Always Choose Orange

Dr. Deirdre Barrett is a renowned psychologist, author, and dream researcher affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Serving as a Lecturer in Psychology within the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance, she teaches courses on dreaming to undergraduates, psychiatry residents, and psychology interns.

Dr. Barrett's research explores dreams, hypnosis, and evolutionary psychology. She has authored several books, including The Committee of Sleep, Supernormal Stimuli, Waistland, The Pregnant Man & Other Cases from a Hypnotherapist’s Couch, and Pandemic Dreams, which explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dreaming.

In addition to her writing, Dr. Barrett serves as Editor-in-Chief of Dreaming: The Journal of the Association for the Study of Dreams and has held leadership roles as Past President of both the International Association for the Study of Dreams and the American Psychological Association’s Division 30, The Society for Psychological Hypnosis.

Her work has garnered attention from major media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, and Newsweek, and she has appeared on programs such as Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, and the BBC. Beyond academia, Dr. Barrett creates digital dream-inspired artwork, which has been featured in National Geographic and exhibited internationally.

In this episode, Dr. Barrett shares how her childhood experience of dreams led her to a career in psychology and dream research. She talks about the role dreams have played throughout history in problem solving and gives specific, mind-blowing examples from her research where students or colleagues solved word problems in a dream, sometimes in startling ways. Dr. Barrett also provides a step by step breakdown of a technique called “dream incubation” that she finds to be a more effective tool for creativity than lucid dreaming. Many people say they don’t remember their dreams. If that’s you, don’t worry, we end the conversation with some practical steps you can take to increase your dream recall.

Website: www.deirdrebarrett.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deirdre_barrett_dreams/

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Alex Eckman-Lawn is a Philadelphia-based artist and illustrator known for his intricately layered, hand-cut paper collages. His work explores themes of control, psychological complexity, and the hidden architecture of the human body. Alex’s distinctive visuals have appeared across a wide spectrum of media, including comic books, album and book covers, music videos, t-shirts, and gig posters. He has collaborated with bands such as Afterbirth, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Imperial Triumphant, and his illustrations have been featured in acclaimed comics like Swan Songs, Awakening, Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, and the Eisner Award-winning Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream. 

In this week's episode, Alex and I talk about the influence that the city of Philadelphia has on his art. We also discuss Alex's experience in art school and the power of artist communities (as well as a few ideas on how to find or create one). He then revisits the moment where he first stumbled upon his layered collage style and forever changed the trajectory of his career. Aside from sharing a first name, the two of us also share a lot of the same taste in art. As a result, we spend some time nerding out about what Alex learned through studying legendary artists like Frank Frazetta and Dave McKean, as well as some thoughts on how A.I. is affecting newer illustrators. At one point, Alex even pries open his vault and shares the valuable websites where he sources his collage material.

Website: https://www.alexeckmanlawn.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexeckmanlawn/

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A single sentence at the start of a book can set the tone for everything that follows. In this week's episode, we dip our toes into the mysterious and powerful world of epigraphs — the quotes or passages that open some of our favorite stories. We explore the many purposes of epigraphs, from foreshadowing and framing to adding emotional or intellectual depth. We examine how they can elevate a work (and occasionally distract from it) and why some writers swear by them while others avoid them entirely. Whether you're a novelist, screenwriter, poet, or creative in any field, we end the episode with practical tips for using epigraphs to sharpen your storytelling and leave a lasting impression.

FOR EXCLUSIVE CREATIVITY TIPS, MUSINGS, AND EXERCISES, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALWAYS CHOOSE ORANGE NEWSLETTER: https://www.alwayschooseorange.com

Jon Guerra is a singer-songwriter based in Austin, Texas, renowned for his distinctive style of devotional music. Jon describes his work as "less Sunday morning worship music and more Monday morning prayer music." His critically acclaimed albums — including Keeper of Days (2020), Ordinary Ways (2023), and most recently, Jesus (2025) blend poetic lyricism with minimalist instrumentation. Beyond his solo work, Jon collaborates with his wife, Valerie in the musical duo Praytell, and has contributed to film scores, notably composing additional music for Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life (2019).

In this week's episode, Jon and I spend some time digging into his new album Jesus and the two-year journey to finish the project. We then talk about some practical ways to hone your musical instincts and Jon shares a powerful example of him not going with his first idea and allowing a song to evolve beyond his initial vision for it. We go on to discuss the importance of taking the time needed to make your best possible work rather than getting a project done just to get it done. If you're interested in songwriting and/or creating beauty that, in Jon's words, "puts people in contact with invisible things," there's a good chance, you'll enjoy this episode!

