This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:37] Laura Camien: Oh, welcome to The Spark File, your one-stop podcast for creative inspiration.

[0:41] Susan Blackwell: I'm Susan Blackwell.

[0:42] Laura Camien: And I'm Laura Camien.

[0:43] Susan Blackwell: If you're joining us for the first time, you are so welcome.

[0:46] Laura Camien: Welcome.

[0:46] Susan Blackwell: You may be asking yourself, what exactly is a spark file?

[0:50] Laura Camien: Where do I get one?

[0:52] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[0:52] Laura Camien: What do I file in it?

[0:53] Susan Blackwell: These are good questions.

[0:54] Laura Camien: Laura, we actually have answers.

[0:56] Susan Blackwell: We do, Susan.

[0:57] Laura Camien: We have answers.

[0:58] Susan Blackwell: A spark file is a place where you consistently collect all of your inspirations and fascinations.

[1:05] Laura Camien: And if you're like us and you're making stuff all the time, sometimes the wellspring of inspiration can run a little dry, frankly.

[1:14] Susan Blackwell: That's why we are here to refill it.

[1:16] Laura Camien: We are on the lookout for fresh ideas, images, and inspirations that spark our creativity and pique our curiosity, things that inspire us to get off our asses and make things like this podcast.

[1:28] Susan Blackwell: Or a vehicle for your deepest self-expression.

[1:32] Laura Camien: Or a project that weaves together everything you're passionate about into one weird, awesome package.

[1:40] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[1:40] Laura Camien: Every episode, we're gonna reach into the spark file and exchange some sparks.

[1:45] Susan Blackwell: And from time to time, we're gonna talk to some folks who spark us as well.

[1:48] Laura Camien: And if you're not careful, your wig might fly off.

[1:51] Susan Blackwell: So without further ado, let's open up the spark file.

[1:56] Laura Camien: Welcome everybody.

[1:57] Susan Blackwell: Welcome.

[1:58] Laura Camien: Welcome, new listeners.

[1:59] Susan Blackwell: This is so exciting.

[2:01] Laura Camien: We're so happy that you found us and that we found you.

[2:05] Susan Blackwell: Welcome.

[2:06] Laura Camien: We're calling today's episode a little bit of a special right out of the box, a special episode.

[2:13] Susan Blackwell: Um, we're calling this episode the Spark File 101.

[2:17] Laura Camien: That's right.

[2:17] Susan Blackwell: It's the basics, bitches from two basic bitches.

[2:20] Laura Camien: JK, JK.

[2:22] Susan Blackwell: Hey, speak for yourself.

[2:24] Laura Camien: It's everything you needed to know about you that you didn't never knew you needed to ask about this podcast and us and everything ever.

[2:32] Susan Blackwell: We're gonna answer all of your questions.

[2:34] Laura Camien: This is sort of like back to school spark file orientation.

[2:38] Susan Blackwell: Yes, it is.

[2:39] Laura Camien: So here we go.

[2:41] Susan Blackwell: Let's crack open some Q's, let's rock some A's.

[2:44] Laura Camien: Cams, I'm gonna ask the first question that's come in.

[2:44] Susan Blackwell: Uh-huh.

[2:44] Laura Camien: The first question that's come in from us.

[2:52] Susan Blackwell: Who are you people?

[2:55] Laura Camien: Oh who are you?

[2:58] Susan Blackwell: Who are you, Cam?

[3:00] Laura Camien: Um Susan, I am a person.

[3:04] Laura Camien: I'm a creative person.

[3:06] Laura Camien: And my name is Laura Camien.

[3:07] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[3:07] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[3:07] Laura Camien: So let's get that straight.

[3:10] Laura Camien: My name is Laura Camien.

[3:13] Laura Camien: I identify myself as a writer, screenwriter, playwright, uh, sometime performer, um, author, communications person, really.

[3:24] Laura Camien: I've done most of my work as VP of communications for Blue Man Group and wrote the Blue Man Group.

[3:35] Laura Camien: Um, and I and yeah, I like that.

[3:39] Laura Camien: I like um I like that art form.

[3:42] Laura Camien: The art of communication.

[3:44] Susan Blackwell: That's right.

[3:45] Laura Camien: Um, and I so I have also been known occasionally to be a producer.

[3:50] Laura Camien: I have produced um a sh a little show both on and off Broadway called Title of Show.

[3:57] Susan Blackwell: Yes.

[3:57] Laura Camien: That's the first one.

