This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] The Spark File podcast may contain profanity and other adult content.

[0:04] Please use your discretion.

[0:09] Laura Camien: When I bump into something that inspires me, I jump in my spark file.

[0:14] Susan Blackwell: Spark file.

[0:18] Laura Camien: To be something that I wanna make or how I wanna be.

[0:23] Susan Blackwell: I pump it in my spark.

[0:26] Laura Camien: Spark.

[0:28] Susan Blackwell: I jump into my sparks.

[0:32] Laura Camien: Let's open up the spark file.

[0:37] Susan Blackwell: Welcome to The Spark File, where we believe that everyone is creative, but smart creative people don't go it alone.

[0:44] I'm Laura Camien.

[0:46] And I'm Susan Blackwell, and we are creativity coaches who help people clarify and accomplish their creative goals.

[0:53] Just by listening to this podcast, you are joining a warm and wonderful clan of creatives.

[0:59] But hold up.

[1:00] You may be asking yourself, what exactly is a spark file?

[1:00] A spark file is a place where you consistently collect all of your inspirations and fascinations.

[1:12] Every episode, we are gonna reach into our personal spark files and exchange some sparks.

[1:18] And from time to time, we're gonna talk to some human beings who spark us too.

[1:23] And your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take some of those sparks of inspiration and make something of your own.

[1:30] So without further ado, let's open up the spark file.

[1:36] Oh my gosh, I'm excited.

[1:38] Ooh, that sounds like a wicked, like um, like, yeah, kind of a hull.

[1:46] But that's not this episode.

[1:48] That's not this episode.

[1:49] I don't know why.

[1:51] Who knows why?

[1:53] But it's not a spooky Halloween episode, but it is a very special episode of the podcast.

[1:59] And I'm super excited, honestly, about this one.

[2:03] We recorded this episode at the Spark File retreat, which we call SPARKfest, and we did it with extraordinary creatives from the Spark File community.

[2:15] And uh, I just love it.

[2:17] So just so you can sort of picture the whole thing.

[2:22] We recorded on Saunders Farm in Ottawa, Canada, which is the most exquisite setting.

[2:29] Truly.

[2:29] We cannot recommend Saunders Farm enough.

[2:33] We love this place.

[2:34] It's such a beautiful place to visit any time of the year, but especially as the weather turns colder, it's really magical.

[2:43] They have Pumpkin Fest, they have Fright Fest, and it's only a six-hour drive from New York City.

[2:50] And that drive is gorgeous.

[2:54] Truly, truly a gorgeous drive.

[2:58] SaundersFarm.com for all your autumnal needs.

[3:03] We love Saunders Farm.

[3:04] So we recorded on Saunders Farm in a hundred-year-old what used to be a pig barn and then a cow barn and a hayloft, and it's now called the Cider House.

[3:14] And we recorded this sitting beside a huge hearth and a crackling fire.

[3:19] And you're gonna hear all of that on the recording.

[3:23] We are not in the studio.

[3:25] We are definitely recording on location.

[3:27] And sometimes the laughter and the claps overwhelm the microphone.

[3:33] But I think it adds to the charm.

[3:35] I know it does.

[3:37] I know it does.

[3:38] So over the course of the retreat, we talked a lot about the idea of support and how we support ourselves creatively, how we support others.

[3:48] And of course, I mean, for us, obviously, this podcast is one of the ways that we feed our own creativity and hopefully other people's creativity.

[3:58] It's our goal to spark ourselves and then to craft the sharing of a spark so that it may inspire others.

[4:06] So the day of the recording, we asked our glorious group of creatives to head out onto Saunders Farm and find something that sparked them.

[4:15] It could be something tangible, something that they saw or felt while on the farm.

[4:20] It could be a memory that was triggered, a book or a piece of art that they were reminded of.

[4:25] Truly anything, anything that sparked them on the very sparky Saunders Farm.

[4:31] And then we asked them to craft that spark of inspiration into what we would call a mini spark with the hopes that they may share that mini spark and it may spark others.

[4:45] We really tossed them into the deep end, like have at it.

