remember when the magic of childhood started to fade for you? I do. In this episode I tell that story and many more about my own painful journey to adulthood - and how the goal of my life now is to reclaim my childhood sense of fun and joy in being creative. A big piece of the puzzle is...
2021-07-0236 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE29. Are You Ready to Feel Proud That You're an Introvert? Here's How to Start Seeing Our Deficit as Our AdvantageMy work on this podcast and on my blog is all about examining our implicit assumptions about ourselves and the cultures we live in, and in this episode I tackle a big topic: why I think despite all the introvert advocacy online in the last decade, being an introvert still carries a stigma. I think understanding and acceptance of the character trait of introversion is still nominal at best. I want to change that.In this episode I talk about a big paradigm shift that occurred recently for me in how I see myself as an introvert...
2021-06-2531 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE28. Interview! Lauren Sapala Talks Intuitive Writing, Guarding Your Creative Energy, and Alcohol Abuse Among CreativesI have long wanted to have Lauren Sapala on my podcast, because she is one of the major reasons I even have a creative business! She is not only my writing coach, but also my business mentor. Lauren is the person who taught me about intuitive writing, which I've mentioned here and there in my podcast and explored more thoroughly on my blog. In this episode, we discuss what intuitive writing is and how Lauren discovered the difference between rational and intuitive styles. Then we talk about how introverted, intuitive, highly sensitive, creative types such as ourselves can guard...
2021-06-181h 03Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE27. Breaking Into the Chocolate Factory (or Hogwarts, If You Prefer)Are you secretly waiting for your own golden ticket or letter from Hogwarts that will show you, once and for all, the path of your destiny? Many of us spend our lives hoping that we'll be chosen somehow, and that it will change everything. That was me, until I realized that no one is going to choose me. I was going to have to do it myself. Learning how to choose yourself can change everything, but many of us struggle to advocate for ourselves like that because we either don't believe we have the right or authority to do...
2021-06-1130 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE26. Demystifying Flow: Active vs. Passive Flow and How They Work for Creativity and LifeYou've probably heard of flow - aka being in the zone; being in your element - but did you know that flow can be active OR passive? Active flow is that state you enter when you're totally immersed in the moment and the activity you're doing just...flows. It can happen during creative practice, athletics, just about any activity. But what about the rest of the time? Is flow all or nothing? I don't think so. I believe there's such a thing as passive flow that we can cultivate in our lives to make life more enjoyable and active...
2021-06-0441 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE25. Experimental Types Are Especially Prone to Creative Impasse. Here's How I'm Dealing With MineAh the dreaded creative impasse: that feeling you get when you've seemingly hit a dead end with your project and just can't see a way forward. What should you do? Trash the project and start over? Force your way forward? Hate on yourself for yet again being a creative failure? None of the above! In this episode, I talk about a recent impasse I experienced with my novel and how I've decided to deal with it. You'll hear about why experimental types are prone to creative impasse, and I give you some tips on how to work through these i...
2021-05-2830 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE24. Interview! Jill Patterson Talks Being a Competitive Cyclist and Living Life ExperimentallyJill Patterson is a road and gravel cyclist who has been making a name for herself on the circuits the last few years. After a year's hiatus from races due to Covid, she's ready to maintain her dominance this year! We discuss how she got into competitive cycling at the relatively late age of 30 while living in Japan, how she never imagined she would grow up to be an athlete, and how she found the courage to make the decision to leave "normal" life behind and create a life for herself around her passion for the sport. Jill is...
2021-05-211h 04
Yelling About Star TrekE14. War and Star Trek with Kendra Patterson!Hey Trekkies! Welcome back to another of episode of Yelling About Star Trek. In this weeks' episode, we are joined by the very first guest of the podcast and fellow podcaster Kendra Patterson. Kendra and I discuses two fantastic episodes of DS9: Nor the Battle To the Strong, as well as the quint essential DS9 episode; In the Pale Moonlight, and offer "hopefully" insightful analysis. If you enjoyed Kendra's appearance and are craving more, then check out her podcast on creativity; Stepping Off Now.
