Full Transcript for Episode 10 - Creativity

been burning to the ground. 00:02:45.301 --> 00:02:46.449 Okay, good. 00:02:47.370 --> 00:03:07.866 it's timely for me because I've had one of those weeks that, we often have as entrepreneurs in particular, when it feels like the world is ending, like so many difficulties, so many challenges, so many things beyond your control, all happening at one time. 00:03:08.868 --> 00:03:13.391 And it always feels like that's it. 00:03:14.252 --> 00:03:15.842 We're over game over. 00:03:15.842 --> 00:03:18.655 This is, this is bad. 00:03:18.655 --> 00:03:20.336 This is difficult. 00:03:20.556 --> 00:03:23.237 And all I've got is ash. 00:03:23.899 --> 00:03:39.088 And I was reflecting just this last week about just how many times I was trying to encourage myself, but it was the sense of just how many times I got to this point whilst I was building under canvas. 00:03:39.629 --> 00:03:43.081 And it was not an insignificant sum. 00:03:43.227 --> 00:03:56.534 Mm It probably happened, you know, in really quite strong ways, at least five or six times in the decade that I pioneered and tried to scale under Canvas. 00:03:56.802 --> 00:03:59.064 And these moments are kind of pivotal. 00:03:59.064 --> 00:04:02.007 They're kind of make or break moments. 00:04:02.328 --> 00:04:10.116 And I do think it's interesting to connect them with creativity. 00:04:10.116 --> 00:04:11.727 I mean, I think they're connected. 00:04:11.727 --> 00:04:23.800 And I'm glad that you're connecting them in the heart, in the crux of everything that you're saying you're going through, which is, I think this is where we can be hopeful. 00:04:23.901 --> 00:04:33.305 I think that this gives and energy and propels us to something that can carry us over the threshold of the next thing. 00:04:33.305 --> 00:04:39.980 Because when you're in that ash, you think there's no way that anything good is going to come out of this. 00:04:39.980 --> 00:04:41.800 Like game is over. 00:04:42.081 --> 00:04:45.730 But I always go back to nature because nature is a great teacher. 00:04:45.730 --> 00:04:52.625 I was fascinated with fires just because obviously it's something that, you're constantly trying to avoid here in Southern California. 00:04:52.625 --> 00:05:11.702 And I looked at a town nearby that had burned down to the ground and years later, two or three years later, everything is growing back, but growing back in a way that is better, more vibrant, and there's more variety and robustness to the vegetation that was there before. 00:05:12.084 --> 00:05:22.591 And it actually called and eliminated things that the earth no longer needed and was no longer served by this vegetation. 00:05:22.591 --> 00:05:30.658 And so I'm thinking about our struggles as women doing big things and how can we learn from nature? 00:05:30.658 --> 00:05:33.901 What can we learn from that process? 00:05:34.456 --> 00:05:45.026 I think there's tremendous wisdom there to say that when we're in the heart of the battle, very little room

to take some time and learn from it. 00:05:45.026 --> 00:05:54.264 But once you lick your wounds, and you retreat and you begin that healing process of like, that was something. 00:05:54.264 --> 00:05:56.305 That one was hard. 00:05:56.786 --> 00:06:11.973 There is the absolute inherent presence of potential for rejuvenation and growth in a way that is unparalleled I think that creativity comes forth from that. 00:06:11.973 --> 00:06:27.716 One of the things that I've found with challenges, I know I've mentioned cancer a couple of times, cancer has been an incredible teacher, it has taught me what is my authentic life, what do I want, and there's no approximation any longer. 00:06:27.716 --> 00:06:29.898 for the life that I want to create. 00:06:29.898 --> 00:06:38.423 It's not like this is good enough for now, this is fine, I'm not really happy here, but it's like no, no, no, no, there's no approximation. 00:06:38.423 --> 00:06:44.086 But that's what creativity after the ashes is, which is there's no more approximation. 00:06:44.086 --> 00:07:00.146 There's absolute kernel of spark of passion that you may have disregarded, that you may have set aside and said, well, maybe I'll do that another time, maybe I'll do that in a couple of years, or That sure is a great idea, but who knows? 