[3:58] Susan Blackwell: Which you might recall you started.

[3:59] Laura Camien: Oh, that's right.

[4:00] Laura Camien: I was so good at that.

[4:02] Susan Blackwell: You were so good in that.

[4:05] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[4:05] Laura Camien: Um, but I think, you know, most importantly, I am a longtime friend of Susan Blackwell's.

[4:12] Susan Blackwell: I think that's an important first.

[4:15] Laura Camien: But the third.

[4:16] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, that's under special skills.

[4:19] Laura Camien: But we've been friends for a long time.

[4:20] Susan Blackwell: You know that.

[4:21] Laura Camien: Our creativity, you know, paths have crossed on many, many occasions.

[4:27] Susan Blackwell: The wires have gotten crossed and dangled.

[4:30] Laura Camien: And I'm here's formed.

[4:32] Laura Camien: Um it's I'm trying to think.

[4:35] Laura Camien: Anything else about you?

[4:36] Susan Blackwell: Not that I can think of, but just jump in.

[4:38] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[4:39] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[4:40] Susan Blackwell: What about you, Sue?

[4:41] Susan Blackwell: My name is Susan Blackwell.

[4:42] Susan Blackwell: Um, I she her hers.

[4:45] Susan Blackwell: I am a Broadway film and television actor.

[4:49] Laura Camien: Yes, you are.

[4:50] Susan Blackwell: I'm a writer.

[4:51] Susan Blackwell: I am a teacher specializing in creativity and communication.

[4:57] Susan Blackwell: I'm an interviewer.

[4:58] Laura Camien: That's right.

[4:59] Susan Blackwell: For about 10 years, I've had a show on Broadway.com called Side by Side by Susan Blackwell, which is just a bag of baloney.

[5:05] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[5:05] Susan Blackwell: That I mean I'm very proud of it, but come on.

[5:08] Laura Camien: And come on, it's the best work that series.

[5:11] Susan Blackwell: Bag of baloney journalism right there.

[5:13] Susan Blackwell: And then um I apparently, I'm also a podcaster.

[5:17] Laura Camien: It turns out we're both podcast hosts.

[5:20] Susan Blackwell: What?

[5:20] Laura Camien: Who knew?

[5:21] Susan Blackwell: We needed a little something for our resume.

[5:23] Laura Camien: Spice it up.

[5:24] Susan Blackwell: That's a little bit about who we are.

[5:26] Laura Camien: And we've been you and I have been friends for about 20 million years.

[5:31] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[5:31] Laura Camien: That's right.

[5:32] Susan Blackwell: And like you said, we've done a lot.

[5:34] Susan Blackwell: We've done your peanut butter's and my chocolate.

[5:36] Laura Camien: We've done a lot of shit together.

[5:38] Susan Blackwell: And we're doing more.

[5:41] Laura Camien: And now we're doing more stuff together.

[5:44] Susan Blackwell: We I just spotted on Cameo.

[5:46] Laura Camien: I've farted on you for 20 years.

[5:48] Susan Blackwell: I didn't sit on her and fart.

[5:50] Susan Blackwell: It just I was like, not that close, but in the proximity came out, and it's okay.

[5:55] Laura Camien: We all live.

[5:56] Susan Blackwell: Nobody burst into well.

[5:58] Laura Camien: If that's the deal breaker.

[5:59] Susan Blackwell: It's not.

[6:00] Laura Camien: It's not.

[6:01] Susan Blackwell: Good.

[6:01] Laura Camien: It's not.

[6:02] Susan Blackwell: Good, good, good.

[6:03] Laura Camien: Um, here's a good question, Susan.

[6:05] Susan Blackwell: How will our listeners tell us apart?

[6:09] Laura Camien: I don't mean to put you in a box.

[6:13] Susan Blackwell: Well.

[6:13] Laura Camien: I don't mean to, I don't want to mischaracterize you.

[6:16] Susan Blackwell: Bust out of it.

[6:20] Laura Camien: That's a that's a record.

[6:24] Susan Blackwell: Did you just call me a pitcher of Kool-Aid?

[6:27] Laura Camien: How dare you?

[6:28] Susan Blackwell: I feel like your voice is like silkier.

[6:32] Laura Camien: Oh, contrary.

[6:34] Susan Blackwell: I don't want to put you in that box though, because I don't know that that's that true.

[6:37] Laura Camien: Okay, now you're I feel like my voice sounds like this.

[6:43] Susan Blackwell: Um, it's not true.

