Catharsis, Comfort & Change

The weight of the world felt heavy this week, but tough moments are when we feel luckiest to have this incredible community. Like we always say, everyone is creative but smart creative people do not go it alone! So this week, we did what we so often recommend to our coaching clients when the path ahead feels cloudy: We reached out to all the brave creatives in our lives (including you!) to see what is sparking comfort, catharsis, and change in their lives right now. We asked, and, boy, did you deliver!

In this week’s episode, you’ll hear from an avalanche of creatives–including us!–-about which TedTalks, TV shows, poems, and songs are filling creative wells and buoying heavy spirits. And there were enough music recommendations for a whole playlist! Whether you’re seeking the comfort of joy and laughter or the catharsis of a good cry, the Spark File community has got your back. 

You can listen to this week’s episode of the Spark File podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and directly on our website. And, if you’d like to add music suggestions to our Comfort, Catharsis, and Change playlist, email your ideas to getcreative@thesparkfile.com!

Chapters

• 0:00 Creativity and Community in Challenging Times
• 10:02 The Transformative Power of Creativity
• 18:49 Embracing Fear Through Creativity
• 33:31 Igniting Creative Sparks Together

Transcript

The Spark File Podcast Transcript
Season 5, Episode 10: Comfort, Catharsis, and Change

Susan Blackwell:
Welcome to The Spark File where we believe that everyone is creative, but smart, creative people don't go it alone. 

Laura Camien:
I'm Laura Camien.

Susan Blackwell:
And I'm Susan Blackwell, and we are creativity coaches who help people clarify and accomplish their creative goals.

Laura Camien:
Hey, you should know that just by listening to this podcast, you are joining a warm and wonderful clan of creatives.

Susan Blackwell:
But hold up, you might be asking yourself what exactly is a spark file?

Laura Camien:
A spark file is a place where you consistently collect all of your inspirations and fascinations. Every episode, we're going to reach into our spark files and exchange some sparks, and from time to time, we're going to talk to some folks who spark us too.

Susan Blackwell:
And your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take some of those sparks of inspiration and make something of your own. So, without further ado, let's open up the Spark File. We want to let you know that we're recording this episode the Friday after the election, so just a few short days ago, it was announced, for the first time in the history of the United States, a convicted felon has been elected president. A bigoted, homophobic, transphobic, racist, rapist, a person committed to quote unquote, traditional marriage and protecting women whether they like it or not. That is our president elect. Laura Camien, how are you doing over there?

Laura Camien:
Well, I have to giggle or else I cry, so I opted for laughing. Just listening to the list is so absurd, it's absolutely absurd.

Susan Blackwell:
Yeah, here we are, here we are.

Laura Camien:
Yeah, If I think about it, I will just feel very, very deeply sad, and you know that leads to anxiety and fear. Yeah, how about you? 

Susan Blackwell:
Well, I boiled it down and we are really like laughing through. I mean, it's like that uncomfortable. We're laughing through tears. We've cried a lot. We'll talk more about that in a second, but I boiled it down for Nathan. I walked into his office. I think it was yesterday and I said I think I've boiled it down. I'm grieving for the lost possibility that Kamala Harris would be leading us and I'm fearful about the future of our country and our rights. That's kind of the two big chunks of grief and fear for me.

Laura Camien:
Yeah, Grief and fear it's…it is absolutely that. And I would add to this fear that it's just layers of fear, this fear that we will never again live in a country where we are getting the same information, so the idea of consensus or agreement on something is so out of possibility for us.

Susan Blackwell:
Right.

Laura Camien:
And that scares me, that you know that things are going to get said and done and that a whole group of 80 million people are going to be like those things weren't said or done, because they didn't hear about it. Right?

Susan Blackwell:
That, that division that is represented in so many ways.

Laura Camien:
Yeah.

Susan Blackwell:
Yeah, yeah. We have been spending time processing this, Laura and I, privately, and also in our communities, in the Spark File. We had a first last night, laura. We had a first. We had a curriculum planned. We take great care with our curriculum. We work really, really hard on it. We're very proud of it. We work really, really hard on it. We're very proud of it. And we got into class and we threw it all out and we just made space for the cohort to talk about their feelings and their fears. And I have to say I am so thankful for community during this time.

Laura Camien: 
Me too.

