The Creative Exponent

What does it mean to be creatively resilient? Today, Shaunna and Marian are talking about creative resilience, and the knowledge of how much it is needed for us as creatives. And more than needing it, they realize creative resilience is a practice, rather than simply a skill we learn once. Sometimes it is easy, and the resolve we find in ourselves spills out naturally. And sometimes, holding on to the fortitude in us to keep creating, to keep going, to keep sharing our work vulnerably...feels impossible. They talk about how they practice resilience, why they feel like it matters for us all, in our lives and in our creative work.

Welcome to season two of The Creative Exponent Podcast! Shaunna and Marian are so excited to be back for another season to chat about creativity. To kick off 2020, they’re talking about the dreaded R-word… Resolutions. Creative Resolutions, to be more specific. And, if the R-word doesn’t have a good reputation with you, Marian & Shaunna unpack the difference between dreams and goals and share some encouragement and resources to help you set your own attainable goals. If you’re ready to see some forward progress in your creative journey, this episode is for you.

In the season finale for The Creative Exponent podcast season 1, Shaunna and Marian explore the creative frontier! Why is it important to continue to look to the horizon to see what is outside of your comfortably settled territory? Creative exploration is important for the soul and for the creative community as a whole. We need to go beyond creating in our carefully manicured suburban plot and get out into the wild to see what can be discovered there. Let’s be brave and curious…

It is just simply difficult to truly unplug and give ourselves enough rest creatively. Pressure, stress, the to do list...all of these things eventually lead to some form of burnout. Doing creative work we love is no exception. This week Marian and Shaunna talk about their own seasons of extended burnout, and how often it can be tied to turning the creative work we love into an income producing business, lack of rest, lack of unplugging from the “audience” before us. They talk about how unplugging is a choice long before it becomes a habit, and how we can try to avoid burnout and how we often brush over the real issues causing it. They talk about how to truly deal with burnout as it inevitably comes, and how to try to navigate through it as quickly as possible.

You can find Marian and Shaunna at www.thecreativeexponent.com where they continue their passionate conversation around all things creative.

Ahh, copycats. In creative work, running across someone doing exactly what you have done before is an inevitability. And while there are some cases where the copying is less of a compliment and more along the lines of trademark infringement, often the truth is there is nothing new under the sun, and the copying itself is actually a compliment. This week Marian and Shaunna talk about how they’ve dealt with copycats, and how mostly, they try to choose to keep their blinders on and continue focusing on the work. They talk about the difference between found inspiration and copyright infringement, and how you can gracefully deal with both.

You can find Marian and Shaunna at www.thecreativeexponent.com where they continue their passionate conversation around all things creative.

Creativity and the word schedule don’t often go hand in hand. But Schedule doesn’t have to be a dirty word for creatives. It would be a wonderful world if creative genius would strike us over the head every single day, but often, it finds us working, and in our normal day to day routines. This week Marian and Shaunna talk about their own schedules and how creativity realistically fits in, and how you can build a schedule for creativity that works for you in your lifestyle, as is.

You can find Marian and Shaunna at www.thecreativeexponent.com where they continue their passionate conversation around all things creative.

How in the world do we keep creating when life just goes SIDEWAYS? When it feels like there are more things going wrong than going right...by a long stretch.

How does creativity fit in then? Or our creative work? Marian and Shaunna each talk about some of the challenges they are battling right now in life.

How it is simply a reality that we will face heightened stress and pressure as well as serious trial in our lives. How do we continue to create in the midst of a bonafide dumpster fire? How can we stay centered and motivated when life is just a mess? To find a way to keep creating, even sparingly, so that you are still you in the middle of all the stuff.

You can find Marian and Shaunna at www.thecreativeexponent.com where they continue their passionate conversation around all things creative.

There is such a tempting habit in today’s world of instant feedback. How easily do we get sucked in to sharing our work online, only to hover over what we publish like the best of all helicopter moms? We publish, and we check comments. We scan likes, followers, feedback. All day.

If we own a creative business or share our creative work, do we have to be aware of the response to our work? Sure. Of course. This week Marian and Shaunna talk about the difference between awareness of the “public response” and the obsession that can so easily become the driving, reactionary force behind our creative work. Can we create tension between awareness and obsessively checking on engagement to validate the quality of our work? They say absolutely yes, and encourage you to keep yourself centered around what you do best...creating.

You can find Marian and Shaunna at www.thecreativeexponent.com

where they continue their passionate conversation around all things creative.

Do you feel like your life is too normal, too boring, too typical, too ordinary to have anything interesting to say? Shaunna and Marian have heard this as an excuse time and time again as an argument against sharing stories, creations, and thoughts with others. “I just don’t have anything to say.”

The beautiful truth is that we all have something to say. Even if you are a plain Jane suburban housewife soccer-mom with 2.5 kids and a dog, you have something to say. And, believe it or not, other people want to hear what you have to say. In today’s episode, we explore this topic and offer encouragement to anyone who feels ordinary.

You can find Marian and Shaunna at www.thecreativeexponent.com where they continue their passionate conversation around all things creative.

Procrastination. The inevitable word all creatives eventually face. This week, Marian and Shaunna talk about all the subtle ways we can make ourselves busy as stall tactics. Procrastination for creatives is not always an obvious putting off of our responsibilities, because our to do’s also FEEL like action. They talk about the most common procrastination tools and how they usually stem from negative feelings about your and your business. They go a step further and ask, “Where do these tools come from? Why are we actually procrastinating?”

Often, we procrastinate when we feel stagnant, discouraged, or insecure in our creative work. How do we move through this, and get ourselves back in a place of good habits and less procrastinating?

You can find Marian and Shaunna at www.thecreativeexponent.com where they continue their passionate conversation around all things creative.