Big Juicy Creative

This episode is dedicated to the death of my beloved Bramble dog.

My wee furry friend has taught me a lot about living big, juicy and creative through her fearless life, and death.

I've learnt so much from her 15 years with me and her heart-wrenching recent death at home, while surrounded by the rest of her pack. That's what this episode is all about - good grief - and how to creatively reframe loss, so you recognise the gains too, even amidst the pain.

At 43, I'm privileged that this is in my first real experience of losing someone I loved deeply. And everyone who told me about brief before was right; it hurts.

But I'm so glad that I got to interview the awe-inspiring make-up artist KSAVI before my dog's death, on the podcast in episode 32 - she has given me an amazing role model through her story of growing through the grief of losing her baby son. She also gave me some tools, which I use in this episode, to help me through the pain.

To follow Big Juicy Creative for loads of inspiration on living creatively, see:

Instagram: @bigjuicycreativeliving

Facebook @bigjuicycreativeliving

LinkedIn: @suzybashford

contact Suzy: [email protected]

And remember, you can still get your free wintspiration fridge poster (family friendly and grown-up versions available!) visit: www.bigjuicycreative.co.uk

Today's guest is Keith Cummings – plumber by day, skateboard maker and artist by night. Far from suffering the angst of 'not good enough', he is very content in his creativity which he puts down to not putting pressure on it; he extols the virtues of having a job which you can do while your creative ideas are brewing in the background.

He explains why this combination is so powerful for our mental health and how having a creative outlet has also really helped his wife, who is a nurse on the frontline. His creative attitude to life - his adventurousness, openness, gratitude, risk taking, living in the moment - leads to an air of contentment that you can almost feel him exude (even over Zoom).

At 60, he embraces life with the same spirit of adventure and willingness to put himself out of his comfort zone that he always had. He'll inspire you to grow older adventurously and mindfully, complete with tips for first time skateboarders (for those of us whose children keep asking them to try!).

You can find him on Instagram at:

@capetownskates

And you can find his wife's artwork on Instagram at:

@artbyangie_cummings

To follow Big Juicy Creative for loads of inspiration on living creatively, see:

Instagram: @bigjuicycreativeliving

Facebook @bigjuicycreativeliving

LinkedIn: @suzybashford

contact Suzy: [email protected]

And remember, you can still get your free wintspiration fridge poster (family friendly and grown-up versions available!) visit: www.bigjuicycreative.co.uk

Today's episode is dedicated to those feeling the lockdown struggle and experiencing the inevitable, understandable brain fog. You are not alone! It's packed with tips (well, 10 main ones, actually) as well as some humour and keep-it-real honesty about what's going on behind closed Covid doors in Big Juicy Creative HQ... Spoiler alert: life isn't all shiny, happy or big and juicy all the time! This honesty will make you feel better and, ultimately, more inspired. You won't find any forced fun or declarations that you 'should' be more positive here, just useful, practical, tried-and-tested tips. The episode rounds off with a very apt poem commissioned by the Scottish Government by Cat Hepburn on managing emotions during coronavirus #ClearYourHead. References: In relation to awarding Big Juicy Creative 'Best Lockdown Podcast' @lynsayannegould #pfbawards2021 Cat Hepburn's poem Rupert Brooke's poetry (excuse the mistake in calling him Brookes! Blaming temporary amnesia caused by brain fog...)

Today's guest, award-winning journalist Eleanor Ross has spent a lot of time not feeling good enough. It's taken her (and many others, yours truly included) to some very dark places.

She writes about all this with brutal honesty in her new book 'Good Enough; the myth of success and how to celebrate the joy in average'.

Eleanor wonders how many of us are just tolerating the lows to reach the fleeting highs, and are actually missing all the big, juicy, creative stuff along the way.

This wide-ranging, sometimes humourous, sometimes serious conversation covers why so many of us feel like this and how to deal with it more constructively on an individual and societal level.

She also explains how she now nurtures her creativity in a much more joyful, juicy way than she did before when on the capitalist treadmill.

Eleanor's puppy Mabel also has a few barks to contribute on the matter (we are in lockdown, after all).