Susan Blackwell: 
For the communities that we have, you know, invested in and spent time cultivating so that when the shit really gets real and it really hits the fan that to have people to share this with and process this with, I'm so thankful for that. I'm so thankful.

Laura Camien:
I’m so thankful, I might even spark you about it.

Susan Blackwell:
Oh spark me, Amadeus. 

Laura Camien:
Yeah, I got something cooking that I'm going to share with you very soon. That's why I'm quiet right now, but I'm in complete agreement.

Susan Blackwell:
I love that. So something that emerged out of the discussion that we were having last night in class was what art and creativity people are leaning into for solace, for empowerment, as an extension of their self-expression, when they don't have the words, and it reminded me of this TED Talk on creativity that Ethan Hawke gave back in 2020 during the pandemic, and we may have even talked about it on this podcast.

Laura Camien:
We may have talked about it on the podcast. I know we've talked about it in some curriculum or maybe even some free workshops. It's very potent. I think it's always worth a revisit.

Susan Blackwell:
I've been thinking about it so much these past few days, and in it Ethan Hawke says, “Ask yourself, do you think human creativity matters? Well, most people don't spend a lot of time thinking about it, right? They have a life to live and they're not really that concerned with Allen Ginsberg's poetry or anybody's poems. Until their father dies, they go to a funeral, you lose a child, somebody breaks your heart. They don't love you anymore, and all of a sudden you're desperate for making sense out of this life. And has anybody ever felt this bad before? How did they come out of this cloud? Or something great happens. You meet somebody and your heart explodes. You love them so much you can't even see straight. Did anybody feel like this? What is happening to me? That's when art's not a luxury, it's actually sustenance.” And Ethan Hawke goes on, “The thing that worries me sometimes whenever you talk about creativity, because it can have this kind of feel that it's just nice, you know, it's warm or it's something pleasant. It's not. It's vital. It's the way we heal each other in singing our song and telling our story and inviting you to say hey, listen to me and I'll listen to you. We're starting a dialogue, you know. And when you do that, this healing happens and we come out of our corners and we start to witness each other's common humanity, we start to assert it, and when we do that, really good things happen. So if you want to help your community, if you want to help your family, if you want to help your friends, you have to express yourself.” I appreciate so much what Ethan is saying. I loved this talk so much and I completely agree. Sorry, what were you going to say?

Laura Camien:
I was just going to say. It's easy for people to forget and it's easy for people to feel like what they have to say is insignificant, or even we were talking last night about this, this impulse that I suspect may happen for people, which is well, if I'm going to make something, it must be important work. It must be work that—

Susan Blackwell:
Advancing the cause—

Laura Camien:
Reaches millions and changes lives or changes the world. And I think that speaking our soft, quiet truth to one person at a time can change the world. And I think that speaking our soft, quiet truth to one person at a time can change the world.

Susan Blackwell:
I agree, Laura. I thought so much about that today. The other thing that I thought about is sometimes, like right now, when things might still feel too hot to the touch, being self-expressed and creative can feel so far out of reach. I know I've been feeling that way and I know it's okay to not be okay. But, today I want to focus on the catharsis, the comfort, the change, the call to action that we can draw from the creativity of others, how taking in creativity can help us when we feel empty or brokenhearted or lost for words or so mad that we cannot form a sentence. So I put out a call to the Spark File community and to my folks on social media and I asked them what specific quotes, writing, poetry, music, art what are people turning to right now? What has provided you with moments of peace, solace, strength, understanding? I'll start with you, Laura Camien. Are there things that have been comforting to you, are things that have been cathartic to you?

Laura Camien:
Oh, Suze. Well, first of all, I'm in awe because I was just thinking wow, Suze's creativity sprung forth with this idea. Let me crowdfund my spark today and I'm just marveling at you. I'm marveling at you.

Susan Blackwell:
I made it a group homework project and the group delivers.

Laura Camien:
The group delivers. Yeah, I mean, I think there are, you know, there's the Toni Morrison, there's the Mary Oliver. I go, you know, I go to those often. But to be honest, in the last couple of days because it has only been a couple days I have been more like I'm not ready to hear yet that it's time to fight. I know I will be able to, but I need to rest a little bit and then I'm back at it. So I'm very excited to hear all of these because I'll be on it real soon.