00:07:00.826 --> 00:07:19.983 Once you've been through that battle and you're licking your wounds, one thing that you know is that you're not going to put up with anything less than the absolute laser-focused passion of your desires, of your vision, of what you want to bring forth into the world. 00:07:19.983 --> 00:07:26.355 Yeah, it's so easy to feel like the ash is the end of everything. 00:07:26.355 --> 00:07:43.930 Like the ash is a full stop when actually it's fertilizer and actually it is the essence of everything that puts energy back into the soil. 00:07:43.930 --> 00:07:49.357 And I know we've talked a lot about soil over the last 10 weeks. 00:07:49.357 --> 00:07:58.737 I'm kind of obsessed with this kind of metaphor because it's this, it's a very interesting connection to our own lives. 00:07:58.737 --> 00:08:04.817 And it kind of grounds us in a very literal way with where am I getting my energy from? 00:08:04.817 --> 00:08:10.346 How am I finding strength through challenging times? 00:08:10.346 --> 00:08:33.440 And if I've learned anything over the last 15 years about entrepreneurship, is I know I only have so much capacity to deal with crises and moments of difficulty and moments of extreme pressure if I am well -nourished. 00:08:33.820 --> 00:08:46.149 And if I being drained in too many directions all at once, ability to sustain anything or navigate through those times is also diminished. 00:08:46.350 --> 00:08:49.840 And I need to remain nourished. 00:08:49.840 --> 00:09:00.283 recognizing that the hard things that happen to us, the difficult things that happen to us, the difficult experiences we have, do not have to be depletive. 00:09:00.962 --> 00:09:09.119 We can view them with a extractive lens in terms of how do I lever this? 00:09:09.419 --> 00:09:11.162 How do I allow this to feed me? 00:09:11.162 --> 00:09:17.326 How do I allow good to come from what something seems like might be disaster? 00:09:17.326 --> 00:09:31.720 And I know every time I've hit a wall and it looks like I'm definitely at the end of something and all my efforts have not succeeded and everything I've thrown at the wall has failed. 00:09:31.871 --> 00:09:35.104 And, and I've experienced this moment of defeat. 00:09:35.104 --> 00:09:48.129 Every time I give myself time and space to recover from the disappointment of that, I have great ideas about, okay, well, that didn't work. 00:09:48.710 --> 00:09:51.130 How about this instead? 00:09:51.130 --> 00:09:59.033 And it's almost like hitting a wall or everything being burned to the ground, however we want to define it. 00:09:59.789 --> 00:10:07.855 is an opportunity to completely look at the situation or the moment or the experience with completely different eyes. 00:10:07.855 --> 00:10:13.720 and sometimes it takes me a while to recover from the burn. 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:16.561 Sometimes the burn really hurts. 00:10:16.721 --> 00:10:21.784 It really stings and it feels like I'm, I'm out. 00:10:21.784 --> 00:10:23.115 I'm out for the count. 00:10:23.472 --> 00:10:43.764 But as long as I give myself time to recover from that and I allow the ash to settle and I allow it to go to work its way through me, I cannot think of a time where it has not birthed creativity, a new pathway, a new idea. 00:10:43.764 --> 00:11:07.061 There's not been a moment in my 20 year history of being in business where I've got to the end, or what I think is the end, and there has not been a tiny little sliver of light at the end of the tunnel, or a new idea, or a new thought about, okay, well, back to the drawing board, but how about this? 00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:16.518 And every single time, that idea, that thought, that opportunity has been better than the thing that died. 00:11:16.518 --> 00:11:24.543 which of course doesn't diminish the pain of the loss and of having to, and I'm constantly asking, why do we have to do this? 00:11:24.543 --> 00:11:28.027 Like, why did we have to get here to have this idea? 00:11:28.748 --> 00:11:31.129 Why would it have to look like this? 00:11:31.931 --> 00:11:42.990 but every single time in moments of complete annihilation, however we define that personally, there has always been. 00:11:42.990 --> 00:11:46.778 something that comes out of it that is. 00:11:46.778 --> 00:11:50.351 better, different, extraordinary, has more potential. 00:11:50.351 --> 00:11:57.576 The hard part about that is allowing yourself to go through the fire. 00:11:57.576 --> 00:12:03.270 And I was talking with an entrepreneur this last week who, her fire was bad. 00:12:03.370 --> 00:12:05.169 Her fire was big. 00:12:05.169 --> 00:12:07.975 fire was catastrophic. 00:12:09.974 -->