[6:44] Laura Camien: That's not the way to tell you.

[6:45] Susan Blackwell: If somebody's going for cheap laughs at the expense of myself or others, that's probably me.

[6:53] Laura Camien: Um, I was gonna say, if someone is like starting to cry and tearing up, that might be mean.

[7:00] Susan Blackwell: Oh no, I feel like that's a good idea.

[7:03] Laura Camien: But then you do too.

[7:03] Susan Blackwell: So yeah, there's really no way.

[7:05] Laura Camien: And I don't know if it matters.

[7:07] Susan Blackwell: Susan likes to cuss a little bit more than I do.

[7:10] Laura Camien: Slightly.

[7:11] Susan Blackwell: I don't like dislike it just for the record.

[7:13] Laura Camien: It's just that I actually highly trained.

[7:17] Susan Blackwell: I'm acting like it I'm totally trained to just switch out the words.

[7:20] Laura Camien: When you say shit, we're making shit.

[7:22] Susan Blackwell: Uh, what will come out of my mouth is we're making stuff.

[7:24] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[7:25] Susan Blackwell: And I just, I don't know.

[7:27] Laura Camien: That's the way it is.

[7:28] Susan Blackwell: So you might be able to tell it.

[7:30] Laura Camien: If someone's cursing, I'd bet on Susan.

[7:33] Susan Blackwell: But it's impossible that it could be me.

[7:36] Laura Camien: It's a safe bet that every episode of this will have explicit content.

[7:40] Susan Blackwell: That's right.

[7:41] Laura Camien: We should we should warn you if that bothers you.

[7:44] Susan Blackwell: This is not your podcast.

[7:46] Laura Camien: That's right.

[7:46] Susan Blackwell: Um, I got a two-parter here.

[7:49] Laura Camien: The first part is what is a spark.

[7:52] Susan Blackwell: The follow follow-up is what is a spark file.

[7:56] Laura Camien: Oh shit.

[7:57] Susan Blackwell: Okay.

[7:58] Laura Camien: Uh look what I did.

[8:00] Susan Blackwell: See?

[8:00] Laura Camien: See.

[8:00] Susan Blackwell: Already broke the rule.

[8:01] Laura Camien: That's right.

[8:02] Susan Blackwell: Um a spark in my mind, a spark is that that idea that kind of gets your juices flowing, that that thing that like lights you up that you know, when people say, like, wow, you just lit up.

[8:15] Laura Camien: Like when you're talking about something that you're excited, you're passionate about, you literally light up from the inside.

[8:24] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[8:24] Laura Camien: So that spark.

[8:26] Susan Blackwell: Um, when we talk about sparks, we're talking about sparks of inspiration, sparks that would lead to creativity of us, you know, being creative in some way, in any way.

[8:36] Laura Camien: It could be so many ways.

[8:38] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, in so many ways.

[8:39] Laura Camien: And we are inclusive of all the world.

[8:41] Susan Blackwell: All the ways sparks can come in so many forms.

[8:44] Laura Camien: Like now, Laura and I a PS.

[8:48] Susan Blackwell: I also make I also say PS all the time.

[8:50] Laura Camien: That's how you know it's me.

[8:51] Susan Blackwell: If somebody just said PS, it's Susan Blackwell.

[8:54] Laura Camien: And I apologize for it now.

[8:56] Susan Blackwell: So true.

[8:56] Laura Camien: Buckle your seatbelt.

[8:58] Susan Blackwell: Truer words have never been.

[9:00] Laura Camien: Like I say it.

[9:01] Laura Camien: I'm so self-conscious.

[9:01] Susan Blackwell: I say it 70 million times a day.

[9:06] Laura Camien: I'm gonna see if I can break that habit.

[9:07] Susan Blackwell: Probably won't.

[9:08] Laura Camien: Sorry, everybody.

[9:09] Susan Blackwell: PS.

[9:12] Laura Camien: Postscript.

[9:12] Susan Blackwell: Maybe if I'll just start saying post script.

[9:14] Laura Camien: No, please don't.

[9:15] Susan Blackwell: That's right.

[9:15] Laura Camien: So what were we saying?

[9:17] Susan Blackwell: Oh, you were saying sparks now since we started.

[9:20] Laura Camien: Since we started this project, I we have always been creative people as long as we've known each other.

[9:27] Susan Blackwell: Very creative.

[9:27] Laura Camien: This is true.

[9:29] Susan Blackwell: Doing this project has opened my eyes.

