The Spark File with Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien
Your one stop shop for creative ideas and inspiration. Each week on The Spark File podcast, Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien reach into their spark files and share stories, ideas and fascinations to ignite your imagination. Obsessed with creativity, Blackwell and Camien also talk with artists and makers, movers and shakers who have taken the spark of inspiration and fanned it into a flame. Hear from inspiring creatives like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sara Bareilles, Eric Stonestreet, Jonathan Groff, Julianne Moore and Bart Freundlich, Zachary Quinto, Leslie Odom Jr, Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Billy Eichner, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Karen Olivo, Sutton Foster, Michael R. Jackson and many more about their passions and their failures, their inspirations and their aspirations. Refill your creative fish pond with new ideas and fresh perspectives. Listen, then take it and make it!
The Spark File with Susan Blackwell and Laura Camien
Gifts & Creativity
We have found that the more we tap into our creativity, the more we enjoy the holiday season. In this week’s episode of The Spark File Podcast, we explore creativity in the form of gift-giving. Join us as we discuss the history of giving tangible gifts and why the tradition continues. We’ll explore some of the incredible gifts given (and received!) by members of The Spark File community and touch on some of our favorites from over the years. And, we’ll check in on some expert gift-givers to see what we can learn from them! (Here’s a hint: specificity, timing, and a listening ear are key!)
We’re thankful to be part of such a vibrant community where giving generously of your time and talents is foundational. So, whether you’re looking for the perfect antique photo book or thinking about that once-in-a-lifetime gift from the past, this episode has a ton of ideas to fill that gift-giving Spark File.
Remember that simply showing up and being present is a present.
You can listen to the Spark File podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and directly on our website.
Doors are open for our transformational 6 month program, BLAZE. Our next cohort begins February 6. Get all the information you need HERE
The Spark File Podcast Transcript
Season 5, Episode 15: Gifts and Creativity
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, you may be asking yourself what exactly is a spark file?
Laura Camien:
A spark file is a place where you consistently collect all your inspirations and fascinations. Every episode we're going to reach into our very own spark files and exchange some sparks, and from time to time we're going to talk to some folks who are sparkly and 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. Laura Camien.
Laura Camien:
Susie B Hi Ho ho ho.
Susan Blackwell:
Oh my gosh, are you ready for a spark?
Laura Camien:
I so am. We're in the midst of the holiday season.
Susan Blackwell:
Jingle jangle, jingle.
Laura Camien:
Merry and bright.
Susan Blackwell:
Laura it sure is it's holiday time. That can mean so many things, and one of the things that this time can mean is gifts, gifts, receiving gifts, giving gifts, maybe even creating gifts. So today I want to talk about gifts.
Laura Camien:
You're going to spark me with some gifts!
Susan Blackwell:
Gifts and creativity. Yes and disclaimer before we begin. Gifts have been growing increasingly tricky for me as I age. And as my nearest and dearest age, because most of us are fortunate enough to have pretty much everything we need. What a privilege.
Laura Camien
Oh, that's a seriously privileged statement right there. We have what we need. That is correct, and I would like to add to that just to complicate it, make it harder for you, Suze. Thankfully, I have what I need and I'm finding that I need even less. Yes, and you know, as as we hopefully get wiser in our age and we realize like hey, I don't need all the crap I thought I, you know, desperately needed and there's so much more to life, yes, yes, but it makes gift giving really it makes it more challenging.
Laura Camien
Can I tell you something really cheesy?
Susan Blackwell:
Yes.
Laura Camien:
Your spark is a gift. Oh, can you believe I said that.
Susan Blackwell:
You mean this spark?
Laura Camien:
This very spark.
Susan Blackwell:
Everybody sign the card. This is Laura's holiday gift for 2024.
Susan Blackwell:
You're like no, but what about the stuff? Where are the candles? Just to finish the thought, I feel like gift giving gets harder and like I feel like I need to dig deeper. So I prepared this spark because I needed some inspiration to dig deeper. So if you're listening to this–
Laura Camien:
This is the sound of you digging deep. This is the sound of me making and taking my own medicine when it comes to gift giving.
Laura Camien
Okay, I can't wait.
