The Unruffled Podcast

Today, Tammi and Sondra share their creative and recovery mentors and teachers. Sondra’s first teachers were in one-on-one situations or direct studies, while Tammi’s first teachers were discovered from books and blogs, but they had something in common: their first teachers had something they wanted. Some of the names they mention in this episode are Mary Karr, Krista Tippett, Natalie Chanin, Anne Lamott, Nici Holt Cline and Vivienne McMaster.

The ladies share their top three tools in their Unruffled Toolbox for the week:

Sondra’s 3 fave things: Getting out of town for the weekend, a good night’s sleep, and running sprints.

Tammi’s 3 fave things: Removing coffee from her life 176 days ago (almost six months!); The Rich Roll Podcast “Growth is our Mandate” which aired May 17, 2017; and her daily gratitude list practice + all-female gratitude circle.

This week, Tammi and Sondra talk about thrifting as an easily accessible creative act to repurpose your life. Tammi’s experience as, “My first real and honest creative act as an adult” differed slightly from Sondra’s “first experience in expressing myself”. However, they both used thrifting to transform aspects of their lives, including their “altars to alcohol”. From necessity to crafting a new look, if you love thrifting (like they do), this is a fun conversation!

The ladies share their top three tools in their Unruffled Toolbox for the week:

Sondra’s 3 fave things: texting with sober friends, Dr. Ezzie Spencer, author of “An Abundant Life: Flourishing with the Cycles of the Moon” and you can find her on IG @ezziespencer where she explains the lunar energies, and researching The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell.

Tammi’s 3 fave things: Artist, Amanda J. Grace’s #letterPOD subscription (she’s @amandajgrace on IG), Rich Roll’s IG stories (he’s @richroll on IG) and Sarah Blondin’s Live Awake podcast meditations.

Tammi and Sondra excitedly take on this sometimes boring topic by first examining the different ways in which they both tackle productivity: Tammi, a former legal secretary, is more of a taskmaster while Sondra, a former hippie, likes to follow her impulses and ride the wave. People in recovery have to make time for creativity, as it competes for the other things that have priority, like meetings, self-care, service work. They offer many ideas on how to squeeze in the creative time, such as reframing what you consider creativity, self-imposed assignments and just staying mindful. And finally, they talk about ways to avoid procrastination, spoiler: expect to be uncomfortable.

The ladies share their top three tools in their recovery-slash-creativity toolboxes for the week:

Sondra’s 3 fave things: On Being with Krista Tippett podcast episode with poet Marie Howe on The Power of Words to Save Us released on May 4, 2017, a Mother’s Day outing to Austin’s Barton Springs Pool, Recovery Gals Art Exchange’s Summer Solstice Theme: Abundance and IG hashtag #recoverygalsartexchange

Tammi’s 3 Fave Things: IG account: @drybeclub for the dry curious, doTerra Motivate Encouraging Blend Roll-On (mint + citrus blend), The Life Coach School podcast Ep. 162: Time Management: Procrastination.

On the heels of the She Recovers conference in NYC, where 500 women in recovery gathered to commune and listen to speakers Glennon Doyle Melton, Gabby Bernstein, Elizabeth Vargas, Marianne Williamson, Nikki Myers, Elena Brower, Ann Dowsett Johnston, and many bloggers, Tammi and Sondra recap the event (Tammi attended, Sondra watched via livestream). Details of the event become a perfect segue to talking about the significance of writing, journaling or blogging in recovery. The ladies mention several blogs that helped them in early recovery (Aidan Donnelly Rowley’s, Laura McKowen’s, Jean McCarthy’s Unpickled and Ellie’s One Crafty Mother) but emphasize using your writing as a way to process, make connections and experience the power of Me Too.