[9:32] Laura Camien: I am constantly, constantly looking for sparks everywhere, and they come in so many forms.

[9:40] Susan Blackwell: Like the theme song, it could be um something that I want to make or how I want to be.

[9:45] Laura Camien: That's right.

[9:46] Susan Blackwell: And it really is.

[9:46] Laura Camien: Uh I could see uh like a mural painted on the side of the wall, and I could think, uh, I'm not a great painter, but I like the idea of that, and I'd like to take that and do something like that with that curio cabinet I got at a garage sale.

[10:01] Susan Blackwell: That's right.

[10:02] Laura Camien: Or I might have a conversation with a guest, and they might have like a certain way that they're brave in terms of their relationship to their family or something like that.

[10:12] Susan Blackwell: And I'll be like, oh, I want to be like that.

[10:15] Laura Camien: That's right.

[10:15] Susan Blackwell: Um, there are so many ways that sparks uh avail themselves to us.

[10:21] Laura Camien: So it's anything I feel like that inspires you, gives you a visceral feeling in your body.

[10:26] Susan Blackwell: That's right.

[10:27] Laura Camien: Like Cam said, lights you up.

[10:29] Susan Blackwell: I know what I was gonna say.

[10:30] Laura Camien: Yeah, I have a lot of names for Laura Camien and so uh that I could just call her Laura.

[10:36] Laura Camien: I could call her Cam's, I could call her Cammyon, I could call her little baby Cam Cam's.

[10:42] Susan Blackwell: Stop throwing up a new video.

[10:44] Laura Camien: Little baby camcams.

[10:46] Susan Blackwell: Little baby baby cam cams.

[10:47] Laura Camien: Um I'll answer to all of them. And the follow-up question what is a spark file?

[10:51] Susan Blackwell: What is a spark file? I I learned this from you.

[10:54] Laura Camien: Well, I can't take credit for it, but I don't know where I learned it. I think it's a it's an idea that's out there that sparked me.

[11:01] Susan Blackwell: Great. Um I already had one, but I didn't have I didn't name it the Spark File until I learned of this this term. Um but it's essentially it's a receptacle for all of your ideas. Um little bits, little scraps of paper where you've jotted something down or uh overheard some conversation on the subway, whatnot, articles you read.

[11:25] Laura Camien: Um I used to collect them, you know, back in the day. Grandma used to collect them in a little file folder. And I still have a bunch of those. Um, but now I do it digitally for the most part, because it's super easy.

[11:39] Susan Blackwell: I personally use Evernote.

[11:42] Laura Camien: Not a sponsor, but we wish you would be.

[11:44] Susan Blackwell: Evernote, we're calling you. Um you will be sponsoring the Spark File because I think Evernote's amazing. You can just email like articles you read, whatever.

[11:54] Laura Camien: Yeah, I actually need to learn it like even more because I'm sure I'm not utilizing it. But anyway, that's what a Spark file is.

[12:04] Susan Blackwell: And I I mean, to be honest, I'm a little bit both because I love I love an old school journal. I like pencil and paper, and so I do that too.

[12:12] Laura Camien: You're a little bit country, you're a little bit rock and roll.

[12:14] Susan Blackwell: That's right. Leather and lace. You're a little bit Evernote.

[12:19] Laura Camien: Leather and lace. Um, yeah, so that's me. And so I keep I keep stuff in both places. But what about you, Blackwell?

[12:27] Susan Blackwell: I mostly keep my Spark file. For a long time I kept it in a contact in my phone.

[12:33] Laura Camien: And it was called I had a few quotes I love, ideas.

[12:40] Susan Blackwell: Ideas to remember.

[12:41] Laura Camien: Yep.

[12:42] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. You know, and I just like would throw a link in or throw a quote in, or just like jot a quick note. Um, and now I think I sort of keep it in my Google Drive.

[12:54] Laura Camien: I've I've sort of consolidated all those lists into my Google Drive.

[12:57] Susan Blackwell: That's a good idea.

[12:58] Laura Camien: Yeah. So it's nothing worse than like, where did I I was inspired by something and I put it somewhere.

[13:04] Susan Blackwell: Yeah.

[13:04] Laura Camien: And you can't get back to it.

[13:05] Susan Blackwell: So that's right. That's what a spark file is. It's it's sort of like a consistent receptacle or receptacles where you throw all those little pieces of inspiration so that you can make your way back to them and maybe make something out of them.

[13:17] Laura Camien: That's right. Right.