Susan Blackwell:
I think that’s a great place to start, Laura. Let's start with the things that people shared. Creativity that offers comfort. Creativity that offers comfort. My high school English teacher, Julie Maynard, whom I adore. Was that grammatically correct, Julie?

Laura Camien:
Oh, is Julie who got you on your grammar kick?

Susan Blackwell:
Julie really has been one of the greatest teachers of my life. And when Nathan met Julie Maynard, I took Nathan home to Ohio for an event and Julie Maynard was present, and he said I just met your high school English teacher and I think I'm in love. She's a really remarkable person.

Laura Camien:
Oh, that's wonderful and I feel like I have the benefits of her every day when you proof my things. 

Susan Blackwell:
Spelling bee.

Laura Camien:
Yes. Thank you so much.

Susan Blackwell:
Julie Maynard shared that she is taking in any and all cooking shows which I appreciate. James Jameson shared murder, she wrote, has been my comfort watch lately. Robin Pomato shared that good old fashioned Pre-HD. Gently fuzzy distraction television from the nineties is bringing comfort, the warm and awkward embrace of Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer, and also,  Captain Picard. Love that one. Love the awkward embrace of Captain Picard. 

Laura Camien:
Fantastic, okay, I do have one to add to that.

Susan Blackwell:
Then Add to it. 

Laura Camien:
So last night I had some homework to do and I needed to watch something and I just could not do my homework. Yeah, and I turned to MTV's The Challenge.

Susan Blackwell:
You love the challenge!

Laura Camien: 
They're on season 40 and I am still with it, and I was like watching the Challenge and I said to Wes I was like… you know, I think that people doing the real tough work right now are these competitors on the challenge and I really need to be there for them and help them work it out.

Susan Blackwell:
I love that and I am with this. I told you, Laura, on election night, Nathan rolled a TV into the bedroom. We don't have a TV in the bedroom, – not to watch the election results, but so I could fall asleep to the great British bake-off.

Laura Camien:
Oh, what a sweetie.

Susan Blackwell:
What a sweetie. Familiar things, kind things, gentle things, things like Murder, She Wrote, that wrap up tidily by the end. No shame in the comfort game. We need it. I have been observing myself, seeking creativity that puts words to feelings when I don't yet have the capacity to focus my own thoughts or make something I find myself leaning into the words others have managed to arrange and the work that others have made. So you, just you, summoned Toni Morrison, so, I would like to read a piece of an essay that Toni Morrison wrote for The Atlantic. This is often excerpted, but I want to read a fuller passage.

Laura Camien:
Oh awesome.

Susan Blackwell:
Yeah, we see this a lot. I've seen this a lot in the past week, but I want to read more because I think it's useful here. “Christmas, the day after, in 2004, following the presidential re-election of George W Bush: I am staring out of the window in an extremely dark mood, feeling helpless. Then a friend, a fellow artist, calls. He asks, ‘How are you?’ And instead of ‘Oh, fine, and you?’ I blurt out the truth Not well. Not only am I depressed, I can't seem to work to write. It's as though I am paralyzed, unable to write anything. I've never felt this way before. I am about to explain with further detail. When he interrupts, shouting no, no, no, no. This is precisely the time when artists go to work, not when everything is fine, but in times of dread. That's our job. I felt foolish for the rest of the morning, especially when I recalled the artists who have done their work in gulags, prison cells, hospital beds. Who did their work while hounded, exiled, reviled, pilloried, and those who were executed. This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. This is how civilizations heal. I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge, even wisdom, like art.”

I appreciate this pep talk from Toni Morrison. Oh, I wonder what Toni Morrison would make of all of this. In the writing of this very passage, I think I can tell that Toni Morrison is stoking her own furnace, she is changing her own gears. But you might say to me, Laura, or I might say to you I'm not there yet. But to this I say if you're feeling this way, let's keep looking to the creativity of others. Let's see if we can unlock something.

Laura Camien:
Well, and also there's something I want to say about like we talked about this with our group last night. There's a difference between coming up with some creative raw material and the moment when you share it with the world and the moment when you share it with the world. So my journal is full of a lot of writing. Like, it's not writing, that I would say this is ready to be consumed by others, but it was important and is important for me to get it down. 

Susan Blackwell:
Love that. And we're going to touch on that in just a moment. I love that.

Laura Camien:
Fantastic.