The ladies share their top three tools in their recovery-slash-creativity toolboxes for the week:

Sondra’s 3 fave things: The Law of Divine Compensation: On Work, Money and Miracles by Marianne Williamson, added hula hooping to her movement toolbox and Jolene Park’s Healthy Discoveries website. Tammi’s 3 fave things: Bach’s Rescue Remedy products, essential oils for anxiety relief and her Ray of Light Interview Series featuring women recovering out loud, as well as her 24-month long Sobriety Milestone Series - both of which can be found on her blog at www.tammisalas.com.

Today, Tammi and Sondra talk about creating a community built around recovery and creativity. They talk about online groups and how that has helped them find other sober creatives, which led them to project ideas like the #artexchange. They also offer some ideas to building a face-to-face sober creative community as well.

The ladies share their top three tools in their recovery-slash-creativity toolbox for the week. Sondra’s 3 fave things: Melissa Febos’s new book Abandon Me, a day listening to records, and Louis C.K. on Saturday Night Live.

Tammi’s 3 fave things: Ann Dowsett Johnston’s interview on episode #85 of the HOME podcast, Self-Care Fridays, and Artist Tina Berning’s idea for ‘not so good/not so bad’ boxes for archiving works-in-progress.

When we quit drinking, we have a void to fill, but where do we start if we think we aren’t creative? Tammi and Sondra dive into this topic starting with the permission slip: it’s okay to call yourself an artist, maker, writer. They cover many ideas to get you started, places for inspiration, jumping off points like Austin Kleon’s book, Steal Like An Artist or Lisa Congdon’s Creative Bug drawing classes. “Sobriety delivers what alcohol promised.” We get to actually be the person in sobriety that wanted to be when we were drinking. Don’t compare your beginnings to someone else’s finished product, take the leap.

The ladies share their top three tools in their recovery-slash-creativity toolboxes for the week:

Sondra’s 3 fave things: Instagram recommendations: @soberbia, @thesoberhipster and @ekkarecovery, thrifting as therapy, and Rob Bell’s podcasts ep. #146 and #148 and his FB Live Easter Day Resurrection Sermon.

Tammi’s 3 fave things: Your Inner Critic is a Big Jerk by Danielle Krysa, Quit That! App, and the Chatbooks Instagram subscription series.

We turn the tables today and Sondra interviews Tammi. The OG Cali girl, Tammi talks about being very driven and a need for gold stars, opting for a career path but how her love of Martha Stewart sparked her creative flame. Always a seeker, even when her drinking amped up after a divorce, she eventually found herself blogging and journaling to find the good things, “I wanted proof of life”. Getting into recovery opened the door for going back to school for art and then led to all of the creative things that Tammi currently pursues (and that we love her for). “If I didn’t have that journal and that pen, I would have bolted.”

The ladies share their top three things in their recovery-slash-creativity toolbox for the week: Sondra’s 3 fave things: Her kids’ improv, embroidery on a rainy day and old family photos. Tammi’s 3 fave things: The Good Life Project podcast from 3/23/17 titled “Don’t Just Ship It”, her Instagram girl crush Tracy@shutterbean, and the slim cans of Perrier Sparkling Mineral Water.

Tammi interviews Sondra in this episode. They cover where she grew up (spoiler: Texas), that her biggest childhood creative pursuit was daydreaming, watching MTV + making mix tapes, and becoming Molly Ringwald. They go into drinking, when that began to look like a problem and how that affected her pursuits of sewing, photography and writing. “There is no room for anything to grow when drinking is your main gig.” Sondra talks about what it was like getting sober, how “journaling saved my ass”, and what creativity looks like now, including the impetus for starting www.TheUnruffled.com.

The ladies share their top three things in their recovery-slash-creativity toolbox for the week: Sondra’s 3 fave things: S-town podcast, Texas in the springtime, the Wild Unknown tarot cards. Tammi’s 3 fave things: The Jealous Curator podcast, Kusmi BB Detox Tea (yellow label), Sakura gelly roll pens.

Sondra and Tammi introduce themselves and talk about how they met. They talk about the creative projects that make them jump out of bed every morning. They also lay out the ideas, hopes and dreams for the podcast going forward.