00:12:19.308 I looked at the situation and realized, this is one of those moments that if you survive this moment, you can come through this moment. 00:12:20.208 --> 00:12:22.429 Extraordinary things are possible. 00:12:22.529 --> 00:12:32.866 Like it's almost like, you know, A Phoenix moment is possible with like, something extraordinary could happen because of this moment. 00:12:32.866 --> 00:12:39.229 And it's almost like the extraordinary thing could not happen without this moment. 00:12:39.229 --> 00:12:46.130 It takes this moment to create something that could not have been born any other way. 00:12:46.820 --> 00:12:48.630 Absolutely, absolutely. 00:12:48.630 --> 00:12:49.451 I agree with you. 00:12:49.451 --> 00:12:52.322 I think the defeat is not the end. 00:12:52.322 --> 00:13:04.030 The ash is not the full stop and the energetic connection to the Phoenix is very real in our lives rising from the ashes. 00:13:04.030 --> 00:13:05.421 I agree with you. 00:13:05.922 --> 00:13:36.809 I think the challenge really truly in allowing creativity to come to us is to tolerate the uncertainty that is felt, that is experienced in the midst of that, you know, ash, the tabula rasa, the absolute clean slate of a new beginning, which is terrifying, especially when you've been building things for years. 00:13:38.371 --> 00:13:50.629 You know, I mean, Of course we could talk about somebody whose business has been eradicated to the ground and that's one tabula rasa, but there's also sometimes an energetic tabula rasa, is like, I have been wiped clean. 00:13:50.629 --> 00:13:51.990 I am done. 00:13:51.990 --> 00:13:55.532 am so depleted and empty right now. 00:13:55.532 --> 00:13:59.533 I've got nothing left to give or to create. 00:13:59.653 --> 00:14:00.894 I don't see it. 00:14:00.894 --> 00:14:02.015 I don't feel it. 00:14:02.015 --> 00:14:09.823 I think the challenge is if we sit with that uncertainty, we certainly can come through to the other side of creativity. 00:14:10.125 --> 00:14:11.855 I believe that to be true. 00:14:12.047 --> 00:14:13.859 That's the challenge though, right? 00:14:13.859 --> 00:14:17.201 To be able to sit with it in the moment. 00:14:17.201 --> 00:14:27.559 And in those moments, I will tell you no lie, in those moments, I want to throw all of my toys out of the pram and say, I'm done. 00:14:27.559 --> 00:14:29.932 I'm over it. 00:14:30.312 --> 00:14:31.352 I'm out. 00:14:32.073 --> 00:14:40.201 And it's a very extreme visceral response that I have to the pain that I feel with regards to the loss. 00:14:41.006 --> 00:14:47.899 And I was sitting with this exact same feeling this weekend and, the intensity of it. 00:14:48.438 --> 00:14:51.879 And my emotions are up to my eyeballs. 00:14:51.879 --> 00:15:00.682 Like, you know, that moment when if someone just pokes you, you're like, you're a hot mess and it's all out there. 00:15:00.682 --> 00:15:17.711 And my teenager said something fairly innocuous to me over lunch instantly I'm

finding myself sitting at the lunch table at dinner, eating my Sunday roast with like tears pouring down my face. 00:15:18.171 --> 00:15:25.653 And this child really, you know, did nothing other than be a little bit obnoxious, which, you know, teenagers are allowed to do from time to time, right? 00:15:26.192 --> 00:15:29.053 And my kids are sitting at the table looking at me. 00:15:29.347 --> 00:15:32.168 going, what do we do? 00:15:32.168 --> 00:15:34.615 Like, it wasn't that bad. 00:15:34.708 --> 00:15:41.913 And, and I am suddenly getting a glimmer into, I am in a heightened state. 