Susan Blackwell:
Before we go forward, I just wanted let's go back and learn a bit more about the history of gift giving. According to my friend Google, the tradition of gift giving has been practiced for thousands of years and may have predated the beginning of human civilization. According to the paleoanthropologist Arianne Burke, between 35,000 and 10,000 years ago, our ancestors exchanged presents like unusually shaped rocks, decorated bone, shells, ivory feathers, animal teeth. That's what I got you this year a box—I got you a prescription bottle that's empty of the prescription but filled with animal teeth, and they would exchange these things to strengthen social connection and show their appreciation of others.
Laura Camien:
That's really sweet to know that, like I mean truly that it is almost hardwired into our DNA to want to express gratitude. I love that. That's beautiful.
Susan Blackwell:
And just this week my sister was visiting and she said you know what I would love from you. You know what I would love from you? I said, yes, a rock. She was like I'd love a rock to put in my garden and I said, do I have a rock for you? And I actually had, sitting right behind the this desk where I'm podcasting, three rocks that I had found, that I just loved the shape of them, that I had found that I just loved the shape of them, these sort of smooth river stones that I had then used my Cricut to make this very colorful application that says you rock, so I gave her three rocks.
Laura Camien:
That is so awesome, and now she's going to be in her garden and she's going to see them and just smile and think of you.
Susan Blackwell:
That is because she knows she rocks and she knows that we are just like ye olde pre-civilization gift exchangers. But you're getting teeth, Laura. That's what you're getting, this year.
Laura Camien
I'm already thinking about what to make out of them. I'm going to make you a necklace of teeth and then gift it back to you.
Susan Blackwell:
Just keep giving them back to you Gross. So back to the history of gift giving. So as social structures developed, the gifts became more elaborate and decorative. In ancient Egypt, during their new year, which would have fallen around our calendar of July 19th, they would exchange gifts like vases or vases if you prefer, or small flasks filled with holy water from the River Nile which I thought was very interesting.
Laura Camien:
Wow!
Susan Blackwell:
The Middle Ages brought the birth of romantic gifts. Since prehistoric times, flowers and other plants had been used primarily for medicinal purposes, but in the Middle Ages flowers became their own love language because, as the Roman Catholic Church looked down on any public demonstration of romance, lovers gave each other flowers to express their feelings without being punished for it.
Laura Camien:
Wait a minute.
Susan Blackwell:
Thanks, Catholic Church.
Laura Camien:
Wait, what so I missed? Sorry, so they were punished for giving other kinds of gifts, but not flowers?
Susan Blackwell:
No, no. Punished for PDA, oh God, and so–
Laura Camien:
Flowers was a way to—
Susan Blackwell:
were a message yeah, I give you this yellow rose to say that we are friends. I give you this prescription bottle filled with animal teeth to say we are lovers.
Laura Camien
We are more than friends. I want to crawl inside your mouth. Listen. I want to say that earlier, when I said your spark was a gift, I was just being cheesy and weird. But the way you are sewing in these historical references, come on–
Susan Blackwell:
I know Laura Camien.
Lauar Camien:
Two things I never knew.
Susan Blackwell:
Oh, there you go. There's more so in the Middle Ages. Beyond flowers, singing serenades, reciting poems, sewing locks of hair into clothing, this is something else I'm doing for you, this year Laura. But surprise. I'm not going to tell you which of Your garments. These were commonly exchanged between romantic partners and today we still take inspiration from these medieval gifts, whether that's writing a song or a poem for a loved one, or making someone a killer mixtape. This all comes from the Middle Ages.
Laura Camien
Wow, remember those sweatshirts I gave you? Have you looked in the seams?
Susan Blackwell:
Gross. I'm wearing a sweater that you right now I'm wearing a sweater that I love, that you gave me and I bet if I just like check the seams carefully…
Laura Camien:
A lock of my hair.
Susan Blackwell:
Ugh, God. In Native American tribes, predominantly a tradition of the Pacific Northwestern tribes, the potlatch was a ceremony where gifts and property were given to confirm or reconfirm the wealth and status of the gift giver. So the more elaborate the presence in the ceremony, the more powerful the gift giver.
Laura Camien:
Wow!
