Art Creativity & Wellbeing

John Briggs is a CPA and entrepreneur, who's built beautiful things by taking breaks.

John’s formative years were split, first in California in a big city environment where he felt like safety was being invisible, becoming invisible. Then he moved to Missouri, to a city of 2000 and a graduating class in his high school of 70.

There were lessons in both of those places, and a big one was about trusting himself.

John also shares his moment of realizing that the hustle culture he had mindlessly subscribed to was materially damaging his relationship with his wife and children. His wife cut through a lot of noise when she said, one night when he arrived home at 2 AM from work, "I am a single parent."

So, John began taking steps to bring his professional life more in line with his desires to show up best for his family, and ultimately himself. John shares that the "secret agenda" with this book is to help people show up for themselves better, and have a fulfilling life.

I loved both this conversation and John’s book, and I hope you do too.

Connect With John

Website, takebreaksworkbetter.comSubstack, https://therealjohnbriggs.substack.com

Upcoming Events with Kay

It would be amazing to see some friends and neighbors at my upcoming solo exhibition at the Unity Public Library in Unity, Maine!

Click here to visit the library’s website for more information on the exhibition (they’ll share as we get closer to October.) Opening reception is Thursday, Oct. 8, 5:30-7PM, and the exhibition will be on view during the library’s opening hours.

Join experienced, neurodivergent coaches Sarah-Jayne Juniper and I on Saturday, 24 October, 9-11 AM EST (New York USA)/2-4 PM GMT (London UK), online via Zoom, for something special:

Our Brains and Us is a 2-hour neuro-affirming roundtable designed to help understand the brain’s unique wiring, reduce self-blame, and reconnect with self-compassion and agency.

Click here to learn more and register… FAQ’s include the question “what’s a roundtable?”

Participation is limited to 20 people; participants choose how much they'll pay to attend. Do sign up if it sounds interesting! We look forward to meeting you there.

Sending you lots of love, from sunny, breezy, increasingly autumn-feeling Maine today!

Love, Kay

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Today we explore the difference between feeling that something is happening TO us, or feeling that something is happening FOR us.

I am glad to be back! Thanks for all the support and love as I have been regaining my spirits and energy, and thanks also for spending this time with me today.

If you’d like to play along with the Days of Creation 2026 game, here is the post with the Game book and rules. It’s free with no strings attached, so please check it out if you would like to play along.

Click here for more information about Courage & Joy, my solo pastel retrospective exhibition taking place in Unity, Maine, in October and November. Exciting!!

Click here for more information about Our Brains and Us, the roundtable workshop I am cohosting with my dear friend and fellow coach Sarah-Jayne Juniper.

If you're curious what a roundtable workshop is, here's how I see it. It's a gathering of people interested in the topic at hand, and being in community together. Our roundtable is a facilitated, safe space. It's neuro- affirming and the opportunity to be with like-minded souls.

We'll talk about our brain's unique wiring, and how our brains can help us create the future we would like to have.

Participation is limited to 20 people; participants choose how much they'll pay to attend. Do sign up if it sounds interesting! We look forward to meeting you there.

Lots of love coming your way from breezy, sunny Maine today <3

Kay

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

I meant this to go up a couple days ago, but the universe had other plans.

It gives me the chance to say, how much I am appreciating my own body, especially when I give it the opportunity to really rest.

This last week there’s been lots of movement, creation of art for art’s sake, baths, giving myself lots of love and grace, and sleep. So much sleep. I’ve not slept this hard since I was doing my cross England hike in 2023.

I’m taking the rest of August, and probably part of September as well, to keep resting and healing.

In the meantime, (as this video shares) scans show nothing of concern! I feel so fortunate to be alive here and now.

Thank you all for your love and support. It means the world.

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you so much for all the love and care you have been sending my way after I shared of the discovery of a lump in my breast. I'll see the doctor soon, and I'll have more to share with you after that.

Between that and some quite a few other health concerns, I have realized that I've not been giving myself the rest that is a vital part of my own self-care.

So I am taking August off, and I'll see you in September!

I hope the coming month is wonderful for you, filled with rest and enjoyment and a positive outlook on the future.If you'd like to play along with the Days of Creation 2026 game, here is the post with the Game book and rules. It's free with no strings attached, so please check it out if you would like to play along.Lots of love coming your way from sunny Maine today <3

Kay

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

What a great conversation I get to bring you today. Connect with Laurie in the Subtack app, at her website, and you can find her beautiful book, Flow Habit, here.I have received lots of messages of support after sharing about the lump I discovered in my breast… It's helping. Thank you so much. I'll let you know, when I know something.I shared last week that getting outside has been really helpful.

