Dawn's calling in from Barcelona, where she's living the slow travel dream with her young daughter through a nearly free apartment swap. They're doing neighborhood life, playgrounds, homeschooling, and Dawn's managing remote work across a six-hour time difference.

Dawn shares Barcelona gems: the 1992 Olympics legacy, imported Egyptian sand for the beaches, Gaudí's unfinished World Heritage basilica that's still under construction, intense regional pride and dialect, a youth soccer system that puts American sports parents to shame, and Mount Tibidabo's real-life connection to Friends (yes, really).

But then Ruth shares something vulnerable: a six-to-eight-week relationship that ended abruptly after her birthday. During that season, she created almost nothing. Then afterward? She wrote prolifically, turning that experience into something beautiful.

This becomes the heart of their conversation: seasonality in creativity. Sometimes you're in Barcelona discovering joy in slow mornings and new neighborhoods. Sometimes you're processing heartbreak and can barely write a grocery list. Both seasons matter. Both serve the creative process.

They talk about making room for joy, trusting that creativity will return when it's ready, and how Ruth's essay-based book project with Paul keeps evolving.

LINKS: We'd love to have you becoming a patron! Support this podcast and stories of creativity: patreon.com/u11072417

00:00 Soap Opera Opener

00:09 Apartment Swap Spain

01:25 Slow Travel Life

03:05 Homeschooling Abroad

03:44 Remote Work Time Zones

04:28 Barcelona Fun Facts

06:54 Spain Reflections

08:09 Birthday Date Twist

11:49 Joy and Seasonality

13:41 Book Project Update

17:10 Summer Creativity Plans

21:25 Wrap Up Make Room

(The audio ended abruptly on this episode but we are posting what we have - please check out Brian's music - he is amazing!!)Dawn and Ruth open the Created Creative podcast by celebrating Ruth’s birthday, discussing Memorial Day and a graveside service involving ashes finally buried after 12 years, then Dawn shares attending a live meeting about a world-schooling organization offering furnished apartments, Finnish-system schooling, and community in multiple countries on three-month cycles. They introduce an interview with Brian, a singer-songwriter, author, and chaplain in Fort Wayne, Indiana, whom they know from Youth Encounter. Brian describes starting songwriting in college, releasing CDs, then taking a 20-year break due to life demands and discouragement, before returning during COVID after mentoring a young songwriter and joining an online workshop. He built a practice of writing and publicly posting a completed song every Monday, producing 59 songs in a year, refining his lyric-focused storytelling voice; one song, “Threadbare,” was published in American Songwriter. He now prioritizes relational engagement over chasing streams while preparing an EP.

Join Created Creative Podcast's Patreon: patreon.com/u11072417

Learn more about Brian Spahr's music: https://brianspahrmusic.com/home

Here is the link to the crowdfunding page https://threadbarecreative.com/welcome-to-struggleville-junction

And here is the playlist of "Threadbare Songs"

https://untitled.stream/library/project/zL0z4lXtFXsrf03Aguv3P

00:00 Songwriting Rhythm Breakthrough

00:21 Birthday Banter and Holidays

00:50 Memorial Day and Veterans

01:17 Twelve Year Ashes Story

03:01 Spain Update and Worldschooling Pitch

04:12 Choosing Countries and Timing

05:56 Closed System Schooling Explained

06:46 Introducing Brian Interview

07:13 Brian in Fort Wayne

07:42 Wildwood Studio in Brooklyn

08:29 Pastor to Chaplain Career Path

09:06 Youth Encounter Team Days

09:52 Catching Up With Tammy

10:21 Songwriting Origins

11:09 Music Industry Shifts

12:00 Why He Stopped Writing

13:02 COVID Spark Returns

14:55 Monday Song Challenge

16:54 Finding His Voice

19:51 Validation Versus Streams

21:28 Relational Music Making

22:53 Making Time To Create

23:50 Advice For The Hiatus

24:48 Closing Thanks And Links

Dawn and Ruth are shifting Created Creative to every other week episodes. Why? Running a top 5% podcast (yes, our humble little podcast is in the top 5% in the world) comes with an admin and editing load that’s getting heavy, and they need help.

