Hi, everyone! I'm thrilled to bring you my annual Christmas replay. This is not just one of my favorite episodes of the year—it's one of my favorite episodes of all time. If you haven't heard it before, you're in for a treat. If you heard it at the beginning of the year, I promise it's worth a second listen. Either way, enjoy!

Tim Myers does a bit of everything: he’s a writer, songwriter, storyteller, visual artist, and senior lecturer at Santa Clara University, where he teaches writing. We got together to talk about the nature of creativity, which Tim calls a “sacred mystery,” including everything from the way our childhood creativity is changed by the culture as we become adults, the necessary role of play in the creative process, the transcendent experiences of awe and wonder and how they fuel us, the wisdom of following your gut, and a whole lot more.

Episode breakdown:

01:39 Kids are instantly creative, often play traditionally.

06:50 Creativity influenced by nature, nurture, educators.

15:50 Importance of creativity in education and society.

21:22 Differences between play in childhood versus "professional" adults.

24:56 Nancy switched to teaching, advisor, and writing lit mag.

30:49 Encouraging exploration of language and creative thinking.

37:04 Parents see child, lifetime of giving love.

40:35 Zen story about finding wonder in life.

45:27 Believing in progress through challenging circumstances.

50:34 Art, festivals, play as a primal need.

56:21 Semantic split between "religion" and "spirituality."

01:01:14 Falling in love based on unique personal idiosyncrasies.

01:07:23 Experimenting with writing schedule structure.

01:13:45 Craft is in choosing words for impact.

01:19:22 Writers and feedback.

01:25:00 Tim struggles with generalist vs specialist identity.

01:26:31 Passion for storytelling and visual art emerges.

01:35:38 Weekly writing schedule reduces overthinking and focus on perfection.  

Check out the full show notes at fycuriosity.com, and connect with me and fellow creatives on Substack.

Please leave a review for this episode and in it, tell us how play influences your creative process.

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

Want more? Here's a handy playlist with all my previous interviews with guests in writing.