In the spirit of this conversation – recorded weeks ago – taking steps to be in the flow state has really helped too.I've been noticing how I feel before entering a flow state, and then how I feel during and after. Even if I've only been in this state for a few minutes, I feel more centered, more open to good possibilities, and simply in more of a neutral mindset, rather than a negative one.So it is with gratitude that I share this episode today.

Laurie rocks, and so do you, dear listener. And onward we go. <3 Kay

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Yup. Getting outside has meant like EVERYTHING to me as I sit with the potential outcomes, as well as navigate the healthcare system to receive the care that will help.

It’s funny how there are no coincidences – I am offering a workshop this coming Monday, in zoom, 6 PM Eastern time on 27 July – called “Let’s Go Outside.”

If you, like me, can use a little outside time, plus being in shared company and playing together, I’d love to see you there.

Here's the registration link.

If you're a Dreamers & Doers member, there's some savings for you to join the workshop; the link is in our community.

And here's the events page so y’all can see what events are coming up.

Thank you for being present with me right now.

It truly means more than I can say.

<3 <3 <3

Kay

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Today I’m speaking with Kristy Halvorsen, an explorer of life, a coddiwompler, and author of Perfect Unfolding.

Where is Kristy right now?

Kristy is living inside ‘Coddi’, her Airstream parked near Bradford, New Hampshire; her summer home.

Coddi comes from coddiwomple, a word that ‘found her’, which means to travel with no destination in mind. Over time she has redefined it as travelling purposely toward unknown destinations, being open to limitless possibilities, and unpredicting the future. Coddi is no longer about the travel, but about living in a space of complete openness.

How did Kristy get here?

Before the seven‑year journey detailed in her book, Kristy was already an explorer. Her dream was to retire from the fire department and travel full‑time in an RV, but after chemical exposure at work, a long recovery, and an ACL injury, she realised she didn’t want to wait for retirement and, in her mid‑30s, she decided to leave the fire department.

The first 12–18 months were hard and lonely. She didn’t yet know what she liked, but knew what she didn’t like, and the ‘tickles of her soul’ told her to keep rolling and see what happens. She left concrete jungles for forests, went off‑grid, and hired a coach, Michael, who helped her broaden her horizons. Slowly she began to fall in love with the life she was creating.

In early 2019 she had her ‘pooof’ moment … a profound shift in how she saw life. Since then, she has never once wished for an apartment or a different life.

Support Kristy has received

Kristy references a line in her book which goes something like ‘everyone I’ve ever met and ever will meet alters the hem and fit of my soul’. She believes the openness and curiosity of every person she meets create the conditions for meaningful connection. Many people have changed her life and she knows she has changed others – sometimes without names ever being exchanged.

We discuss how fear, intuition and role modelling shape our choices. I love where this portion of our conversation took us, highlighting how deeply mutual and subtle the influence of our role models can be.

Roles, expectations and fears

People often ask how she is not afraid. Kristy says there is no real answer, she simply isn’t. Fear only appears when she forgets who she truly is. Even physical danger doesn’t shake her sense that life, and even death, is okay.

She believes imagination is a gift – and using it to imagine worst‑case scenarios is a misuse of that gift. She sees intuition as something we’re all born with but taught to ignore. Children live this naturally; adults can return to it.

What’s coming up?

Kristy believes that ‘it’, whatever people long for, might not require changing their life at all. It might simply be seeing the same life through a different lens.

People often fear that following those soul-tickles will lead to chaos, but Kristy has found the opposite. Intuition takes the whole universe into account. She has met many ‘home‑free’ people who understand her way of living deeply.

She wishes she’d had had a role model like this when she was young. Adults who follow their soul’s nudges become powerful role models for their children. If fear is the only thing in the way, imagine what becomes possible when it softens.

Thanks for joining us!

Nuts and Bolts

* Come and play! I share fun ways to do that on my website events page, https://www.kaylockkolp.com/events/

* Speaking of fun ways to play, here is July’s workshop signup link, called Let’s Go Outside – Channeling What Your Soul Most Wants to Create. You can find out more about it here.

* For just about a year now I’ve been leading an online community for leaders who are learning to give ourselves the same love and care that we are so accustomed to giving to others. We’d love to have you join us, if that resonates: https://www.skool.com/dreamers-and-doers-8465/about

Cheers and lots of love from me <3

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Today we discuss mechanisms for choosing our mindset, especially during challenging times.

In this episode I introduce a question that’s been really helpful for me: “What would help me return to center after witnessing all of this?”

This question helps me recognize when I’m trying to control circumstances beyond what I can actually control, and bring my focus instead to centering practices, like drawing, breathing, or enjoying small pleasures.