Susan Blackwell:
Spark Filer Erin Kane shared this writing from Albert Camus from his book Summer. He said “In the midst of hate, I found there was within me an invincible love. In the midst of tears, I found there was within me an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos, I found there was within me an invincible calm. I realized through it all that in the midst of winter, I found there was within me an invincible summer, and that makes me happy. For it says that, no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me there is something stronger, something better pushing right back.”

Laura Camien:
Ah, I like that. 

Susan Blackwell:
I do too. Thank you, Erin Kane. And thank you, Albert Camus. So while Toni Morrison's piece transforms from this feeling of inaction to action, from stuck to unstuck, I feel like this passage acknowledges the dark then turns towards the light and it's like the magic trick of creativity, the way it can change both the maker of the thing and the consumer of the thing. It has that transformative power.

Laura Camien:
And I actually felt in hearing that, the power in the calm, meaning, like you may not need to rush outside and swords a blazing, but to stay calm centered, observant and ready.

Susan Blackwell:
I love that. I love that. We were just talking about magic and transformation, speaking of the magical, transformative power of creativity, friend of the pod Kat Huey, shared an incantation. Kat said she's been paraphrasing Agatha All Along. “Number one, am I grounded in nature? Number two, am I nimble in my craft? Number three, am I embracing my coven?” And Kat says that doing at least one of these things daily keeps her balanced daily keeps her balanced, being grounded in nature, nimble in her craft or embracing her coven! Love that, Kat!

Laura Camien:
I love that. Thanks, Kat. 

Susan Blackwell:
These times can be so full of fear and I really appreciated this thing that Annie-McRae Rosenberg shared. This is some of you may be familiar with this. I feel like we may actually talk about this in class, Laura. This is a “Letter to Fear” written by Elizabeth Gilbert, and Elizabeth Gilbert has this exercise where she invites people to write their own letters to fear, and sometimes we do this in the Spark File:

“Dearest Fear,

Creativity and I are about to go on a road trip together. I understand you'll be joining us because you always do. I acknowledge that you believe you have an important job to do in my life and that you take your job seriously. Apparently, your job is to induce complete panic whenever I'm about to do anything interesting, and may I say you are superb at your job. So by all means, keep doing your job if you feel you must. But I will also be doing my job on this road trip, which is to work hard and stay focused, and creativity will be doing its job, which is to remain stimulating and inspiring. There is plenty of room in this vehicle for all of us, so make yourself at home, but understand this Creativity and I are the only ones who will be making any decisions along the way. I recognize and respect that you are part of the family and so I will never exclude you from our activities, but still, your suggestions will never be followed. You're allowed to have a seat and you're allowed to have a voice. But, you're allowed to have a seat and you're allowed to have a voice, but you are not allowed to have a vote. You are not allowed to touch the roadmaps, You're not allowed to suggest detours, but above all else, my dear, all-familiar friend, you are absolutely forbidden to drive.

Signed, 
Elizabeth Gilbert”

And I just I love this so much, Annie-McRae Rosenberg, and I love that you shared it, because I feel this fear and I'm like… what are you going to?...How are you going to? Where does it get to sit in the car?...and I just feel like it really addressed that beautifully when we're talking about our creativity and challenging times.

Laura Camien:
And it's resonant especially because you know we're just at the beginning of this, so some idea that we're like I'm going to get over this in the next week or so. Well, we're just at the beginning, and so we're going to need to learn how to have that fear right beside us and still keep working and still keep creating anyway.

Susan Blackwell:
Yeah, yeah. The wise Laura Camien reminded me of that yesterday and I was like oh, boy! Our client, Kathryne Guinn, shared this:

“While pruning mums on my front step. I was thinking about our discussion on the importance of creativity and making art now and I was reminded of something I learned about Mel Brooks. He fought in World War II and was stationed close enough to a German post that he could hear them through their speakers. So, in true Mel Brooks fashion, he decided to start making fun of them. Suddenly, the men he was serving with who had been scared were laughing and less fearful of their enemy. This led to his realization that the best way to take away an enemy's power is to get people laughing at them. That's why Hitler shows up in the most ridiculous ways in several of his movies. That's why we have “Springtime for Hitler.” Brooks used art to make a laughingstock of the enemy, so he held less power over people. I wanted to share that in case it triggered any light bulb moments for anyone else.”

Laura Camien:
Yes, thank you, Kat!