Tune in if you want to be inspired to stop beating yourself up, by listening to this ballsy lady who is on a mission to start a revolution.

Warning: you may also be inspired to stare at your neighbours alot more after listening, too

References:

Find out more about Eleanor's book, published by Hodder, here.

Find Eleanor on Twitter here (her usual haunt) and Instagram here.

To follow Big Juicy Creative for loads of inspiration on living creatively, see:

Instagram: @bigjuicycreativeliving

Facebook @bigjuicycreativeliving

LinkedIn: @suzybashford

contact Suzy: [email protected]

And remember, you can still get your free wintspiration fridge poster (family friendly and grown-up versions available!) visit: www.bigjuicycreative.co.uk

This solo episode of the Big Juicy Creative podcast is the second part of summing up the main AHA moments Suzy has had from her brilliant interviewees so far.

You'll find the first part in episode 31 – covering learnings from farmer Lynn Cassells, artist Ann Vastano, composer Ella Jarman-Pinto, performer Jennifer Blaine and entrepreneur Kelly Pietrangeli.

In this episode, Suzy pulls out the main gems extracted when talking to chef Kirsten Gilmour, coach Lucy Sheridan, clown Holly Stoppit and actress Claire Merrick.

As usual, she shares what she's been doing to nurture her creativity at this difficult time, ending with a 5 minute creative exercise that makes her feel better about her horrible homeschool day.

References:

Episode with chef KJ is 22

Episode with coach Lucy Sheridan is 8

Episode with clown Holly Stoppit is 30

Episode with actress Claire Merrick is 26

Episode with doctor Tash Pirie Burley is 13

Go check them out! And please do share with anyone who would benefit from a creative boost right now. Thank you!

If you're looking for someone who will inspire you to get through a difficult time and come out the other end thriving (particularly pertinent if you're in the UK and just gone back into lockdown) then today's guest – the make-up artist KSAVI - is that someone.

She has overcome huge loss and sadness in her life yet – without falling into fake forced jolliness – has managed to see her experiences as routes to growth, rather than defining her.

Creativity, first through make-up which started as a hobby, has been absolutely fundamental to this process. Not only that, once she opened the floodgates to her creativity, it started spilling out into many areas of her life: other creative outlets, her confidence, her determination to make a positive dent on the world and not care what others thought of her….

KSAVI genuinely believes her life is bigger, juicier, more creative and richer as a result of how she has come through the most difficult experiences of her life.

*Please note, this episode contains sensitive content about KSAVI losing her second son at 8 months old.

References:

More on KSAVI: www.ksavi.co.uk

KSAVI's panel on 'Inner Beauty' on her Instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CDavE0Bh7Me/?igshid=1r7pvqn2iuczr

Click here for the short film that KSAVI talks about -where she is sat next to a stranger she doesn't know and finds common ground – made by company In Diverse Company

Hashtags she uses on Instagram she mentions: #over40andfabulous #over40fashion #over40style

So the Big Juicy Creative podcast can reach and inspire as many people as possible, please share with your friends and follow on social media!

To follow Big Juicy Creative for loads of inspiration on living creatively, see:

Instagram: @bigjuicycreativeliving

Facebook @bigjuicycreativeliving

LinkedIn: @suzybashford

contact Suzy: [email protected]

And remember, you can still get your free wintspiration fridge poster (family friendly and grown-up versions available!) visit: www.bigjuicycreative.co.uk

In this shorter episode, Suzy shares 5 of the most important things she's learnt since starting the Big Juicy Creative podcast since launch in September.

She draws on quotes and conversation highlights with her interviewees.

As well as this there's also a section on things to do to nurture your creativity quickly and easily now, especially if you are also recovering from over-indulging during the festive period...

The perfect pod to get you geared up for a New Year!

Right now (in the UK, anyway) it feels like we're living in a Grinch-like tale called 'The Year That Cancelled Christmas'... which is why I'm so excited to bring you today's guest, clown, drama therapist and theatre director Holly Stoppit.

She offers up such hope, and joy, about how we can find a lightness amid adversity, by tuning into our inner clown (we all have one, she says).

Listen to this and you'll be inspired to approach this Christmas (and life, in general) with your inner clown in tow, with curiosity and questions rather than answers.