They're asking listeners to join their Patreon to help hire support and keep the show ad-free. In return, patrons get to join monthly "Created Creative Conversations" for community and coaching. They explore why people pay to belong to communities like NPR, churches, and yoga studios, while acknowledging how weird it feels to ask for support for less tangible creative work.

But here's the core message: Creative projects are allowed to change. Rigid rules choke creativity, and "the magic is in the pivot"—as long as you communicate openly instead of just quitting.

Dawn and Ruth model this beautifully, sharing life updates that show them both pivoting: funerals and sermon writing, painting projects, planning for Spain, and decluttering goals.

This episode is for anyone who's felt guilty about changing direction on a creative project, or who thinks pivoting means failure. It doesn't. Sometimes the magic happens precisely when you're brave enough to adjust course and keep going, don't cha know.

Because the opposite of quitting isn't sticking rigidly to the original plan—it's staying curious enough to let your project evolve.

LINKS: Join our Patreon: patreon.com/u11072417

00:00 Magic In The Pivot

00:21 Why We Need Patreon

01:14 Community Membership Mindset

02:24 Patron Perks And Coaching

03:49 Changing The Rules

05:23 Life Updates And Sermons

07:31 NYC Plans And Kid Crafts

09:09 Decluttering Ten Percent

11:03 Asking For Support Feels Weird

12:02 Pivot Advice And Wrap Up

What do you do when you have no ashes the night before Ash Wednesday? You burn something, of course. And then twenty years later, you write a novel about it.

That's exactly what happened to novelist Thomas Maltman, who teaches at Normandale Community College, is married to a Lutheran pastor, and has four novels under his belt, including Ashes to Ashes (currently in Minnesota Book Award contention).

The real-life Ash Wednesday mishap became the premise for his latest book: What if the ashes wouldn't wash away? What if this happened in a small town? How would people react? That's how you turn an awkward church moment into compelling fiction.

Dawn and Ruth also dive into Thomas's writing process. He shares his morning routine, drafting by hand with full permission to "write badly," then revising through typing, printing, and reading everything aloud. He talks about the value of writing community, headphones, and why you should always start new projects during those long publishing waits.

This episode is for writers, obviously, but also for anyone who's ever wondered how real life becomes story. Because sometimes the best fiction starts with the moments that make you think "you can't make this stuff up."

LINKS: Join our Creative Community and support this podcast by joining our Patreon: patreon.com/u11072417

00:21 Springtime City Vibes

01:15 Confirmation Walk Treats

02:12 Botanic Garden Learning

02:59 Meet Thomas Maltman

04:56 Ashes to Ashes Origin

09:22 Writing in the Morning

10:23 Publishing Without an Agent

12:09 Writing Anywhere Tools

14:14 Finding Readers Today

17:29 Long Form Comeback

17:52 Start Small Write Rough

18:46 From Journal To Draft

20:39 Living In Story Worlds

23:21 Embodiment And Truth

24:50 Writing For Love Not Money

26:48 Favorite Creators And Community

27:58 Fantasy Roadblocks Coaching

29:56 Find Your Genre Audience

32:02 Gargoyles To Novellas

Dawn and Ruth welcome Dawn Rundman, a publishing professional at Augsburg Fortress since 2002 who also happens to have a PhD in developmental psychology. Her book Little Steps, Big Faith dives into using what we know about early childhood development to nurture children's faith through rituals, language, music, symbols, and worship. Dawn's suggestions for churches are practical and brilliant: upgrade those sad nurseries, provide higher-quality worship activity bags (not just broken crayons and photocopied sheets), create intergenerational making opportunities, and actually showcase children's art instead of hiding it away.

Dawn also talks about creativity and discipline: how she leaves home to write because inspiration isn't enough, you need structure. She connects creativity and spirituality through communal worship traditions, showing how the practices that shape little brains also shape our own capacity for wonder and connection.