Susan Blackwell:
I thought that was great. 

Laura Camien:
Ever since you shared that, I've been thinking about that. There was an article a few years ago, I think, in the Times about how it has been comedians who've taken down dictators and there's a history there. There's a hot spark there. For sure, yes, and allowing ourselves to laugh may be one of the ways through it and one of the ways to end it.

Susan Blackwell:
Yeah, Laura, I love that. I love that. I look forward to reading that article. What a spark. People also shared music that has been helping them to calm down and to power up. Ross Dreyer and Becca Brunelle recommended “Keep Marching” from Suffs. Lora Wilson recommended John Batiste's “Drink Water.” Marya Grandy shared “Roll with the Changes” by REO Speedwagon. Eric Lea is listening to “Hate to See you Like This” by the Fountains of Wayne. Gina Negley shared Sara Bareilles' Armor and When Mac Was Swimming by Innocence Mission. The great Kathryne Guinn, who we just mentioned, shared so many great songs by Sleeping at Last and The Avett Brothers, music from the musical Bright Star, Dolly Parton, Birdtalker.

Laura Camien:
I feel the playlist coming on, Suze.

Susan Blackwell:
Well Laura that's a great segue, because I put all of these songs and more into a Spotify playlist for all of you and you can find that at thesparkfile. com/ playlist.

Laura Camien:
Oh, I'm so excited!

Susan Blackwell:
And if you have ideas about things you'd like to add to the playlist, you can email getcreative@thesparkfile. com and I'll beef up the playlist.

Laura Camien:
Oh my gosh, I love it. I can't wait to get in there and listen.

Susan Blackwell:
It.. it starts like, I put a song on there, the first song…You're going to be like, “What the fuck, Susan?” But it is the song that is the most cathartic for me.

Laura Camien:
Oh good, Good.

Susan Blackwell:
So you're going to be like what does this have to do with? Like, but for me it is the most cathartic song and, as I was making the playlist this afternoon, Laura, I could not stop crying. I cried and shook. And then I organized it so it starts kind of like a little more contemplative and then it gets more like…

Laura Camien:
So you like, let it rip, let the rain water fall out of your face and then you rise up like a phoenix from the flame. I’m for this.

Susan Blackwell:
That's exactly right. Speaking of rising up like a phoenix from the flames. One of my favorite songs on that playlist is a song by Ben Harper called “I'll Rise.” I have loved this song for years, but I didn't realize until this morning that Ben Harper's lyrics are based on a poem by Maya Angelou. Did you know that? This morning I was looking for sparks for this very episode and I found a film of Maya Angelou at some fancy black tie event reciting the poem I'll Rise and I was like, oh my God, I never knew!

Laura Camien:
So I knew, yes, I know of her poem more than I know that song actually. So I've heard that song but not enough to be like-.

Susan Blackwell:
Between the two of us, we are aware.

Laura Camien:
As always, it takes two. It takes the two of us, but I love that.

Susan Blackwell:
Oh, my God, I love that song. “You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, and I'll rise, I'll rise, I'll rise out of the shacks of history's shame, up from a past rooted in pain, I'll rise, I'll rise, I'll rise.” And her delivery of that poem, she's incredible. That footage is amazing. I just want to share this from Brian Yeager. Brian, thank you for sharing this on my Facebook post. It's a little Shakespeare from Midsummer: “I see their knavery. This is to make an ass of me, to fright me, if they could. But I will not stir from this place. Do what they can. I will walk up and down here and I will sing and they shall hear. I am not afraid.” Thank you, Brian.

Laura Camien:
Thank you, Brian!

Susan Blackwell:
I wanted to share something because this really. Ebony Vines shared this, Lora Wilson shared this, Anne Lamott shared this writing from Rebecca Solnit, and so I wanted to share it with you all because so many people were taking strength from this. And before I read it, I'll say that Rebecca Solnit mentions “The Wobblies.” She's referring to an international labor union founded in Chicago in 1905, the industrial workers of the world, whose members are nicknamed Wobblies. So when you hear that, that's what that's referring to.

Laura Camien:
That's good context.

Susan Blackwell:
“They want you to feel powerless and to surrender and to let them trample everything. And you are not going to let them. You are not giving up, and neither am I. The fact that we cannot save everything does not mean we cannot save anything, and everything we can save is worth saving. You may need to grieve or scream or take time off, but you have a role, no matter what, and right now, good friends and good principals are worth gathering in. Remember what you love. Remember what loves you. Remember, in this tide of hate, what love is. The pain you feel is because of what you love.

