Stepping Off Now: Support for Neurodivergent Creatives

The more I learn about late blooming, the more I think we're all late bloomers. Our society pushes us to achieve early, to all of our detriments. I can remember feeling like a late bloomer in my 20s, and I certainly feel like one now, in the midst of a career change in midlife! Really we should be embracing late blooming, or as I like to call it, repeat blooming. Life just feels so much better when you believe that it has more than one act. In this episode I talk about false beliefs we have about cognitive functioning and age, the challenges of trying to understand creativity, a key factor in late blooming, from a neuroscience perspective, and why what really holds us back is more psychological than cognitive. You'll hear how to push back against the arbitrary power of gatekeepers and naysayers, and how to deal with the critics in the cheap seats. I round it up with some tips on claiming sovereignty over your own potential, and how to stick it out when it takes so much longer to achieve your goals than you'd expected.  Let's hear it for potential at every age! 

You can find this episode's accompanying blog post here.

The Brené Brown Netflix special I refer to is here.

Find out more about Rich Karlgaard's book Late Bloomers.

This last year has been the most productive of my life in terms of my creative output, despite the turmoil of the Pandemic and the political and cultural upheavals unfolding in my country (the US). How did I do it? I used what I now see as my secret superpower: my curiosity muscles. Curiosity is an essential skill for creatives, not only because it points us toward what we should be pursuing creatively, but it fosters the kind of openness and energy we need to maintain a consistent creative practice. But it also serves another purpose: it can help us navigate times of turmoil in our personal lives or our wider communities. Strong curiosity muscles can guide us through the often overwhelming emotions of such times, as well as the ontological anxiety we feel living in an era of paradigm shift. I also touch on a little-discussed aspect of curiosity: how we can feel guilty (or be guilted) for cultivating an intellectually curious, observational perspective during highly emotive times. This episode is a deep one, and I get quite esoteric in some sections - it will give you lots to think about!

This episode's accompanying blog post can be found here.

The other blog post I mention is called How Creatives Can Use Crisis to Overcome Blocks, and I recommend checking it out if the esoteric portions of this episode appeal to you!

Have you ever felt like a failure because you haven't become an expert in one area, or at anything? Our society expects us to specialize, especially in terms of career. Those of us who can't seem to settle on one path and stick with it are considered dilettantes or worse. I'm here to tell you that being a generalist is a benefit! Our world may seem like it's made for specialists, but generalists are already thriving and they will rule the future. The good news? Most of us are natural generalists. In this episode I talk about what it means to be a generalist, why generalists are actually more likely to make stand-out contributions, and what living as a generalist looks like. Plus, I offer some tips on how to cultivate your own generalist mindset and value your generalist inclinations. I've struggle a lot in my life with being a generalist, but I can truly say that now I'm so grateful that I am one. If you are a reluctant generalist too, I hope this episode helps you develop a different perspective so that you can glory in all your awesome generalist power!

This episode's accompanying blog post can be found here.

This is the Tim Ferriss Show episode I mention.

Find out more about the book Range, by David Epstein.

The origin story of this podcast is about burnout. As I was struggling to finish my PhD a few years ago, I suffered from burnout that was so severe I was largely nonfunctional as a human being. In this episode, I talk about what that looked and felt like, and the realization I eventually had about my condition that enabled me to pick up all my pieces and recover. Don't worry, this isn't a depressing story! It's full of interesting thoughts about burnout and society, why I think we are all the burnout generation right now (it's not just Millennials!), and it ends with a hopeful message for anyone out there also suffering from burnout, or who is feeling stuck and confused about the direction of their life and what they really want from it. I started my creative business (my writing site kendrapatterson.com and this podcast) to reach out to other creative, sensitive types who are struggling, and to provide them with information I would have loved to have found when I was struggling like that. I'm so proud to have this episode out there in the world, and hope that you find it thought-provoking and inspiring!

This episode's accompanying blog post can be found here.

Here is some more stuff I've written about burnout's relationship to my creative business.

Do you feel like you have to force creativity, or does it feel like it's harder than it should be? Are you struggling with blocks? It's possible the reason is that you have a habit of applying the rules of rational cognition to everything, and don't trust your intuitive/creative self. You're not alone! Most of us have this problem because we live in a society that prefers rational to intuitive cognition. We are taught to distrust and disregard knowledge and understanding that comes to us through non-rational means, which can block our creativity. We can support our creative selves by challenging some of the basic precepts of the rational approach, and in this episode I tell you how to start. I examine the relationship between intuitive cognition and creative thinking, how our overemphasis on rational cognition causes us to suppress creativity, and why we need to learn how to center ourselves in our creative practice and lean into our biases. The key message of this episode is that creativity doesn't have to be hard! I've only just begun to research this topic, and I'm excited about its implications for creative practice!

