Follow Your Curiosity: You didn’t lose your creative spark. You were taught to leave it behind.

Follow Your Curiosity: You didn’t lose your creative spark. You were taught to leave it behind.

By Nancy NorbeckEducationArts
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Follow Your Curiosity: You didn’t lose your creative spark. You were taught to leave it behind. episodes

  • "Who Goes to the Art Store Before Radiation?" with Nathalie Latham
    Have you ever faced a moment where your life was brought to a complete halt, and you realized you needed something deeper than distractions to survive?
     
    This week, my guest is documentary photographer and artist Nathalie Latham, whose life took a dramatic turn when she was diagnosed with stage-three cancer at age 39. Nathalie joins me to share her extraordinary story of how she used oil pastels and drawings as a literal confirmation of life during eight days of intensive, round-the-clock radiation.
     
    We talk about the magic of growing up in a musical family, the power of having just one adult who understands you as a child, and the silent pressure of the "safe" career path. Nathalie also shares why it took fourteen years before she could bear to look at her radiation drawings again, and how she now infuses her mantra practice into drawings of prayers for peace.
     
    It's an invitation to stop overthinking your creative expression and start treating your creative practice as a vital act of self-connection.
     
    I’m Nancy Norbeck, and I’m your Messy Muse Mentor. I help people feel alive again through curiosity and play.
    In this episode, we discuss:
    • The Power of One Person: Why having just one teacher stand up for your creativity can change the trajectory of your life.
    • The Safety Tangent: Why we often choose the responsible path to please our families, and how we eventually find our way back home.
    • Art Store Radiation: Why Nathalie packed a box of art supplies for her cancer treatment room and how drawing became her proof of life.
    • Befriending the Trauma: The slow, patient process of healing and learning to find wisdom in our most difficult experiences.
    • Prayers for Peace: How to combine spiritual practice with your creative practice to create a landscape of inner calm.
      • Ready to send your inner critic to summer camp for an hour? We get together once a month for a relaxed, co-working-style session where you can work on whatever you want—without any pressure to do it "right." Join the Creativity Circle.
       
      Episode breakdown:
       
      0:00 Introduction
      1:21 Growing up in a musical family
      5:12 Finding sanctuary in the art room
      11:50 Choosing a "safe" career path
      18:14 Following curiosity to filmmaking
      21:11 Art supplies in the radiation room
      32:40 Facing the trauma of the drawings
      40:09 Infusing mantra and peace into art
      42:05 How traveling shifts your perspective
       

      Want more? Here are handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in visual arts.

      Check out the full show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join us for the Follow Your Curiosity Creativity Circle.

      Please leave a review for this episode—it’s really easy and will only take a minute, and it really helps me reach new listeners. Thanks!

      If you enjoyed our conversation, I hope you’ll share it with a friend.

      54 min
    • Nobody is Actually Normal | Report from the Creative Closet #9
      Have you ever looked at your life and realized that while everything is "okay" on paper, you feel like you're speaking a completely different language than everyone around you?
       
      In this week's Report from the Creative Closet, we’re looking at what happens when we challenge our idea of what "normal" is. From the culture shock of a Doctor Who convention to growing up in a family that didn't understand the things I loved, we talk about why normal is a matter of perception, not a fixed rule. I discuss why your creative practice thrives when you find people who finally understand you, and how my Restorative Creativity Framework helps you rediscover the real you hidden under the "shoulds" of adulthood.
       
      It’s an invitation to stop performing for the sake of being "good enough" and start returning to the creative capacity you were born with.
       
      I’m Nancy Norbeck, and I’m your Messy Muse Mentor. I help people feel alive again through curiosity and play.
       
      In this episode, we discuss:
      • The Relative Normal: Why the definition of "normal" changes depending on where you stand.
      • The Power of Recognition: Why being with people who understand your "geeky" interests is a fundamental human need.
      • Masking vs. Truth: How to know who you are under the layers of cultural expectations and performance reviews.
      • Returning to Self: Why the things we love are the signals that tell us who we really are.
        • Ready to send your inner critic to summer camp for an hour? We get together once a month for a relaxed, co-working-style session where you can work on whatever you want—without any pressure to do it "right." Join the Creativity Circle.
        13 min
      • The Rule of Making Mistakes: Jackie Haynes on Rinsing Your Skills and Starting Over
        What if the very thing you're trying to avoid—making a mistake—was actually the signal that it was finally time to rest?
         