[4:49] But man, they really delivered.

[4:51] Susan Blackwell: I did great.

[4:52] Laura Camien: Great.

[4:52] Susan Blackwell: They did.

[4:53] So let's hear from them now.

[4:55] And we're going to start with James Melton.

[4:57] A note for listeners.

[4:59] Laura Camien: The more intrepid members of our group attended Fright Night on Saunders Farm the night before.

[5:08] That is a feature of Fright Night.

[5:10] Susan Blackwell: Listen, also, we must admit when you say the more intrepid members of the group, that did not include you and I.

[5:17] Laura Camien: We are not the intrepid.

[5:18] Susan Blackwell: No, no, girl.

[5:20] Laura Camien: No, no.

[5:22] But we did want to make sure you knew that the shambles exist at Saunders Farm.

[5:27] And with that, James Melton, take it away.

[5:30] James Melton: How do you identify creatively?

[5:34] Oh, okay.

[5:35] So many things.

[5:35] I'm going to start with, or I'll go with today an educator and arts administrator.

[5:40] Awesome.

[5:41] Susan Blackwell: Awesome.

[5:41] James Melton: You have a spark for us?

[5:42] I do have a spark.

[5:43] So it actually begins here at Saunders Farm a year ago.

[5:46] I'm just going to read the titles for this spark.

[5:49] Could be We've Only Just Begun.

[5:51] Always beginning, starting over, Extra Lives.

[5:55] It's never too late.

[5:56] Who said I couldn't do that?

[5:57] And so I visited the shambles.

[6:03] And finally, lessons learned at the farm.

[6:05] Don't stay on the farm.

[6:08] Sources include, thank you, Austin, because I'm an educator.

[6:10] We need to set our sources, the dinning institute.com, Brianna.io.beginner, the Spark File Podcast, specifically creation from destruction.

[6:18] Oh.

[6:19] And the wise words of friends and expert beginners.

[6:21] So a year ago, I made some drastic decisions to kind of start exploring a remaking of my career and what I wanted to do and have stumbled upon and stumbled into and have lucked upon, I think, also with great support.

[6:35] Starting a career with the Missouri State High School Activities Association, which is in one way really awesome, but in other ways really unexpected, because I have to do a lot with athletics now, and I'm not an athletic person.

[6:48] Or I wouldn't identify as an athletic person.

[6:51] Susan Blackwell: Sorry, I have to just jump in and challenge that lightly because you are somebody who you are very invested in your fitness and you really take great care of yourself, including like exercise and yoga, and I couldn't do the crow pose, and I set my mind to it, and now I can do the crow pose.

[7:09] So however you felt about athletics when you heard Summer, however you felt about them when you were younger or historically, I would now say that you I would say bits and pieces of that.

[7:19] James Melton: But I think what I I would had a chance to kind of think about I was wandering on the farm and thinking about okay a year ago and beginnings and what does it mean to be a beginner and kind of start over but yet just hold on to the things that make you successful but you yet you gotta start.

[7:31] You gotta start someplace.

[7:33] But th this all kind of came from thinking about I I love kids.

[7:37] I love everything that they want to do and that there's not a huge difference between a great art and theater and music kid and also the football player.

[7:43] Like they're all out there pursuing passions.

[7:46] People will remark when I see them right now and they'd be like whoa what's that what's that like did you imagine that you'd be doing that and I had a day early in the first few days on the job where I was in my office freaking out and and I and you can't say it because you're an educator I can't I can't because I'm getting ready I I can't I can say I can say it.

[8:05] I can't say it because what my what my assistant heard sitting out inside my office was what the fuck am I doing?

[8:15] Because I'm having to work on tennis championships and supporting this awesome community and she sent me this incredible link.

[8:21] So one other source it was one of the beautiful people that assist me and her name is Leanna Long in the beginning the beginner's creed I am a beginner I'm entering a new game about which I know nothing.

[8:32] I do not know yet how to move in this game.

[8:35] I see many other people playing in this game now.

[8:38] The game has gone on for many years prior to my arrival I am a new recruit arriving here for the first time I see value to me in learning to navigate in this domain.

