Barbara Hannigan is a world-renowned conductor, soprano, and performer whose work pushes the boundaries of classical and contemporary music. Known for her fearless interpretations and deeply expressive performances, Barbara has built a career that defies convention and celebrates the transformative power of sound.

In this episode, Barbara and I discuss her recent album Electric Fields, which offers modern arrangements of centuries-old vocal music. At the heart of the album are the compositions of Hildegard of Bingen — a 12th-century mystic, composer, and visionary whose sacred works still resonate with profound clarity today.

In keeping with the season theme, we explore Barbara’s experience of finding flow in those transcendent, improvisational moments when the music seems to move through her rather than from her — and how this state of creative surrender shapes both her artistry and her life.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Electric Fields by Barbara Hannigan
• Artist profile: Hildegard of Bingen 

Connect with Barbara Hannigan:
https://www.barbarahannigan.com/home| 

https://www.instagram.com/hannigan.barbara

https://outhere-music.com/en/albums/electric-fields

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In this episode, Stephen Roach explores creative flow as a generative, life-giving way of being. He highlights the need for trust in the process and the vulnerability that comes with sharing one's art. Stephen encourages listeners to embrace rhythms of rest and rebirth and imitate the ocean. 

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I would imagine most of us think of inspiration as a sudden flash of insight that hits us out of nowhere and compels us create. It’s not something we control. The wind blows where it wishes and we don’t know where it comes from or where it goes. 

But what if inspiration were a discipline? 

Brooklyn-based author and artist Carey Wallace has written an incredible book titled, The Discipline of Inspiration.  Here, she addresses this question and shines a new light on how we think about our relationship to the things that move us. 

Poet and songwriter Patti Smith writes that "This book articulates... the beautiful compexity of what drives us to create and what we encounter when we do."

In keeping with our season theme of finding flow, consider how nurturing our inspirations prepare us for those beautiful moments of creative transport. We’ll be talking more about this in the Makers and Mystics creative collective. 

Music by: Some Were At Sea

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Leah Song is a storyteller, song-catcher, musician, poet, and community builder. She’s best known as the front-woman of the beloved band Rising Appalachia, which she leads alongside her sister Chloe.

As a solo artist, Leah draws from the rich traditions of Southern soul, the diasporic sounds of the Celtic Isles, and her deep studies of folk music from across the Americas.

In this episode, Leah talks with Stephen Roach about her journey through music, exploring the intersections of various cultural traditions and how the pace of our lives impacts creative flow.  

Resources: 

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Flow begins with attentiveness. In this episode, Stephen Roach shares how tuning the room became a creative and spiritual practice.

Welcome to Season 15 of Makers & Mystics. In this opening episode, host Stephen Roach invites listeners into the unfolding journey of Finding Flow—not just as a creative high, but as a sacred rhythm and intentional spiritual practice.

Anchored in a story from his experience as a touring musician, Stephen shares how he developed a pre-show ritual: using a sustained drone and improvised melody to “tune the room”—to draw the audience (and himself) into a space of collective attentiveness. It became more than a musical practice; it became a way of entering flow, of opening space for something beyond performance to emerge.

In this episode, Stephen explores:

• What it means to prepare a space for creativity
• How flow requires attentiveness and surrender
• The parallels between creative flow and spiritual presence
• Why the environment we create—internally and externally—matters to our art

Whether you’re a musician, painter, poet, or simply someone longing to move through the world with greater presence, this episode will help you begin to tune your own room—and step into your creative flow.

Featured Music: Songs of Water

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Five Creativity Killers Book: Get the book mentioned in this episode. 

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Have you experienced those moments when the grind gives way to an effortless grace? When a poem or painting tells you what it wants to become, or when a melody sings itself into being?   

This state of creative flow is one that artists and athletes, saints and mystics alike, each aspire to attain. It is a state where time bends low and reveals a slice of eternity. When our minds are absorbed, the world around us dissolves. Five minutes becomes five hours. Attentiveness and reverie are caught in a kiss that transcends technical ability and becomes magic.