[13:18] Susan Blackwell: That's right. Um yeah. Susan, who's this podcast for?

[13:24] Laura Camien: I think you jumped.

[13:26] Susan Blackwell: Uh I I well, we just did where'd you keep your spark file? And then I you're right. Then I got the sense that you were waiting for me. So I just I'm wrong.

[13:34] Laura Camien: Okay. All right. Here's a question.

[13:37] Susan Blackwell: Who is this podcast for?

[13:39] Laura Camien: See, I just use a different emphasis. So it seems fresh. It's a totally fresh question. Who is this podcast for, Camille?

[13:46] Susan Blackwell: This podcast is for anyone who is creative or would like to bring more creativity into their life. Um it's for the seasoned professional who would like to restock their fish pond of ideas.

[14:02] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[14:03] Susan Blackwell: It's for uh people just starting out who are wondering how to get started, where to start, where do I find ideas?

[14:11] Laura Camien: Um it's all of the all of the above.

[14:14] Susan Blackwell: And I think it's also just for people who like a good story.

[14:17] Laura Camien: That's right, like an interesting interview.

[14:20] Susan Blackwell: Um I think it's for people, I would say as long as you can handle profanity.

[14:28] Laura Camien: I was thinking about like 15 to 85.

[14:35] Susan Blackwell: At least.

[14:36] Laura Camien: There's an 86-year-old right now shaking their cane at me.

[14:39] Susan Blackwell: Turning it off.

[14:40] Laura Camien: Well, I guess I'm not wanted here.

[14:43] Susan Blackwell: Um I feel like all are welcome. Just like we said, all types of creativity, you know, we'll, you know, it's harder to talk about the visual arts without a doubt, like sculpting and painting.

[14:55] Laura Camien: We'll do our best.

[14:56] Susan Blackwell: It's it is a podcast.

[14:56] Laura Camien: Oh, yeah.

[14:57] Susan Blackwell: Yes, yes.

[14:58] Laura Camien: The visuals will be online or on our Instagram.

[15:01] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, yeah. Um, but we will often talk about all the visual arts. We'll talk about um writing and performing and research, science.

[15:10] Laura Camien: Yes, we're getting into it.

[15:11] Susan Blackwell: All of it, all of it if it sparks us.

[15:14] Laura Camien: Um, and we hope it sparks you.

[15:15] Susan Blackwell: Here's a question. This is an actual question from my mother.

[15:19] Laura Camien: What mom?

[15:19] Susan Blackwell: How can I access your podcast?

[15:21] Laura Camien: Um Nancy Blackwell. Do podcasts come as emails or what?

[15:27] Susan Blackwell: Nance! I'm so glad you asked that question. So I think if you're going to jump, I listen to a lot of podcasts, and how I access them is on my smartphone, there is a little tile on an Apple phone.

[15:41] Laura Camien: It's purple, and it and you touch it, and it's where you can uh sort of have an aggregate of all the podcasts that you like.

[15:50] Susan Blackwell: So you could search a word like creativity, comedy, that's all right, true crime, whatever, and then you could start subscribing to podcasts, and as those podcasts get updated, it will flow into that to you.

[16:06] Laura Camien: You could also probably do a similar thing on a computer.

[16:10] Susan Blackwell: But if you're like my mom and dad, and you don't have a smartphone and you don't have a computer, then your daughter Susan is going to have uh the brother that lives closest to you make sure that you have a old-time type recorder.

[16:27] Laura Camien: A real to real type recorder with these sound files on it.

[16:31] Susan Blackwell: Well, chances are you found your way to this. So good on you.

[16:34] Laura Camien: Good job.

[16:36] Susan Blackwell: Good job. Um, like Susan said, on any of the the iTunes, the stitchers, the Spotify's, you can, you know.

[16:45] Laura Camien: My mother's eyes are rolling back in her head.

[16:47] Susan Blackwell: She's like, now you've lost me.

[16:48] Laura Camien: Now you've really lost me.

[16:49] Susan Blackwell: I think you need to have like at the very least a computer to access.

[16:53] Laura Camien: It's not gonna get to you without a computer.

[16:55] Susan Blackwell: There may be no more an iPhone.

[16:57] Laura Camien: There may be a device now.

[16:59] Susan Blackwell: My mother has a it's a little thing she keeps in her purse, and it essentially is just Wikipedia on a device that she can look things up.

[17:09] Laura Camien: No.

[17:10] Susan Blackwell: So there may be something like that for podcasts.

[17:12] Laura Camien: I don't know.

