This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Susan Blackwell: Spark File podcast may contain profanity and other adult content. Please use your discretion.

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

[0:18] Susan Blackwell: Spark to be something that I wanna make or how I wanna be.

[0:23] Laura Camien: I pump it in my spark spot.

[0:23] Susan Blackwell: Spark.

[0:26] Laura Camien: I jump into my spark slide.

[0:32] Susan Blackwell: Let's open up the spark five.

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

[0:43] Susan Blackwell: And I'm Susan Blackwell, and we are creativity coaches who help people clarify and accomplish their creative goals.

[0:52] Laura Camien: Hey, you should know that just by listening to this podcast, you are joining a warm and wonderful clan of creatives.

[1:00] Susan Blackwell: But hold up. You may be asking yourself, what exactly is a spark file?

[1:01] Laura Camien: Well, a spark file is a place where you consistently collect all your inspirations and fascinations.

[1:10] Susan Blackwell: Every episode, we're gonna reach into our spark files and exchange some sparks.

[1:16] Laura Camien: And from time to time, we're also gonna talk to some folks who spark us.

[1:20] Susan Blackwell: And your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take some of those sparks of inspiration and make something of your own.

[1:26] Laura Camien: So without further ado, let's open up the spark file.

[1:32] Susan Blackwell: Hi, Laura Camien.

[1:33] Laura Camien: Hey, hi Suze.

[1:35] Susan Blackwell: I'm excited. It's recording day.

[1:37] Laura Camien: It's recording day.

[1:38] Susan Blackwell: Are you ready to be sparked?

[1:40] Laura Camien: I'm so ready to be sparked.

[1:42] Susan Blackwell: I'm so intrigued, and I cannot wait. For those about to spark, we salute you.

[1:49] Laura Camien: And oh, I almost forgot. Susan Blackwell, you are going to help me in the course of this spark.

[1:55] Susan Blackwell: I'm gonna go ahead and put a message in the chat so you can access it.

[2:01] Laura Camien: So my goodness. I'm very excited to share the spark with you. This is something we have discussed and never done.

[2:09] Susan Blackwell: It's been one of those, you know, it would be fun one day. So at the top of almost every class we lead at the Spark File, someone reads the Spark File course guidelines, a poem.

[2:21] Laura Camien: Now, as advertised on the label, this is a poem. I use that term loosely that summarizes the core ethos of the Spark File.

[2:30] Susan Blackwell: It's what we stand for and what we are asking of anyone who participates in the Spark File. So, Laura, I just sent you the link to the Spark File course guidelines.

[2:41] Laura Camien: A poem. Would you like to read them now?

[2:45] Susan Blackwell: If I could get this big grin off my face, I would love to read these guidelines.

[2:50] Laura Camien: I'm so happy about this, Suze. I'm so happy.

[2:53] Susan Blackwell: All right. Here are the Spark File course guidelines.

[2:59] Laura Camien: Hey you, the real authentic open you.

[3:04] Welcome to the present moment and this space where you are safe to be brave with the knowledge that all of us have your back.

[3:14] While you're here, please take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space.

[3:20] Grant grace and assume the best of yourself and others.

[3:25] Preface creative possibilities with may I offer you a thought and receive consent before proceeding.

[3:33] Know that lessons learned here can leave here, while personal stories shared here stay here.

[3:42] Creative risk lies ahead. Side effects may vary and can include responses in your body, heart, mind, or behaviors.

[3:51] Trust in the knowledge that you are a strong creative conduit and it's all tolerable.

[3:58] Plus, you are empowered to do what you need to do to take care of yourself.

[4:03] During your time here, may your conversational turn taking be balanced, and may you rest easy in the knowledge that no one is above you, no one is below you, and haters have a special place to the left.

[4:19] Gentle Sparkler, let these truths resonate through your body electric.

[4:24] As long as you are present when you are present, do the work and aren't being a dick. However, you're doing it, you're doing it right.

