When you're raw, wrecked, or barely keeping up, creative work might be the last thing on your mind. But what if your most meaningful ideas are waiting in that mess? This episode explores the quiet power of creating mid-storm. Your voice might matter most when everything feels uncertain.

 In this episode, Mia shares reflections from a deeply human chapter that reshaped how she sees creative work, emotional intensity, and the role of ritual in recovery. Alongside iconic creators and surprising research on how we think and make in the midst of chaos, this episode traces a quiet, brave path back to creative momentum.

 So many of us wait for perfect conditions to start. The research, and our lived experiences, suggests that meaningful work actually begins in the middle of the mess. Whether you’re in the fog or just feeling disconnected from your creative spark, this is your permission to plant something anyway.

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🪜 The Focus Routine

If your to-do list feels like a wall, this is the ladder.

Download my free, super awesome ADHD-friendly Focus Routine and give your brain a starting ritual that works.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/focusroutine

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🌊 Wavelength

Do you ever get tired of all… this? (gesturing vaguely at everything)

Find a protected, positive space to do your best work with heart-centered people.

Join Wavelength, my virtual coworking community designed for neurodivergent solopreneurs and quietly brilliant creatives.

✨ Work gently, together.

👉 authenticnetworker.com/wavelength

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💬 and if this feels bigger to you than just a creativity block…

If something stirred while listening—if you felt a wave of emotion or recognized yourself in the storm—you are not alone.

Sometimes what looks like procrastination or creative block is actually something deeper asking for care.

If there’s a quiet voice inside you wondering if it’s time to reach out… please listen to it. That voice is wise. You are allowed to want support. You are worthy of feeling held.

Below are some trusted resources. You don’t have to explore them all right now. Just know they’re here. And if your next step is simply pausing and breathing, that counts too.

You’ve already begun. I’ve got you.

🛟 Mental Health & Crisis Support

International & Text-Based:

• Mental Health Resources Worldwide – CheckPoint
• Find A Helpline – Mental health support lines globally
• Crisis Text Line (US, UK, Canada, Ireland) — Text HOME to 741741 for free, 24/7 support

Canada:

• Wellness Together Canada — Immediate mental health support and counselling
• Talk Suicide Canada — 1-833-456-4566 or text 45645, 24/7

US:

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — Call or text 988, 24/7
• NAMI HelpLine — 1-800-950-NAMI (6264)

Therapy & Peer Support:

• Open Path Collective — Affordable therapy directory
• Warm Line Directory (peer support)

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📚 Omg though. I want to research everything.

I got you.

🎨 Van Gogh’s Asylum Period

Van Gogh Museum – “Van Gogh in Saint-Rémy” The Starry Night was painted in June 1889 while van Gogh was at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum.

✨ Elizabeth Gilbert on Creativity Without Suffering

Gilbert, Elizabeth. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear (2015). Riverhead Books. ISBN: 978-1594634710 Quoted from Chapter 2: “Enchantment.”

🎤 Watch her iconic TED Talk: Your Elusive Creative Genius

🧠 Emotional Creativity Research

Amabile, T. M., Barsade, S. G., Mueller, J. S., & Staw, B. M. (2005). “Affect and Creativity at Work.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 50(3), 367–403.

This is the study that found a 40% increase in creativity on emotionally intense days.

🧬 How Emotion Shapes the Brain

Davidson, R. J., & Begley, S. (2012). The Emotional Life of Your Brain. Hudson Street Press. ISBN: 978-1594630897

Breaks down how your amygdala communicates with innovation centers in the brain. TLDR: Feeling things deeply may actually boost your creative edge.

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Episode Keywords: emotional creativity, creativity and mental health, creating during emotional overwhelm, procrastination support, how to stop procrastinating, how to get started when you're overwhelmed, writing through grief, art as healing, creative recovery, emotional intensity and productivity, focus during emotional chaos, how to create when life is hard, expressive writing, therapeutic creativity, the psychology of creativity, working through emotional fog, healing through creative practice, starting small when things feel big, inspiration on hard days, creativity in the storm, creative momentum, resilience and creative work, solopreneurs, coworking, focus routine