2021-05-2142 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE23. Insecure About Your Creative Product? Have Imposter Syndrome? Me Too. Here's How I Deal With ItIf you've ever worried whether your creative work is good enough to share, or how you're supposed to get it noticed at all, I have some answers for you. You may have heard that it's perfectionism that holds us back from sharing our creative products with the world, but I think perfectionism is a distraction from our actual problem: we don't know how to judge the value of our own work. For most of us, putting our work out there can feel a lot like dropping it into a hole. It doesn't matter if the work is "perfect" or...
2021-05-1433 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE22. The One About Money! All About My Finances, My Creative Business, and Being a Creative Trying to Earn a Living in 2021Money is always such an elephant in the room, don't you think? In the field I now find myself in, where we are all are trying to make a living based on creative content we put up online, people seem hesitant to speak publicly about the specifics of their own financial situations. I want to change that, and here's why. As a content creator, I make my money from people who are willing to give it to me in exchange for my work and services. It's a very personal, one-to-one type of financial transaction. Because of that, I want...
2021-05-0736 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE21. Why Burnout May Be an Inevitable - and Positive! - Developmental Stage for HSPsA couple months ago I came across some work by a forgotten Polish doctor, psychologist, and poet named Kazimierz Dąbrowski (Ka-ZHI-meerz Dom-BROF-ski) that upended my understanding of my experience with burnout. Dąbrowski believed that HSPs (highly sensitive people) may inevitably experience burnout at some point during their lives, and that it is actually a positive step in their personal development. HSPs experience burnout in an existential way that leads them to question the very foundations of their lives and beliefs - and after they've gone through this dark night of the soul they emerge with a special pu...
2021-04-3036 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE20. Interview! Andy Mort Talks Working As an Undertaker and Being an Experimental CreativeEver wonder what it's like to be an undertaker? In this interview, songwriter and slow coach Andy Mort tells us all about how he survived in this emotionally taxing career and working through the early part of the pandemic as an HSP. But that's not all! Andy and I do a deep dive into the experimental creative process, as Andy takes us on a journey through how he designed his newly launched goal-setting course for people who struggle with conceptual goal setting, Return to Serenity Island. It is essential listening for anyone curious about what an experimental creative process...
2021-04-231h 03Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE19. This Episode's Topic Is the Most Exciting Yet: Boredom! Oh, and There's Some Neuroscience, TooBoredom and neuroscience in one episode? You may be thinking, "I'll give this one a pass," but I promise it's not as meh as it sounds! Boredom can actually be used as a creativity tool - and I have the neuroscience to back it up. You'll hear about what studies have shown in terms of how boredom stimulates creativity, and how to cultivate intentional boredom using several different methods. Then I delve into what the latest neuroscience on creativity shows about why boredom and related brain activities like daydreaming are so essential if you want to cultivate your own...
2021-04-1634 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE18. It's Maladaptive to Be Gentle but I Don't Care, I'm Gonna Be Me Anyway!Do you have something about yourself that you've always felt you need to grow out of? For me, it's my gentleness. I've always been too soft for this world, too sensitive. Or to put it another way, I've always believed that I need to toughen up - and that this would/should happen as I matured. Except it didn't. I just got better at repressing and hiding my gentle soul. Then one day I decided I'm not going to do that anymore! As you listen to my story of "coming out" about this "undesirable" personality trait, think about the...
2021-04-0934 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE17. The Place Where Time Isn't Linear (Stop Bullying Your Creative Self)Hold onto your hats, guys, today I'm talking about the connection between theoretical physics and creativity! This is an oddball episode with one overarching theme: we need to stop bullying ourselves (or letting other people bully us) out of trusting our emotional, creative selves. I touch on tapping into the flow state, why creativity is actually easy (it's breaking through the stranglehold of rational thought that's the hard part), and why we need to practice listening, not telling, if we want to live from our creative centers and tap into that energy. Plus, you'll hear a teeny tiny bit...
2021-04-0230 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE16. Interview! Manuel Cordero Talks Building Haunted Houses for a Living and the Creative Process in Fine Arts PaintingWelcome to the inaugural interview of my interview series! In this series I invite people onto my podcast to talk about living the unconventional life, being a late bloomer, being a generalist, the creative process, and how to balance a personal creative practice with the necessity of making a living.Manuel Cordero is a senior set designer at Universal Studios Orlando, where he works on their yearly Halloween Horror Nights event and other live immersive entertainment experiences. He is also an accomplished fine arts painter. We talk about the long path that led to his current job...