You'll discover the transformative power in looking things differently when they go tits up (which they inevitably will, in my house anyway).

Clowns, she says, are experts in 'teetering on the verge of flop with joy'; they want, expect and embrace when things go wrong because that is the moment when they really connect with their audience. If we channel our inner clown that is also the moment we can really connect with our loved ones, in our bubbles, this Christmas.

Wishing you a big, juicy, creative, flop-filled Christmas!

If you enjoy this podcast – please pass it on – share it with anyone who could do with this boost this Christmas as it's just me that does everything to do with this podcast, so you are my marketing team! And I'm so grateful for all the listens, comments, reviews and love. Thank you so much for listening in my launch year.

References:

Holly Stoppit's Ted Talk: how clowning can lead to connection

Holly on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hollystoppitworkshops The clown workouts mentioned are all hosted in The Online Clown Academy group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/219905246053173 Most of the clown workouts are also on Holly's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5XSIHqCexi_iwSs5XqwNXQ/playlists For more on Holly, see: https://www.hollystoppit.com

So the Big Juicy Creative podcast can reach and inspire as many people as possible, please share with your friends and follow on social media!

To follow Big Juicy Creative for loads of inspiration on living creatively, see:

Instagram: @bigjuicycreativeliving

Facebook @bigjuicycreativeliving

LinkedIn: @suzybashford

contact Suzy: [email protected]

And remember, you can still get your free wintspiration fridge poster (family friendly and grown-up versions available!) visit: www.bigjuicycreative.co.uk

Knowing yourself, say some, is the key to many things in life, including creativity. So in this solo episode, Suzy shares her top 5 tips for getting to know yourself better; the good, the bad and the very ugly (and, in the hope it might make you feel better about yours, she shares some of her particularly warty bits).

This episode is inspired by Suzy's experiences this week hosting a Zoom Christmas party playing different characters representing different parts of her personality: Chardonnay the WAG, WorryMamma & 50 Pence.

So the Big Juicy Creative podcast can reach and inspire as many people as possible, please share with your friends and follow on social media! Is there someone you know who would really benefit from today's episode?

To follow Big Juicy Creative for loads of inspiration on living creatively, see:

Instagram: @bigjuicycreativeliving

Facebook @bigjuicycreativeliving

LinkedIn: @suzybashford

contact Suzy: [email protected]

And remember, you can still get your free wintspiration fridge poster (family friendly and grown-up versions available!) visit: www.bigjuicycreative.co.uk

References:

Kacy Musgraves – Cup of Tea

Alain de Botton - philosopher, author and founder of the brilliant School of Life

The Gift by Dr Edith Eger

Critically-acclaimed composer Ella Jarman-Pinto is a fiery, feisty, funny force of nature who, in this chat, doesn't pull any punches.

She talks candidly about growing up feeling very different as a mixed race, super creative little girl being raised by a fiercely feminist and supportive single mum... but how she then had to rein herself in to 'fit in', when she got out into the 'outside' world, experiencing ups and downs in her relationship with creativity.

But it was creativity that returned her to joy in life after the trauma of losing a child, and continues to fuel her today.

Ultimately, this is an uplifting life tale of the triumph of creativity and connection, and how both help us find our place of belonging, while revelling in our differences, in the world.

References:

Ella writes for TV and Films, including an award-winning short film, 'AstraZeneca - The Attack', (Havas Lynx, Maker Projects). You can find out more about her at www.ellajarman-pinto.co.uk or you can email her at [email protected]

You can find her on Facebook and LinkedIn

Her podcast is called Beyond the Chameleon and is conversations on belonging in the creative industries

She mentions Kerri Smith's brilliant Wreck This Journal

So the Big Juicy Creative podcast can reach and inspire as many people as possible, please share with your friends and follow on social media!

To follow Big Juicy Creative for loads of inspiration on living creatively, see:

Instagram: @bigjuicycreativeliving

Facebook @bigjuicycreativeliving

LinkedIn: @suzybashford

contact Suzy: [email protected]

And remember, you can still get your free wintspiration fridge poster (family friendly and grown-up versions available!) visit: www.bigjuicycreative.co.uk