This episode is for parents, church leaders, anyone who works with children, or anyone who's ever wondered why some environments nurture creativity while others shut it down. Because luck might be the residue of design, but good design starts with understanding how humans actually develop and thrive.

LINKS: learn more about Dawn Rundman's work: https://www.dawnrundman.com/

Join our Patreon community: patreon.com/u11072417

00:17 Welcome And Weekly Catchup

00:57 Yacht Rock Flashbacks

02:03 Discern By Doing Business

03:50 Patreon Community Momentum

04:51 Meet Dawn Rudman

08:23 Little Steps Big Faith

10:28 Screens Boredom And Faith

11:53 How Creativity Begins

16:24 Church Spaces For Kids

18:41 Kids Art On Display

19:18 Beyond Art Creativity

20:21 Adults Need Permission

21:20 Small Steps To Start

23:02 Creative Inspirations

27:48 Life At Augsburg Fortress

29:24 Coaching A Team Well

32:35 Discipline Beats Inspiration

34:15 Writing Space And Routine

35:34 Creativity And Spirituality

Dawn and Ruth are celebrating Easter and swapping stories about Holy Week weather, canceled egg hunts, and Dawn's experience dyeing eggs at a New York community garden that sounds like the perfect "third space,” complete with potlucks, music, and the kind of welcoming energy that makes you want to stay all day.

They're also reintroducing their new Patreon "Created Creative Conversations," themed around "seeds,” because that's how creative ideas actually work. They need nurturing, community, and the right conditions to grow. Join them for $10/month through the show notes.

But the real magic happens when they share clips from past guests about how creativity actually emerges:

Rob Bell describes novel-writing as this beautiful mix of loose direction and surprise—completely different from teaching, where you know where you're headed.

Blessing talks about her "Sparkle Joy in New York City" microgrants, funded by leftover "Christmas Joy" money to spark neighborhood projects. Because sometimes the best ideas come from reimagining what you already have.

Tyra explains how songs emerge while she's practicing—they require quiet focus and the willingness to let something unexpected unfold.

Cathy Pino shares the story of writing "You are the Light of the World" at a stoplight and how community made it something that gets sung widely. Because creativity isn't just about the spark—it's about the people who help it grow.

This episode is for anyone who's ever wondered how ideas actually turn into something real, or who needs reminding that creativity thrives in community, not isolation.

LINKS: Join our Patreon here: patreon.com/u11072417

00:09 Holy Week Weather

01:10 Community Garden Eggs

02:23 Egg Hunt Traditions

03:11 Joining the Garden

05:04 Seeds Theme Patreon

06:46 Rob Bell Writing Flow

10:37 Blessing Microgrants Joy

12:04 Bubbles And Community Pins

12:40 Scaling Micro Grants Citywide

13:13 Funding From Christmas Joy

13:53 Small Money Big Impact

14:48 Songwriting With Tyra

15:33 Tyra Creative Process Deep Dive

21:44 Kathy Pinot Light Of World

25:18 Themes Beginnings And Patreon

Dawn and Ruth dive into spring cleaning, hospitality, and the surprisingly spiritual act of preparing for Holy Week. But this isn't just about vacuuming. They're exploring a beautiful Moravian tradition of cleaning gravestones before Easter, bringing flowers, telling stories about loved ones, and sometimes even worshiping right there in the graveyard.

They share the details of Ruth’s dining room refresh project, Dawn’s aversion to both cleaning and clutter, and coordinating the beautiful chaos of church logistics for Holy Week. This episode is for anyone who's ever felt like spiritual preparation should be more meaningful than just showing up, or who needs permission to find the sacred in the everyday work of making space—literally and figuratively—for what matters most.