Susan Blackwell:
A powerful tribe leader would be expected to shower their tribe, according to their rank, with elaborate gifts. And here's the thing I found that I love the most that. The Maori’s of New Zealand believed that an energy called Hau, H-A-U, entered into the gift and created a permanent connection between the giver and the receiver, and this informs my whole spark today. This is so interesting to me. There are lots of reasons to exchange gifts, but gifts that create a connection between the giver and the receiver is just the ultimate, isn't it?
Laura Camien:
Yes, it's the best, it's the best.
Susan Blackwell:
So today I want to provide myself and you, Laura, and our listeners, some inspiration for gifts with an emphasis on creativity, and gifts that create that connection between the giver and the receiver.
Laura Camien:
Oh, I'm excited and I want to begin with the mindset around gift giving. I know a few people who have a superpower when it comes to gift giving. They are really gifted when it comes to gifting. Laura, you actually have this.
Laura Camien:
Oh, thank you.
Susan Blackwell:
You are great at this. We have another client named Alisa Wilson great at this and Spark Filer Anne-Marie Petersma has this so great. Anne-Marie has helped me come up with some killer gifts for important people in my life. She helped me come up with the concept for our friend Hunter Bell's 50th birthday gift, where I reached out to many people who love Hunter and gave them the opportunity to send in messages for him which I printed on individual cardstock, put each in its own envelope, stacked them in a beautiful box wrapped in a bow. And, in addition to everyone's lovely messages, I was able to collect enough to purchase gift certificates for places that I knew Hunter loved where he could make choices about what he got. So he got a Stitch Fix wardrobe update and health classes for Mark Fisher Fitness. He got a gift certificate for Warby Parker for great new specs. He got a gift certificate for books and Bomba socks and a great massage from a great massage therapist. And on his 50th birthday, Laura you contributed to that.
Laura Camien:
I know I was happy to.
Susan Blackwell:
It was so fun. And then Hunter, on his 50th birthday, sat alone on the beach with his toes in the sand and read those messages from people and I think he felt really loved and read those messages from people and I think he felt really loved.
Laura Camien:
I would say so. I think that's such an incredible gift because of exactly that. Gift certificates are nice, the message is really nice, but the whole thing taken away as a collective, the whole thing was about making him feel loved that's right by many people. And you did that.
Susan Blackwell:
Anne-Marie helped me again when my husband turned 50. He felt really ambivalent about celebrating this milestone birthday, which occurred on July 1st, and as I kept having conversations with him, well in advance… What do you want to do? Do you want to do this, do you want to do that? And he was just like not feeling it. So I took a different approach and I said let's make a list of everything you love and we sort of had this ongoing conversation, a list of all these things he loves sports cars, record albums, vintage tech, hot sauce, christmas. And I organized a Christmas in July for him when he was out of town. I put up the Christmas tree. Friends from far and wide sent gifts wrapped in festive paper.
Laura Camien:
Ornaments!
Susan Blackwell:
Yes, so there was a little pile of gifts under that tree. The creativity that people expressed was off the charts. Laura, you and Wes Day sent a vintage Santa candle, a toy sports car and some great classic vinyl. The sports car and the Santa, which look like they belong together, have been up on our mantle ever since.
Laura Camien:
Oh, I'm so honored.
Susan Blackwell:
Oh my God, Everyone's thoughtfulness and creativity just made the day, which was the source of some melancholy for Nathan, it made the day so much more uplifting and again he felt really loved.
Laura Camien:
Suze, you're doing it. Look at what you're doing with your gift giving.
Susan Blackwell:
Look at what you're doing with your gift giving. Well, but this is what. When I was talking to Alisa Wilson, another gifted gift giver, about this, she was saying as she ages, she calls them more emotional gifts.
