In today's episode, a loving-kindness meditation to some music by Franz Schubert.
As you listen to each selection, repeat the mantras:
"May I be well."
"May you be well."
"May all manner of things be well."
Pre-order Merideth’s book, The Artist’s Joy
Email your question to be read on the air: hello@artistsforjoy.org
This week on the show, Merideth answers a question we all tend to ask when the world is on fire. How can I feel creative joy in the face of violence, injustice, and brokenness? She explores why art matters in these moments, especially, and how our creativity offers us a place to process the pain and turn our anxiety into energy that can make a difference. The late famous conductor, Leonard Bernstein, answers the age-old question, “How can we go on?” and we learn about two fantastic non-profits using creativity to change the world.
Pre-order Merideth’s book, The Artist’s Joy
Email your question to be read on the air: hello@artistsforjoy.org
Photo cred: littlesun.org
This week on the podcast, a Musical Meditation for Inspiration featuring music of Chopin performed by Emile Pandolfi, Gleb Ivanov, and Yuval Vilner. Settle in and make some space for quiet time to reflect as you listen.
Self-Coaching Questions
When have I felt the most inspired? Remember a time when you couldn’t wait to sit down and make something? What transpired that brought on this frenzy of creativity? What activities or actions inspire you most?
What is a way to embed more inspiration into your daily creative life? Where is there white space for inspiration to strike? If you don’t see any room, can you work to create larger margins for yourself so that inspiration can find you?
And lastly, what creative endeavor or project is just for you right now? Take out your calendar and find an hour to get out the watercolors or dust off the guitar or take out the novel you were writing. Create for the joy of it.
Artists for Joy Classical Playlist
Season 4 opener! Let's discuss the ephemeral, mystical, inevitable miracle that is creative inspiration. Merideth shares about a hobby she is not monetizing (yet) and a powerful story of a chance encounter at Staples. How do we escape the constant pull to monetize our creative work? How do we become the kind of person who is more inspired and connected to the spiritual invitation of creativity?
Chat with Merideth about the book tour: hello@artistsforjoy.org
Today's episode of Artists for Joy is one of our Mini-Joys episodes, and in this one, Merideth answers alllll the listener questions. From creative routines to how it feels being edited to creating in the cracks...she tells a little of what life has been like on the book-writing journey and how you can shift your lens and make space for creative joy. Even if you don't call yourself a writer (yet!), this one is for everybody.
Artists for Joy Classical Playlist
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Today on the podcast, Merideth shares a central thing she’s been learning on her journey back to joy for music. Plus, she has some exciting personal news and a sneak peek inside a big project coming soon.
Email the show: hello@artistsforjoy.org
This week on the podcast, a new bonus episode series: Mini-Joys. Got 10 minutes? Listen for three questions to ask yourself if you’re struggling with time management.
What is possible?
What is the percentage I need?
Where is the “ma”?
Register for the next Artist’s Way Creative Cluster
Email the show: hello@artistsforjoy.org
Today on the podcast: our final Creative Archetype….Enneagram 9s. Teachers call this type The Peacemaker. Merideth chats with author and editor Ariel Curry, bassist and author David James, and author, spiritual director, and retreat leader Lori Melton, all about life as a creative 9. They discuss figuring out how you feel, cultivating a relationship with conflict, and making room for individuality through creative expression.
(Side note: All 3 of these 9s are married to Enneagram 8s. How about that!)
These 9s invite you all to celebrate the space you inhabit in your personality as we encourage them to step into and celebrate theirs.
Invitation:
Take a moment to grab a pen or pencil and draw what you see with your non-dominant hand. 9s are great at not judging, so as you create, sustain judgment of yourself. Be open, playful, and imaginative as you take up space on the page. Allow whatever comes up to come up, and whatever you do, don’t stop until you are done. When you feel finished, journal about the experience.
What was your inner dialogue like? Do not let the noise of your critic shake your inner peace. Give yourself permission to try and try again.
Ariel Curry, author and editor
David James, bassist and author
Lori Melton, author, spiritual director, and retreat leader
Playlist of the Creative Archetypes Series
Register for the next Artist’s Way Creative Cluster
Email the show: hello@artistsforjoy.org
In the penultimate installment of our Creative Archetypes Series, we chat with Enneagram 8s. Authors Shannan Martin and Meredith Boggs, as well as hornist and educator Johanna Burian, share what life is like as a Challenger. We explore how creativity can feel like a full body experience to 8s, how vulnerability and levity are key to health, and something we can all do to help the 8s in our lives feel known and loved.
Invitation:
Take this prompt to your journal or answer the questions with a friend or therapist:
What creative challenge(s) am I facing right now? What beliefs underneath the challenge(s) need to be challenged?