[8:49] There is much for me to learn: the basic terminology, the basic rules, the basic moves of action, and the basic strategies.

[8:56] While I am learning these things, I may feel various negative reactions, overwhelmed at how much there is to learn, insecure that I do not know what to do, inadequate that I lack the capacity to do this, frustrated and discouraged that my progress is so slow.

[9:11] Angry that I have been given insufficient guidance, anxious that I will never perform up to the expectations on which my career depends, embarrassed that everyone can see my mistakes.

[9:20] But these moods are part of me being a beginner.

[9:23] It does not serve my goal and ambition to dwell in them.

[9:25] Instead, if I make a mistake, I will ask what lessons does this teach.

[9:29] If I make a discovery, I will celebrate my aha moment.

[9:32] If I feel alone, I will remember that I have many friends ready to help.

[9:35] And if I am stuck, I will ask for help from my teachers.

[9:38] Over time, I will make fewer mistakes.

[9:40] I will gain confidence in my abilities.

[9:42] I will need less guidance from my teachers and friends.

[9:44] I will gain familiarity with the game.

[9:46] I will be able to have intelligent conversations with others in the game.

[9:49] I will not cause breakdowns for promises that I lack the competence to keep.

[10:07] So it's great.

[10:15] Susan Blackwell: Austin, just to make the picture, Austin's, and our backs are to this roaring fire right now.

[10:20] So when you sit in the hot seat in front of the mic, you're also sitting in the hot seat in front of the mic.

[10:27] So Austin, will you share with the people your name?

[10:31] Your pronouns if you wish, and um, what's your spark?

[10:35] Austin: Yeah, hi, I'm Austin.

[10:36] My pronouns are he, him, and this spark is entitled Nestity.

[10:43] I love it already.

[10:45] It's uh subconsciously inspired by the Saunders family and Adair.

[10:49] So sitting in silence is a nearly impossible task at Saunders Farm.

[10:54] There are, of course, the sounds of the people joyously at work with farm tasks.

[10:59] But if you listen closely, you can begin to hear the chirps and tweets of a whole other life at work.

[11:06] This region is home to a variety of birds, including geese and cranes, ducks and doves, some of which Adair might spot while birding.

[11:15] But one trait that unites many of them is the evolutionary necessity to nest, or nest sesety.

[11:22] Of course, they nest for the safety and protection of their little ones, usually with sticks and mud and scraps of fabric.

[11:29] And many of these species return to their nests year after year to usher in the next brood.

[11:35] But I was curious to know if birds also experience empty nesting in the same way humans do.

[11:42] And according to an article on Gizmodo.com, not sponsored, it's like I listened to this podcast.

[11:50] Indeed, they do.

[11:52] In an article titled, Even Birds Struggle with Empty Nesting, the author states uh and shares quirky traits that birds have picked up to encourage fledglings' departure from the nest.

[12:04] But he also says, at the same time, evolutionary success holds a different meaning to the fledglings than it does to the parents.

[12:13] Melissa Mashido: For the fledgling, success is measured by pure survival outside of the nest. But for the parents, it's the guarantee that at least one of their brood survives. Hence the desire among songbird parents to get their chicks out into the real world as fast as possible. Since when a predator attacks a nest, it typically kills the entire brood. And none of the parent's genetic material gets passed down to the next generation. But fledglings who have left the nest are spread out and mobile, dealing with life on their own terms and independently fending for themselves. So, in the case of science, the most impressive and successful thing a parent bird can do is to become an empty nester. I wonder to myself and anyone else that would like to wonder with me which of our creative ideas are ready to leave the nest next. And how can I and we infuse that not so empty nest with joy and celebration instead of sorrow? Oh baby! You are ready to fly.

[13:18] Melissa Mashido: So we are here with Melissa Mashido. Melissa, how do you identify creatively? I am an investigative theater maker, a creative writer, and a creative facilitator. My spark is entitled Dahlia's Ferns and Fractal Geometry. You know, I was just struck by not only the nature, you know, the beauty of the whole farm, but how much nature has been brought into this space. And on all the dining tables here and on the fireplace, we've got all these beautiful dahlia flowers. And as you were, uh, Laura giving us the assignment, I was looking past you out the window, and there was this beautiful fern plant, uh, which caught my attention. In looking at these beautiful, naturally occurring plants, I started thinking about the structure by which they are made.