[17:14] Susan Blackwell: I know you have rendered me speechless.

[17:18] Laura Camien: Um, mom, we're gonna figure it out.

[17:20] Susan Blackwell: And once we do, sorry, we're gonna make sure that you have all of the podcasts except the ones that I think you would be scandalized by.

[17:29] Laura Camien: We'll hold those back.

[17:32] Susan Blackwell: Um, Susan, why don't you tell everyone a little bit about why you want to make this podcast?

[17:39] Laura Camien: Besides spending time with me.

[17:40] Susan Blackwell: I want to spend time with you. Actually, this that was a big driver. Like, we were looking for a project that could sort of be at the heart, at the center, the meat of the things that we are passionate about and that we love.

[17:54] Laura Camien: And then we also wanted it to, in addition to like, so we're super passionate about like creativity and about making things and we're spending time with each other.

[18:04] Susan Blackwell: And then we wanted something where we could literally not put on makeup and do it in our sweatpants.

[18:13] Laura Camien: That was a big driver.

[18:15] Susan Blackwell: Huge. That was a very, very big driver.

[18:18] Laura Camien: And also that I didn't have to memorize anything.

[18:20] Susan Blackwell: You didn't have to memorize anything. That's a huge thing for me. Memorization, like I have to memorize so much all the time.

[18:26] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[18:27] Susan Blackwell: And this is the I love doing this because there is no memorization.

[18:32] Laura Camien: No, it's shocking to hear that, isn't it?

[18:35] Susan Blackwell: But no, this isn't memorized. Um this is just spewing right out with notes.

[18:42] Laura Camien: Um the best actors in the world.

[18:44] Susan Blackwell: But I do think, you know, it was a little bit like crafting our own um I don't know, our own path to not only creating this project, but um enhancing our own creative work.

[19:01] Laura Camien: Yes.

[19:02] Susan Blackwell: In all other ways. So as you'll hear from the episodes, the the um long form episodes that we issue weekly, we each go into our spark file and share a story.

[19:12] Laura Camien: Actual spark file.

[19:14] Susan Blackwell: Our actual spark file and share a story, which has led me to, you know, taking a spark that's inside my file and digging deeper and doing the research that I am like always thought that I would do.

[19:27] Laura Camien: Eventually one day I'll reach in here and do this.

[19:29] Susan Blackwell: But this project has created um a form and a deadline for me to be like, oh yeah, get in there. What else you got in there?

[19:39] Laura Camien: And then what are you gonna do with it?

[19:40] Susan Blackwell: And what are you gonna do with it? It's it is it has changed the way I engage with the world.

[19:45] Laura Camien: Yes.

[19:45] Susan Blackwell: Just in the time we've been doing this.

[19:47] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[19:48] Susan Blackwell: And I think that um I would say one other one other reason that I love uh doing it is because is that we're encouraging everyone at every level to make something of it.

[20:03] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[20:03] Susan Blackwell: And we're not, you know, there are times when we talk about ideas themselves, and then there are other times when we are literally just sharing ideas, and you are welcome to take them.

[20:13] Laura Camien: Go and get all the rights that you need to if that's the case.

[20:17] Susan Blackwell: But you are welcome to take these ideas and make whatever you want of it. We're not afraid of what if what if two people are making the same thing?

[20:26] Laura Camien: That's fine.

[20:26] Susan Blackwell: If you have the rights, kids get the rights. If you're working within your authentic voice, you're not creating the same thing anyway.

[20:33] Laura Camien: So please take it and make it.

[20:36] Susan Blackwell: Uh, here's a question what scares you most? Coming up with ideas for this podcast, making this podcast, or sharing this podcast.

[20:44] Laura Camien: I'll answer that.

[20:46] Susan Blackwell: Um I ask myself a question.

[20:50] Laura Camien: Well, I have an answer right on the tip of my tongue.

[20:53] Susan Blackwell: If I'm honest, mostly it's sharing it.

[20:57] Laura Camien: I can come up with ideas.

[20:58] Susan Blackwell: I got ideas for days, days and days.

[21:01] Laura Camien: Talk to me in a year. I'll be like, please, someone help me put me out of my misery.

[21:06] Susan Blackwell: But um, sharing it is so scary to me.

[21:09] Laura Camien: And I have had several dark nights of the soul where I have been so afraid that we will I will be rejected, um, that there will be hostility, that people will be like, you're doing it wrong, you said that thing wrong, uh, that I'll actually be doing it wrong, that I'll actually like just eat it.