Susan Blackwell:
She's always on the lookout and then she's like, holds them for the right time, and this is something that was reflected in what Anne-Marie Petersma, another gifted gift giver, shared with me. I went to her in preparation for this spark and I said how did you get so good at gift giving? And she shared that her brain can recognize patterns and retain them and this, combined with her love of shopping, flows into her love of gift giving. So, in essence, whenever someone mentions something about themselves, it goes into a gift spark file in her brain. Oh my God. So this can mean and this is a great thing to these are great prompts to be on the lookout for when someone mentions something forgotten, that they've recently remembered something special to them, something lost, something that reminds them of a time or place or person or experience that they loved. Anne-Marie clocks that, and then she's on the lookout for that thing. That speaks to the thing that the person mentioned, and she said this and Alisa said this…The timing of the gift giving is part of the magic. So just enough time has passed so the person has forgotten that they've mentioned the thing and then shabap, you just hit them with that gift, so that was their formula. Laura, you're great at this too, any insights that you have about this?
Laura Camien:
Well, this is going to sound selfish, but it's related to Anne-Marie's, like.the love of shopping. I love to find obscure and like anything from history, stories, right. So like when you mentioned that your home was built out of some beams that were in the 1960s World Fair right? And so I'm a nerd like that and I'm like…I want to find something related to the World's Fair and specifically the Christian Science Building, so that Susan and Nathan can have like some context for those big, beautiful beams that run through their home. So it's a little bit like nerdiness on my part, but it is that shopping gene too, of like I can find this, I can search for it, because, especially you were mentioning, as we get older I find myself to be so much more excited by and I don't know, just completely enamored with things that cannot be found at every store. So I'm less interested in things that you could just go out and buy and more interested in like I was at an auction and this thing, or you know, I was in a vintage shop in in uh, tennessee and I found this little thing. So I that for me, is it's similar because you're listening, but I'm usually listening for those little things that might be like oh wow. I wonder if they've ever tried to search for that and if not I'll do it, I'll do the searching.
Susan Blackwell:
You have given me such great gifts. You help yes, you help me pick out additional World's Fair 1964-65 World's Fair gifts for Nathan. You gave me this sweater that has “Weirdo” stitched into it that I love.
Laura Camien:
Also, may I say I have the identical one, and so does Anne-Marie Petersma. We are all three weirdos.
Susan Blackwell:
A golden thread runs through it. You gave me a necklace. That was your necklace, that I admired. You gifted it to me and. I wore it so much that it became part of the original costume for the character of Susan in [title of show] and it was. It was fragile and they had to replace it, kind of recreate it, because it was—
Laura Camien:
Because it was glass, it was vintage yeah. Glass beads Red glass beads and like layers and layers of them.
Susan Blackwell:
I loved it. It was like caviar for your neck.
Laura Camien:
I loved that. You loved it. I still have it.
Susan Blackwell:
Oh, I love it too, and the note. I have it. I have the box you gave it to me and the note is still in the box. I have it all right in my top drawer.
Laura Camien:
See again. That's a piece of jewelry that I found at a vintage store that you couldn't find anywhere else. If I tried right now to be like I want a necklace just like that, I couldn't find it.
Susan Blackwell:
It was so beautiful.
Laura Camien:
It was so beautiful, you know what I love those little finger puppets that we got for from you and others. On opening night, the little finger puppet of Susan is wearing a little red bead necklace.
Susan Blackwell:
That's right.
Laura Camien:
I smile every time I look at it.
Susan Blackwell:
I gave you, for you all, for the opening of title show. I forgot about that. I gave you finger puppets made by my amazing friend Craig and everybody also got…this is such a dumb gift because everyone lives in small New York apartments…A puppet theater that was the proscenium of the Lyceum Theater.
Laura Camien:
The craziest and most amazing gift, and thank you, Craig, your work is beautiful.
Susan Blackwell:
Craig's a special, special person. Oh my gosh, so good. So I went to, I crowdsourced.
Laura Camien:
I love when you crowdsource.
Susan Blackwell:
I love when you crowdsource. I love crowdsourcing this because people have so many great things that they have shared. So I just want to tell you and, you listener, some other beautiful things that are ideas for those kinds of gifts that just create a connection between the giver and the receiver.
Laura Camien:
I can't wait.