They are fractal examples of biology. A fractal is a pattern repeated over and over again, going into smaller and smaller scales. This comes from the word fractus from the Latin fragmented or broken. Yet we're looking at all of these patterns that are linked together and repeated over and over again to create a much larger and complete structure. And I was struck in my limited research by the phrase infinite intricacy, that these are structures that are simultaneously complex and simple. Another examples of fractals in nature or naturally occurring fractals, snowflakes, succulents, pineapples, that was very exciting. Even the vessels in our lungs. So they're around us, they're inside of us. And I just was contemplating this idea of a simple, precise design or action that gets repeated over and over again to create a more elaborate whole.

And meditating on that as you know, in this group of community of creators where we have an abundance of creativity, and we're often laser-focused on a specific project, or maybe trying to, you know, go beyond our perceived boundaries of our creativity to try something else. And it can be a challenge to zoom out into the macro and look at everything that we've created as part of a whole. And so I guess my wish for all of us, uh, listening and and here today is to practice that zooming out so that you can see your fractal manifestation of your one beautiful creative life on this earth because you have made something beautiful.

[16:26] Melissa Mashido: Thank you. Welcome to the hot seat, Anne-Marie Petersma. Anne-Marie, tell the people how you identify creatively.

[16:37] Anne-Marie Petersma: I identify creatively as an actor, a writer, a comedian, and a cheese educator. You got a spark for us?

[16:42] Anne-Marie Petersma: I do, and it actually has something to do with the links between arts and agriculture. Last night I was talking to Adair a lot about the links between art and science, and how a lot of people view them as opposite worlds, maybe, but they're actually very interconnected and very linked. And I've been so sparked by all the nature around the farm. And one of the reasons why I fell completely in love with Angela and the entire Saunders family is that there is like an immediate shared language between arts and agriculture and arts and nature, being a musical theater gal that grew up on a dairy. Um, and it's also Scandinavian. There's lots of stuff there. So I was marveling at a pine cone on my walk.

As you do, it's probably equipment over here. I love it. And it reminded me of a book that I read when I was a teenager called Math and the Mona Lisa. It's by Beul and Adelaide, and it's all about the Fibonacci sequence. It's a set of numbers, it's a system sequence where each number is the sum of the preceding numbers. So it goes like one, one, two, three, because two plus one, five, three plus two, so on and so forth. This is also referred to as the golden ratio. And you find it everywhere in nature and everywhere else. Everything. It is something that is like instinctive to us as humans where we look at it and we deem that thing beautiful or marvelous. And it's in my pine cone. It's in if you are like walking around my pine cone.

Um, if you look at the formation of branches and trees, ferns, flower petals, anything like that, you will see that formula go out. And you find it in art all the time. And that's what it explores in this book, Math and the Mona Lisa, because so many people are like, what's the big deal about the Mona Lisa? Maybe not I say that. I don't know if other people, but I actually share that. I'm like, why did we all decide? I'm looking in the eyes of Chris Pappas, who's a, uh, tour guide and also a phenomenal creative. And I'm sort of like, why did we all collectively decide that we're all gonna like clamor to stand in front of this? Right. But there's a reason related to the sequence in Mona Lisa, like features the golden ratio, which is found in the human face in general. So it's not Mona Lisa isn't the most beautiful woman in the world, but we recognize she's a rock in that golden ratio.

[19:14] Anne-Marie Petersma: Yeah, and what from what you're saying, like, and my understanding of it, it's like it's not something that we consciously choose or have a like I think I'd like to look at faces that adhere to the golden ratio today. We're not actually thinking about it. Do you know what I mean? It's something it's something already in us in our DNA. And maybe as you know, all of that like chewy bullshit that's like we are made of stardust, which is like all right, but actually marvelous and wonderful. Yes. I've just heard it so many times, and I'm like, everyone fucking relax. But also it's like how beautiful. It's the Fibonacci sequence. Yes, in the formation of galaxies. Yes, it's that same thing. We see like if you've seen the visual representation of a milky shell, the Milky Way, we see the Milky Way.