2021-03-261h 01Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE15. I Almost Ruined My Life Using Reasoning to Make Decisions, But You Don't Have To!So it turns out reasoning isn't a good way to make decisions. Wait, what? In this episode I delve into a fascinating theory that reasoning didn't evolve to help us increase our understanding and make better decisions, but to help us win arguments. You'll hear more about my painful PhD journey, my resulting decision paralysis, and how I regained my faith in myself to make smart decisions. I discuss how flaws of reasoning, like confirmation bias and the sunk cost fallacy, are actually features of reasoning, which makes them virtually impossible to avoid. So how can we make good...
2021-03-1937 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE14. How to Be a Late BloomerThe more I learn about late blooming, the more I think we're all late bloomers. Our society pushes us to achieve early, to all of our detriments. I can remember feeling like a late bloomer in my 20s, and I certainly feel like one now, in the midst of a career change in midlife! Really we should be embracing late blooming, or as I like to call it, repeat blooming. Life just feels so much better when you believe that it has more than one act. In this episode I talk about false beliefs we have about cognitive functioning...
2021-03-1233 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE13. This One Skill Can Be a Secret Superpower for Creatives During Times of TurmoilThis last year has been the most productive of my life in terms of my creative output, despite the turmoil of the Pandemic and the political and cultural upheavals unfolding in my country (the US). How did I do it? I used what I now see as my secret superpower: my curiosity muscles. Curiosity is an essential skill for creatives, not only because it points us toward what we should be pursuing creatively, but it fosters the kind of openness and energy we need to maintain a consistent creative practice. But it also serves another purpose: it can help...
2021-03-0534 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE12. Cultivating a Generalist Mindset for the New Era, aka I Love Being a Generalist!Have you ever felt like a failure because you haven't become an expert in one area, or at anything? Our society expects us to specialize, especially in terms of career. Those of us who can't seem to settle on one path and stick with it are considered dilettantes or worse. I'm here to tell you that being a generalist is a benefit! Our world may seem like it's made for specialists, but generalists are already thriving and they will rule the future. The good news? Most of us are natural generalists. In this episode I talk about what it...
2021-02-2634 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE11. My Experience With Severe Burnout and How I Got Through ItThe origin story of this podcast is about burnout. As I was struggling to finish my PhD a few years ago, I suffered from burnout that was so severe I was largely nonfunctional as a human being. In this episode, I talk about what that looked and felt like, and the realization I eventually had about my condition that enabled me to pick up all my pieces and recover. Don't worry, this isn't a depressing story! It's full of interesting thoughts about burnout and society, why I think we are all the burnout generation right now (it's not just...
2021-02-1934 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE10. Does Rational Cognition Impede Creativity? (Spoiler: Yep, It Definitely Can)Do you feel like you have to force creativity, or does it feel like it's harder than it should be? Are you struggling with blocks? It's possible the reason is that you have a habit of applying the rules of rational cognition to everything, and don't trust your intuitive/creative self. You're not alone! Most of us have this problem because we live in a society that prefers rational to intuitive cognition. We are taught to distrust and disregard knowledge and understanding that comes to us through non-rational means, which can block our creativity. We can support our creative...
2021-02-1236 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE9. How to Steal Fire from the Gods (The Radical Rebellion of Living a Creative Life)This week I'm back on the topic of creativity and why it's so important for creative people to give themselves radical permission to do their creative work. So many of us struggle with guilt over taking the time and space for our work. In this episode I talk about how to channel Trickster energy to give us the confidence to do our creative work anyway - whether or not we have the support of people in our lives, it makes any money, or we're scared of the changes it might cause if we truly commit to being creatives. You'll...
2021-02-0536 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE8. We Have a Societal Addiction to Goal Setting and It's Draining Our JoyIs it possible to have goals without goals? In this episode, I delve deeper into what I see as the incompatibility between the goal setting, achievement-oriented paradigm and living life experimentally. I discuss the origins of the goal setting paradigm, what it's actually useful for, and why it will never result in personal happiness for us creative, intuitive types (hint: it's just not the right tool for the job). You'll hear about the trick goal setting plays on us, how I differentiate between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and the two words I use to help me visualize how to...
