Since the dawn of social media, making stuff and sharing it online has been my raison d’être. From music to journalism to acting, I’ve spent over two decades letting my creativity run wild and free for the world to see.

Then seemingly out of nowhere, I began pulling back from sharing so much and ultimately fell off the radar for a few years. And while the pandemic was a contributing cause, it wasn’t the only cause.

How it happened

The retreat from expressing myself had largely to do with a career change.

My jobs up until that point were either directly linked to my personal creative expression (writing as a journalist) or were a means to fulfill my personal creative expression (working a “day” job while pursuing a music career at night.)

When I transitioned to working as a copywriter, however, I was being paid to give voice to everyone but myself—products, brands, thought leaders. Flexing creative muscle all day long, I stopped working on my own projects, which turned out to be a big mistake.

Despite making nearly double my salary as a journalist with unlimited PTO, I began feeling less and less fulfilled and a seed of insatiable sadness began taking root.

Finding the spark again

It took a few years to become aware of the problem. From managing my epilepsy to buying my first home to working in ad land—life was busy and I didn’t have time to stop and reflect on why, deep down, something wasn’t quite right. I blamed it on the meds. I blamed it on not doing enough weight training. I blamed it on too much coffee.

Once I moved into my house, I finally had time to take a breath and assess what was working in my life and what wasn’t.

I loved my career. I loved my friends. I was healthy. I worked remotely so had the freedom to go anywhere I pleased. And now I had a home of my own.

Then it dawned on me: I felt off because I hadn’t created anything personally for over 3 years.

Even if I was a working creative by day, I needed to find a project outside of work that would allow me to amplify my own voice. When it comes to happiness and fulfillment, making time for creative expression isn’t a “nice to have,” it’s a “must-have.”

A new chapter begins

Being a person with lots of different creative outlets, it was difficult to decide on one thing to focus on.

Like a blindfolded mouse in a maze, I banged around a bit: re-enrolling in acting class, trying my hand at film scoring, and writing a bunch of new songs on the piano.

But my inner voice told me to keep digging—so I dug. It’s not that I didn’t want to do music or acting anymore, there was just something else I was being called to do at this particular moment in time. How could I draw upon all the gifts I’ve been given to make the world a little bit brighter? How could I most serve right now?

After months of soul searching, it finally dawned on me that a podcast was the perfect next step. And the podcast would be about creativity.

Being disconnected from creativity for three years was a gift in that I learned what life is like without it—and it’s no way to live.

I want to help listeners expand their creative potential so they can come to understand the creative power within themselves. Not for fame. Not for money. Just for joy.

Plus, the podcast would give me an opportunity to connect with all the cool people I’ve met on my own creative journey so far—from music to journalism to acting to advertising.

It doesn’t officially launch until Sunday, October 9th but the process of building it has already put a pep in my step and has me waking up extra early to work on it.

I hope you’ll tune in, but more importantly—I hope it inspires you to make something.

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