Susan Blackwell:
I've talked about this on the podcast before, but our friend Tom Schulteis tells this story about how his mom, Carol, viewed her Aunt Rose as a mother figure. Aunt Rose had made a tooth fairy pillow for Carol's daughter when Carol's daughter was little, and this tooth fairy pillow had a pocket. Carol's daughter would lose, and this tooth fairy pillow had a pocket. And when Carol's daughter would lose a tooth, put the tooth in the pocket and then the tooth fairy comes in the night, takes the tooth and leaves a little money in the pocket. Many years later, aunt Rose passed away, which was a great loss for Carol, because Carol viewed Aunt Rose as someone who loved her unconditionally. Flash forward several years later, Carol's kids were helping her clear stuff out of the house. She was trying not to look at everything because she would have a hard time letting go of material objects that she had a sentimental attachment to, and her kids ended up throwing away the tooth fairy pillow. And Carol remembers lifting the lid of the trash can, seeing the pillow and deciding in the moment she had to let it go. She had too many things in her life, she had to let it go, so she closed the lid and that was it. Then, for the next 13 years, Carol would bring up again and again the pain and regret of letting that pillow go, that she didn't grab it. So Tom, our friend Tom, heard his mom, Carol, tell this story over and over again for 13 years. So one mother's day, Tom worked with his mother-in-law, Winnie, to make Carol a new tooth fairy pillow. He found similar fabric and he worked with Winnie on the design and he wrote a little poem to put in the little pocket of the tooth fairy pillow. Tom sent it to his mom, Carol, with the instructions that she had to be on the phone with him. When she opened it and when she saw it, she couldn't even speak. And though it wasn't the original pillow, Carol now had something to replace that painful loss and she now has that pillow in one of her display cases and he's never heard her talk about it again in the same way.
Laura Camien:
You know, a gift like that also is it's…It isn't like this is going to replace what you had, but it, it says I see you and. I feel the pain that you have felt and I understand.
Susan Blackwell:
I have chills, Laura. This is the summary of my spark. So many of these gifts are. I see you, you matter to me. I heard you. Yes, so many of them. So that's what it's all about.
Laura Camien:
I love that.
Susan Blackwell:
And here's some more examples to fill up your Spark File.
Laura Camien:
I just want to say, Tom, what a beautiful gift. Tom, well done, what a beautiful gift.
Susan Blackwell:
So, um, we have this client I just talked about gifted gift giver, Alisa Wilson, who said that a love of giving gifts was instilled in her by her parents. Alisa loves finding the best gift for someone For her mother's last birthday, her mom had mentioned that she felt like she didn't know her children and grandchildren, so Alisa asked everyone in the family to fill out this great questionnaire and Alisa made it into a bound book with current information about the family, and now Alisa's mom feels like she has something to talk to them about. She can engage with them about things that matter to them.
Laura Camien:
Wow!
Susan Blackwell:
Alisa said. Everyone in the family showed up and responded. Some wrote novels, some wrote less but featured more photos and Alisa made that whole book with an online service called Mixbook and I'm sure there's several online services that do that, but I thought that was so thoughtful and so generous—
Laura Camien:
And the kind of gift that will not only keep on giving for her mom but for every family member, like to deepen those connections and those relationships…extraordinary.
Susan Blackwell:
Alisa's husband, Mike, who we also love. Yes, Mike came up with a great gift for Alisa's birthday goodie. Alisa's husband, Mike, who we also love. Mike came up with a great gift for Alisa's birthday this year. Alisa had been best friends with Susanna since they were girls. They met at school and this past year Susanna passed away. So Alisa's husband, Mike, called the PTA of the school where these girls met and, working with the school's PTA, Mike gifted a donation in honor of Susanna and Alisa, and the PTA used Mike's donation to put a bench in the lobby of the school where those girls first met.
Laura Camien:
Oh my god, I'm going to cry.
Susan Blackwell:
Isn't that the best? And, Mike, if you're listening to this, why don't you rock the fuck on? That is such a thoughtful, loving gift…
Laura Camien:
God, that one, really that just got me I know, wow, isn't that, isn't that loving, beautiful and again something that just keeps on giving yeah, yeah, a new set of girls are going to sit and talk and become best friends on that bench.
Susan Blackwell:
Yes, yes, I loved that so much, Mike, that was so great.
