Episode Notes:

In this episode we trot out everyone's favorite tired concept, New Year's resolutions. We delve into why they kinda suck and why they make us feel so bad. We put forth the idea that maybe, just maybe there's a better way to approach 2022. When we come from a place of self-compassion and curiosity, when we play to our strengths, we have a better shot of living the creative life we want without all that prescriptive, magazine cover B.S.

Links:

1. "Don't Make Any Goals Next Year" by Kate McKean
2. The Guardian reviews of **4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
3. "Get Centered Fast", a blog post about taking 10 second to re-center by Eric Maisel
4. To Spring From The Hand | The life and work of Paulus Berensohn (film)

Episode Notes:

In this episode we look back on six months of The Creative DoubleShot, give shoutouts to some great books and the power of face to face interaction. We bandy the idea of returning to the same concepts over and over again as guide posts to keeping that spark alive in your creative practice. Keep you eyes peeled for an annotated bibliography over at creativedoubleshot.com, coming in January!

Thanks to those who've been listening (and reading the show notes!). Here's to 2022 seeing a continuation of your creative practice and more conversations about the same.

REMINDER: There will be no episode on Jan. 4, but we'll be returning Jan. 11 with a new episode that keeps the conversation going.

Episode Notes:

In this episode we pretty much hammer home the value of repetition in your creative practice over and over and over. From repeating techniques or returning to the same subject matter over and over and everything in between repetitions serves to free our minds, hone our skills and enter the flow state. That's why they call it a creative practice!

Links:

1. On the value of trial and error. Multi-disciplinary artist Juan Miguel Marin discusses not fearing imperfections, the science and meaning behind repetition, being yourself, and embracing generalism over at the theindependentcreative.com.
2. Removing the inner critic through repetition

Episode Notes:

Play is often scorned and maligned (I think we all know who does the scorning and maligning, don't we? Dour hats and shoes, both with buckles, hmmmm?). It's frivolous and unproductive. So how can it be so damn important? Well, listen up good, uh, listeners and we'll take you on a dizzying journey to find out why, touching on how play opens our minds and puts us in the flow state.

Links: A fairly hardcore view on not working with some solid musings on the concept of play. Author Bob Black Why It Is Good For Grownups To Play from Jennifer Wallace in the Washington Post Creativity vs. Consumption looks at the effects of favoring consumption over creativity

Episode Notes:

When the winds of excitement have turned into the doldrums of disinterest, how do you revive that initial spark that got you pumped about the project in the first place? In this episode we discuss ways to keep the stoke alive in your creative practice by being curious about, well, just about anything from asking why the work of an artist you admire causes despair instead of inspiration to why don't I like what I'm working on? Being curious not only about your creative practice and your current project, but also about the world in general is a great panacea to get you back on track and crreating.

Links:

1. Embrace The Shake TED Talk
2. Starship Sofa Interview with Jack Vance (around minute 24 you can hear Jack talk about how he "ran out of gas" and lost interest in writing science fiction. A minute or two later he talks about how he's a bit of a musician now, playing jazz coronet.
3. Jon Stewart interviews Brian Grazer, producer and author of A Curious Mind: The Secret To A Bigger Life.

Episode Notes:

This week, in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, we talk about gratitude, the connotations of the word and some other ways to think about it. For our creative practice, how can we find it in the small places and use it to recenter? We also highlight a few things we're grateful for here at the Creative DoubleShot. This episode goes by fast, so hang on to your ziplock full of leftovers and give it a listen.

Link: (One is all you need this week!) On Being Grateful from The Creative Independent. A few highlights from their archives. If you haven't checked out this website, please do! It's a fantastic resource.

Episode Notes:

This week we do our best to wrangle the digital dragon and come to a middle ground of schadenfreude videos and nurturing our creative practice. Technology is everywhere and it can be amazingly useful. The flip side to that is it can be a time slip, a rabbit hole, oh come, a temporal vampire, if you will. One minute you're check the weather, the next you push your look up with bleary, bloodshot eyes and wonder, how did I get onto this page about illegal armadillo wrestling in Flatbush? Or maybe, where did the last 3 hours go? We have much of the world's knowledge at our fingertips yet we spend much of our time online looking at other people's lives, cat videos (just ask Ginger!), or sports recaps (just ask Jonathan!).

Links: Freud's Nephew and the Birth of Modern PR - He took Freud's complex ideas on people's unconscious, psychological motivations and applied them to the new field of public relations. Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport - Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World The Social Dilemma - The technology that connects us also distracts us The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think by Jennifer Ackerman. Just a fantastic book that's a great alternative to picking up your device when you're at loose ends.

Episode Notes:

Creating deep meaning takes commitment and patience and awareness. In this episode we discuss what it takes to imbue your work with deeper meaning. We talk about that sweet, sweet convergence of technique, patience and begeisterung and the competency scale. We don't mention the Puritans, not even once.

Links: Four Stages of Competence, Wikipedia Tangled Up in Blue, Bob Dylan, who appears to be in Kabuki theater make-up How To Make Art That People Really Care About, blog post from the Artwork Archive

Episode Notes:

This week we talk about the role of patience (non-GNR edition) in an enduring creative practice. We dig into the beauty of enjoying the ride, challenging those pesky narratives, and a willingness to slow down and be okay with what you perceive as your creative shortcomings. We all think we want to be great at our chosen creative outlet (or outlets) right away, but as the old cruise line ads used to say, "Getting there is half the fun." So put your seat back, grab the beverage of your choice and settle in for 27 minutes of luxury.

Links: A Willingness to be Bad, blog post by Austin Kleon Trust the Process, by Shaun McNiff BONUS Link! Episode 126 of The Working Songwriter podcast, hosted by Joe Pug. Just a fantastic episode with Joe and Rhett Miller, two amazing musicians talking creativity, music, and life. Stay with it long enough and it'll mash your ol' feel button.

Episode Notes:

Both Ginger and Jonathan are transitioning into new creative projects and talk about what that looks like and the vagaries of such things. We talk about iterating as a way of figuring out what you really want to work on next, as well as limiting choices to keep from losing all those "egoic marbles" you're getting ready to pour into your next big thing.

Links: How Writers Write Podcast, Alix Harrow Interview How Writers Write Podcast, Paul Tremblay Interview Gratuity: Who Gets Paid When Art Is Free, by Ted Gioia Interesting look at art as gratuity and what happens when it's commoditized. The Unstrung Harp, Or Mr. Earbrass Writes a Novel by Edward Gorey, review Abraham-Hicks, Better Feeling Thought video