So if we are in fact all made of Stardust, it is in us. So maybe it maybe it's that thing where it's like it's completely unintentional. We're not consciously thinking of it, looking for it, but it exists within us anyway. Now I feel like, uh, I'm gonna be like, okay, I am one of those people that like we are made of Stardust.

[20:18] Anne-Marie Petersma: Yeah, me too. But when Melissa was giving her spark, I was like, right, and the fractals are evidence that we are all made of the same stuff, the pine cones and the people.

[20:31] Melissa Mashido: Yeah. I'm made of pine cones.

[20:33] Anne-Marie Petersma: You are the pine cones and the people, we are one and the same.

[20:38] Melissa Mashido: Pine spark you Dr. Peter Patricia. How do you identify creatively?

[20:47] Dr. Peter Patricia: I, uh, I'm not a medical doctor, let's be clear. I can um diagnose you philosophically.

[20:54] Anne-Marie Petersma: Oh, thank you.

[20:55] Dr. Peter Patricia: I identify as a writer across many different mediums that are generally performative. Got a spark for us?

[21:03] Dr. Peter Patricia: I do. Awesome. Okay, so I was sparked by one of the Ali's on the farm. Um, an alley is a fancy French word, I guess, for um these long straight rows of trees in the middle of which is usually a pathway. And there are a couple of them around the farm. One actually is the roadway into the forest at the back. It's sort of an alley, but they're generally like really tall, straight trees. And I found one. It's like alley, but is it is it spelled like alley? What is it? A-L-L-E-E with a thing on it. Alley. And so when you see a like a period film, that's where there's like the coach is going down the driveway. And those are usually London plain trees on the side. They're really tall and straight. That's an alley.

Okay. And that led me to think about collaboration as a competitive advantage. Go with me. So we are so away from that. In my business consulting, I help clients to locate the thing that they can do better than anyone else that enables them to sort of win in the marketplace. And one of the things I've noticed frequently is that when clients hear competitive advantage, as I call it, they sometimes think of it as us versus them. But that's overly simplistic. And in fact, I've seen again and again that competitive advantage is often found in collaboration, which might seem counterintuitive. And this brings me to mushrooms.

[22:28] Dr. Peter Patricia: Of course. I like this trip. Thank you. Well, it's actually fungus because according to the National Forest Foundation, mushrooms are actually just the fruit of the organism. The real organism lies underground in a vast network of these interconnected threads that are very, very thin that are called mycelium. These threads between they create a network between the roots of trees and they act as communication pathways. So in healthy forests, the mycelium are the connections. So these little fungal mushroom threads are underneath the ground in healthy forests, and they wrap around the roots and they go into the trees, and they essentially act as a network for some say communication, but for definitely sending carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients, water throughout the forest ecosystem.

[23:26] Anne-Marie Petersma: And hot gossip.

[23:30] Dr. Peter Patricia: Totally. Hot gas. In these healthy forests, so these things are called mycocoryzal networks, by the way. So these little things are my mycelium, the individual threads, and the collection of them are mycocorrhizal networks. So in a really healthy forest, you'll have a really strong network, and they're sharing all of that stuff. And at the center of it is always a mother tree. So the mother tree is the oldest tree, and it has the deepest roots, and it has the strongest fungal connections. And she essentially shares her knowledge with all of the other trees about the various things she's experienced and seen and lived through over the years.

[24:12] Dr. Peter Petralia: So she will understand what to do in various circumstances that might be, like a drought or, you know, potentially like crises that trees have. And actually, in really, really, really healthy ecosystems of forests, the tree networks are really diverse. So they don't just have one kind of tree, they have a lot of different trees, and they have different trees of different ages, different requirements in terms of sun, in terms of water. And that diversity of trees and the strength of the mother tree in the network creates this really kind of powerful collaborative ecosystem. These forests literally feed and support each other via their fungal networks. They collaborate in order to succeed. So this makes me think about like what can we learn about the value of collaboration as a source of competitive advantage from these fungal powered collaborative forest networks.

