Ninety-seven percent of people who begin a novel don’t finish it. But what about all the people who finish it and then set it aside? What happens to that novel in a drawer? Well … sometimes it goes to novel heaven and finds a publisher–and we have proof. In this episode we talk to Holiday Mathis (who was our guest in episode 23, The Daily Grind), and she tells us how she wrote her new novel, why she set it aside, why she picked it up again, what she learned from the experience, how the world changed since it was written, and what she would say to that younger self that hid away the project in the drawer. Other possible titles for this episode were “overcoming creative self-consciousness” and “creative seasons.” It’s an episode for all who doubt their work, for all who doubt themselves, and for all who need that little nudge to put themselves and their work out there again. 

Holiday Mathis writes the daily horoscope for The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and hundreds of newspapers around the world. In her decades-long syndication she's published over 8 million words on luck, the stars and the human condition. She's also a multi-platinum selling songwriter with songs recorded by Miley Cyrus, Emma Roberts and more. Holiday is the author of several books including the upcoming How to Fail Epically in Hollywood.  

Holiday MathisToday’s horoscopes by HolidayHoliday’s video Ephemera on the transient nature of horoscopesSome of Mathis’s songsChristie’s blog post about Mathis: I Know Astrology is B******t, But I Can’t Stop Reading My Horoscope

Here’s a Holiday horoscope that speaks to today’s topic:

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How does a poem emerge? So many ways to do it right, says Rosemerry. But in this episode, we take an intimate and critical look at one poem, “For When People Ask,” and talk about the genesis of the poem, how it changed and transformed, how the metaphors grew and how people responded to it. We also talk about saving first drafts–or not, trusting the process, leaning into uncertainty, letting our creative process be led by honesty, getting our egos out of the way, and, of course, paradox. 

**

For When People Ask

I want a word that means

   okay and not okay,

  a word that means

devastated and stunned with joy.

   I want the word that says

  I feel it all all at once.

The heart is not like a songbird

   singing only one note at a time,

  more like a Tuvan throat singer

able to sing both a drone

   and simultaneously

  two or three harmonics high above it—

a sound, the Tuvans say,

   that gives the impression

  of wind swirling among rocks.

The heart understands the swirl,

   how the churning of opposite feelings

  weaves through us like an insistent breeze

leads us wordlessly deeper into ourselves,

   blesses us with paradox

  so we might walk more openly

into this world so rife with devastation,

   this world so ripe with joy.

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How can we better navigate difficult topics when telling personal stories? In this episode of Emerging Form, we talk with podcasting host Arielle Duhaime-Ross about their podcast episode “My Cousin Baptized My Dead Relatives Into the Mormon Church” which aired on VICE News Reports. We talk about steps they took to understand the story from different perspectives, how the narrative form emerged, how the process itself helped Arielle to arrive at a difficult peace, and why having a storyteller lay out their personal views when telling a story can build more trust with the audience than the “view from nowhere” approach. Plus we talk about the idea of our creative legacy–after we die, how is our story told? And by whom?

Arielle Duhaime-Ross (They/Them) is a correspondent and the host of two podcasts for VICE News: VICE News Reports, a weekly documentary-style news podcast, and A Show About Animals. 

Arielle was previously the host of Reset, a podcast about technology, science, design and power, from the Vox Media Podcast Network. Before that, Arielle was the first climate change correspondent in American nightly TV news, reporting for HBO’s VICE News Tonight, and a science reporter at Vox Media’s The Verge. They’ve received numerous  awards, including the 2019 Science in Society Journalism Award, the Silver 2019 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award. Arielle has written for Scientific American, Nature Medicine, The Atlantic, and Quartz. 

Photo of Arielle By James Bareham

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Photo of Stéphanie by @steph_stf_photography

“Is my career done?” That’s what aerialist Stéphanie Ortega wondered when her touring with Cirque du Soleil abruptly ended at the onset of the pandemic. We speak with her about the fear, anger, and loss of identity in the wake of losing her creative practice–and how she found resilience, purpose, and new ways of pursuing her art before the proverbial show got back on the road. Rosemerry also talks about getting her show back on the road–performing for a live audience for the first time since her son died, and how it taught her to trust process more than ever. 

Originally from France, Stéphanie Ortega studied ballet at the Roland Petit School in Marseille and started dancing professionally in a cabaret in Paris. She discovered the circus community when she was performing in the United States and began training as an aerialist, acquiring skill after skill including trapeze, aerial silk, Spanish rope, and eventually mastering the “suspended Pole,” a moveable pole that does not touch the ground, emulating a flying effect. She worked for Disneyland Paris, Franco Dragone and Cirque du Soleil. Prior to the Pandemic, Ortega was working on the show “Corteo” performing as the sole suspended pole artist. Currently living in Colorado, Ortega is preparing to rejoin the iconic circus troupe for an international tour. She recently had a chance to perform again for the first time since the pandemic began. 

