How does the spirit with which we approach things change our experience? How can we learn to cultivate a mindset of growth and gentleness in our creative work, especially as we are trying new things? Merideth shares the story of how she learned the answer to these questions from a certain toddler this week. She also shares insights of Psychologist Carol S. Dweck, specifically how mindset can contribute to success. Watercolor art used this week by MB Whitaker. Find her work on instagram @mbwhitakerrr.
Episode 27: Mindfulness
This week join Merideth as she explores mindfulness: why she was so resistant to a mindfulness practice at first, how and why she eventually came around, and what our work in the arts can teach us about living in the now.
Episode 26: Change
Change—even when it’s for the best—is hard. Merideth shares a time when she was surprisingly resistant to change and offers one way of viewing our creative work as an offering and invitation into hope. She’ll answer a listener’s creative conundrum about creative blocks, plus share a special announcement.
Episode 21: Rest
Do you know how to rest? This week Merideth explores the full spectrum of rest from an artist's perspective-- from mind-numbing TV to the REM cycles of the coveted 8 hours of sleep. She explores one writer's idea on how to do nothing, how we might translate our knack for creativity into a practice of restorative rest, and how this idea is built right into the creative process itself.
Read more about Jenny Odell's book here.
Listen to Jessica X. Osborne here.
Download Jason Blythe's music here.
Episode 19: Tuning In To Your Inner Dialogue
Do you hear the voices? The inner voices that chastise or criticize you at every turn? This week on the podcast, Merideth explores how we all might tune in to our unique inner dialogues. Listen to learn how defining the negative voices inside your mind can help quiet their chatter, plus other tips. Lastly, don’t miss the exclusive offer for podcast listeners that goes live soon---listen to learn more!
Download your companion worksheet here
Take advantage of the special offering for podcast listeners here
Episode 17: The Art of Studying and Teaching with Joy
This week Merideth explores how arts training can burn us out or zap our creativity. She’ll propose some ideas for staying joyful as we study or teach our art form, like naming and claiming your creative impulse, finding your tribe, and more. This episode features music of the most popular composer you’ll hear in any classical music school—J.S. Bach. Don’t forget to download your worksheet here to answer the prompts she mentioned in the show.
Click here if you are in crisis and need support right now.
Episode 14: The Stories We Tell Ourselves
What stories do you tell yourself about your life? This week Merideth explores this concept and how we artists can find courage to change our inner narratives and rewrite the ending. This episode features music of Schubert, Schumann, and Sheik, performed by Andrew Parker, oboe and Alan Huckleberry, piano.
Episode 12: Buried Dreams
Italian Renaissance sculptor, Michelangelo, said, "I saw the angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free." This week Merideth explores buried dreams, what our tantrums say about us, and the hope we can find when we have the courage to dig. This week’s podcast features music of Sheik, Schumann, Saint-Saëns, and Ravel. Plus, illustrator Mike Cunningham repurposed Michelangelo's "Atlas Slave" for this week's artwork.
Listen to music from the show here.
Learn more about Michelangelo's process as a subtractive sculptor
Register for the Enneagram workshop here
Episode 7: Creative Block, Part 1—The Third Voice
This week Merideth begins a deep dive into the topic of creative block: sharing stories of artists experiencing it and how the words of James Baldwin spoke to the issue. Plus, she'll explain how a mysterious discovery made by an 18th-century violinist held the key to her unblocking this time.
You can see more photography by Tatiana Daubek here and listen to the chamber group, House of Time, here.
Have you been or are you currently creatively blocked? Wanna talk about it? Click here.
Episode 6: The Movement Needs You
There are no words at this moment, and so this episode is different. Merideth passes the mic to others, who voices she is honored to amplify: artists of color. They share their stories of resilience, creativity in times of anger/frustration/fear, and give us all an important call to action for artists right now.
This episode features…
Shefon Taylor, collage artist and designer
Courtney Porter (mezzo-soprano), IG: Thelightofthesun_
Shawn Okpebholo, composer
Brandi Bey Neal (spoken word poet), Facebook: Brandi.Bey
Episode 4: The Inner Critic
Madonna, Tom Hanks, Maya Angelou...what do all these artists have in common? They struggle with their inner critic. In this episode, Merideth Hite Estevez shares an approach to managing these voices and cultivating a knack for creating from a place of joy instead of insecurity, fear of failure, or a need for approval.
Episode 3: Identity
Playwright George Bernard Shaw famously said, "Life isn't about finding yourself, life is about creating yourself." A quote that might seem at odds with writer and Trappist monk Thomas Merton's adage: "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." So which is it?
Can the act of creation help you live into or find your identity? Does identifying as an artist have to mean a life of turmoil and hardship? Join us for this week's episode to find out.
This episode includes music of Claude Debussy, J.S. Bach, Georges Bizet, and Angela Sheik, including performances by Jani Parsons (piano), Gabriel Benton (piano), Merideth Hite Estevez (oboe) and the Carolina Youth Symphony.
Read more about the whale study Merideth mentions in the episode here.
There are still a few spots in the new, recently added section--now on Wednesday evenings-- of the Artist's Way Creative Cluster! Learn more and register here.
Episode 2: Your Inner (Artist) Child
Pablo Picasso said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." This week host Merideth Hite Estevez explores how our inner artist child can help us to discover what sparks joy in our work as adults. She'll offer ways to make the most of quarantine by (re)discovering the art of true play.
Read more about the 'Harvard Center for the Developing Child" mentioned in the episode here.
Register for the next Artist's Way Creative Cluster (which starts on May 12 via Zoom) here.