[4:33] Susan Blackwell: Yes. Well done, Laura Camien. Thank you so much for reading that.

[4:39] Laura Camien: My pleasure. Again, that was the Spark File Course Guidelines, a poem that we share at the top of every class.

[4:47] Susan Blackwell: That's the version as it exists today. You never know. Course guidelines and poem might change in the future.

[4:54] Laura Camien: They evolve.

[4:54] Susan Blackwell: But that's yeah, they evolved, but that's the current version. And we're here to tell you it's Chalkablock with Sparks.

[5:01] Laura Camien: So for my Spark today, I thought it'd be fun to learn the history of the guidelines and unpack some of the key sparks in the guidelines so folks can learn what informs those guidelines and the whole vibe of the Spark File.

[5:14] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, yeah. And a lot of it is like science backed as well.

[5:18] Laura Camien: So it's we didn't want to make all this up.

[5:21] Susan Blackwell: We're not just pulling science. Most of this out of our butts.

[5:24] Laura Camien: Some of it is backed by science and research. So let's start with the history of the guidelines.

[5:31] Susan Blackwell: When I had been teaching for a while, I learned that it was helpful to set some ground rules at the top of each class or workshop that I led.

[5:40] Laura Camien: And usually they were simple, like you are empowered what you need to do to take care of yourself.

[5:45] Susan Blackwell: Meaning, if you need to go to the bathroom, you don't need to raise your hand and ask my permission.

[5:49] Laura Camien: That's right. You're, you know, you're free. You're an adult. You're free. Do what you need to do.

[5:54] Susan Blackwell: And sometimes it had to do with the subject matter. So something I learned from my writing teacher, Linda Berry, and I think it's true.

[6:01] If you're writing and you get tired, just put your head down. No good writing happens when you're trying to force yourself to stay awake.

[6:08] Laura Camien: So that's the kind of thing I'd be like, just before we get started, I just wanna a few ground rules, that sort of thing.

[6:14] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, yeah. Then when Laura and I first started teaching creativity courses with the Spark File, we would share the community rules in the class.

[6:24] Laura Camien: You remember this, Laura?

[6:25] Susan Blackwell: I do.

[6:26] Laura Camien: In the class Facebook group, yes, a list.

[6:29] Susan Blackwell: And we would talk through that list on the first day of class. Be kind, assume the best, things like that.

[6:35] Laura Camien: Yeah. Yep. Yep.

[6:36] Susan Blackwell: At some point, we thought, you know what would be more creative and fun and memorable?

[6:44] Laura Camien: If we wove all of this into this handy dandy poem that we could read at the top of each class.

[6:50] Susan Blackwell: So it's not something that you hear one time or you read one time and you kind of have remember it. It's top of mind, it's on the tip of your tongue.

[6:59] Laura Camien: It's very, very easy to reference.

[7:01] Susan Blackwell: And thus the Spark File course guidelines, a poem was born. So let's unpack some key phrases in there.

[7:09] Laura Camien: Let's do a little literary analysis, if you will, and we're gonna start at the top, Susan Blackwell.

[7:14] Susan Blackwell: And please, because you know, you're all you're all up in here. You are woven into this thing.

[7:20] Laura Camien: That's the beauty of it. You are woven into it, I'm woven into it. And so much of our community, our Spark File community is woven into it.

[7:31] Susan Blackwell: I love it. I'm loving it. So check me, because this there's things I may forget in this session of pop-up videos.

[7:37] Laura Camien: Okay. So it starts with hey you, the real authentic open you.

[7:43] Susan Blackwell: So this is us inviting your best self, the most authentic, open-hearted version of you to show up.

[7:50] Laura Camien: In the Spark File, so long as you are respectful of others and their boundaries, you're invited to be the real authentic open you.

[7:57] Susan Blackwell: Everyone is invited to be authentic and talk about things that are more challenging or less flattering to themselves.

[8:04] Laura Camien: And when framed constructively, we believe that candor and vulnerability is like a miracle growth for personal and creative development.

