It’s another Listener Spotlight today!
Anna Goldsworthy applied for a Listener Spotlight by writing the following iTunes review:
Listening to Melissa’s podcast caused me to completely re-evaluate my definition of personal creativity and artistic expression.
I was so tightly connecting commerce to my creative expression that I have been yearning for a commission so I could “do art,” OMG! She challenges me to stretch my imagination to new heights.
No longer do I believe the myth that says, “I can only create when there is an end purpose”… Lessons learned here are simultaneously tiny and “life changingly huge!”
Thank you, Anna! How could I pass up the chance to talk with Anna on the podcast?
In 2007 Anna left the corporate world behind to explore artistic creation. Paint, brushes, beads, paper, and other delightful found objects inspire her innovative designs and provide focus for her camera lens. She delightfully ignites color, laughter and joy.
Anna has two grown sons and is currently re-learning life through the eyes of her two amazing granddaughters. She lives in Kent, Washington with her favorite first husband.
Her essential advice comes from none other than Dr. Seuss, who said: “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
You can find Anna online at www.possibilitydetective.com and feelgood52.com
Have a listen to our conversation, and let me know if you resonate with anything we talked about.
Favorite Quotes from Anna:
“Does this make me joyful?” — seldom is that asked in life. I gotta tell you, when you retire, you don’t suddenly become happy because you don’t have job or you don’t have kids to watch anymore.
No matter what it is, what can I do, “tiny and daily,” that gives me joy?
Where’s the fun in it? … We can have that experience in everything, no matter what’s going on.
Links and resources mentioned in this episode:
LCN 109: Art + Commerce + Boundaries, and the Ultimate Question
Feel Good No Matter What: 52 Inspiring Reflections to Awaken the Life You Love!, by Nina Durfee & Anna Goldsworthy
Something Cool
Improvisor Phil Lunn, who transforms himself into whoever tonight’s audience wants him to be in his one-man improv show, Phil Lunn is…
I got to see Phil live as … Marianne Macdonough, I think it was, last Friday night, as the second half of a show where my improv group, All That Jazz, was performing as part of the West Coast Musical Improv Festival, and he was amazing.
He transformed himself into a completely convincing cabaret singer, sharing snippets of her fully improvised life story (with the help of audience suggestions — “does anybody know where I was born? Yes, that’s right, Switzerland!”), and fully improvised songs, also with the help of audience suggestions.
Jaw-droppingly good and utterly delightful.
Here’s a half-hour clip of Phil as Lola Box at the Mt Olymprov Festival in 2016.
If you get a chance to see Phil, don’t miss it.
Enjoy!
Listeners Wanted!
Has the Live Creative Now podcast made a difference in your life? Would you like to be featured on the podcast?
I want to start sharing listener stories, so if you have a story of how listening to the podcast has changed your life for the better in some way — big or small — I want to feature you in a Listener Spotlight.
Here’s how it works:
1. Just log into iTunes and leave a rating and review. (If you don’t know how to do that, you’ll find step-by-step instructions at livecreativenow.com/itunes-review).
2. Then copy and paste what you wrote in your review into an email, and send it to me, along with why you want to be featured in a Listener Spotlight, and how the podcast has made a difference in your life. You can email me at livecreativenow.com/contact.
That’s it!
If I pick you for a Listener Spotlight, we’ll have a relaxed, fun conversation, and the recording of our conversation will be part of a future episode! How cool is that?
Want a creative kick start?
Check out my book!
What would change for you if you could totally revel in the joy of creating? You CAN, with The Creative Sandbox Way!
You’ll learn:
- Melissa’s 10 fool-proof guideposts that have helped thousands get joyfully creating.
- 5 reasons why creative play is good for you, AND for the world (it’s neuroscience, baby!)
- Why “I’m not creative” is always a lie, and how to bust it.
- How to turn creative blocks into friends.
AND you’ll get creating right in the book itself.
“It’s one part field guide, one part creative practice—and I loved it. The Creative Sandbox Way is an adventure packaged as a book.”
~Chris Guillebeau
NYT best-selling author of The Happiness of Pursuit and The $100 Startup
Hear ye, hear ye! This is to serve as official notice that all links to anything for sale, be it books or courses, are likely to be affiliate links. What this means is that if you click through said links and make a purchase, although it won’t affect the price that you pay, a few coins will jangle into my coffers, enabling me to buy a packet of hard gluten-free biscuits to feed myself and my husband for another day, or perhaps a pen with which to create some artwork. Or perhaps they will contribute toward paying a fraction of my web hosting bill, so that this blog and podcast can continue to exist. Thank you kindly for your attention.
Thanks for Listening!
Thanks so much for joining me this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.
Also, please leave an honest review for Live Creative Now on Tunes!
If you’d also like your voice to be heard on the show, leave your question as a voice message right here.
And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.
Subscribe in iTunes | Subscribe via Stitcher
Now go get creating!
PS — Pssst! Know someone who might benefit from seeing this today? Pass it on!
10 Tips to Bust a Creative Block: Download Your FREE Poster!
Hello, I usually catch the pod casts and find things to think about. One thing is I often feel like I walk to a different drummer. I am in very different circumstances then so many of everyone I listen to online. I have a sense of joy and purpose now. I am alone and totally responsible for taking care of my life. I must provide for a roof over my head, food in my tummy, all the necessities of life. Now unlike my contemporaries who can retire I am not in that position. I put myself in a safe job. One that covers the simple needs. I provide art supplies for myself to keep my creative needs moving along. I can do moderate trips to museums, art shows, some theater, and I go on a few retreats each fall and spring. Recently I decided to come to terms with not going into marketing my art. That takes more time, energy, and money than I want to spend. It has been art for me, my ideas, and paths to go down. Since I found myself alone, after numbness went away I knew I am my only caretaker. When this happened I told everyone I felt like Alice either going down the rabbit hole or through the looking glass and it has been quite an adventure.