Never Wear Boring Socks

This week, Anna and Maria talk to holistic health coach and podcaster Nina Boyce, to discuss some of our favorite things here at Never Wear Boring Socks: periods, creativity, self compassion, and, of course, socks (get ready for some wild sock situations in this one!) Nina shares her perspective on why it’s helpful to understand the different phases of our menstrual cycle, and some ways we can give ourselves compassion and care even during the parts of our cycle that we may not be so fond of. She also shares her knowledge about the mind-body connection, and particularly the relationship between our gut health and our mental health. Ultimately, Nina points out that the most important thing we can do for our health is to listen to our bodies. Nina also shares her thoughts on how creativity is related to our wellness and our menstrual cycles, how feminine energy and the moon plays into all of this, and why expressing our creativity and our unique gifts is so important.

Tale as old as time, socks as old as rhyme…but don’t worry, we did wash our socks before sharing them with you today. The topic of beauty has come up so many times over the course of Never Wear Boring Socks that Anna and Maria decided to dedicate an entire episode to it this week. They both feel pretty strongly that beauty is a topic worth discussing, because it’s not as superficial as we sometimes think; this has a lot to do with the language we use, and in what contexts we use the word “beauty.” As artists, our hosts are particularly interested in the relationship between beauty and art. A few questions Anna and Maria tackled in this episode: Does art have to be beautiful to be called art? How can we understand beautiful art that depicts terrible things? And how does beauty relate to PMA?

Tale as old as time, socks as old as rhyme…but don’t worry, we did wash our socks before sharing them with you today. The topic of beauty has come up so many times over the course of Never Wear Boring Socks that Anna and Maria decided to dedicate an entire episode to it this week. They both feel pretty strongly that beauty is a topic worth discussing, because it’s not as superficial as we sometimes think; this has a lot to do with the language we use, and in what contexts we use the word “beauty.” As artists, our hosts are particularly interested in the relationship between beauty and art. A few questions Anna and Maria tackled in this episode: Does art have to be beautiful to be called art? How can we understand beautiful art that depicts terrible things? And how does beauty relate to PMA?

Anna and Maria discuss decor this week, and how decorating our spaces can help us encourage creativity and wellness. They consider decorating as a creative act and project; a tool to promote mental health; a method through which we can curate body positivity; and much more! They also cover how decorating may be different for a young adult without much space of their own than for a homeowner, and how those of us with limited space can still maximize our spaces for different purposes. Anna and Maria also bring in some connections to past episodes on space, seasons, and values (proving just how holistic creativity and wellness can be!).

Anna and Maria discuss decor this week, and how decorating our spaces can help us encourage creativity and wellness. They consider decorating as a creative act and project; a tool to promote mental health; a method through which we can curate body positivity; and much more! They also cover how decorating may be different for a young adult without much space of their own than for a homeowner, and how those of us with limited space can still maximize our spaces for different purposes. Anna and Maria also bring in some connections to past episodes on space, seasons, and values (proving just how holistic creativity and wellness can be!).

This week’s episode is all about values: how we can identify what they are, why we might want to, and what impact they have on our wellbeing and our creative lives. Anna and Maria discuss how values can help us in our decision-making process and understand the WHY behind what we do. They also explore the ways ego, judgment, and comparison can get in the way of determining our true values, what happens when our values differ from those around us, and whether some values are better than others. And, because our hosts are detail-oriented language nerds, they discuss choosing specific words with particular resonance for YOU, and why that might be more helpful than having a huge list of all of the positive words you can think of.

This week’s episode is all about values: how we can identify what they are, why we might want to, and what impact they have on our wellbeing and our creative lives. Anna and Maria discuss how values can help us in our decision-making process and understand the WHY behind what we do. They also explore the ways ego, judgment, and comparison can get in the way of determining our true values, what happens when our values differ from those around us, and whether some values are better than others. And, because our hosts are detail-oriented language nerds, they discuss choosing specific words with particular resonance for YOU, and why that might be more helpful than having a huge list of all of the positive words you can think of.

As the fall colors start to hit their stride, Maria and Anna delve into the topic of living seasonally. They discuss how seasons can be opportunities for change and reflection, as well as sources of difficult transition, and how we can better adapt to these changes. They also dive into the cyclical nature of seasons, and how different types of seasons often mirror what is going on in nature. And of course, it wouldn’t be a Never Wear Boring Socks episode without diving into wellness and creativity… so Anna and Maria make sure to cover seasonal self care, as well as how seasons affect our creative processes. Really, they’re both just excited about how many new fall foods are in season.

As the fall colors start to hit their stride, Maria and Anna delve into the topic of living seasonally. They discuss how seasons can be opportunities for change and reflection, as well as sources of difficult transition, and how we can better adapt to these changes. They also dive into the cyclical nature of seasons, and how different types of seasons often mirror what is going on in nature. And of course, it wouldn’t be a Never Wear Boring Socks episode without diving into wellness and creativity… so Anna and Maria make sure to cover seasonal self care, as well as how seasons affect our creative processes. Really, they’re both just excited about how many new fall foods are in season.

This week, Anna and Maria talk to graphic designer and wellness enthusiast Jackie Randall. They get into many aspects of creativity, including creative collaboration, the importance of beauty, and the emotional impact of art. Jackie also talks about how she got into graphic design, her experiences in art school and working in a creative field, finding creative community, and her many sources of inspiration. Plus, a Hamilton tangent and lots of recommendations for things to check out!