Laura Camien:
Wow. I think, crafted gifts are so lovely. Something that my mom did for years, and our friend Mark Lingenfelter's mom also did for years, was to create a series of handmade ornaments for family and friends. Even Mark's coworkers have a series of the cross-stitch ornaments that his mom has made, oh, awesome.
Susan Blackwell:
On Facebook, Tom Mattingly shared that 30 years ago his dad hand-built a shaker pendulum wall clock for Tom, and it still hangs in Tom's home. And he said as Dad sinks further into Alzheimer's, it means more and more to me. And I was like what a poignant gift.
Laura Camien:
Wow.
Susan Blackwell:
Time and that Tom's had that on his well. I just thought that was so beautiful Wow. Tom thank you so much for sharing that.
Laura Camien:
Our friend Tim Baase gifts cuttings and germinations from his succulent plants, and he says he has so many...His plants are thriving that first it was like friends, family, coworkers, and now he leaves them out on the curb for strangers to come and please take a plant.
Laura Camien:
Grow beautiful plants.
Susan Blackwell:
This was an amazing thing Andrew Nielsen shared, “For my 30th birthday. I was surprised with a shot for shot, full length reenactment of an episode of ‘Over the Garden Wall’ starring my friends, filmed in my own apartment while I was out of town for less than 24 hours. We all sat down on my birthday to watch the entire series—” This is a great series that Andrew loves. “They sat down to watch the entire series and a few episodes in the recreated episodes started playing and I was extremely confused and delighted. Those are some kick-ass friends.
Laura Camien:
What a gift, Gosh.
Susan Blackwell:
What a gift. That's a rock fact. Love that. Aaron J. Hunt on Facebook shared that he created a custom cattle brand and stand for his wife, with all of the significance and deep backstory, and I was like that is. I mean, talk about a bespoke gift. Beautiful. Tova Searelman gave her best friend a quilt, largest quilt that Tova had made at that time, inspired by “Sunday in the park with George.” And Tova said she learned how to quilt during the pandemic watching YouTube videos.
Laura Camien:
Okay, quilting is no joke.
Susan Blackwell:
No fucking joke.
Laura Camien:
That's some serious craft.
Susan Blackwell:
Isn't that amazing, wow. Bought gifts can also be wildly creative, and create a connection between the giver and the recipient.
Susan Blackwell:
This is a blind item. My friend we'll call him C my friend C gave my friend J a plain white envelope containing a plain white card with one word written on it Peru. And J, the recipient, knew exactly what it was. C had gifted J with an ayahuasca retreat in Peru, something J. had wanted to experience, and it changed J.'s life. She came back believing there was something greater than us, a loving, creative spirit, as a result of that ayahuasca journey. I think that's a hell of a gift.
Laura Camien:
Wow, and a hell of a presentation.
Susan Blackwell:
Peru.
Laura Camien:
Isn't that, oh my–
Susan Blackwell:
God, it's so clean. I love that. Laura, I think about your sister, Nori. After your dad passed, she had pillows made of his shirts that she gave to your family. I think that's so special.
Laura Camien:
They have like this really sweet tiny little poem on there and yes, it was so special, so truly special. I'll treasure it always.
Susan Blackwell:
I love that. So I have a friend who is a layaway angel. He goes to department stores and pays off strangers' layaway debts during the holidays. Now, if you are unfamiliar with the term, layaway is a payment plan which allows a consumer to put down a deposit on an item and lay it away for future pickup. It's sort of for folks who maybe they don't have cash on hand or they're ineligible for credit cards. So if a family has all of their Christmas gifts on layaway, my friend goes and he clears the debt.
Laura Camien:
Wow.
Susan Blackwell:
With no…anonymously, totally anonymously. So imagine going to pay off your holiday gifts and learning that your balance is zero. I love that gift.
Laura Camien:
Oh my gosh, that gives me chills.
Susan Blackwell:
Isn’t that beautiful? So if you're interested, if you want to be a layaway angel, you can visit a retail store with a layaway program, like Walmart or Burlington Coat Factory, anonymously, select a customer's layaway order and pay it off completely, and you can focus on families that have children's items and toys just by asking the staff for options with toys or clothing.
Laura Camien:
That's really really kind.
Susan Blackwell:
You know what I think, one of the greatest gifts we have ever received. Oh what?