2021-01-2932 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE7. Let's Stop Playing to Our StrengthsWe're told that we should always seek excellence and achievement, and that it's important to be the best - or at least to try. But that kind of approach is antithetical to living life experimentally. This episode is a follow-on to last week's (Ep. 6), but you can listen to it as a stand-alone too. I discuss why playing to our strengths is the "easy way out," and how it keeps us from truly enjoying our lives. You'll hear about what made starting a podcast fun for me, even though I don't have what you'd think are the right skills...
2021-01-2233 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE6. Feel Like a Late Bloomer? This May Explain WhyHave you spent your life watching people around you hit all the milestones, wondering when your turn will come? Do you feel like there's something you're just not getting about how to do life the right way, or have you found that you've had to reinvent yourself a number of times in your life? This episode is for all of you out there who don't have lives that follow that linear trajectory our culture tells us is the "right" way to live. I discuss the difference between being a conceptual creative vs. an experimental creative, as well as why...
2021-01-1532 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE5. Embracing the Ugly to Increase Creativity and Banish Judgy VoicesIn this episode I talk about an exercise I developed called Embracing the Ugly that helps me deal with critical, judgy voices (both the external and internal types), and how it's allowed me tap into my creative potential and made me braver about putting my creative products out there - like this podcast! I discuss the difference between your internal critic and internal judge, and how this exercise works to shift your perspective on what is or is not true about you and your creative work. Hint: only YOU have sovereignty over the meaning of you and your work...
2021-01-0830 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE4. Being a Gentle Soul (HSP/Intuitive/Empath) in an Ungentle WorldHave you ever been called too sensitive, or told you take things too seriously? Are you empathic, intuitive, and/or an HSP? If so, you may be a gentle soul like me. In this episode I talk about this special type of person and the struggles they face trying to survive in a society that sees them as having a less desirable personality type. You'll hear about how one of their "handicaps" is actually their greatest strength, and the important role gentle souls can play in our society. I let you in on my secret childhood wish, and of...
2021-01-0134 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE3. Anti-Productivity and My Intentional Practice of Wasting TimeHave you ever noticed that we don't really have a positive way of talking about not being productive? In this episode I discuss the insidious influence our society's ideological obsession with productivity has on our psychological and emotional health, and how I've learned to counteract my anxiety about using my time "wisely" with an intentional practice of wasting time. I talk about when and how I intentionally waste time as well as the benefits the practice has had in my life. You'll also hear about a Japanese saying I really wish we had in English, and how I suck...
2020-12-2530 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE2. Using Generative Energy to Tap Into Your Creative PotentialIn this episode I talk about the difference between productive and generative energy, and how you can use the latter to realize your creative potential. If you are struggling with completing projects, feel like the creative process is a chore, or are discouraged with your output, I offer some wisdom and tips that I learned along the way in my own journey. You'll hear about how I dealt as a writer with the submissions process inevitable rejections (spoiler: badly), and how I got to a place where I actually love doing my art, instead of having done it.
2020-12-1834 minStepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent CreativesE1. One Thing I Got Wrong About "Follow Your Bliss"Welcome! In this inaugural episode I discuss the origin story of the Stepping Off Now Podcast, including how it got that name. You’ll hear about my experience with burnout, how I got a creative block so severe I couldn’t write anymore, what I did to move through the darkness, and why I’m actually grateful I had that experience. And of course I talk about what it means to follow your bliss and how to make that work for you in your life if you are a creative.You can find this episode’s accompanying blog pos...
2020-12-1132 min
Work Your Plan Podcast with KendraEp 17: Your Self Esteem DNA with Patricia PattersonAs we focus on living a well done life this last quarter of 2017, I realized how we see ourselves often impacts our choices. The quote "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment" came to mind as I was interviewing 2 guests for this month's podcast. During our interview, Patricia Patterson, my first guest on the topic of self esteem, mentioned this idea of a "self esteem DNA". She explains what she means by that in this episode of the StrongHer podcast. I would love to hear...
2017-10-161h 00