        In this week's conversation, I'm talking with artist Jackie Haynes. We talk about why the rigid discipline of adulthood often makes us fear the very "rinsing" of our skills that leads to new growth. From her more than seventeen years building an indestructible costume business in Manchester to her "handbrake turn" into a PhD in experimental art, Jackie shares why making mistakes is a fundamental part of the creative medicine we all need.
         
        It’s an invitation to stop overthinking your way to a creative solution and start finding the creative oxygen that lets you breathe again.
         
        I’m Nancy Norbeck, and I’m your Messy Muse Mentor. I help people feel alive again through curiosity and play.
         
        In this episode, we discuss:
        • The Mistake Rule: Why Jackie only allowed herself to stop working once she messed up—and how it saved her from burnout.
        • The Handbrake Turn: Why closing a successful business to pursue art was an act of self-trust, not failure.
        • Merz Pies: How Jackie uses local landscapes and found objects to tell stories through experimental art.
        • The Power of Play: Why Jackie’s 800-costume inventory is now a hands-on archive for community research and curiosity.
          • Ready to send your inner critic to summer camp for an hour? We get together once a month for a relaxed, co-working-style session where you can work on whatever you want—without any pressure to do it "right." We send the shoulds and inner critics off to summer camp where they're kept busy rather than getting in our way. Join the Creativity Circle. 
           
          Episode breakdown:
           
          0:00 Introduction
          1:33 A Creative Kid & The Orange Elephants
          4:11 The "Mistake Rule": Working until it breaks
          6:40 Starting the Costume Business in Pre-Digital Manchester
          11:31 The Yellow Pages Advantage
          15:24 Building an Indestructible Inventory
          25:54 Digital Revolution vs. Accidental Discovery
          33:38 The Handbrake Turn: Closing the Shop for an MA
          38:54 What is an Art Practice-Based PhD?
          45:41 Merz Pies and the Spirit of Kurt Schwitters
          55:09 Making the Examiners Work for It (The Humor Section)
          1:03:57 The Costumes as a Community Resource
           

          Want more? Here are handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in visual arts.

          Check out the full show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join us for the Follow Your Curiosity Creativity Circle.

          Please leave a review for this episode—it’s really easy and will only take a minute, and it really helps me reach new listeners. Thanks!

          If you enjoyed our conversation, I hope you’ll share it with a friend.

          1 hr 10 min
        • Why High Expectations Are Keeping You Stuck | Report from the Creative Closet #8
          Have you ever tried to force yourself into a new habit through sheer willpower, only to end up exhausted and paralyzed a week later?
           
          In this week's Report from the Creative Closet, I'm exploring the High Expectations Trap. We talk about the deep-seated cultural belief that change only happens through hard work and discipline—and how that belief actually triggers our internal surveillance system to shut us down. From the "Puritanical Trap" of the American work ethic to the reason we need to stop treating our lives like a performance review, we look at how to rebuild trust through permission and play.
           
          It’s an invitation to stop overthinking your way to a "better version" of yourself and start returning to the creative capacity you were born with.
          I’m Nancy Norbeck, and I’m your Messy Muse Mentor. I help people feel alive again through curiosity and play.
          In this episode, we discuss:
          • The Discipline Fallacy: Why high pressure is actually the enemy of the pursuit of excellence.
          • Internal Surveillance: Why your inner critic needs a vacation to a local summer camp ropes course.
          • Restorative CreativityTM: How to trade "Transformation Theater" for a genuine return to yourself.
          • The Luke Skywalker Principle: Why the biggest changes always start with tiny, quiet experiments.
            • Ready to send your inner critic to summer camp for an hour? We get together once a month for a relaxed, co-working-style session where you can work on whatever you want—without any pressure to do it "right." We send the shoulds and inner critics off to summer camp where they're kept busy rather than getting in our way. Join the Creativity Circle.
            14 min
          • Finding Your Oxygen: Anne Odeke on Being Seen and Staying Open
            When was the last time you actually met you? Not the role you perform for your family, your job, or your community, but the version of you that exists when no one else is watching?
             