00:15:41.913 --> 00:15:53.741 Like this is, this is pain and you poke me just a little bit and it all like, it all starts to spread itself out. 00:15:54.451 --> 00:15:58.644 And I realized, okay, there's an opportunity here. 00:15:58.644 --> 00:16:01.235 I am not okay. 00:16:01.255 --> 00:16:04.738 So saying that out loud to myself, as I'm saying to my kids, it's fine. 00:16:04.738 --> 00:16:05.437 I'm fine. 00:16:05.437 --> 00:16:06.249 It's all fine. 00:16:06.249 --> 00:16:08.331 It's definitely not fine. 00:16:08.331 --> 00:16:18.777 I was not fine, but taking a step back from that moment and then suddenly realizing, this is where I'm at right now. 00:16:18.937 --> 00:16:22.799 This is how I'm feeling about everything that's going on right now. 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:24.971 And I realized I was quite annoyed. 00:16:24.971 --> 00:16:28.884 I'll let you into a secret. 00:16:28.884 --> 00:16:31.907 Like here's my dirty secret of the week. 00:16:32.687 --> 00:16:35.490 I have been a successful entrepreneur. 00:16:35.745 --> 00:16:47.770 And I found myself feeling angry, angry that as I continue to be an entrepreneur and I continue to want to make things happen that don't exist yet. 00:16:48.191 --> 00:16:50.221 I was like, I'm back at the drawing board. 00:16:50.221 --> 00:16:56.965 I'm back at the starting line and I don't want to be like I did this once already. 00:16:56.965 --> 00:17:01.927 And it was like, do we really have to do it like this all over again? 00:17:01.927 --> 00:17:07.747 And it was like my subconscious said, Well, this is the journey. 00:17:07.926 --> 00:17:11.338 The question is, are you going to do it different than you did it before? 00:17:11.338 --> 00:17:18.133 And I was like, yes, I have built a company from scratch before and, you know, built it to be something huge. 00:17:18.432 --> 00:17:19.943 And now I want to do that again. 00:17:19.943 --> 00:17:25.268 I want to go again with building new companies and creating more things and making more things happen. 00:17:25.268 --> 00:17:30.390 And the reality question was, well, are you going to do it differently than you did it before? 00:17:30.390 --> 00:17:39.692 Because the same challenges and the same disasters and the same hard things are just going to come because that's what it looks like. 00:17:39.692 --> 00:17:41.711 That's the reality. 00:17:42.172 --> 00:17:47.461 And, invitation to you is can you experience it differently? 00:17:47.461 --> 00:17:50.182 Can you do it in a different way? 00:17:50.241 --> 00:17:59.201 Can you take all the lessons that you learned from 15 years of hard slog and can you embrace those in a different way? 00:17:59.201 --> 00:18:00.461 Knowing. 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:06.505 that the fire will still come to destroy everything in its path. 00:18:07.006 --> 00:18:09.057 And I was like, but I don't want the fire to come. 00:18:09.057 --> 00:18:10.450 I want to do this. 00:18:10.450 --> 00:18:17.194 without like having to experience these fires and without having to experience the hard things that come our way. 00:18:17.194 --> 00:18:19.146 And it's really easy. 00:18:19.146 --> 00:18:25.211 I know when we look at, know, whoever we look at online and think, well, they were really successful. 00:18:25.893 --> 00:18:27.492 They just nailed that. 00:18:27.492 --> 00:18:29.513 They made those things happen. 00:18:29.534 --> 00:18:32.945 It's so easy to look and go, that was probably easy. 00:18:32.945 --> 00:18:35.576 And the reality is, it's never easy. 00:18:35.576 --> 00:18:47.530 It's never straightforward trying to bring something to life, create something, make something happen, do big things. 00:18:47.530 --> 00:18:49.151 It's never easy. 00:18:50.002 --> 00:18:56.567 The only question is, is how do we, how do we learn from what we've done before? 00:18:56.567 --> 00:19:02.740 how do we find new life after every single one of those times when that happens? 00:19:02.740 --> 00:19:07.673 think what you're posing the question, how do I rise from these ashes? 00:19:07.673 --> 00:19:09.934 How do I get myself back up? 00:19:09.974 --> 00:19:13.817 How do I learn from these tremendous challenges? 00:19:13.817 --> 00:19:21.102 How do I bring forth all of my desires into form, right? 