LINKS: Join our patreon and let us help you bring your project from idea to implementation: patreon.com/u11072417

00:23 Cleaning and Clutter

01:13 Dining Room Makeover

01:53 Yellow Kitchen Memories

03:01 Moravian Easter Prep

04:55 Decluttering and Toys

07:34 Holy Week Logistics

08:57 Stained Glass Art Project

11:20 Movies and Musicals

12:57 Easter Plans

14:43 Holy Week Encouragement

15:54 Closing and Farewell

If you enjoy Created Creative Podcast, we warmly invite you to become a patron: patreon.com/u11072417 For just $10 a month you can become part of our monthly Created Creative Conversations. Find out more below!

Dawn and Ruth welcome Regina Shands Stoltzfus, Goshen College professor in northern Indiana and Mennonite Church USA member, whose journey from peace education and anti-racism training led her through activism, pastoring, seminary, and into higher education.

Regina's book Resistance, Resilience, and Radical Love: Reflections on Blackness and Teaching Peace tackles something crucial: You can't teach peace without studying violence. And to do that effectively, you have to be "hearable" creating space where students can actually listen and engage without shutting down from trauma.

She's using historical cases like the Wilmington Massacre of 1898 to teach about systemic violence, addressing secondary trauma in the classroom, and navigating the current political pressures around DEI work. Regina defines what it means to "work together for justice" across different professions and commits to creating an accountability plan for her next book on the seasons of activism life.

This conversation is for educators, activists, and anyone wondering how to sustain justice work without burning out, how to teach difficult truths without retraumatizing people, and what it actually takes to be "hearable" in a world that's often too loud or too defensive to listen.

LINKS: We love making this podcast for you and we'd love your support for! patreon.com/u11072417 Join at the $10 level and become part of Created Creative Conversations where you can get support from Dawn and Ruth and other creatives for your own new project! Want to write a book? Dreaming of starting a business? In April our theme is "Seeds of Possibility" and we'll help you get moving!

Find out more about our guest, Regina Shands Stoltzfus: https://www.goshen.edu/academics/faculty/regina-shands-stoltzfus/

00:17 New Tech Week

00:30 Tech Rage Stories

02:28 Get Human Help

02:44 Church Water Timer

03:32 Small Town Singalong

07:30 Meet Regina

08:11 From Activism to Academia

11:16 Teaching in a Red State

13:05 New Book Launch

14:06 Teaching Peace Studies Violence

16:35 Holding Trauma in Class

17:35 Writing Through Sabbatical

20:08 Course Design for Care

21:32 Hearable as Black Professor

23:22 Student Pushback and Growth

25:12 Systemic Violence Rhymes

26:00 Citations Over Opinions

26:15 Fake Historian Cred

26:47 First Solo Book

27:39 Writing Through 2024

29:30 Teaching Under Scrutiny

31:09 Choosing the Right Rooms

32:17 Work Together Justice

34:30 Conflict Skills Everywhere

36:53 Next Book Seasons

38:14 Accountability Mapping Plan

40:40 Memorial Day Deadline

Dawn and Ruth check in mid-Lent about rotating Wednesday pastorates, quirky church history discoveries, and children's theater outings before sitting down with Kim Knowle Zeller, ELCA pastor and writer from rural central Missouri.

Kim's got two books under her belt: The Beauty of Motherhood: Grace-Filled Devotions for the Early Years (co-authored) and her new release Small Steps: Blessings to Lift Your Soul on the Pilgrimage of Life. But here's what makes her story compelling—the new book was born from her Camino de Santiago pilgrimage and a "100 Day Project" where she wrote one blessing daily.

That practice changed everything. Kim learned to notice God's presence in small, ordinary moments instead of waiting for the big spiritual revelations. She reads "A Blessing for When the World Is on Fire" during the conversation, and honestly? It's the kind of blessing we all need right now.

Kim shares her traditional publishing journey, marketing strategies, writing rhythms, and the truth about what blessings actually do. Spoiler: They don't guarantee safety or fix everything. But they do something maybe more important—they accompany people into a hard world so they're not alone.