            In this week's conversation, I'm talking with playwright and actress Anne Odeke. We talk about why the rigid discipline of adulthood often acts like a clamshell that keeps our real selves hidden and how to find the medicine that helps us open back up. From the accidental path to teaching in flip-flops to her history-making play, Princess Essex, at Shakespeare's Globe, Anne shares why being seen—truly seen—is a fundamental human need.
             
            It’s an invitation to stop overthinking your way to a creative solution and start finding the creative oxygen that lets you breathe again.
             
            I’m Nancy Norbeck, and I’m your Messy Muse Mentor. I help people feel alive again through curiosity and play.
             
            In this episode, we discuss:
            • The Clamshell Effect: Why we walk around closed off and how to stay open to your own creative aliveness.
            • Jumping into the Fire: Why the sense of discovery is more important than the end result.
            • Princess Essex: The true story of a woman who pretended to be a princess just to be seen for a day.
            • Creative Oxygen: Why finding what makes you feel human is a necessity, not a luxury.
              • Ready to send your inner critic to summer camp for an hour? We get together once a month for a relaxed, co-working-style session where you can work on whatever you want—without any pressure to do it "right." We send the shoulds and inner critics off to summer camp where they're kept busy rather than getting in our way. Join the Creativity Circle.
               
              Episode breakdown:
               
              0:00 Introduction
              0:38 From Teaching to Shakespeare’s Globe
              1:52 Storytelling as a Family Nature
              6:35 The Drama Teacher Who Led with Care
              11:52 Stumbling into a Teaching Career
              15:33 The "Yes, And" of Life: Jumping into the Fire
              23:59 The Nudge that Led to Drama School
              27:18 Mountview Training as Medicine for the Soul
              30:17 The Clamshell: Staying Open to Everything
              41:05 First Day at Shakespeare’s Globe
              46:38 The Origin of Princess Essex
              51:29 An Accidental Conversation at the Globe
              58:42 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
              1:10:54 Find Your Oxygen: Reclaiming Creativity
               

              Want more? Here are handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in writing and theatre.

              Check out the full show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join us for the Follow Your Curiosity Creativity Circle.

              Please leave a review for this episode—it’s really easy and will only take a minute, and it really helps me reach new listeners. Thanks!

              If you enjoyed our conversation, I hope you’ll share it with a friend.

              1 hr 14 min
            • Why Understanding Your Patterns Isn't Enough | Report from the Creative Closet #7
              Have you ever had a brilliant "Aha!" moment about your own behavior, only to find yourself repeating the same pattern just a few days later?
               
              In this week's Report from the Creative Closet, I'm looking at the Insight Trap. We talk about why understanding your patterns isn't enough to actually change them—and why your brain is often "too well-trained" to stop self-monitoring just because you noticed it. From the neural grooves that keep us stuck in performative adulthood to the fear of flying without a net during play, we explore how to rebuild trust through messy, low-stakes repetition.
              It’s an invitation to stop overthinking your way to a solution and start returning to the creative spontaneity you were born with.
               
              I’m Nancy Norbeck, and I’m your Messy Muse Mentor. I help people feel alive again through curiosity and play.
               
              In this episode, we discuss:
              • The Insight Trap: Why patterns don't disappear just because we finally see them.
              • Automatic Self-Monitoring: Why years of scanning for approval become a default "groove" in your brain.
              • The Netless Flight: Why open-ended play feels terrifying to adults used to performing specific roles.
              • Repetition vs. Analysis: Why small repetitions matter more than joining another chapter of Overthinkers Anonymous.
                • Ready to send your inner critic to summer camp for an hour? We get together once a month for a relaxed, co-working-style session where you can work on whatever you want—without any pressure to do it "right." We send the shoulds and inner critics off to summer camp where they're kept busy rather than getting in our way. Join the Creativity Circle.
                11 min
              • Jamie Lyn Weaver: Survival, False Memories, and the Satanic Panic
                This episode discusses sensitive subjects, including psychiatric abuse, false memories, psychiatric over-medication, and mental health struggles involving self-harm.
                 
                What happens when a culture’s collective fear is weaponized against the very people seeking help?
                 
                In this week's conversation, I’m talking with my friend and author Jamie Lyn Weaver. Jamie’s new memoir, Locked in the Psych Ward, chronicles her survival during the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. She was kept in a locked ward for four years, heavily medicated, and coached into "recovering" memories of horrific events that never occurred.
                 