[8:12] Susan Blackwell: That's right. And we wanted to also emphasize like there's so much positivity in this space that there are times when it can feel like, oh, I guess I have to put on a positive face.

[8:26] Laura Camien: Right. Regardless of how I'm feeling today.

[8:32] Susan Blackwell: Now, please, if you're if your authentic self is feeling like lashing out and being cruel to others, then no, we don't want it.

[8:39] Laura Camien: But you don't have to come in and pretend that you're not feeling um however you're feeling that day.

[8:46] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. And that was important to us. But please reference as long as you're not being a dick.

[8:50] Laura Camien: Like that, it's on balance with that.

[8:52] Susan Blackwell: So moving forward, welcome to the present moment and this space where you are safe to be brave with the knowledge that all of us have your back.

[9:03] Laura Camien: So welcome to the present moment and this space is essentially us summoning people into the present moment.

[9:10] Susan Blackwell: As we know, our brains were built to time travel to keep us safe.

[9:14] Laura Camien: Our brains are forever assessing the past and rehearsing the future.

[9:19] Susan Blackwell: And we're inviting people to come into the present moment and this space, this gathering of people where it is safe to be brave.

[9:27] Laura Camien: Now, this is a reference to something Laura learned in a class she took at Harvard, because she's fancy, taught by a woman named Jennifer McCray.

[9:37] Susan Blackwell: Laura was introduced to the concept of moving from safe spaces to brave spaces. Laura, will you tell us a little bit about that learning?

[9:47] Laura Camien: Absolutely. This kind of blew my mind because at the time there was a lot of talk and probably still is about creating a safe space in classrooms, in workshops, um, in the office.

[9:59] Susan Blackwell: In work environments, yeah, work environments.

[10:02] Laura Camien: And um, what they had learned, and Suze, you're gonna need to remind me the author's names of this paper.

[10:09] Susan Blackwell: You got it. It's Brian Arreo and Christy Clemens.

[10:12] Laura Camien: And the name of the paper, it's a white paper titled From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces: A New Way to Frame Dialogue Around Diversity and Social Justice.

[10:21] Susan Blackwell: Loved it so much. Incredible work, incredible work.

[10:25] Laura Camien: And they what they had discovered is that when you uh consistently refer to this space as safe, everyone set up an expectation that they would never be asked to feel discomfort.

[10:41] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, meaning um uh it's a safe space I can say what I like well if I I may say something that makes you feel uncomfortable or you may say something that makes me feel uncomfortable and they had conflated the idea of safety with comfort.

[10:41] Laura Camien: Yeah, and we are very specifically working in a space where the very act of taking a creative risk which we'll talk about more in a minute brings a sense of discomfort if you are stepping outside of your comfort zone and taking a risk making yourself vulnerable you are safe to do so but really what we're asking you to do is to be brave and so what the authors of this paper kept emphasizing is that what we're really looking for is bravery and we want to create a brave space where people feel brave enough to hang with the discomfort that they may feel hang in there you may learn something you may disagree with someone that is okay that's not gonna hurt you and taking a risk or making yourself vulnerable is not going to hurt you.

[11:51] Susan Blackwell: And so we combine them to say this is a space where it is safe to be brave.

[11:58] Laura Camien: Yeah, that was beautifully put, Laura, and it's so true here at the Spark File. We know that growth, creative or otherwise, it can't happen without learning to accept a certain amount of discomfort, embracing the discomfort, dare we say, and creating and sharing our work requires that vulnerability. It requires us to be brave.

[12:20] Susan Blackwell: So within the group, as Laura said, we ask folks to be brave, whether you are staring down a blank page or a blank canvas or a creativity share. We're asking people to be brave when you're sharing your work and receiving that feedback. When we have guest teachers and they do things a little differently than Laura and I do them, when new members join, we're asking people to be brave with the knowledge that we've got your back, more on that in just a second.

[12:49] Laura Camien: That's right. But it, it, uh, it that's what it takes to show up and do the work and show up and share the work.