Some of you may have read the book Finding the Mother Tree. I don't know if some of you read that book, but there's this book called Finding the Mother Tree. Hey listeners, it's post-production Susan, letting you know that the author's name is Suzanne Simard. Now back to Dr. Peter Petralia. She was a forestry person, and she was also a biologist, and she discovered that there was something going wrong with a lot of these tree forests that were planted for wood for cutting down, that they were not growing very healthy, things were not going great, the soil was falling apart, and she discovered that part of the reason was because the networks underground of fungus were disrupted, and that there was no mother tree in many places because the mother tree had been pulled out.

Amazing. So she says that plants are attuned to another's strengths and weaknesses, elegantly giving and taking to attain exquisite balance. There is grace and complexity in action, cohering in some totals. So it made me wonder what it would look like to elegantly give and take to obtain exquisite balance. To me, that's the source of a true competitive advantage, and it's oh, I intend to strengthen my practice as an artist and a human. And I feel like that's kind of what the Spark File is trying to do to help each of us find our own kind of exquisite balance with each other and as individuals.

[26:32] Laura Camien: Did you just call me a mother tree?

[26:36] Dr. Peter Petralia: I called you a motherfucking tree.

[26:44] Carrie Seward: Welcome to the microphone, Carrie Seward. How do you identify creatively?

[26:49] Carrie Seward: I write, direct, produce, and perform theater, film, and rock and roll. Amazing. And do you have a spark for us today?

[26:57] Carrie Seward: Damn! But you can do it. I have a spark. So right when you walk out the door, there's this huge wall of pumpkins. So I was thinking about pumpkins, and the Saunders have a dog named Pumpkin. Pumpkin gets a shadow. So I grew two pumpkins this year in my garden, and I grew them from seeds. And I was thinking about how you have to transplant little seeds from their small plant container to the next size container to the next size container so that the plant can properly grow. Because the plant needs enough room to grow, but not too much room so that the water, something, I don't know, it's not good. Science. That's not the point. Since I'm a performing artist, the containers I work with are venues.

So I was thinking about containers and putting the right size plant in the right size container. So putting your right show in the right place. Yes. So you don't want your plant to have a container that's too porous, that absorbs too much water if that's not good for it. You don't want a container that's too dark so it absorbs too much light, blah blah blah. So theaters, when I'm thinking about a venue for a show, I think about everything from the first moment you're going to the theater. When you park and you get out, what are you wearing? Like, are the outfits that the people going to be wearing going to match the venue that you've chosen for this? Like the expectations of what this place will be.

When you get to the lobby, is it comfortable? Can you hear other people talking? Is it really loud and echoey, or is it comfortable for normal conversation? Especially since most of the theater-going audiences in the world are getting older and older, we have to pay attention to these things. Can you sit for the seat in two hours comfortably? The sound in the theater, can you hear? Are the acoustics good? Is it accessible? If people don't fit in the seats, do you have a place for them to sit? Is there places for wheelchairs? Are there elevators? Are there ramps? All the things. The temperature, usually theaters get hotter and hotter with lights and bodies. Can it be both cool and quiet? If you turn on the air conditioning, is it incredibly loud and terrible?

I love intermission, that's a whole other spark. But as intermissions are going away more and more in the world, it breaks my heart because that's the time when I sell snacks and merch. It's important. It's an important thing for the producer. Yeah. But you want to make sure that your lines for the snacks, the merch, and the bathroom do not intersect. And then the last thing: is there a good exit strategy? So when you stand up, do you know where to go? Or is it just a river that's going the wrong way? So that's my spark.

[30:05] Laura Camien: This is such a good spark. And I also just want to add is for artists as they evolve as their careers mature. How the space that's appropriate for an artist who is maybe first swinging out into the world is different than for an artist who's in like the full bloom of their creativity and their career. And meeting yourself where you're at, and then folding in these guidelines to make sure that the spaces that you're choosing are appropriate, that you don't have this crazy pressure to sell out a thousand seats when that's just not where you're at. That's not where you're at. But I also love that again for like independent artists who are now like even more frequently creating a theater space or performance space out of something else.