00:19:21.102 --> 00:19:32.199 I think once you've engaged with yourself in that laser focus, sharp focus, You reconnect with yourself in the midst of the storm that's whirling around you. 00:19:32.199 --> 00:19:33.299 You're in the basement. 00:19:33.299 --> 00:19:43.509 You don't know if the roof is going to hold, but you're in there and you're hunkering down and you're saying, okay, What do I need to nourish myself? 00:19:43.509 --> 00:19:44.449 Right? 00:19:44.509 --> 00:20:01.778 And the second thing is I think laser focus engagement with others, with community, with collaborators, with other entrepreneurs or in my case, other writers, other artists, you know, that collaboration, That's how creativity is born, right? 00:20:01.778 --> 00:20:11.082 It's like sparks of light igniting in the darkness because you're engaging from an authentic place with yourself and with others, community. 00:20:11.261 --> 00:20:14.682 And that's when things just take off. 00:20:14.982 --> 00:20:19.723 But I think that laser focus engagement with yourself is essential. 00:20:20.067 --> 00:20:21.171 That's the building block. 00:20:21.171 -->

00:20:23.244 That's the foundation. 00:20:24.019 --> 00:20:24.499 Yeah. 00:20:24.499 --> 00:20:33.182 And I read this beautiful proverb, an ancient proverb over the weekend that said almost exactly what you're saying, Mona. 00:20:33.202 --> 00:20:41.266 And it said, where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint. 00:20:41.807 --> 00:20:47.148 And in a different version, it says where there is no vision, the people perish. 00:20:47.348 --> 00:20:52.500 But I loved that idea about there is no restraint. 00:20:52.500 --> 00:20:58.154 When you don't have vision, when you don't have clarity, there's no need to restrain yourself. 00:20:58.154 --> 00:21:00.865 There's no need to like be focused. 00:21:00.986 --> 00:21:14.172 But as soon as you have a vision, as soon as you have some kind of clarity about what it is you are trying to create, what it is you are trying to birth or give to the world, then you need restraint. 00:21:14.172 --> 00:21:16.353 Then you need focus. 00:21:16.353 --> 00:21:17.888 Then you need. 00:21:17.888 --> 00:21:23.029 to dial in and get really, really laser focused. 00:21:23.029 --> 00:21:25.141 And that was what this weekend did to me. 00:21:25.141 --> 00:21:27.582 It was like, I have a very clear vision. 00:21:27.582 --> 00:21:34.192 I have a very clear understanding about what I'm trying to do and why. 00:21:34.834 --> 00:21:40.394 And therefore I cannot allow myself to be unrestrained with myself. 00:21:40.394 --> 00:21:44.516 Like I cannot give my time away willy nilly. 00:21:44.777 --> 00:21:52.883 I cannot be unfocused about how I invest myself or what I give myself to. 00:21:52.903 --> 00:22:01.765 If I have a vision, if I have clarity, I need to be restrained with myself. 00:22:02.704 --> 00:22:08.846 And being restrained with myself can look like a whole variety of different things. 00:22:09.666 --> 00:22:21.546 I have learned about myself over the last, particularly the last decade, but even more so over the last five years, that I am a very sensitive soul. 00:22:21.748 --> 00:22:24.593 Like my nervous system is... 00:22:25.607 --> 00:22:27.659 acutely sensitive. 00:22:28.159 --> 00:22:36.422 So because I know this about myself, I have to be careful what I expose myself to. 00:22:36.481 --> 00:22:43.724 I have to be careful what I listen to, what I watch, who I talk to, what I engage with because I'm really sensitive. 00:22:45.125 --> 00:22:50.268 And all sorts of things can throw me into dysregularity. 00:22:50.688 --> 00:22:59.875 And the more I understand my sensitivities, You know, and I, I happen to believe my sensitives are my strengths. 00:22:59.875 --> 00:23:02.227 they're my, they're my superpower. 00:23:02.227 --> 00:23:06.259 They're what makes me very powerful. 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:10.893 But if I don't protect myself, if I don't like. 00:23:10.893 --> 00:23:24.138 shepherd myself a little bit, it's very easy for me to get dysregulated and to get all over the place and to like be overwhelmed. 00:23:24.278 --> 00:23:27.059 And when I'm overwhelmed, I basically don't function. 00:23:27.059 --> 00:23:30.621 Like if I'm overwhelmed, I can't make anything happen. 