Big Juicy Creative

Suzy shares 7 things she's been doing to nurture her creativity. These shorter, solo, fortnightly episodes, interspersed between interview episodes, will motivate you to get creative too. They're often inspired by recent interviewees on the podcast and are often quick and easy to fit into a busy life. She's calling them 'Random Acts of Living' because they make you feel alive.

Practical tips in this episode range from understanding the 'resting bitch face' phenomenon to talking to yourself to ditching Instagrammable forced fun.

References:

To get hold of the free resources mentioned from Project Me, go to Kelly Pietrangeli's website: https://myprojectme.com

To find out more about the 'Talk it out' technique, see Chris Barez-Brown's website here: https://www.uppingyourelvis.com/talk-it-out

To find out more about Shine4Women, see here: https://www.shine4women.com

For more on the co-working space mentioned, see here: https://www.workspacehighland.co.uk

Kelly Pietrangeli is founder of ProjectMe for busy mothers and helps women all over the world find their focus and fun. She's worked as a graphic designer (designed record covers for Beyonce, no less!) written a book, does talks and recently launched the ProjectMe podcast too.

In this wide-ranging conversation, she talks about how she's used creativity to let go of perfectionism and conditioning and, instead, followed her curiosity and pushed herself out of her comfort zone to grow... and how this has all made her life much bigger and juicier, both at work and home.

Journalling, as she explains, is one of her favourite outlets and Kelly gives us tips on how to use it to build confidence and clarity, as well as many other tips, tricks & life hacks.

References:

Visit Kelly's website https://myprojectme.com which is full of free resources to up your energy and productivity. Like the 'Life Wheel' which helps you get out of autopilot (where creativity is stifled)

Check out her podcast on Apple (and other platforms): ProjectMe Podcast with Kelly Pietrangeli

Follow Kelly on social media

Facebook: Kelly Pietrangeli

Instagram: @kellyprojectme

In this shorter solo podcast episode, Suzy shares the 7 top things she's been doing to nurture her creativity.

These fortnightly episodes, interspersed between interview episodes, are intended to motivate you to get creative too, inspired by her recent podcast interviewees. She's calling them 'Random Acts of Living' because they make you feel alive.

They range from foraging for your dinner and relying on your natural resources to ditching pesky 'FOMOOK' to avoiding baby killers.

In addition to giving loads of practical tips, this episode explains why it's so important that ideas are acted upon.

So, go on, get out that wonky crochet or clay castle for your daughter, and nurture that creative soul of yours (or even that tricky maths equation because, you know, creativity is about way more than poetry or painting).

References:

Launch episodes with artist Ann Vastano, farmer Lynn Cassells and performer Jennifer Blaine are available if you search previous episodes

Photos of Random Acts of Living (RALs) will be displayed on Instagram and Facebook, both with handle @bigjuicycreativeliving. Also some on LinkedIn @suzybashford

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Women who Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Jennifer Blaine is an actor, comedian, playwright and coach who has worked with comedy greats like Chris Rock, as well as actors like Glenda Jackson, Laura Linney and Paul Newman.

She's best known for her hilarious one-woman, multi-character shows which delve into serious issues, from bullying to brain surgery, with humour. Yes humour. However, at its core her creativity is not about others; it's primarily about that all-important connection with herself first.

From nurturing this deep connection, and making time to reflect and know what's in her mind, she generates the positive energy to go out into the world and communicate her message with confidence, commitment and self-belief; whether that's performing a one-woman show or parenting her daughter. Her argument that people that nurture their creativity feel more alive and un-zombie-like is perfectly demonstrated by how funny, heartfelt, characterful and connected she is.

(She has some interesting ideas on how to reform the education system, too, which I might just tweet the UK education secretary about… Stayed tuned to my shorter solo podcast for more on this).

Creativity, for her, is enlivening and allows her to process her emotions so she has a richer experience of life. As she says, it's energising and this energy is contagious. This leads to a conversation about how, if we all tapped our creative energy, we could change the world for the better, and quickly. At this time in human history, it's important that as many of us as possible are 'alive', so we can engage creatively with the world's many problems.

If you want to catch her contagious creative spirit, give this episode a listen.