Find this episode's accompanying blog post here.

The paper on intuition and creativity that I cite can be found here.

This week I'm back on the topic of creativity and why it's so important for creative people to give themselves radical permission to do their creative work. So many of us struggle with guilt over taking the time and space for our work. In this episode I talk about how to channel Trickster energy to give us the confidence to do our creative work anyway - whether or not we have the support of people in our lives, it makes any money, or we're scared of the changes it might cause if we truly commit to being creatives. You'll hear about why logical thinking isn't going to help when we are trying to decide if we have a right to make time and space for our creative work, and how the Trickster archetype can help us realize that simply wanting to do it is enough of a reason. Plus, I discuss why and how creative work can help intuitive, creative types heal from the trauma they accrue living in rational, capitalist societies. If you are in need of a pep talk, this is the episode for you!

Find this episode's accompanying blog post here.

Is it possible to have goals without goals? In this episode, I delve deeper into what I see as the incompatibility between the goal setting, achievement-oriented paradigm and living life experimentally. I discuss the origins of the goal setting paradigm, what it's actually useful for, and why it will never result in personal happiness for us creative, intuitive types (hint: it's just not the right tool for the job). You'll hear about the trick goal setting plays on us, how I differentiate between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and the two words I use to help me visualize how to live a more experimental-style life. This episode rounds out the three-episode arc on living life experimentally - I hope you've enjoyed it and found it useful!

You can find this episode's accompanying blog post here.

The Harvard Business School paper on goal setting that I cite can be found here.

We're told that we should always seek excellence and achievement, and that it's important to be the best - or at least to try. But that kind of approach is antithetical to living life experimentally. This episode is a follow-on to last week's (Ep. 6), but you can listen to it as a stand-alone too. I discuss why playing to our strengths is the "easy way out," and how it keeps us from truly enjoying our lives. You'll hear about what made starting a podcast fun for me, even though I don't have what you'd think are the right skills for it, and why the concept of having fun is so important when we try new challenges that scare us. Plus, I give you some tips on how to change your life that don't actually involve changing anything. Curious? Give it a listen! 

You can find this episode's accompanying blog post here.

My friend's podcast that I mention is Supporting Characters. It's a really high-quality production and I'd recommend checking it out if you are any kind of movie buff! Here's the description: Host Bill Ackerman talks to writers, bloggers, podcasters, fanzine publishers, programmers, preservationists and more about their creative endeavors and today’s film culture.

The microphone I chose for my podcast is the Audio-Technica ATR2100x-USB (non-affiliate link - you can shop around for a deal). It's a dynamic mic, which I think is the best choice for home podcast recording because it's less sensitive than condenser mics and won't pick up as much background noise. If you have a professional studio with soundproofing, a condenser mic (like the popular Yeti) might be the better choice. I think a good mic is worth the investment if you intend to do podcasting for the long term.

Have you spent your life watching people around you hit all the milestones, wondering when your turn will come? Do you feel like there's something you're just not getting about how to do life the right way, or have you found that you've had to reinvent yourself a number of times in your life? This episode is for all of you out there who don't have lives that follow that linear trajectory our culture tells us is the "right" way to live. I discuss the difference between being a conceptual creative vs. an experimental creative, as well as why being an experimenter is going to be increasingly important in this new economic era we are entering. Plus, I talk about why experiencing life crises where it seems like you've lost the plot isn't a sign of personal failure - so let's stop feeling like it is!

You can find this episode's accompanying blog post here. 

The article I reference is Weinberg and Galenson, 2019 (open access). 

In this episode I talk about an exercise I developed called Embracing the Ugly that helps me deal with critical, judgy voices (both the external and internal types), and how it's allowed me tap into my creative potential and made me braver about putting my creative products out there - like this podcast! I discuss the difference between your internal critic and internal judge, and how this exercise works to shift your perspective on what is or is not true about you and your creative work. Hint: only YOU have sovereignty over the meaning of you and your work - and here I tell you how to begin to manifest that power in your life. Plus, I talk about something that gives me the shame sweats (yikes). We're talking about some tough stuff in this episode, but you've got this!

You can find this episode's accompanying blog post here.