In flow, we become the act we give our hands to accomplish. The painter becomes the painting. The dancer becomes the dance. 

We enter into something greater than ourselves, a move of the Spirit that is ever in flux and available to us all. 

This season on Makers and Mystics, we’re going to explore how to find flow,

Not just as a creative high—

But as a practice.

A rhythm.

A spiritual discipline 

And a way of life.

We’re going to talk about what keeps us from entering it, and why it matters—not just for our art, but for our own development and well-being.

You’ll hear from painters, poets, musicians, and makers of all kinds - each sharing stories of what enables them to find flow and the challenges that have kept them from it. 

You’ll hear from theologians and thinkers who see creativity as a sacred conversation.

We’re going to talk about the discipline behind flow, the resistance that rises against it, and the mysterious grace that shows up when we least expect it.

So if you’ve struggled to find flow —

Or if you’ve ever wondered how to maintain your creative inspiration  —

Or if you’re simply longing to move through the world more awake and more alive…

This season is for you.

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In this final conversation of our BC25 introductions, Stephen Roach, Corey Frey, and Dr. Marie Teilhard discuss the complexities of art that challenge conventional boundaries. 

They explore themes of heretical art, the distinction between shock art and risk art, and the importance of trust and exploration in the creative process. 

**Trigger Warning: This episode deals with sensitive subject matter such as self-harm and cutting. 

Join The Breath and The Clay virtually or in person 

Connect with Dr. Teilhard

Connect with Corey Frey

Special Thanks to our patrons and friends who help us keep this train running. 

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Amanda Cook is a writer/musician/lover of books whose music explores the intersections of faith/doubt, love/loss, hope/despair, and fun/notfun. 

In this episode, Amanda talks with Stephen Roach about her latest EP Survey: Part 2 along with her thoughts on reconciling faith and art and the motivations behind her creative process. 

This episode continues our introductions to the presenters who will be with us at BC25.

Resources: 

The Breath and The Clay (virtual & In person tix available.)

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What role does contemplative prayer have in healing the fractures of our modern culture and those of our own fragmented lives? And how can our spiritual and creative practices offer an antidote to the chaos of contemporary life?

In today’s episode, we’re exploring these questions with best-selling author, counselor, and teacher John Eldredge. 

Drawing insights from his latest book, Experience Jesus. Really: Finding Refuge, Strength, and Wonder Through Everyday Encounters with God, John highlights several themes that align with those of our upcoming Breath and Clay creative arts gathering. He shares insights on what it means to live in the hour of fragmentation and how we can reconnect to the integrating center of all things. 

Resources: 

Makers and Mystics Creative Collective

The Breath and The Clay event! March 21-23rd in Winston Salem, NC. Use the code DREAM25 for a discount on registration! 

Credits:
Episode Sponsor:  Be. Make. Do. Podcast.
Music: Some Were At Sea
Produced by Stephen Roach and Brightbell Creative

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Kendra Adachi is the New York Times bestselling author of The Lazy Genius Way, The Lazy Genius Kitchen, and The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like A Lazy Genius. As an expert in compassionate time management, Kendra helps others stop doing it all for the sake of doing what matters. She Kendra hosts the nationally-ranked The Lazy Genius Podcast and lives in North Carolina with her husband and three kids.

In this episode, Kendra shares about:

• bringing our whole self to the table
• viewing our life as a painting, not a puzzle 
• moving past binary perceptions of art and time 

Kendra will share a keynote talk and join us for a discussion panel on reconciling art and family at The Breath and The Clay creative arts gathering, March 21-23, 2025, in Winston Salem, NC. 

Links/Resources: 

Connect with Kendra

Learn more about The Breath and The Clay event

Credits:
Episode Sponsor: MM Creative Collective
Music: Some Were At Sea
Produced by: Stephen Roach 

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