In today’s episode of Creative Lift, “Creating Space: Designing with Play in Mind,” dive with me into the first of the Illuminary’s rooms, the Studio. You can think of the Illuminary as an inner creative hideout that is made up of various rooms designed to support your creative thinking process. The Studio is a space for divergent thinking, brainstorming, improvising, and experimenting. In our episode, we’ll explore why play matters, no matter what age you are, and how play facilitates your creative flow and momentum.

What kind of environment would work best for you in your internal Studio? What colors, tools, and supplies invite you into a playful state of mind? Your Studio is a place to experiment, even when you have no idea whether a possibility will lead anywhere productive. In this space, making a mess is not only expected, it’s celebrated.

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Don’t miss out on next week’s follow-up episode! In this season, we’re alternating between an episode like this one, that provides a tour of one of the Illuminary’s rooms, followed by an episode like next week’s, in which we’ll play through a hands-on activity together to get a feel for what actually being in that room might feel like. I encourage you to set some time aside next week to join me in the Studio and stretch your playful thinking skills. 

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You can also help others find the show by rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to the show. Your words make such a difference for them—and for me, as I continue to create this show. Many, many thanks in advance. And of course, a huge thank you to Alex Doherty for his fantastic editing of the show.

In Season Eight of Creative Lift, our theme is Creating Space. Today’s episode is titled, “A Room of Your Own: Why Creative Space Matters.”

When you think of creative space, what comes to mind? Do you think of your physical creative space? Or does your mind turn to something less easy to define, such as your mental or emotional space?

Maybe right now, you’re in a season where you feel you have the just-right amount of creative space. Or maybe you are longing for more physical or metaphorical creative space in your life. No matter where you are, this season invites you to take a deep breath, and to look at creative space in a new way. You’ll gain tools that help you apply your creative thinking skills directly to your creative process. We all have those stuck places that come up over and over again. What if your creativity was exactly what you needed to reimagine those challenges and overcome them?

If you’re familiar with Writerly Play, you’ve likely heard me speak about the Illuminary. This imagined villa houses many rooms, and each room offers a particular thinking environment. The Studio, for instance, provides you an expansive, playful space where you can ideate and dream. Across the hall, the Workshop holds practical tools to help you craft those ideas and dreams into a shape you can share with others.

The Illuminary makes what the invisible—our creative thinking process—visible. By illuminating the shifts we make from one mode of thinking to another, we avoid common creative blocks. By equipping each room with tools that are personalized for our own approach, we learn not only to rely on our strengths, but also create ease in the spaces that are less comfortable for us.

Throughout this season, we’ll explore the Illuminary’s rooms, discuss the essential mindset required for each, and try out activities that help you experience the feel of each mindset. In today’s episode, we’ll walk through the Illuminary so that you have a map for where we’re headed in this season, and I’ll share a few stories about how and why I developed this tool for myself and others.

I’m very excited to share the Illuminary’s tools and creative mindsets with you. They’ve been transformative for me in my creative process, and I have seen them blast through obstinate creative blocks for others, too. My hope through this season is that through these tools, you will find a renewed sense of momentum and joy as you unlock new horizons in your creative process.

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 EPISODE LINKS:

Find me on Instagram: @naomikinsman

Find Alex on Instagram: @ag.doherty

You can also help others find the show by rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to the show. Your words make such a difference for them—and for me, as I continue to create this show. Many, many thanks in advance. And of course, a big thank you to Alex for his fantastic editing of the show.

Have you ever thought about the importance of play in your life? In episode 58 of Creative Lift, Living the Artful Life: Permission to Play, we’ll chat about how you might give yourself permission to play.

Anyone who’s been reading this blog for any length of time knows that I firmly believe that play is not just for children – in this episode, we’ll discover one way in which play has great impact. We all know that the amount of energy we have when we approach a task is essential. If we experience our task as a slog, it likely will take more time and what we produce will often be of less quality. When that same task is framed as play, it can become buoyant, which speeds up the work, makes the work fun, and also often creates stronger, more inspired results. From cooking to designing our days, play can unlock our creative energy and give us the momentum we need to move forward.

What possibilities might giving yourself permission to play unlock for you this week?

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Find me on Instagram: @naomikinsman

Find Alex on Instagram: @ag.doherty

You can also help others find the show by rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to the show. Your words make such a difference for them—and for me, as I continue to create this show. Many, many thanks in advance. And of course, a big thank you to Alex for his fantastic editing of the show.

In her book, Present Over Perfect, Shauna Niequist asks, ″What would our lives be like if our days were studded by tiny, completely unproductive, silly, nonstrategic, wild and beautiful five-minute breaks, reminders that our days are for loving and learning and laughing, not for pushing and planning, reminders that it’s all about the heart, not about the hustle?″

What would that be like?