                Jamie discusses the audacity it took to finally put her story on paper and how the writing process itself became her path back to aliveness. We explore the role of "retractors" in healing and why her story is a vital warning for the world we live in today.
                 
                I’m Nancy Norbeck, and I’m your Messy Muse Mentor. I help people feel alive again through curiosity and play.
                 
                In this episode, we discuss:
                • The Anatomy of a Panic: How psychiatric "experts" used leading questions and hypnosis to manufacture a crisis.
                • The Witness Effect: Why having a safe, non-judgmental witness is the most powerful tool for creative and personal recovery.
                • True vs. Not True: The mental struggle of surviving a ward that functioned like a cult.
                • Creative Resilience: How Jamie moved from a childhood belief that she wasn't creative to writing a prize-winning memoir.
                  • Ready to send your inner critic to summer camp for an hour and just enjoy some creative company? We get together once a month for a relaxed, co-working-style session where you can work on whatever you want—without any pressure to do it "right." We send the shoulds and inner critics off to summer camp where they're kept busy rather than getting in our way.
                  Join the Creativity Circle.
                   
                  Episode breakdown:
                   
                  0:00 About this episode, and content warning
                  1:05 Introducing Jamie Lyn Weaver: Surviving the Satanic Panic
                  2:50 The award-winning art Jamie forgot she made
                  5:53 Inside the Locked Ward: Why Jamie refused art therapy
                  8:42 The "Braun" Ward: 4 years of false memories and forced meds
                  12:56 The lack of advocacy and the "insurance game"
                  15:19 Dungeons & Dragons, Heavy Metal, and the 80s Panic
                  19:11 From intuitive writing to a completed memoir
                  24:15 The 100 Moments: Using structure to process the impossible
                  28:16 Finding the right coach: The power of being witnessed
                  32:58 "The police will meet you at the bottom of the stairs"
                  36:52 The "Feeling Wheel" and finding words for trauma
                  41:50 The "Apothecary" Reality: Surviving over-medication
                  46:33 Why being a "retractor" is a long road to aliveness
                  51:43 Jamie’s warning for the modern world
                   

                  Want more? Here are handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in writing.

                  Check out the full show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join us for the Follow Your Curiosity Creativity Circle.

                  Please leave a review for this episode—it’s really easy and will only take a minute, and it really helps me reach new listeners. Thanks!

                  If you enjoyed our conversation, I hope you’ll share it with a friend.

                  1 hr 5 min
                • Why Adulting Feels So Dehumanizing | Report from the Creative Closet #6
                  Have you ever looked at your life and realized that while everything is "okay" on paper, you feel like you're just playing a role?
                   
                  In this week's Report from the Creative Closet, I'm diving into the Performance Trap. We talk about why the modern world is obsessed with optimization and metrics—and how that obsession is actually stripping us of our humanity. From the "proceduralization" of our communities to the internalized pressure to be "endlessly capable," we look at how to reclaim our spontaneity.
                   
                  It’s an invitation to stop treating your life like a performance review and start returning to the creative capacity you were born with.
                   
                  I’m Nancy Norbeck, and I’m your Messy Muse Mentor. I help people feel alive again through curiosity and play.
                   
                  In this episode, we discuss:
                  • Dehumanizing Systems: Why HOAs and automated phone lines are designed to block human connection.
                  • The Self-Monitoring Trap: Why "metricking" your sleep and hobbies creates more exhaustion, not less.
                  • Trusting Your Instincts: How to stop letting external algorithms (and internal critics) drive your decisions.
                  • The Power of Play: Why we are starving for spaces where we don't have to be "good enough" to belong.
                    • Ready to send your inner critic to summer camp for an hour? We get together once a month for a relaxed, co-working-style session where you can work on whatever you want—without any pressure to do it "right." We send the shoulds and inner critics off to summer camp where they're kept busy rather than getting in our way. Join the Creativity Circle.
                    14 min
                  • Paul McGann: Social Media, Audio Drama, and Staying True to Your Voice (Part 2)
                    What happens when you realize the very things meant to connect us are actually stealing your creative spark?
                     
                    This week, we conclude our special 30th-anniversary archive release with actor Paul McGann. Originally recorded in 2020, this conversation remains a vital guide for anyone trying to navigate a creative life without losing their humanity to the digital machine.
                     