Website: https://www.jonguerramusic.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/iamjonguerra

Devotional Songwriting Masterclass: https://www.jonguerramasterclass.com/start

FOR EXCLUSIVE CREATIVITY TIPS, MUSINGS, AND EXERCISES, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALWAYS CHOOSE ORANGE NEWSLETTER: https://www.alwayschooseorange.com

Tara Sellios creates monumental photographs using real bones, insects, dried flowers, and natural light—assembled by hand and captured in a single shot on an 8×10 large-format camera.

In this episode of Always Choose Orange, Tara walks through her entire creative process: from early sketches and symbolic research to assembling upright sculptural scenes, working with articulators and entomologists, and photographing work that often takes weeks to complete. We also explore how her strict religious upbringing continues to inform her symbolism, why she thinks of her body of work as a single unfolding narrative, and what she hopes viewers feel when encountering her images in person.

Website: https://www.tarasellios.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarasellios/

Caroline Shaw is a musician who moves among roles, genres, and mediums, trying to imagine a world of sound that has never been heard before but has always existed. She often works in collaboration with others, as producer, composer, violinist, and vocalist. Shaw is the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Music, an honorary doctorate from Yale, five Grammys, and a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. She has written and produced for iconic artists and ensembles across the musical spectrum, including Rosalía, Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Tiler Peck, Kanye West, Nas, the LA Phil, the NY Phil, and others. Her recent TV/film/stage scoring projects include “Leonardo Da Vinci” (Ken Burns/PBS), “Fleishman is in Trouble” (FX/Hulu), and “The Sky Is Everywhere” (Josephine Decker/A24). Her favorite color is yellow, and her favorite smell is rosemary.

In this week’s episode, Caroline shares the background behind her Ringdown project (a collaboration with her partner Danni Lee) and talks about what it’s like for her to make music with someone she loves. Ringdown’s debut album Lady on the Bike comes out on May 9, 2025 and we talk about the heartwarming story that inspired the album name. From there, we dive into Caroline’s creative process and she outlines a fun exercise called “voice memo roulette”, describes how she builds her songs starting with the harmony first, and the two of us wax poetic on the benefits of Rhymezone.com for lyrical inspiration. To top it all off, we discuss the relationship between environment and creativity, the magic of old, janky instruments, and what Caroline listens for when she’s revising one of her works-in-progress.

Website: https://carolineshaw.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolineadelaideshaw/

FOR EXCLUSIVE CREATIVITY TIPS, MUSINGS, AND EXERCISES, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALWAYS CHOOSE ORANGE NEWSLETTER: https://www.alwayschooseorange.com

In the conclusion to our five-episode series on enjoyment, we examine the relationship between understanding and sharing. Using the coffee taster's flavor wheel, the Studio Binder YouTube channel, and Scott McCloud's books on comic-making, we look at the way developing a vocabulary helps us process and understand a sensory experience. And to wrap things up, we'll use a probably-apocryphal Albert Einstein quote to reiterate the importance of teaching others what we've learned.

FOR EXCLUSIVE CREATIVITY TIPS, MUSINGS, AND EXERCISES, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALWAYS CHOOSE ORANGE NEWSLETTER: https://www.alwayschooseorange.com

Getting lost is often thought of as a bad thing. However, when it comes to art, it can be a major contributor to our sense of enjoyment. This week's episode hones in on six access points to getting lost in something you love. From allowing your mind to freely associate to memorizing pieces of a poem, we'll examine some practical ways to look at art from a new angle.

FOR EXCLUSIVE CREATIVITY TIPS, MUSINGS, AND EXERCISES, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALWAYS CHOOSE ORANGE NEWSLETTER: https://www.alwayschooseorange.com

Resistance is futile! At least, it will be after this episode. In part three of our series on enjoyment, we look at four common ways we resist pieces of art and explore some tools we can use to invert that resistance. From identifying the different types of screaming in metal music to intentionally finding flaws in pieces of art, we explore curiosity and the power it has to help us enjoy things more.

FOR EXCLUSIVE CREATIVITY TIPS, MUSINGS, AND EXERCISES, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALWAYS CHOOSE ORANGE NEWSLETTER: https://www.alwayschooseorange.com

In part two of our series on enjoyment, we're looking at a quick and easy way to deepen your appreciation of a piece of art — moving your attention beyond the part you immediately focus on. From following along with the chord changes in "Penny Lane” to identifying the 23 flavors in Dr. Pepper, we'll examine some quick and easy ways you can hone this skill.

FOR EXCLUSIVE CREATIVITY TIPS, MUSINGS, AND EXERCISES, SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALWAYS CHOOSE ORANGE NEWSLETTER: https://www.alwayschooseorange.com