Today’s episode of Creative Lift, “Living the Artful Life: Design for Delight,” builds on the ideas we explored in episode 55: Create Story Moments. We’ll look at additional ways to be intentional about savoring moments as part of living an artful life. How, for instance, might we find luxury in small, everyday delights? How might we learn to appreciate the simple things in life?

The invitation in this episode is to design an evening of delight and live it up to the fullest. The best part is that not only will your delight be FUN for you and whomever you include in your experience, but when you tell the story of your delight-filled evening with others, you’ll spread joy and happiness to others, too. What I’m learning is this: delight is contagious!

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 EPISODE LINKS:

Find me on Instagram: @naomikinsman

Find Alex on Instagram: @ag.doherty

You can also help others find the show by rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to the show. Your words make such a difference for them—and for me, as I continue to create this show. Many, many thanks in advance. And of course, a big thank you to Alex for his fantastic editing of the show.

What does it mean to “seek the metaphor?” Here’s a quote from Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit that puts this hard-to-describe concept into words:

Creativity is more about taking the facts, fictions, and feelings we store away and finding new ways to connect them. What we’re talking about here is metaphor. Metaphor is the lifeblood of all art, if it is not art itself. Metaphor is our vocabulary for connecting what we are experiencing now with what we have experienced before. It’s not only how we express what we remember, it’s how we interpret it – for ourselves and others.”

― from The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp

What metaphors might elevate your lived experience today and help you see your relationships, actions, and emotions with fresh perspective? What if, instead of saying that you’re feeling “okay,” today, you described that state of okay as a specific kind of weather? Would it be blue sky with just a cloud or two, maybe one that looks a bit like a four-leaf clover? Or, would it have just finished misting and now a rainbow is cresting across the sky?

When we use metaphor to name our experience, we help ourselves see what might otherwise be invisible. We give ourselves language to understand our experiences more deeply and to communicate more fully with others. In today’s episode of Creative Lift, Living the Artful Life: Seek the Metaphor, we’ll try out another exercise that invites you to use metaphor to gain perspective.

I hope you’ll listen in and give it a try. And if you do, don’t forget to share your story with me! You can find me on Instagram @naomikinsman or sign up for my mailing list below for access to even more Creative Lift resources.

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 EPISODE LINKS:

Find me on Instagram: @naomikinsman

Find Alex on Instagram: @ag.doherty

You can also help others find the show by rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to the show. Your words make such a difference for them—and for me, as I continue to create this show. Many, many thanks in advance. And of course, a big thank you to Alex for his fantastic editing of the show.

In today’s episode, Living the Artful Life: Create Story Moments we’ll pay attention to the moments that make up our lives and think about how we might intentionally create opportunities for connection and joy.

To me, living an artful life isn’t so much about what I make or do, but more about the way I pay attention. That phrase, pay attention, reminds me that in each moment I have a choice. How will I spend the precious gift of time and focus? Will I make a choice at all?

Paying attention to our stories, and being intentional about creating them, is a meaningful part of living an artful life. Need a practical strategy to get you started? Listen through the end of the episode for a simple starting point.

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 EPISODE LINKS:

Find me on Instagram: @naomikinsman

Find Alex on Instagram: @ag.doherty

You can also help others find the show by rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to the show. Your words make such a difference for them—and for me, as I continue to create this show. Many, many thanks in advance. And of course, a big thank you to Alex for his fantastic editing of the show.

Why is listening important in the artful Life?

In episode 54 of Creative Lift: Living the Artful Life: Listen Deeply we’ll explore how the practice of listening deeply can open unexpected doorways in your artful life.

What if, instead of filling our calendars with pre-determined goals, we took time to listen for the possibilities first? Listening opens up an invitation for surprise, and can lead to self-discovery as well as discovery about the world and others. It can be surprising what we learn when we are willing to listen deeply.

In Herself, Madeleine L’Engle writes, “I think we begin to tune into our creative subconscious by reading, and by reading attentively, by listening to what we read and listening to other people. Very often when talking to other people, we will catch ourselves thinking about what we’re going to say next instead of really listening. It’s something I don’t think any of us is immune from. But then you have to try to shut yourself out and hear what is underneath what the person is saying–which is often far more important than what is actually said. It’s something we practice in our daily living all the time. But I think, perhaps, artists of all disciplines practice it more consciously.”

What might be possible for you if you practiced intentional listening? If that sounds difficult, not to worry! In the episode, I share one practical practice I like to use to support me in deepening my listening. If you try it out, I hope you’ll share your experiences with me on Instagram or you can also reply to me by email. If you aren’t on the email list and you’d like to connect, sign up below.