[12:57] Susan Blackwell: That's right. And I think we would both, you know, probably make a case for taking any class or being involved in any group where you don't feel challenged, you don't ever feel vulnerable, and you never feel discomfort, you may not be learning as much as you'd like to be learning.

[13:16] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[13:17] Susan Blackwell: Or growing as much as you'd like to grow.

[13:19] Laura Camien: Yes, yes.

[13:21] Susan Blackwell: So that passage ends with where you are safe to be brave with the knowledge that all of us have your back. That's a term, have your back, we've got your back.

[13:30] Laura Camien: That's a term borrowed from the world of improv.

[13:33] Susan Blackwell: Yes. And it might mean if you take a risk in this space, I'm gonna provide a soft place for you to land. Or it might mean if I have a resource you're seeking, I'm gonna share it with you. The old, I got your back.

[13:45] Laura Camien: Yep.

[13:46] Susan Blackwell: And I'm not gonna let you fall on your face. I'm just not going to. So that old, like if you're standing on stage and you loft a joke out there that does not land.

[13:57] Laura Camien: I'm not gonna leave you there just looking at you like we're gonna move on together.

[14:02] Susan Blackwell: Eggy with egg on your face.

[14:04] Laura Camien: Yeah, not gonna happen.

[14:05] Susan Blackwell: Not gonna leave you eggy. So moving on, while you are here, please take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space. This idea of taking responsibility for the energy you bring into a space is inspired by the work of Dr. Jill Bolty Taylor, who you may have heard me talk about on this very podcast before.

[14:26] Laura Camien: Dr. Bolty Taylor is a neuroanatomist, an author, and a speaker who delivered a very, very popular, wonderful TED talk in 2008, in which she told the story of how she suffered a stroke. And because she was a neuroanatomist, she was able to lucidly perceive and document the experience. When she was recovering in the hospital, as a result of her brain injury and the subsequent surgery, she was extremely emotionally open.

[14:56] Susan Blackwell: So open, in fact, that she would empathically viscerally pick up on the energy of anyone who entered the room, doctors, nurses, visitors, to the point where she had a sign put up that said, please take responsibility for the energy you bring into the space.

[15:15] Laura Camien: In the Spark File, starting with Lil Laura Camien over there and little Susie Blackwell over here, we are extremely perceptive. We are open people, as are many of our clients. And we want our spaces, our cohorts, our workshops to be filled with people who have the emotional and social intelligence to manage their energy.

[15:38] Susan Blackwell: And do what they need to do to, if their nervous systems are dysregulated, to be able to say, my nervous system is dysregulated instead of like lashing out, etc. So, thus, please take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space.

[15:55] Laura Camien: One of my favorites. I enjoy it.

[15:57] Susan Blackwell: The next up in the poem is Grant Grace and assume the best of yourself and others. This is a two-parter. The first part, Grant Grace, grew out of conversations I had with Spark Filer Scott Barnhart.

[16:13] Laura Camien: Hey, hi Scott. What are you doing? Walking your dog, listen to this. You go for a run? What are you doing, Scott? You feel you feel seen? Do you feel violated?

[16:22] Susan Blackwell: So, Scott Barnhart during the pandemic, um, we were collaborating together on something, and all of us during the pandemic were really we were working off-road. We were adapting to new and sometimes extreme circumstances. And we were all navigating really steep learning curves, and Scott would say, Grant Grace, we got a Grant Grace.

[16:45] Laura Camien: And I was like, noted. Grant Grace.

[16:49] Susan Blackwell: Oh good. And what a way to live. What a way to live. Also, a great drag king name, Grant Grace.

[16:57] Laura Camien: The second part of that phrase, assume the best of yourself and others, grew out of my tendency, a human tendency, I think, to make up the worst possible stories and narratives. Like if someone, you know, a look passes over someone's face, I'm like they're mad at me.