We discuss identity, too. My example is of overcoming a 30-year identity issue related to being told I wasn’t an artist, and leading to something exciting! My upcoming solo art exhibition in October.

Let’s remember that we get to choose… And part of that is about not letting others’ opinions change our sense of self.

Nuts and Bolts

* Read about – and play along at – the Days of Creation 2026 game (that this episode is about) by clicking here.

* Here is my conversation from a few weeks ago with pleasure activist and violist Meena Bhasin.

* Here is July’s workshop signup link, called Let's Go Outside – Channeling What Your Soul Most Wants to Create. You can find out more about it here.

* For just about a year now I've been leading an online community for leaders who are learning to give ourselves the same love and care that we are so accustomed to giving to others. We'd love to have you join us, if that resonates: https://www.skool.com/dreamers-and-doers-8465/about

Cheers and lots of love from me <3

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

Today I am here with Kathryn Nicolai, creator of the wonderful sleep podcast Nothing Much Happens, the amazing mindfulness podcast First This, and the lively and delightful podcast Stories from the Village of Nothing Much. Kathryn'new book, On the Street Where You Live, comes out next month, in July 2026. Here is her Instagram, a great place to see what’s going on with Kathryn and her creations!

Kathryn is intentionally cultivating joy. She began drawing earlier this year, despite having aphantasia (lack of visual imagery – no sound, colours, shapes or forms) and is loving the playful creativity. She’s taking online courses and filling her walls with new designs.

In our conversation today, Kathryn reflects on letting go of perfectionism and claiming the identity of ‘writer’ simply because she chooses to.

How she got here

Kathryn once believed she wasn’t creative, surrounded by artistic friends and family. Over time she learned creativity is a practice. She’s now 400+ episodes into Nothing Much Happens, on her second book and running three podcasts.

Growing up in Flint, Michigan, she told herself bedtime stories from the age of four. After 20 years teaching yoga/meditation, storytelling was a more accessible way to help people rest and regulate.

Kathryn has known sound designer Bob Wittersheim for some time and when she started working with him on Nothing Much Happens, he worked for free. Kathryn describes his compassionate and protective energy and credits him with grounding her.

Characters and perspectives

Kathryn realised early on that all her stories lived in the same universe. Writing in first person helps listeners to ‘pull the story around them’ and she includes a broad range of representative characters. Her upcoming book expands this catalogue of characters. She is now experimenting with a more eagle‑eyed view of the village while keeping her intuitive, centered style. She wants to stay inspired and genuine.

Inclusivity

As a queer woman, Kathryn values creating spaces where everyone feels safe. We discuss the joy of stories where characters live freely and fully.

Anorexia and Orthorexia

Kathryn speaks openly about her eating disorders, now seven years into recovery. She reflects on the years lost and the creativity gained since healing; she wants to model recovery.

Recovery and identity

Here is a lovely moment in our conversation – I share how First This supported me during a period of reclaiming my name and intuition. Kathryn emphasises that creators often help people they’ll never meet. She quotes the Regina Spektor song ‘Better’, with the line ‘If you never say your name out loud to anyone they can never ever call you by it’.

Kathryn describes bodily awareness, connection, her dog beside her, and the joy of this conversation as what feels present for her in this moment.

I’m filled with gratitude, to have had this conversation and to be able to bring it to you.

Invitations to Play with Kay

* I’m offering online workshops throughout 2026, and an in-person retreat here in Maine in September - see more at https://kaylockkolp.com/events

* If community is something you value, consider joining Dreamers & Doers. Here is where you can check it out: https://www.skool.com/dreamers-and-doers-8465/about

* Connect with me to talk about coaching or facilitation

* Or, apply to work 1-1 with me (currently waitlisted)

Cheers and lots of love to you today!

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe

A reflective one today. I am getting to be a facilitator at the Rebels for Peace Summer Internship Program, and in this episode I give you a little bit of what I'll be bringing to them.

Questions for reflection:

1. What do I like, what do I enjoy doing?

2. What's an example of a time that I showed courage, even just a tiny amount?

3. How is this thing that sucks, a gift?

I'd love to hear – drop me a line at my contact page! You'll see a message there that says: “There are no strangers. Only friends not yet met.”

Invitations to Play with Kay

* I’m offering online workshops throughout 2026, and an in-person retreat here in Maine in September - see more at https://kaylockkolp.com/events

* come join a lovely community! It's called Dreamers & Doers. Here is where you can check it out: https://www.skool.com/dreamers-and-doers-8465/about

* Connect with me to talk about coaching or facilitation

* Or, apply to work 1-1 with me (currently waitlisted)

Cheers and much love, Kay

Art Creativity & Wellbeing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kaylockkolp.substack.com/subscribe