Shannan Martin, author and speaker
Meredith Boggs, author and nurse
Johanna Burian, hornist and educator
Playlist of the Creative Archetypes Series
Register for the next Artist’s Way Creative Cluster
Email the show: hello@artistsforjoy.org
In this week’s episode of Artists for Joy, we talk creative joy with some of our favorite Enneagram 7s. Christa Hardin, marriage counselor and author, Molly Wilcox, author and editor, and pastor, writer, and percussionist, Rev. Edwin Estevez share what life as an Enthusiast is like and what they believe they offer in the creative process. They also discuss how the Enneagram can shed a special light on all our relationships, what 7s can do to find more focus, and the most important fact we all should know about the 7s in our lives.
Invitation:
Find time and space for a good old-fashioned “yes and” brainstorm. Leave behind the “no's” when they pop up. Maybe there isn’t enough money or time or creative energy; put it aside and just let yourself dream. Believing anything is possible if only for a moment, can unlock creative joy when you least expect it.
Christa Hardin’s new book, Enneagram + Marriage
Molly Wilcox’s substack, Threshold
Rev. Edwin Estevez, Kirk in the Hills
Enneagram Workshop with Artists for Joy
Playlist of the Creative Archetypes Series
Register for the next Artist’s Way Creative Cluster
Email the show: hello@artistsforjoy.org
This week on the podcast, the Creative Archetype series continues with Enneagram 6: The Loyalist. We chat with writer Cheri Hudspith, visual artist L. Camille Callaway, writer and therapist Camden Morgante, and visual artist Kate McEnroe, all about what life as an artist 6 is like, how they manage the anxiety, get unstuck, and create with joy. Our BFF Enneagram coach, Lee Fields of Enneagrammatic, also returns to educate on a notable polarity with 6s.
Invitation:
Find your ragtag team of people and invite them to support you and one another. Accept Love’s invitation, listen to where and with whom you can find your creative community, and show up faithfully for yourself and others.
Cheri Hudspith, writer and spiritual director
Kate McEnroe, mixed media artist
Camden Morgante, writer and therapist
L. Camille Callaway, visual artist
Enneagram Workshop with Artists for Joy
Playlist of the entire Creative Archetypes Series
Register for the next Artist’s Way Creative Cluster
Email the show: hello@artistsforjoy.org
In this episode of our Creative Archetypes Series, Merideth chats with Enneagram 5s about their internal experience as artists. Guests Marsha Crockett (spiritual director and author), Kate Riney (creative marketing strategist, content creator, storyteller, and coach), and Morgan Strehlow (literary agent and freelance author) chat about the castles 5s create in their minds, how to overcome analysis paralysis, and the 5s secret weapon in the creative process: enthusiasm. Plus, our favorite Enneagram coach, Lee Fields of Enneagrammatic, pops on to share some insights, including how to be a good friend to a 5.
Invitation: Follow your enthusiasm wherever it goes. Ask: "What am I curious about? What is that thing, maybe random or seemingly silly, that I really care about?" Do some research about it and explore it, let your enthusiasm lead the way. After you do some research, call your favorite friend and share with them what you are learning.
Marsha Crockett, Spiritual Director and Author
Kate Riney, Content Creator, Storyteller and Coach
Morgan Strehlow, Literary Agent and Freelance Author (including Morgan’s manuscript wishlist)
This week on the podcast, the Creative Archetype Series continues with Enneagram 4. Merideth chats with Lee Fields of Enneagrammatic about life as a 4. Plus, writers Kristin Vanderlip and Mara Eller, and painter Jennifer Hintz Eggers, share their insights on how to move beyond feelings and into doing and what we can all try to channel our inner Enneagram 4 to foster creative joy.
Invitation:
Listen to a few tracks from this album and feel your feelings.
Don't journal or try to fix anything yet. Ask yourself: "How are you feeling today?" and let the emotions come. When you are done, take whatever has come up for you and use it as creative fodder for something small-- a poem, painting, letter, card, or a meal that makes you feel comfort. Respond to whatever feelings you feel by making something.
Burnout: Completing the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
This week in the Creative Archetypes Series, we hear from Enneagram 3s. Merideth chats with Ashley Hall-Tighe, trumpet player and certified life coach, Nii Codjoe, product researcher and career coach, and Tombo Hite, attorney, whose biggest claim to fame is that he’s Merideth’s older brother. :)
They explore the 3’s secret weapon for getting things done, how to calm the chaos when you’re going 100 mph, plus how to find your true worthiness outside of your achievements.
Invitation:
3's Super Power—The To-do List
Before you start your day or a creative session, make a list of things that you’d like to accomplish. Imagine what you’d like to say you’ve done by the end of the day. Hold the list loosely. Check in with yourself as you work. Let the list push you forward when you are feeling uninspired or unsure of what to do next. And if you get to the end of the day and your list is unfinished, take a deep breath and try again tomorrow. Remember: you are not defined by all you get done or don’t.