Follow Stéphanie on Instagram

Watch Stephanie perform on the flying pole

Rosemerry’s poem about performing live again

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When you’re actively engaged in creative practice, what’s happening in your brain? We ask research scientist and writer Emily Willingham to talk about the science of creativity. Her clear communication about neurons and cognitive processes open up a new understanding of not only how the brain works but also the three key features of creativity, two kinds of thinking that go into creative process, plus the importance of flexibility, storytelling, openness and awe. 

The business of Emily’s life has been writing and science. Her work as a research scientist led her to many cool things, including ultrasound and surgery on a spotted hyena, plastic casting of the inside of the mammalian penis, chasing tiny blazing-fast lizards around in the desert, and innumerable activities involving gonads. Her work as a writer has done the same, from stories about the black bears of Big Bend to how pregnant people will fare in a post-Roe nation. There are hundreds of adventures in between, some of them reflected in her stories published at places like Scientific American, the Washington Post, Slate, Vox, Wired, LitHub, Aeon, and others. Emily is the author of several books, including Phallacy: Life Lessons from the Animal Penis, published in 2020, and The Tailored Brain: From Ketamine to Keto to Companionship, a User's Guide to Feeling Better and Thinking Smarter, published in December 2021.

Emily’s Website

Excerpt from The Tailored Brain about creativity and awe.

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What do you look for in collaborators? How do you find them? Is it better to collaborate with friends? We speak with singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and film composer Leah Shaw about putting together her full-length album Play Beautifully, a sonic exploration of loss, healing and self-transformation. She talks candidly about the balance between control and collaboration, learning new skills, and learning to trust the input and inspirations of others as she pursued her own passion project. Leah is our new audio producer, and this episode also features a new version of our theme Leah engineered, featuring Leah on bassoon alongside Kyra Kopestonsky on cello. 

Connect with Leah Shaw at:

BandCamp

Spotify

YouTube

Apple Music

Learn more about Play Beautifully.

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

What do you look for in collaborators? How do you find them? Is it better to collaborate with friends? We speak with singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and film composer Leah Shaw about putting together her full-length album Play Beautifully, a sonic exploration of loss, healing and self-transformation. She talks candidly about the balance between control and collaboration, learning new skills, and learning to trust the input and inspirations of others as she pursued her own passion project. Leah is our new audio producer, and this episode also features a new version of our theme Leah engineered, featuring Leah on bassoon alongside Kyra Kopestonsky on cello. 

Connect with Leah Shaw at:

BandCamp

Spotify

YouTube

Apple Music

Learn more about Play Beautifully.

This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at emergingform.substack.com/subscribe

Image: Catherine, Christie and Rosemerry

Feeling stuck or stumped in your creative practice? Maybe what you need is more fun. In this episode we speak with Catherine Price, author of The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again. Her definition of fun feels utterly apropos of creativity. She defines fun as the spirit of playfulness—in which you engage with no attachment to outcome; connection—in that you share the experience with another; and flow—in that you become so engaged you lose track of time. We discuss these principles, plus the role of permission and how a fun squad helped her write her book.

Catherine Price is a science journalist, speaker, and author of numerous books including How to Break Up With Your Phone, Vitamania: How Vitamins Revolutionized the Way We Think About Food, and the new book, The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again. As a freelance journalist, her work has appeared in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, O, The Oprah Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Parade, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Self, Medium, Health Magazine, and Outside, among others. She's also the founder of ScreenLifeBalance.com, which is part of her mission to help people scroll less and live more.

Rosemerry’s poem Porphyry Basin

Learn your “fun type”

Christie’s New York Times story about using play to motivate yourself to exercise

Episode 45: Protecting Your Creative Time with Catherine Price

I Did It Dad! I LOVE This!, Christie’s Last Word On Nothing post about performative life in the age of social media

Catherine’s drum group

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What does a new calendar year mean for your creative process? In this episode, Rosemerry and Christie return to their creative goals from last year – did they meet them? They talk about Christie’s annual report model for creatives, about how a magic wand might help you identify your creative goals for 2022, and how they are hoping the form might emerge in the next year. Plus they offer new guiding phrases for thinking about creative process and how Christie’s radio gave her the wisdom she needed for the end of the year. 

A Hundred Falling Veils, Rosemerry’s daily poems.

Is it possible to exercise too much?, Christie’s latest story in the New York Times.

Shine Theory

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In this bonus episode, Christie and Rosemerry read some of the new works they’ve created since the trauma of the last four months.

Finding My Friend’s Unwritten Poems, Christie at Last Word On NothingDigging Potatoes, 2021, by RosemerryCondition, by Rosemerry

Please note: after we recorded this podcast, we experienced yet another sad event and we need to take a short break to focus on self-care. We will return next month, and when we do, we will have some very exciting news to share. In the meantime, all paid subscriptions will be put on hold (you won’t be charged) until we return. See you again soon!

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Image by Ollie Taylor

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