You can find Jennifer:

Facebook: Jennifer Blaine

or www.jenniferblaine.com

References:

'The Power of Creativity – 30 sparks to inspire & nurture your creative essence', a book by Jennifer Blaine

'The Artist's Way', a book outlining a 12 week course to unblock creativity, by Julia Cameron

'The Little Girl Who Gave Zero Fucks', a book by Amy Kean

'The Vicissitudes of Travel', Jennifer's one woman multi-character show inspired by her brother's brain surgery

Sir Ken Robinson's Ted Talk – the most watched Ted talk of all time – called 'Do schools kill creativity?'

Jennifer's coaching business can be found at blainecoaching.com

Details of her performances can be found on social media

Lynn and her wife, an archaeologist and librarian by background, had never done any farming before but decided to buy 150 acres and give it a bash. This transition required oodles of creative thinking skills but, as you'll hear, their lack of knowledge has actually been a big bonus.

Rather than following rigid traditions, they followed their instincts to farm in tune with nature, not against it. They, and the farm, are thriving as a result. They've also been awarded various accolades for innovation, too.

For Lynn, creativity comes from deep within – rather than a text book or looking to an external expert. And her creativity is nurtured and constantly inspired by the awesome natural environment in which she lives and works. Nature also brings her life and thoughts back to basics, into the present, reducing stress and serving as an antidote to the fast culture of the modern world.

But, amazingly, Lynn doesn't see herself as creative, although she does by the end of our conversation! She, like so many people, thought (before this podcast!) of creativity as 'arty' pursuits from painting to poetry. She cemented my mission to bring you many more tales, like hers, of creativity from beyond the 'creative' department!

Lynn is truly an awesome, modest and fun character and if you want to be inspired to roll up your sleeves and embrace your creativity, then give this podcast a listen.

Where you can find Lynn Cassells from Lynbreck Croft:

www.lynbreckcroft.co.uk

Facebook: @lynbreckcroft

Instagram: @lynbreck_croft

Youtube: Tea at Lynbreck video series and vlogs

Ann is an artist, café gallery owner, fellow mum of boys and wife, and, lucky for me, my neighbour in the Scottish Highlands.

She describes an idyllic, simple, uplifting childhood, spent mostly outside, and how this developed her creative thinking from an early age.

From her, you'll hear how to nurture creativity so it becomes a lifelong friend, there to celebrate the good times and help you through the tough times.

You'll learn about the importance of nature in her creative practice, as well as the importance of not dismissing ideas as silly without experimenting with them. (I love her story about how a 'silly' thought while ironing led to Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon commissioning her!).

She is full of inspiring ideas for how you can easily infuse creativity into your life without needing to take any time out of it. As she demonstrates, a creative approach to living creates a rich, vibrant, grateful headspace which allows her to connect better with herself, others and her natural environment.

As an added bonus, her gentle Scottish accent is mesmerising and relaxing to listen to!

Where you can find Ann:

On Instagram: @annvastano.art or @kincraigartcafe

On Facebook: Ann Vastano Artist, @kincraigartcafe

The painting that initially got Ann noticed by first minister Nicola Sturgeon, which hung in the Scottish Parliament was 'Storms Made Us Stronger'.

You may have listened to the 'official spiel' about this podcast but this is where you hear the real, warts-and-all version from behind the scenes, with all the gory details.

You see, just a few years ago, suffering from severe postnatal depression and being hospitalised, I felt my life wasn't worth living. Embracing my creativity again showed me that it was.

This episode tells the story of what these experiences have taught me about creativity, its power and value, and how I've set up the podcast so I never forget again.

For more info:

www.bigjuicycreative.co.uk

IG: @bigjuicycreativeliving

FB: @bigjuicycreative

LI: Suzy Bashford

Welcome to the Big Juicy Creative Podcast, the show which nurtures your busy creative soul, so you thrive personally and professionally.

In this episode you'll meet your host, freelance journalist Suzy Bashford, and learn about her mission to encourage you to give yourself permission to nurture your innate creativity, so it's as routine as brushing your teeth.

It will explain how, and why, I'm doing this through this podcast and in what format.

For more info:

www.bigjuicycreative.co.uk

IG: @bigjuicycreativeliving

FB: @bigjuicycreative

LI: Suzy Bashford