Hey, Creator!

Someone once asked when I was preparing to give a talk if I could make it practical—and I had to wonder what that meant. Is Art practical? Does it need to be? This week, we explore how our life informs our art and how what we make influences everything else, complete with interruptions from my kids and a few stories from the lives of famous artists who struggled to reconcile their creative work with the demands of a normal life.

We all want to create things that matter, that actually make a difference. But how do we know when we've done our job? Do we need others to "get it" for our work to be meaningful? Is "art for art's sake" a real thing? What does it all mean? This week, we examine a critical tweet, tell three creator stories, and share some audience feedback. Hang in there. We get a little fired up (or at least Jeff does).

Yes, the money thing. The thing almost all of us struggle with. The thing that haunts and plagues us and tells us, "If we just had enough, then we'd be okay." This week, we are going to get super vulnerable, sharing stories, facts, and figures about having a lot of money and a little and how, maybe, your attitude is what matters most.

When people want to know the "whole story," that's not really what they're looking for. They are looking for permission to be themselves. In this issue, we invite a personal branding expert on the show to discuss the most misused word on the Internet and how authenticity doesn't work the way we think it does.

Every day, I try to disappear. It is my version of staying sane, of getting in touch with what matters most to me. If we don't disappear, we miss so much, getting lost in the myopia of our daily dramas. The discipline of stepping away from the outer world to access a deeper, inner one is what makes our work—and our lives—meaningful.

You didn't get into this game of making things to be consistent. Consistency is boring, unworthy of our attention. What we want from you—that we'll never ask for—is something that surprises us. Something that scares us a little bit, that keeps us on our toes. We want something that is familiar but we never saw coming. Here's another bonus for your ears. Back again next week.

In this live conversation between Jeff Goins and David Hooper, Jeff and a local radio host explore what it looks like to let go of something that's working to start something new. This conversation was recorded live in July 2021 at the Nashville Podcasters Meetup, and Jeff shares what he learned from ending his last podcast and starting a new one. He and David also discuss when to keep going with a creative project and persevere through challenges as well as when you should just throw in the towel and start fresh.

Every artist wants to be unique. But the truth is before you can stand out, you first have to fit in. In this issue, we explore why even the indefinable needs definition, and how being extraordinary begins with being ordinary, but just not staying there. This week, we expand the conversation to a few more voices to help us grasp this mysterious thing we call genre and when it's time to create a category of one.