00:23:30.922 --> 00:23:41.742 So understanding myself and understanding, you know, Those things, use them to your advantage. 00:23:42.064 --> 00:23:52.643 Use them to help you get lift off, to help you make things happen, to help you create and imagine and bring the things to life that you can imagine. 00:23:52.963 --> 00:24:05.304 But I have to exercise some restraint because I know that, because I have vision, because I have a sense of this is what I'm trying to be and who I'm trying to be in the world. 00:24:05.925 --> 00:24:08.468 cannot afford to cast off restraint. 00:24:08.468 --> 00:24:15.332 I have to be really, really laser focused on this is what I can have on my plate. 00:24:15.492 --> 00:24:17.163 This is who I can engage with. 00:24:17.163 --> 00:24:24.877 This is what I can tolerate in this moment in this space because of who I know myself to be. 00:24:25.298 --> 00:24:34.115 And all of that is a tool for helping me Bring the things that only I can bring to the world. 00:24:34.115 --> 00:24:37.276 And that's, that's true for all of us, right? 00:24:37.276 --> 00:24:40.176 There are things that only you, Mona, can bring to the world. 00:24:40.176 --> 00:24:50.480 There are things that you, listener, only you can bring to the world that no one else can do because no one else is made exactly like you. 00:24:51.000 --> 00:25:01.936 And how you harness yourself and how you focus yourself and how you allow the things that happen to you to bring life. 00:25:01.936 --> 00:25:05.144 out of you is really where the magic is. 00:25:05.144 --> 00:25:13.017 But it's interesting, when I listen to you say restraint, maybe you and I are thinking of the word restraint differently. 00:25:13.017 --> 00:25:18.411 When I hear you say restraint, I immediately say, nothing shall restrain me. 00:25:20.592 --> 00:25:23.913 Like I am free and I am unfettered. 00:25:23.913 --> 00:25:26.094 know, it's the opposite for me. 00:25:26.094 --> 00:25:28.595 Restraint is the opposite of creativity. 00:25:28.595 --> 00:25:31.946 But I think what you mean and correct me if I'm wrong. 00:25:31.946 --> 00:25:37.807 I think you mean restraint as in focused guidance. 00:25:38.507 --> 00:25:56.646 Focused guidance because for me, creativity, when I visualize what creativity is, if I had to describe it to like my sixth grader, my 11 year old, I would say it's a spark of light that ignites in darkness. 00:25:56.646 --> 00:26:02.015 And that comes from, I have no idea where, it just came from otherworldly. 00:26:02.015 --> 00:26:05.057 There's an otherworldliness to it, right? 00:26:05.057 --> 00:26:08.178 It comes through me, but it's not of me. 00:26:08.317 --> 00:26:20.704 And, when you say restraint, think you mean guiding that spark into focus, into intention, into vision, into manifestation.

00:26:20.704 --> 00:26:22.895 I think maybe that's what you mean by restraint. 00:26:22.895 --> 00:26:24.405 that, is that right? 00:26:25.366 --> 00:26:26.117 Intention. 00:26:26.117 --> 00:26:27.919 that word intentionality. 00:26:27.919 --> 00:26:32.553 It's like, how can I be intentional with my focus? 00:26:32.553 --> 00:26:35.895 It's like, I can't afford to not be intentional. 00:26:37.047 --> 00:26:45.154 that language obviously is ancient language, so it's maybe not the best language for right here, right now, but that's the essence of it. 00:26:45.154 --> 00:26:48.425 It's like, I can't afford to not. 00:26:48.425 --> 00:27:04.935 harness myself and be focused in myself and allow this melting pot, this crucible, if you like, it's my job to turn it into gold or allow it to become gold within me. 00:27:04.935 --> 00:27:07.478 That's the challenge, I think. 00:27:07.749 --> 00:27:09.737 Yeah, And that's the beauty of it too. 00:27:09.737 --> 00:27:18.580 I think of creativity as an extension of ourselves, like an inherent quality to our very being. 00:27:18.580 --> 00:27:25.433 And I don't mean to sound so woo woo in that sense, but I think it's in terms of nature. 00:27:25.468 --> 00:27:29.545 Like it's like a genetic code of wiring. 00:27:30.648 --> 00:27:31.872 We are. 00:27:31.872 --> 00:27:32.482 We are. 00:27:32.482 --> 00:27:33.163 Yeah. 00:27:33.163 --> 00:27:38.557 sensitive creativity could be put alongside of all of those things, right? 