Laura Camien:
Oh. I know–
Susan Blackwell:
What were you going to say?
Laura Camien:
Well, we have received funding. That's what I was going to say For our clients from the most beautiful human being who, essentially, is like I believe so much in what you're doing and I can see how you're transforming lives and I want to support your students and clients.
Susan Blackwell:
That's, I think, one of the greatest gifts. Huge.
Laura Camien:
It's huge. It has allowed that scholarship money has allowed so many people to be able to work with the Spark File. Yeah.
Susan Blackwell:
Yeah.
Laura Camien:
We don't take that lightly.
Susan Blackwell:
Anonymous gifter. You know who you are and we are grateful. Are you listening to this podcast right now with a little smile dawning on your face? Thank you, person. Thank you, person. Here's just to take a complete turn.
Susan Blackwell:
My friend, the great Kelly Novitski, a person who infuses the way that she lives with creativity, took the gift thing, flipped it and reversed it when she shared this For my birthday one year. I asked everyone, in lieu of gifts, to share something with me via email that brought them joy or inspired them. Could be a quote, a comfort meal, an activity, etc. Then I spent the year weaving that something into my life. I turned someone's favorite quote into a mug, another into a bookmark and another I commissioned someone on Etsy to turn into a print. My friend Megan loved to ski. She took me skiing for my first, and last, time, laughing emoji. Another friend had me join him at the performing arts library to watch his favorite musical. I joined another friend for dinner at his favorite Jewish deli. Another friend had me come over and played his guitar and sang for me, and our pal Jeff Bowen took me birdwatching. It was a remarkable way to connect with people who bring me the most joy and inspire me the most by learning more about them. Isn't that a rad idea? Talk about creating a gift that creates connection between the giver and the receiver and the giver and the receiver and the giver and the receiver.
Laura Camien:
It's so good and all year long giving and receiving. Wow, yeah, well done.
Susan Blackwell:
Gifts that support someone's creativity can make such a great gift. For someone who loves to crochet or knit, this could be a gift certificate to a great local yarn store. Years ago, Nathan, my husband, gifted us our podcast equipment and got us all hooked up to make this podcast.
Laura Camien:
Thank you, Nathan! The gift that keeps on giving.
Susan Blackwell:
I remember opening it and with each package I opened I was like okay, I think we just need headphones, and then it's like the headphones, so great.
Laura Camien:
Oh, my God.
Susan Blackwell:
If you have a fine artist in your life. This is an idea that I had and I did a little bit of this for you and Hunter. I was traveling in Europe and there are amazing independent art stores, so bringing back paints or pastels or pens from your travels could be so cool for your artist friends.
Laura Camien:
Yes, yes!
Susan Blackwell:
If you want to give the gift of an amazing creative experience and you live near New York. Our very own Wes Day is a certified Bob Ross painting instructor and Wes creates these amazing Bob Ross painting experiences where everything is laid out for you your paint, your easel, your canvas and he guides you through the making of an entire painting, from the blank canvas to the finished work Happy little trees, happy little clouds and all and I think that would be an amazing gift and a fun thing to do with the recipient your friend or a date or a group and you can find more about it at westdaycom or a group, and you can find more about it @ wesdaydream.
Laura Camien:
Oh my gosh, you are after my heart. I can vouch for it. It's a fucking fantastic experience.
Susan Blackwell:
How fun would that be?
Laura Camien:
You will marvel at yourself. Like truly. Wes will take you through it and you'll just be like I can't believe I made that. Yeah, it's so cool.
Susan Blackwell:
And then you could let that painting dry and you could gift it to somebody else. That's right. I mean gifts on gifts For anybody living anywhere:The Spark File New Year Creativity Kickoff is a great gift and it's a wonderful tradition. It's a one-day virtual retreat led by me and Laura Camien and it is designed to put you on the good foot for the coming year. It's so fun, it's deep, you meet so many interesting people. You could give this gift to a friend or yourself, and it's really good for self-improvers artists, performers, writers, creatives. Spark File fans.
Laura Camien:
People who want to pivot, people who are ready to like write a new chapter for their life. What's next for them? Oh, that's a good one, Suze. It is a good one.