[30:53] Carrie Seward: Yeah. And our sweet Emma Callis just did it in our last Blaze program, and she put on the show in what was an art gallery. And a list like this is so good to go through because it wasn't designed to be a theater, but we're gonna use it as that. And so we should think through every one of these things. So you have to imagine what the flower will be when it's in full bloom when you're planting it in the little container. So you want to make sure it has enough room to grow, but not too much.

[31:25] Laura Camien: Bringing it back over. Hey, Adair, how do you identify creatively?

[31:33] Adair Whalen: I identify creatively as an actor, singer, writer.

[31:37] Laura Camien: Beautiful. Beautiful. Do you have a spark for us today?

[31:39] Adair Whalen: I do. I took a long walk and just focused on taking a long walk. And then I ended up in a big open field out past the zip line. Saunders Farm has a zip line. As I entered the big open field, I just threw my arms open and did the walking with my arms open just because I could. Uh-oh. Because when you do that in New York City, people think you're looking at it. Something else happens. You're inviting a lot in. 100%. Uh and then vote. Awesome. If I open my arms, I might catch feelings. If I open my arms, I might catch the sun or the rain or the wind or the morning. I might catch your hug or your last word or your first. If I open my ears, I might catch the chickadees. I might remember. If I open my ears, I might catch forever or never again, and I might hear what I am afraid of.

Or I might catch my mother's voice. If I open my eyes, I might catch the sun coming up over the trees to greet me and the crows. I might catch laughter and joy and the drive to put one foot ahead of the other. If I open my eyes, I might catch anger and fear. If I open my eyes, I might catch you. If I open my mouth, I might catch flack. Or I might catch flies. Or I might catch criticism. If I open my heart, I might catch feelings. I might catch cold. It's possible that if I open the door, what is on the other side will be exactly what it is that I fear the most. Open doors go to other places, after all. If I open my hand, perhaps I will hold yours.

[33:35] Laura Camien: That was Adair Whalen. Laura, that writing reminds me of your creativity versus certainty spark. You know, if you open up, who knows what might come your way. Might be a whole lot of trouble, might be a whole lot of life. Only one way to find out.

[33:52] Laura Camien: Only one way. I love that. I love that. And I just want to say I'm so grateful to all the sparklers who contributed sparks for this episode. Like what a joy. We were not able to hear everyone's sparks today, but we're gonna hear more from our sparklers later this season. Hmm, something to look forward to. Little teaser.

[34:15] Susan Blackwell: This episode of the Spark File was made on the unceded lands of the Anashinabe Algonquin people. And as always, we hope this put another bunch of sparks in your file. Listen, if there's a spark you'd like us to explore, or if you'd like to learn more about how to coach with us to bring your creative ideas to life, you can email us at getcreative@thesparkfile.com or submit it through our website, thesparkfile.com. Friends, we will even happily take your feedback. But you know the price of admission. First, you have to share a creative risk that you have taken recently. You can follow us on social at the Sparkfile and be sure to subscribe, rate, and five-star review this podcast. It really, really helps other listeners to find us. Also, if you like this podcast, we hope you'll share it with people that you love. And if you didn't like it, take off to the great White North and Saunders Farm.

[35:11] Susan Blackwell: And Saunders Farm. Friends, if something lights you up and gets your creative sparks flying, we're writing you a forever permission slip to make that thing that's been knocking at your door. It's your turn to take that spark and fan it into a flame. You know, you gotta take it and make it make it.

[35:37] Laura Camien: I don't know. The shape of things to come.

[35:40] Susan Blackwell: Ooh. It's teasing teaser. When I bump into something that inspires me, I dump it in the spark fire.

[35:52] Susan Blackwell: Spark fire. Could be something that I wanna make or how I wanna be. I'll pump it in the spark fire. I jump into my spark fire. Let's open up the spark fire.