00:27:38.557 --> 00:27:40.147 I am also this. 00:27:40.431 --> 00:27:49.385 Yeah, but I think it's true of everyone because some people say, I've even, you know, led workshops and a lot of times participants will say, well, I'm not that creative. 00:27:49.385 --> 00:27:50.586 I'm not a creative person. 00:27:50.586 --> 00:27:53.107 I don't think of myself as artistic. 00:27:53.228 --> 00:28:04.212 And I think, well, but I mean, that brush, that land that was burned down to the ground has an inherent quality of rejuvenation that's built into it. 00:28:04.212 --> 00:28:20.753 That's that creative force of I'm going to rebuild this land and repopulate it with vibrant new vegetation that has never even been as vibrant as this is like almost like encoded in itself. 00:28:20.753 --> 00:28:31.436 And I think we are encoded with creativity, whether we are of the most logical, scientifically, mathematically minded beings. 00:28:31.436 --> 00:28:36.038 You know, we have an inherent creative quality to us. 00:28:36.203 --> 00:28:39.075 that is built in, it's not a to do item. 00:28:39.075 --> 00:28:47.297 It's sort of like allowing yourself to be, to have an expression of who you are. 00:28:47.297 --> 00:28:54.609 That's what creativity is, is allowing yourself to be authentically you in whatever form that may be. 00:28:54.609 --> 00:29:11.769 It doesn't have to be some kind of like, I don't know, painting on a canvas or, you know, creating the next, you know, bestselling novel or, I building that next product that the entire planet's been waiting for, right? 00:29:11.894 --> 00:29:16.957 I think creativity can be boiled down to problem solving. 00:29:16.957 --> 00:29:29.019 I think you're right to distinguish it from its artistic form, but I think creativity in its essence, I think I also love the word rejuvenation. 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:31.980 It's like bringing something out of nothing. 00:29:32.080 --> 00:29:35.372 It's, it's solving a problem. 00:29:35.667 --> 00:29:38.098 It's creating something new. 00:29:38.140 --> 00:29:40.701 It's making something happen. 00:29:40.961 --> 00:29:46.945 And this whole podcast series has been about women doing big things. 00:29:46.945 --> 00:29:50.749 And it's like, how do we make big things happen? 00:29:50.749 --> 00:29:53.039 we use our creativity. 00:29:53.240 --> 00:29:56.282 We use our problem solving skills. 00:29:56.282 --> 00:30:04.417 We use the rejuvenation that we get when things just seem like they've burned to the ground. 00:30:04.721 --> 00:30:08.974 And it's like, we bring life out of nothing. 00:30:09.434 --> 00:30:13.228 And that is the heart of creativity. 00:30:13.228 --> 00:30:21.583 That is the heart of what we're talking about with making things, bringing things to life. 00:30:21.584 --> 00:30:28.169 And that being a part of who we are as human beings, rather than a skill we may or may not have. 00:30:28.169 --> 00:30:33.001 Yeah, I love what you say about creativity is problem solving. 00:30:33.182 --> 00:30:45.467 I mean, that is true of a bestselling novel When you read a great book, you are ignited with creativity of your own thinking, my gosh, she just expressed something. 00:30:45.467 --> 00:30:48.569 that I have never said out loud to anyone. 00:30:48.570 --> 00:30:55.087 And now I'm solving my own human problem because someone has seen me without ever meeting me. 00:30:55.087 --> 00:30:56.869 They have seen inside my soul. 00:30:56.869 --> 00:31:05.320 That's why people gravitate towards certain books because you can engage with it on a humanity level. 00:31:05.576 --> 00:31:09.176 It's the same way people buy products, right? 00:31:09.176 --> 00:31:18.200 Or the same way people want to use a service because it solves something instinctual that is a need for us all. 00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:20.190 And therefore we want to use that item. 00:31:20.190 --> 00:31:25.161 We want to buy that, that service or read that book. 00:31:25.221 --> 00:31:29.803 It's like it connects with us because it meets our needs. 00:31:30.163 --> 00:31:34.443 And that's the essence of what we're talking about here is how... 00:31:35.241 --> 00:31:37.472 Do we create things that meet needs? 00:31:37.472 --> 00:31:41.535 How do we make things happen that move the world forward? 00:31:41.535 --> 00:32:01.183 How do we bring to life what's inside of us and give it to the world so that the world is advanced in some tiny, small little way because of what we gave birth to, because of what we brought to