Susan Blackwell:
You can find out about that at thesparkfile. com. So what do we make of this, Laura Camien?
Laura Camien:
Tell me.
Susan Blackwell:
Before I tell you, I want to ask you the question I asked on social. What do you think is one of the most creative gifts you have ever given or received?
Laura Camien:
So I'll mention something that I gave that I'm really proud of and that is so. Over the course of my dad's life we we as a family had tried to piece together kind of what happened to our grandpa in World War II, because he was a 101st Screaming Eagle, which is–he's a paratrooper. He jumped out of a plane going too fast and too low on D-Day and if you know the movie Saving Private Ryan, you know they all got scattered to the wind, so—and he did make it back from the war but he wouldn't talk about what he had done. So over the years we were always finding books and we went on a trip and had like a tour guide take us through everything small French towns where you know grandpa likely ended up, et cetera. But just a couple of years ago, before dad passed, I was, thanks to Anne-Marie Petersma, I was on a particular auction site searching for things related to 101st Airborne and I found a book. Like a really big picture book, but it it's so old, it's not what a you can imagine a picture book would look like right now, but um, photographic. It was created by the PR department of the Army, so it was a bit of propaganda, if you would like. There was nothing negative in it, but it was internal. There were only a few made so that they would be distributed so people inside the Army could have an understanding of everything that the 101st Airborne did during World War II. So you go, page by page, through the different battles, through the different details and all of these images that we had never seen before, despite all of our searching for Wow, and I, yeah, I bid on it, uh, ferociously, and I got it and I was able to gift it to my dad the very last Christmas that we had together.
Susan Blackwell:
Oh, Laura, what a glorious gift.
Laura Camien:
It was pretty awesome. And then I'm happy to say I got to re-gift it just a few weeks ago at Thanksgiving, because my stepmom had given it back to me after dad passed, which was so lovely. Thank you, Julie.
Laura Camien:
And my dad's brother, John. I was like Uncle Johnny, I have something for you. So yeah–
Susan Blackwell:
Laura.
Laura Camien:
It was a pretty good one.
Susan Blackwell:
Did Johnny's head explode? That is such a good—
Laura Camien:
He looked at every page. He went page by page and looked at every page and he's like, oh, now this. I remember. Dad talked about this not very much, but he did mention this, um, and that was really really cool to go back through all of it.
Susan Blackwell:
Laura, that is beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. You're such a good gift giver, laura Kamian, because you live the “What do we make of this?” Laura. You pay attention, you listen to people, you hear what matters to them, what they yearn for, if they have any open loops in their lives, and then you do this and anybody listening, if you so choose, if you are so moved, use your creativity to respond with a gift that communicates that that person again is seen, they are heard and they matter, and it is when we are present that we can really translate that into great presence. I think it is a skill, it is a muscle that we can strengthen, but it starts with being present to people.
Laura Camien:
Oh for sure, and Suze again, you have this skill as well. You have this skill as well. I’ll just say that.
Susan Blackwell:
You're sweet. Let's, let's, uh, let's get out of here, cause we got holiday things to do!
Laura Camien:
I am sufficiently sparked.
Susan Blackwell:
Did you get sparked over there?
Laura Camien:
I got sparked.
Susan Blackwell:
So that's it. This episode of the spark file was made on the lands of the Lenape and the Mohican people and, as always, we hope it put another bunch of sparks in your file. If there is a spark 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 us at getcreative@ thesparkfile. com or reach us through our website, thesparkfile. com.
Laura Camien:
We'll even happily take your feedback, but you know the price of admission. First, we request that you share a creative risk that you've taken recently.
Susan Blackwell:
You can follow us on social @theSparkFile and be sure to subscribe, rate and five-star review this podcast elicitably. It really helps other listeners to find us. If you like this podcast, we hope you'll share it with people that you love. And if you didn't like it, take those feelings, wrap them up in pretty paper and a tiny bow and just shove them down your garbage disposal.
Laura Camien:
If something lights you up and gets your creative sparks flying, 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 got to take it–
Both:
And make it!
Susan Blackwell:
Happy Holidays!
Laura Camien:
Oh, great spark, Suze.
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