[21:32] Susan Blackwell: And yeah, that I'm totally that I'm gonna like make mistakes, that I'm going to be um, I get so so scared. Um, and I think that's pretty based on my conversations with a lot of makers and artists. I think that fear of getting it wrong when you put it out in the world, is pretty that's pretty garden variety, like it's pretty prevalent. Um I was I was talking through this, processing through this fear with my friend Hunter Bell, and he was like, There is a 100% chance you will disappoint someone. Oh my god, you totally will. Um, but so I was having a conversation with my friend Jordan the other day because she has been getting into, you know, Jordan, she's been getting into songwriting, and she was like, I have written like 20 songs.

Wow. And she was like, Oh Jordan. I'm so afraid to, I want to post a song, and I am so just hamstrung with terror of what people are going to think and say about me and how they may judge and criticize me in ways that she will know and ways that she will not know. Yeah. And I was talking to her about it, and in turn, sort of talking to myself about this fear that I have, and I think that not everybody, but I'll just speak for myself. Uh I and Jordan, I'll speak for myself and Jordan. I feel like we stand at these crossroads of like, I want to share, I don't want to share. So I want to share because I want to be fully self-expressed in the world. And I don't want to share because I feel I'm gonna fuck up publicly.

Um, that I'm going to feel bad, that I'm going to make other people like feel bad, that I'm going to have to learn to do better. I just feel like when you put something out in the world, you do open yourself up to criticism and other people's opinions. And if I'm honest, it scares the shit out of me. It really scares me. Um it is scary. There's no doubt about it. I I I mean, I know that we can't speak for everyone, but it is a very prevalent feeling, and it is a barrier that um a good portion of the people who create don't ever cross because it's too scary. Yeah. But when I think about what Hunter said, you know, there's a hundred percent chance you're gonna disappoint someone. I think about it in the reverse.

If I don't share my work, there's a hundred percent chance I'm gonna disappoint myself. And so when I weigh those, and granted, like there's plenty of my work that I have not shared yet, and I've made a living as a career person, like shining the light and publicity and PR for lots of other people who are producing lots of other people's work. Um, and then have gotten like, oh, well, uh, I don't have time to get mine out there. And I think that's just my look at you getting it out there. That's right. Here we are, getting it out there. But I think that's my version of um being too scared, like it has manifested in in that, like I'll set my stuff to the side while I accomplish all of these other things for other people and other creatives.

Yeah, yeah. So here we are. Hunter also said it's easier to knock down sand castles than to build them. And he he loves that thing that you love, which is that uh man in the arena. I've loved that my whole like I'd rather be the man in the arena, the one who's down there in the dust, like eating it. I think those that's an exact quote down in the dust. Down in the dust eating it. Um but yeah. It's hard though, but I think I I gotta give some credit to my dad. Like back in the day, I was really active in pretty much everything in high school, and um there, of course, I wanted to be a cheerleader. And my dad was very adamant. He was like, You uh no, you're not gonna be a cheerleader unless you also do other things.

And I was like, Oh, for Pete's sake. So I was a cheerleader, but I was also on all the sports team and also in the shows and also on student council and also and be a cheerleader. Were you cheering yourself? Practice in the morning. Run down to the field and then practice after make a play, run back up, cheer yourself. Not for the same sport. I didn't cheer, you know. But um, but my dad's philosophy was like exactly that. Like, why like you're gonna invest all your time and energy in cheering on the person who's doing the thing. Oh instead of being the person who's doing the thing. And now granted, I still believe in cheering people on a hundred percent. My friends, my family, all the people, all you listeners, we will be your biggest cheerleaders.

However, we will also be on the fields playing as well. Damn it, I'm taking these metaphors. You know, because he was really like, What do you like? It's the people out there doing the thing that you want to be doing. Okay. Like, and you're you're not taking the risk because of course those people are being criticized. You know, not to like if you're an elite cheerleader, like if you're on ESPN 8, like and you are competitive, you're doing the thing. That wasn't the kind of thing. That wasn't the kind of cheerleading that happened at my school. I'm just saying. But I'm also not trying to discheerleaders. I'm really not. Because yeah, they can be competitive. But if you're like, I'll stay on the side.