life, because of what came out of the ashes from us. 00:32:01.752 --> 00:32:02.875 Absolutely. 00:32:03.363 --> 00:32:05.530 Yeah, that's exactly right. 00:32:06.130 --> 00:32:08.112 And what we're saying here is... 00:32:08.570 --> 00:32:20.661 We like to think that our creative moments, our problem solving moments always come when we're in a great mood, life is good and all is well. 00:32:20.921 --> 00:32:32.990 But the reality is sometimes our best ideas and our best moments are sometimes when all of it has burned to the ground. 00:32:33.471 --> 00:32:37.625 Yes, we don't need creativity to burn us to the ground. 00:32:37.625 --> 00:32:53.810 for sure, but sometimes that is the reality of life and how we harness that and how we allow it to create something new is where the magic really is. 00:32:54.344 --> 00:32:55.685 Yeah, absolutely. 00:32:55.685 --> 00:33:10.528 when you're in the crucible of those emotions or that feeling or that frustration or that fear sometimes, that fear of like, this is rock bottom, this is not great, this is not a great moment. 00:33:10.528 --> 00:33:31.674 And then all of a sudden, spark will come And that's, I think that's our genetic code of survival, of transformation, of rising above, of moving through things and building a new, building new things that have never been built before through that kernel of that perception of your challenge. 00:33:31.674 --> 00:33:34.737 that is unique to you, has a universal quality. 00:33:34.737 --> 00:33:36.469 your story is unique. 00:33:36.469 --> 00:33:42.811 the universal lens of our humanity is seen through that unique story. 00:33:42.912 --> 00:33:52.067 And that's why we build things, we create things, we write books, we launch products, we launch podcasts. 00:33:52.067 --> 00:33:53.606 We're trying to... 00:33:54.403 --> 00:34:01.727 to connect one person at a time in encouraging someone else to do and make big things. 00:34:01.727 --> 00:34:03.034 Yeah, exactly. 00:34:03.034 --> 00:34:14.313 So on that note, we would love to know what creativity, what spark this podcast series has sparked in you. 00:34:14.313 --> 00:34:30.324 I know it has sparked so many different things for me on so many different levels, but we would love you to join our community with sharing some of the things that have come out of the ashes for you. 00:34:30.601 --> 00:34:34.474 in this season, in this moment in time. 00:34:34.474 --> 00:34:36.536 we have loved being with you. 00:34:36.536 --> 00:34:41.349 This is our last episode of this season, but we hope to be back for another season. 00:34:41.650 --> 00:34:44.411 If you'll have us back, we would love to be back. 00:34:44.452 --> 00:34:56.820 So join us, share your stories, share your moment, your light bulb moments, because your light bulb moments could be a light bulb moment for someone else. 00:34:56.940 --> 00:34:57.871 And that's... 00:34:57.871 --> 00:35:02.487 the power that we have of sharing our stories and sharing our journeys with each other. 00:35:02.795 --> 00:35:05.514 Yes, keep sharing your stories with us. 00:35:05.514 --> 00:35:10.335 Keep sharing your joys, your victories, your challenges, your dreams, your visions. 00:35:10.335 --> 00:35:13.934 I have loved every moment of these 10 episodes. 00:35:13.934 --> 00:35:27.215 I have loved our conversations with you, Sarah, and I hope that we can continue and to spark creativity in all of you, our listeners, and it has been a wonderful journey. 00:35:27.215 --> 00:35:28.306 Thank you so much. 00:35:28.306 --> 00:35:36.358 And let's keep making big things happen together because when big things happen, we can drive the changes that we want to see. 00:35:36.492 --> 00:35:37.686 Absolutely. 00:35:37.710 --> 00:35:39.097 Thank you so much, everyone. 00:35:39.097 --> 00:35:40.083 Thank you, Sarah. 00:35:40.083 --> 00:35:41.538 Thanks for joining us. 00:35:41.538 --> 00:35:43.442 We'll see you again next time. 00:35:43.554 --> 00:35:44.829 See you next time.