Can envy help your creative practice? The origin story of this podcast would seem to offer a resounding yes! In this episode, Rosemerry and Christie recall the strange circumstances (Christie’s word is “mortifying”) in which they first met in 2008--lots of laughter--and how play and vulnerability are now at the heart of their friendship. Christie offers insight about envy and how it can be an invitation to live into your true wishes for yourself. We also talk about STTUC (sensitivity about being the target of a threatening upward comparison), Shine Theory, and why, as the poet David Lee says, it might be important for your creative practice to surround yourself with people better than you. What began as envy became admiration and inspiration and has grown and flowered into a mutually supportive friendship and this podcast, a merging of creative energies.
Christie’s Last Word On Nothing post how she and Rosemerry met and yes, those envy poems.
Rosemerry’s TEDx Talk: The Art of Changing Metaphors
Christie’s TEDx Talk: How Envy Can Guide Your Path to Success
Christie’s Oprah Magazine story about the benefits of envy.
After Having My Manuscript Rejected by Ghostroad Press, I Read the Bio of Christie Aschwanden, Award-Winning Writer and Phenomenal Nordic Skier
Comparison is the root of all unhappiness. —Michelle Kodis
Not only is the grass greener on her side,
it’s also taller, thicker,
more nitrogen rich,
and more appealing to grazing deer.
Her snow is whiter,
her summers warmer,
her sky more starry by night.
I wish it were just the grass.
Why do I bother to breathe
knowing she breathes more deeply,
more fully into her more fertile belly.
And she’s published in O Magazine.
So I tell myself: Fertilize your own front yard.
Compost. Weed and feed.
And I tell myself she probably seeded with Kentucky Blue,
a selfish choice in this drought-prone land.
And I tell myself, she probably didn’t.
It’s probably an organic greener lawn
and she’s a better gardener with a greener thumb
and she’d probably invite me over to her yard to play
because she’s more nice, more generous, more willing to share.
To hell with grass.
I tell myself,
I’d rather xeriscape.
But man, it looks green over there.
from Holding Three Things at Once (Turkey Buzzard Press, 2008)
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