[17:16] Susan Blackwell: Yeah, I did something to make them mad. So it reminds me, slash us, that we are going to assume the best of ourselves and others, not the worst.

[17:25] Laura Camien: That's right.

[17:26] Susan Blackwell: And it's not just about others, it's about assume the best of yourself.

[17:27] Laura Camien: Assume the best of yourself, which I mean, I am so tough on myself. And so kind of it's a shorthand for saying, don't make yourself wrong all the time.

[17:45] Susan Blackwell: Yep.

[17:45] Laura Camien: Choose a di all of this is about like choose a different neural pathway, choose a different narrative.

[17:50] Susan Blackwell: So that's exactly right. Grant grace and assume the best of yourself and others.

[17:56] Laura Camien: Next up, preface creative possibilities with may I offer you a thought and receive consent before proceeding. This harkens back to the Spark File feedback process, which is a very artist-centered feedback process where the artist states the feedback they are seeking.

[18:13] Susan Blackwell: We don't just see someone's work and then start noting them to death and telling them how we think they should do their piece. Oh no. We address the feedback that they are seeking. And super bonus, we ask consent before we start sharing our two cents.

[18:31] Laura Camien: And people are welcome to say, no, thank you. I'm not open to that type of feedback at this time.

[18:39] Susan Blackwell: That's right. They can decide if it's right for them or not. This is such a great rule for life in general. Like, uh oh gosh, I'm not gonna remember this correctly. But a few like a year or two back, there was a thing going around on Instagram that was basically about like when your partner or someone starts talking to you, ask them like, are you looking for sympathy or are you looking for ideas?

[19:03] Laura Camien: Sympathy solutions or solutions.

[19:05] Susan Blackwell: That's right, sympathy or solutions. And the power of that is stopping to ask, like, is this what you need right now? May I offer, you know, are you open to receiving solutions? And the person gets to say, actually, no, right now, I just want you to listen because I just need to cry this out, and that's perfectly acceptable.

[19:26] Laura Camien: And it's a very similar idea here that, like, before I offer you some idea about your main character or some idea about your performance, I check to see is this is this what you're looking for in this moment?

[19:39] Susan Blackwell: And you get to say yay or nay.

[19:42] Laura Camien: Yeah.

[19:42] Susan Blackwell: Consent.

[19:43] Laura Camien: Consent.

[19:44] Susan Blackwell: It's a powerful thing.

[19:46] Laura Camien: It's what's for dinner.

[19:49] Susan Blackwell: Next up, know that lessons learned here can leave here, while personal stories shared here stay here. Laura, I wish I could tell you where I first heard this. I know it was from a teacher.

[20:02] Laura Camien: Was it from you?

[20:03] Susan Blackwell: It was from me. You are a teacher. I took a class, um, DEI workshop that was phenomenal.

[20:14] Laura Camien: Uh huh.

[20:15] Susan Blackwell: And they phrased it a little different. Like this has a Spark File phrasing to it, but essentially they were like anything you learn here can leave with you, but stories that you hear from other people stay here.

[20:27] Laura Camien: And so we made that lessons learned here can leave here, while personal stories shared here stay here.

[20:34] Susan Blackwell: That's this I appreciate so much. I used to do with every writing class I taught, I would do this very involved confidentiality pact with the room.

[20:46] Laura Camien: Uh huh.

[20:46] Susan Blackwell: And this is so much more efficient and elegant, and people understand it immediately.

[20:52] Laura Camien: That's right.

[20:52] Susan Blackwell: So you were the teacher, Laura. You were the teacher I learned this from, and you learned it from an awesome DEI workshop.

[20:59] Laura Camien: That's correct.

[21:00] Susan Blackwell: And boy, do I wish I could remember the name of the teacher I learned it from. It is not, it is not.

[21:07] Laura Camien: Thank you.

[21:07] Susan Blackwell: Thank you, teacher. I apologize. But yeah, I remember the work done in that room, and it was fantastic.

[21:15] Laura Camien: Fantastic.