                    Paul shares his prolific journey into audio drama with Big Finish, his reflections on the different regenerations of the Doctor, and the fascinating reasons he decided to walk away from social media entirely. From his "favorite" role in Our Mutual Friend to the "theatre of the mind," Paul offers a masterclass in staying true to your own creative fingerprint.
                     
                    I’m Nancy Norbeck, and I’m your Messy Muse Mentor. I help people feel alive again through creativity, curiosity, and play.
                     
                    In this episode, we discuss:
                    • The Digital De-assimilation: Why Paul decided he didn't want to be the "kind of person" social media was making him.
                    • The Power of Audio: Why working in the "theatre of the mind" is qualitatively different and physically freeing.
                    • Richard E. Grant: A look at their rare on-screen reunion and the power of natural enthusiasm.
                    • The Next Story: Why for a professional actor, the most important role is always the one that’s coming next.
                      • Ready to send your inner critic to summer camp for an hour? Join the Creativity Circle.
                       
                      Episode breakdown:
                       
                      0:00 Part 2: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the TV Movie
                      1:40 Digital recording & the "wooden rabbit hutches" of Big Finish
                      4:15 Working fast: How to record a script in 6 hours
                      10:20 Dropping the extraneous: Learning while doing
                      12:56 Why Paul never watches or listens to his own work
                      17:15 Revisiting old roles like "holiday snaps"
                      19:11 Reunited with Richard E. Grant in Always Crashing in the Same Car
                      28:30 Stepping into Tom Baker’s shoes for Shada
                      36:52 Jodie Whittaker: "She cracked it instantly"
                      40:10 Matt Smith: The "beautiful skinny 12-year-old" alien
                      46:33 The 1996 audition: Why Phil Segal couldn't tell the brothers apart
                      51:00 Eugene Wrayburn: The role that "fitted" perfectly
                      1:09:10 "Are you on Twitter?" (The 2020 Social Media context)
                      1:15:45 The Jaron Lanier lesson: 10 arguments for deleting your accounts
                      1:20:20 How social media makes you a person you don't want to be
                      1:24:45 Richard E. Grant: A master class in natural enthusiasm
                       

                      Want more? Here are handy playlists with all my previous interviews with guests in theatre and  Doctor Who.

                      Check out the full show notes at fycuriosity.com, and join us for the Follow Your Curiosity Creativity Circle.

                      Please leave a review for this episode—it’s really easy and will only take a minute, and it really helps me reach new listeners. Thanks!

                      If you enjoyed our conversation, I hope you’ll share it with a friend.

                      58 min
                    • Escaping the "Not an Artist" Trap | Report from the Creative Closet #5
                      Have you ever told yourself you don’t have a creative bone in your body?
                       
                      This week, we’re looking at why that belief is a trap—and why it’s almost certainly a lie you were taught to believe. In this Report from the Creative Closet, I explore why we’ve narrowed the definition of creativity so far that we’ve lost sight of our own resourcefulness, adaptation, and meaning-making.
                       
                      It’s an invitation to stop treating creativity like a talent show and start seeing it as the life force that helps you feel human again. We discuss why you don’t need a plan or a portfolio to be creative—you just need the courage to be messy.
                       
                      I’m Nancy Norbeck, and I’m your Messy Muse Mentor. I help people feel alive again through curiosity and play.
                       
                      In this episode, we discuss:
                      • The "Creative Bone" Myth: Why your school experiences didn't give you the full picture of your potential.
                      • Broadening the definition: How the way you solve problems and navigate uncertainty is a deeply creative act.
                      • Evaluation vs. Exploration: Why performative art makes us disconnect and how to find your way back.
                      • The Aliveness Factor: Why creativity isn't about "fixing" yourself, but returning to the truth of who you are.
                        • Ready to send your inner critic to summer camp for an hour? We get together once a month for a relaxed, co-working-style session where you can work on whatever you want—without any pressure to do it "right." We send the shoulds and inner critics off to summer camp where they're kept busy rather than getting in our way. Join the Creativity Circle.
                        13 min

                      About Follow Your Curiosity: You didn’t lose your creative spark. You were taught to leave it behind.

                      From the publisher's feed

                      You didn’t lose your creative spark. You were taught to leave it behind.