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 EPISODE LINKS:

Find me on Instagram: @naomikinsman

Find Alex on Instagram: @ag.doherty

You can also help others find the show by rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to the show. Your words make such a difference for them—and for me, as I continue to create this show. Many, many thanks in advance. And of course, a big thank you to Alex for his fantastic editing of the show.

In Season Seven of Creative Lift, our theme is Living the Artful Life. Today’s episode is titled, You’ve Already Started.

It’s been a while since we last published a season of Creative Lift, partially because I’ve been living my own version of the artful life in these past few months. In January, I dove into a new challenge, stepping in as the Interim Executive Director at Portola Valley Theatre Conservatory. When the opportunity first presented itself, I was surprised by the way I immediately leaned in, feeling drawn toward a wholehearted “yes!” Given that I also wear a number of other hats professionally and creatively, it didn’t seem to make sense to add more to my plate.

But that’s the thing about an artful life—it’s surprising and unpredictable. An artful life colors outside the lines of expectations. And when you’re living the artful life, you find that the support you need shows up in serendipitous ways.

I’m sure I’ll tell you more of this unfolding story at some point, of what it has meant to play an interim role, and what I have learned from my experience. For now, I’ll share one lesson I’ve learned with regard to the artful life.

Stepping into new creative territory may require engaging with a different set of circumstances and people. For me, familiar challenges I’d faced for years at Society of Young Inklings presented themselves as infinitely more solvable when seen through the lens of a fresh organization. Questions people had asked me that had seemed beside the point came into focus as essential. I realized I needed to answer these core questions for the theatre and then turn right around and answer them for SYI. Also, the additional perspective and expertise of this new group of people helped me erase my fear and self-doubt. Issues that seemed like personal shortcomings revealed themselves to be business as usual.

There’s a myth about “real” artists, that they are lone geniuses. My experience is that the further I isolate myself, the more challenging it becomes to dream up courageous solutions and innovative work. That said, if we chose to engage in interesting, eclectic opportunities, if we don’t close ourselves away in quiet rooms to produce a steady stream of work, we may not always have the capacity to create and deliver creative work at the cadence we prefer. What’s more, we may not deliver a straight line of creative work. Our new projects may surprise us, and surprise others. And while that approach may not be the most commercially strategic way of living life as an artist, it seems particularly artful to me.

We’re playing our way to… not the page in this case, but to the body of creative work that we may not even realize is inside of us. We’re heading into the unknown. We’re daring to live the artful life.

In today’s episode, we’re talking about giving ourselves permission to let go of the “perfect” life in order to open our hearts to an artful one. We’re also noting that we’re not starting from scratch. Our lives are already polka-dotted with artful moments. If we pay attention and follow our curiosity, we can connect those dots and see what’s been there all along and what’s possible next.

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 EPISODE LINKS:

Find me on Instagram: @naomikinsman

Find Alex on Instagram: @ag.doherty

You can also help others find the show by rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to the show. Your words make such a difference for them—and for me, as I continue to create this show. Many, many thanks in advance. And of course, a big thank you to Alex for his fantastic editing of the show.

We’re wrapping up Season Six of Creative Lift: Ring in a New Year of Creativity.

If you’ve found this post around the time it was published, 2023 has just begun. In this season, we’ve been exploring what it might mean to frame our new year as a story rather than a slog. What if instead of deadlines and must-dos, you had an unfolding story to follow? What if instead of a list, you had a map to guide your path, giving you plenty of opportunities to chart your own way?

The thing about not controlling everything, though, is that while some surprises are exciting and enjoyable, others present themselves as challenges and unexpected obstacles. As you continue to take your next right step, and follow the creative journey where it leads, opportunities and challenges will arise.

Whether you’re facing a challenge or an opportunity, you can ask the same question: What if …?

• What if I tried …
• What if the opposite were true?
• What if I asked for support with …?
• What if the obstacle was the way forward?

If the obstacle is the way forward, work can become play. And while that’s fun, it’s also more effective. We tend to do everything better when we can access playful, joy-filled energy. In today’s episode, Lean Into the What If, we’ll explore how to use “What if…?” as a doorway into flow.

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Design Thinking for Writers: Create a Compelling Character

Find me on Instagram: @naomikinsman

Find Alex on Instagram: @ag.doherty

You can also help others find the show by rating and reviewing it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to the show. Your words make such a difference for them—and for me, as I continue to create this show. Many, many thanks in advance. And of course, a big thank you to Alex for joining me in this conversation, and for editing the show.