[21:16] Susan Blackwell: Okay, next up, creative risk lies ahead. Side effects may vary and can include responses in your body, heart, mind, or behaviors. Trust in the knowledge that you are a strong creative conduit and it's all tolerable.

[21:30] Laura Camien: So this is, uh, just like a tip of the hat to, um, a medication, prescription medication commercial, but also it's our concise reminder that creative risk may come with feelings attached.

[21:43] Susan Blackwell: Yep.

[21:44] Laura Camien: You know, you may experience it as a visceral feeling, your palms may start sweating, you may experience it emotionally. You might be like, oh my, I don't know why I feel sort of cranky now.

[21:55] Susan Blackwell: Your mind might start racing or it might flatline, or you may want to crawl under the quilt. So that's body, heart, mind, behaviors. Yep. But that reminder that we are strong creative conduits, and it's all tolerable. We are strong creative conduits. These things can move through us, yes, like a storm cloud moving in across the sky, dropping some rain and moving it on. Yes, and it is tolerable. A fellow teacher reminded me recently that sometimes it's not tolerable, it can become too overwhelming, and our systems can feel too dysregulated, which leads to our next sentiment. You are empowered to do what you need to do to take care of yourself, which is to say you get to decide your path forward and what you need to do to take care of yourself. Do you need to step outside the room? Do you need to turn your camera off? Do you need a drink of water? Cool. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself.

[23:00] Laura Camien: I do. I'm gonna say about the tolerability and the creative risk. Yeah. We have curriculum on this that we, you know, we know we could talk for two hours on this very concept right here. And so it's a nice reminder in the weekly reading of the guidelines, just to hearken back to this idea that part of what we're doing in the Spark File is building that muscle. The understanding of knowing every time when I take a creative risk, I can start to observe what happens in my mind, my heart, my body, my behaviors. It may not be the same every time. Depends on what's at stake and the level of the risk. But what we're learning by repeatedly taking a risk is that we can handle it. We can actually take a step up next time.

We can go a bit higher. We can level up in our what we call our Guggenheim spiral of growth. Thank you, Melissa Mashido. We learned that from the time. And in that way, you know, if it's not tolerable, maybe it was too big of a leap in that moment. It was too big of a jump for you on that particular day. But by training ourselves gently, just like an athlete trains themselves over and over using that muscle, you can learn that it's all tolerable. And then as Susan said, if it's not feeling good to you today, you are empowered to do what you need to do to take care of yourself.

[24:34] Susan Blackwell: I love it to stand by it. Stamp of approval. Excellent. Moving forward. During your time here, may your conversational turn taking be balanced. So this is a direct reference to the work that Google did on Project Aristotle. This is a study that they conducted. It was some real intense research to determine why some of their teams and their groups absolutely thrived and some did not. And what they discovered is there are two major factors that determine the quality of a team. If they are able to engage in balanced conversational turntaking, meaning every member of the group speaks roughly the same amount, and if they are able to co-create an environment of psychological safety. But may your conversational turn taking be balanced is our way of reminding people of that part of it.

[25:35] Laura Camien: Absolutely. And that's how we, yes, we remind people every time, but we keep the, I guess the oxygen in the room, it gets to be shared by everyone, and no one gets to take it all.

[25:49] Susan Blackwell: Yeah. Oh, and also don't hide. Like step forward, step back. In addition to making space for other people to speak. Also, if you have a tendency, kind of like I do, even though I have a podcast, I don't know, to be kind of quiet and only speak in a class when you're absolutely certain that what you have to say is relevant and clearly stated, etc. Step forward, step forward. So balanced conversational turntaking. The poem continues, and may you rest easy in the knowledge that no one is above you, no one is below you, and haters have a special place to the left.

[26:32] Laura Camien: Fan favorite.