Ashley Hall-Tighe, Trumpeter/Life Coach
Nii Codjoe, Product Researcher/Career Coach
Enneagram Workshop with Artists for Joy
Email Merideth with a question or comment: hello@artistsforjoy.org
Our Creative Archetypes Series continues this week with Enneagram 2’s: “The Helper.” Merideth chats with author Holly Oxhandler. Holly is the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development and an Associate Professor at Baylor University’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. Holly studies religion/spirituality, health and mental health, and as a studio art minor in college, she embeds creativity into every aspect of her life and work. Merideth and Holly explore how to be a helper without burning out and seeing creativity as an act of self-care and connection.
Other 2 voices in the episode: piano teacher and podcaster, Christina Whitlock, and author/spiritual growth coach, Stephanie Miller.
Invitation:
Put your oxygen mask on first. Write 3 pages of longhand stream of consciousness first thing upon waking. After you finish writing, step outside of yourself, re-read your pages, and look for clues about what it is you need. What is one thing you could give to yourself today that you need? Be your own helper, mother, giver, or friend.
Having taken care of yourself, look at those around you and ask the same question. What needs do I see? How can I serve them personally— with a phone call or a bouquet of fresh flowers— or creatively—with a handmade card or homecooked meal? Use your creativity to find connection and collaboration, to comfort yourself and others.
Connect with Christina Whitlock: Piano Instructor, Beyond Measure Podcast
Connect with Stephanie Miller: Author, Writing Coach, Spiritual Growth Coach
Perfectionism can keep us from starting altogether, stop us mid-art, and suck the joy out of the finished creative project. Can you relate?
This week on the podcast, Merideth chats with Enneagram One, Kendra Adachi (aka The Lazy Genius) about holding creative goals loosely, embracing imperfection, and becoming the architecture of your creative life.
Invitation:
1. Kendra's advice: "Ask someone you trust what they believe you bring to the creative process."
2. Explore The Lazy Genius' Magic Question: "What can I do now to make something easier later?"
3. Kendra says she lives by Suzanne Stabile's question, "What is mine to do?" Take this question to your journal and see what comes up.
Kendra Adachi’s Lazy Genius Collective
David Gate, poet, Enneagram Postcards
Enneagram Workshop with Artists for Joy
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Without further ado, our summer Enneagram series begins now! Merideth chats with enneagram coach Lee Fields (the impetus for this entire series) about how each Enneagram number's energy is needed in bringing a creative project from ideation to completion.
Invitation: read through the list and circle a few that resonate with you. If you don’t know your type yet, check out these other enneagram resources.
8’s strive to feel powerful, resist other peoples’ boundaries
9’s strive to feel peaceful, resist their own priorities
1’s strive to feel perfect, resist relaxing
2’s strive to feel connected, resist tending to their own needs
3’s strive to feel outstanding, resist slowing down
4’s strive to feel unique, resist ordinary tasks
5’s strive to feel detached, resist engaging with others
6’s strive to feel secure, resist trusting others, the process, or themselves
7’s strive to feel excited, resist stillness, savoring, or appreciating what they have
Register for the Enneagram Workshop: August 29th, 2023 @ 7:00 EST
Submit a "Sounds of Joy" video: hello@artistsforjoy.org
This week, Merideth takes us back to Episode 11 in Season 1! Enjoy the throwback to a baby podcaster exploring an ever-green topic: belonging.
Original Show notes:
Where do you belong? This week Merideth dives into this question, reflecting on her own upbringing in small-town South Carolina. She explores how artists might find community and friendship by showing up as themselves and using their artist's eye to love others well.
Kate Shepherd is an artist, silversmith, writer, and host of the popular podcast, The Creative Genius Podcast.
From Kate's artist's statement: “I am an artist down to the very core of my being, it is infused into every single aspect of my life. Stones, leather, textiles, eco-printing, quilting, knitting, weaving, basketry, sculpture, beadwork - something deep within me wants to, needs to experience the act of making with my heart and hands."
For 15 years her work as a professional artist has been through Morning Moon Nature Jewelry and over the past two years her love of painting has been reignited.
Merideth and Kate chat about taking up space, creative intelligence, and, of course, some of what Kate has learned from interviewing creative greats on her successful podcast.
We know by now that the items we don’t need affect our creative impulse, but what about the items we do? This week on the podcast, we explore the topic of The Artist’s Altar (from Julia Cameron’s book “The Artist’s Way.”) Listen and learn some tips for taking up space in the world, sparking joy as you support your inner artist child, and relearning how to play.
Rachel Bell, Powerhouse Accordion and Irresistible Tunes
Submit your music to be featured on the pod: hello@artistsforjoy.org