The Wobblies used to say ‘Don't mourn, organize.’ But you can do both at once and you don't have to organize right away. In this moment of furious mourning, you can be heartbroken or furious, or both at once. You can scream in your car or on a cliff. You can also get up tomorrow and water the flower pots and call someone who's upset and check your equipment for going forward. A lot of us are going to come under direct attack and a lot of us are going to resist by building solidarity and sanctuary. Gather up your resources, the metaphysical ones that are heart and soul and care, as well as the practical ones. People kept faith in the dictatorships of South America in the 1970s and 1980s, in the East Bloc countries and the USSR. People are protesting right now in Iran and people there are writing poetry. There is no alternative to persevering, and that does not require you to feel good. You can keep walking, whether it's sunny or raining.

Take care of yourself and remember that taking care of something else is an important part of taking care of yourself, because you are interwoven with the 10 trillion things in the single garment of destiny that has been stained and torn, but is still being woven and mended and washed.” 

Thank you for that, Rebecca, and thank you for all the people that shared that with me. So, in conclusion, if you're not ready to be self-expressed, take it easy on yourself. If you're not ready to be creative, take it easier on yourself. Maybe take in the creativity of others, borrow their words and wisdom to give voice to how you're feeling and if you have the energy, like the very wise Laura Camien, take some notes about how you feel. It may be raw material for future things that you want to make, future things that may be of service to others in their time of need, and that is my spark.

Laura Camien:
Oh amen, oh, I love that spark. I just want to…

Susan Blackwell:
I feel like we do these episodes and I get it all out and I hold it all together and then I just want to go and cry cry about it, and that's okay.

Laura Camien:
And that's okay, suze, that was beautiful and so helpful.

Susan Blackwell:
Truly, it makes me also think of like all the things that we read of people's work right now. I highly doubt they were someone's first draft and that they put it out in the moment that they were like in the heat of it all moment that they were like in the heat of it all.

Laura Camien:
And so if you need to take a moment, like you just said, if you need to take a moment to gather your thoughts and gather your feelings and express yourself after a bit of rest or after some reflection or contemplation, that's great.

Susan Blackwell:
I think that's right and I also think to your earlier point, Laura your creativity and your self-expression can take so many different forms and all of those different forms are valid. It doesn't have to be spot on about how you're feeling about politics. I think about one of our wonderful clients who writes wonderful erotica and questioning whether that has validity at this moment. Or they should use their energies and channel them towards something that is more “useful,” and I'm like…I think it's pretty useful to be sex positive right now. I think it's pretty useful to live authentically right now and to model that for others. So I think that your creativity can look like a lot of different things.

Laura Camien:
That's right and all of it is needed. Yes, yes.

Susan Blackwell:
Yes.

Laura Camien:
Susan, thank you for this.

Susan Blackwell:”
Laura, thank you for being you. What would I do without you? Oh my God, Laura's just pieced me together with duct tape over here. All right, this episode of the Spark File was made on the lands of the Lenape and the Mohican people and, as always, we hope that this put another bunch of sparks in your file. Thank you to everybody who contributed to all of this today. There were more things than I could even include, and I'm just so thankful.

Laura Camien:
Incredible. Thank you all you friends.

Susan Blackwell:
Listen. If there are sparks that you'd like us to explore or if you'd like to learn more about how to coach with us to accomplish your creative goals, you can email getcreative@thesparkfile. com or you can reach us through our website, thesparkfile. com.

Laura Camien:
We will even happily take your feedback. We truly will, but you know the price of admission. First, you need to share a creative risk that you have taken recently. You can follow us on social @ thesparkfile and be sure to subscribe, rate and five five star review this podcast. It really does help other listeners to find us. Also, if you like this podcast, we hope you'll share it with people that you love, and if you didn't like it, I don't care. I don't care, I can't care.

Laura Camien:
I can't care. Oh, friends, on the other hand, if something lights you up and gets your creative sparks flying, we do care very much about that and we are writing you a forever permission slip to make that thing that's been knocking at your door. It's your turn to take that spark and fan it into a flame.

Susan Blackwell:
You know you gotta take it…

Both: 
And make it!