The metaphor really is I'll stay on the side. Are you on the field? I mean, the game as a PR person, you feel like you've let you cheered on others. Weird because I have been like it's sidelines, but I have had my foot on the field, like sure have. On the red carpet of the Grammys, on you know, uh the the Emmy Awards, the this, the that. Like I am there, I'm totally Jerry McGuire. Yeah. Just outside that photograph. Is it it's standing close to the fire but not getting warm? That's right. Yeah. That's right. Really, really close to the fire. So yeah. Now you're in the fire. What? With me tied to a stake. Um this Brene Brown treated some tweeted something recently that um I loved. This is a misquote.

Please enjoy it, Brene Brown. Um, it's clear that the days of engineering smallness and playing it safe to avoid criticism are over. And when she put tweeted that, I was like, Yeah. Because there's no way to avoid criticism. If you do anything, it will be criticized. Get ready. Get your rocks ready. You know what? I I you know what, we may circle back and do another one of these where I'm in tears and I almost can't take it because of the criticism we've gotten. Oh but not having launched, we haven't gotten any criticism yet. Yeah. Um and I'm a little bit like, I'm okay. I'm okay because we are doing it. I want to talk for a second about feedback. Okay. We do want to hear from you. Yes, we do.

We want to hear from you sincerely. But here is the Spark File Price of Admission. We will take your feedback. But before you give us feedback, maker to maker, we want to hear from you a creative risk you have taken in your work recently. We want to hear about something that when you went to make it or create it, it gave you maybe you were scared. Maybe it gave you a visceral feeling. It's something maybe that you're in the middle of working on and it's progress, but it's not perfection yet. That's the price of admission for if you're in the arena, you're you're making yourself vulnerable, you're making something. Yeah. We want to hear about that. We want to know uh how that feels for you. And then you can give us all the feedback you want.

Give it to us. Give it to us. We'll take it. But if you don't include the aforementioned, if you don't tell us how you've been taking a risk, it's just gonna get shit camp. Then you can go fuck yourselves. Next question. Next question. What is a maker sod, Susan?

[29:32] Susan Blackwell: A makersode is our version of a mini sode.

[29:35] Laura Camien: And what's a mini sode?

[29:36] Susan Blackwell: A mini sode is like a small little delicious bite-size episode of a podcast that people usually offer up once a week just to tide you over till the next episode. Um, so our version of a mini sod is a sweet and delicious conversation with a maker who is really sparking us, which is why we call them maker sod. And once a week we're gonna share uh one of those conversations with everyone. Um hopefully they will uh inspire you and get you as excited as they got us. And also I will say, we want to hear from you all. So if you want to write to us, write to us at thesparkfile at gmail.com. There's also a form on our uh on the contact page of our website, and you can write to us uh through that.

[30:27] Laura Camien: That's right.

[30:27] Susan Blackwell: You can message us on Instagram. There may be uh something that has sparked you that you think oh, that'd be a good that'd be good for an episode.

[30:36] Laura Camien: Oh my gosh.

[30:36] Susan Blackwell: Or you may have made something or had a creative experience that you want to share with us, and we totally, totally want to hear from you.

[30:44] Laura Camien: That's right.

[30:45] Susan Blackwell: So that's it.

[30:46] Laura Camien: That is it.

[30:47] Susan Blackwell: Thank you so much for joining us on this crazy adventure.

[30:50] Laura Camien: I'm so excited, and we can't wait to see what becomes of this.

[30:54] Susan Blackwell: Thank you so much. And we hope that this put another bunch of sparks in your file.

[30:59] Laura Camien: Be sure to subscribe to this deliciousness wherever you get your podcasts.

[31:03] Susan Blackwell: Subscribe, rate it, five star review it.

[31:06] Laura Camien: If you liked this podcast, I hope you share it with people you love.

[31:09] Susan Blackwell: And if you didn't like it, share it with people who suck butts.

[31:13] Laura Camien: If something tickled your fancy or got your creative juices flowing, we are writing you a forever permission slip to go ahead and make that thing that's been knocking at your door.

[31:24] Susan Blackwell: It's your turn to take a spark and fan it into a flame.

[31:27] Laura Camien: You gotta dream it, you gotta balance beam it.

[31:30] Susan Blackwell: If you can't do it yourself, go on and double team it.

[31:33] Laura Camien: Ah, just take it and make it.

[31:39] Susan Blackwell: When I bump into something that inspires me, I dump it in my spark files.

[31:49] Laura Camien: Could be something that I wanna make or how I wanna be.

[31:54] Susan Blackwell: I pump it in my spark files.

[31:59] Laura Camien: I jump into my spark files.

[32:04] Susan Blackwell: Let's open up the spark fire.