This conversation is for anyone who's ever wondered if the small, everyday moments of faith actually matter, or who needs permission to find the sacred in the ordinary instead of waiting for lightning bolts from heaven. Because sometimes the biggest hope comes from the smallest steps.

If you love the work we do at Created Creative Podcast we invite you to become a patron! For just $10 a month you can be part of our Created Creative Conversations and get the support you need as you start your own next creative project! patreon.com/u11072417

Kimberly Knowle-Zeller is a writer, pastor, wife, mother of two, and the co-author of The Beauty of Motherhood: Grace-Filled Devotions for the Early Years, and the upcoming book of blessings, Small Steps: Blessings to Lift Your Soul on the Pilgrimage of Life. She lives with her family in Cole Camp, Missouri. She loves to walk around her town of 1,000 and enjoy the many festivals and events, as well as attend her monthly book club and trivia night.

IG: @kknowlezeller

Substack: https://kimberlyknowlezeller.substack.com

Website: kimberlyknowlezeller.com

00:00 Blessing Not Bubblewrap

00:21 Lent Check In

00:36 Country Church Tales

04:28 Marionettes In Central Park

06:18 Meet Kim Knowle Zeller

08:24 Beauty Of Motherhood Book

11:00 Small Steps New Blessings

12:13 Hundred Day Blessing Habit

15:05 Structuring The Pilgrimage Lens

16:33 Finding An Agent Publisher

18:54 Landing a Publisher

19:21 Marketing Through Connection

20:22 Local Media and Events

21:02 Substack Over Instagram

21:48 Writing Rhythm and Routine

23:47 Favorite Devotionals and Reads

25:38 Reading a Blessing Aloud

27:27 Coaching for Motivation

29:57 Simple Reels and Tech Help

32:52 Blessings as Creative Faith

34:04 Final Thanks and Sendoff

Matt Smith is a fellow yogi from rural Minnesota who makes the rest of us feel like we've been living in bubble wrap our whole lives. He grew up seasonal farm style: spring morel and Chicken of the Woods mushroom foraging, summer Boundary Waters canoeing, winter camping at 38-below (because apparently that's a thing people do for fun), and winter beaver trapping and fur handling. You know, typical Tuesday activities.

But wait, there's more. Matt worked wildland firefighting, became a paramedic, and then decided to build his own log house over eight years without taking out any loans. Just learned as he went, recounting close calls with falling trees and a horse accident that probably should've ended differently.

Oh, and in his spare time? He built a glamping retreat from scratch. Road, platforms, bathhouse, septic—the whole operation. It's earned over 100 five-star reviews because of course it has.

Matt also talks about yoga, self-work, faith, community service, and how he's encouraging his kids to overcome fear and learn actual skills. You know, the kind of skills that matter when the power goes out or you need to, I don't know, survive in the actual world.

This conversation is for anyone who's ever wondered what it looks like to live completely outside society's safety nets and create something entirely from your own hands and knowledge. Because some people really do know how to build a life from the ground up. Literally.

LINKS:

Join our patreon to support this podcast and to join Created Creative Conversations in April! patreon.com/u11072417

00:00 Backcountry Beginnings

00:17 Welcome and Boxes

01:27 Meet Matt the Builder

02:45 Farm Life Seasons

03:18 Mushroom Foraging 101

05:15 Chicken of the Woods

07:43 Farming and Work Ethic

08:45 Boundary Waters Adventures

10:04 Wildland Fire to Paramedic

10:40 Building a Log Home

12:09 Close Calls and Mustangs

13:37 Trapping and Fur Craft

16:46 Glamping Retreat Origins

18:22 Zillow Hobby Hunting

18:37 Buying Land For Family

19:08 Building The Glamping Retreat

20:41 Community Know A Guy

22:01 Reviews And Retreat Ideas

22:48 Yoga And Self Work

25:02 Kids Farm Freedom

26:33 Fixing A Calf Leg

29:00 You Are The Project

31:45 Mindset And Failure

33:28 Campfire Cooking Stories

34:50 Documentary And Farewell