[26:33] Susan Blackwell: This is my own philosophy that I snuck in here. Yes. There is no doubt that we live in a hierarchical world. If you have any doubt, book an acting gig on a TV show or a film and look at the call sheet. Essentially, the call sheet is a schedule for the day, and it ranks every actor from number one, the biggest star, on down the line, two, three, four, five, one hundred and fifty-seven. I find I move through the world with more peace and confidence when I carry this in my heart in my mind. No one is above me, no one is below me. Haters have a special place to the left. So haters meaning super negative people, destructive people, they can bug off. They can bug off straight off the bat. Everyone else, everyone else, no one is above me, no one is below me.

In my heart, we are all on equal footing. The movie star, the teenager I meet on the Amtrak train, the server at a restaurant, the teacher, the student, the mirror, me. It's a really fun way to move through the world. If you've never tried this, I highly recommend it.

[27:40] Laura Camien: And we ask our clients to meet every other fellow group member as a peer and us, frankly, and us.

[27:48] Susan Blackwell: And us, that's right. We're not looking to be put on a pedestal. I love it so much, and I love how it changes the dynamic for people because sometimes people look around, or you might join the class, look around and be like, oh my God, there's a Tony winner, there's an Emmy winner. Look at that person has a thousand awards behind them or a thousand shows behind them. And it's a reminder that that person is not higher than you. They may be here trying to have a beginner's mind and try something totally new, and maybe they're scared to and they feel the same things that you feel. And it's a great equalizer. We are all human beings just trying to make our way and express ourselves with our various art forms.

[28:39] Laura Camien: Yeah. So this is fun to play with in the Spark File, outside of the Spark File to avoid subordinating yourself, comparing yourself positively or negatively. Every member of the Spark File, including you, listener, is really a spectacular person. And while people may be at different places in their creative and professional journeys, all of the people in the Spark File have something in common. They are all there to take big creative swings, like Laura just said. Maybe it's somebody who is super accomplished, but they're trying something new. All of that requires risk. All of it requires vulnerability and a lot of hard work. So remember, nobody's above you, nobody's with you. Haters to the left.

[29:26] Susan Blackwell: Love it. Getting close to the end now. Gentle sparkler. Let these truths resonate through your body electric. That's just a little tip of the hat to Walt Whitman. And a little tip of the hat to a song from the movie Fame. Remember that kids? As long as you are present when you are present, do the work and aren't being a dick, however you're doing it, you're doing it right. So the creative process can be slippery, unwieldy, mysterious. Assessments of creative work are almost always entirely subjective, and quality is in the eye of the beholder. But what if, what if? Let's try this on. What if showing up, being in the present moment, doing the work of engaging with your creative practice, whatever form it takes that day, and being a decent person.

What if that were enough? What if checking those boxes meant you were creating correctly and doing it right? How would we feel? How would we feel about that? And how much more work, creative work might we get done if we believe that? So them's the rules, Laura Camien.

[30:41] Laura Camien: And that's me Spark.

[30:43] Susan Blackwell: I love this spark. This was really fun. It's a great reminder digging into what's behind all of it. It's a lot of thought, it's a lot of heart, and even some science.

[30:55] Laura Camien: And even a little bit of science.

[30:59] Susan Blackwell: So that's it. Thanks, Laura. This episode of the Spark File was made on the lands of the Lenape and the Mohican people. And as always, we hope that this put another bunch of sparks in your file. Listen to us. 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 accomplish your creative goals, you can email us at getcreative@thesparkfile.com or reach us through our website, thesparkfile.com. We'll even happily take your feedback, but you know the price of admission. First, you gotta share a creative risk that you have taken recently.

[31:35] Laura Camien: You can follow us on social at the Spark File and be sure to subscribe to rate to five-star review this podcast. If you just take a few seconds to do that, it really does help 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, there's a special place to the left for you, my friend. If something lights you up and gets your creative sparks flying, we are 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.

[32:14] Laura Camien: And make it bye yay.

[32:20] Susan Blackwell: When I bope into something that inspires me, I dump it in the spark files. Could be something that I wanna make or how I wanna be. I'll pump it in the spark files. I jump into my spark files. Let's open up the spark file.