The pussy willows are back, making it easier to engage in what Maslow calls “continued freshness of appreciation,” as explored in Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, written by our guest on our next episode, Scott Barry Kaufman.
Preview: Episode 15
Are you living up to your creative potential? Or are you stuck in a rut? Could it be that the rut is serving you? These are some of the questions we wrestle with in this episode of Emerging Form. We’ll talk about Christie’s sweet spot between struggle and boredom, how fencing (or another new activity) might supercharge your creative process, and LOTS of tips on how to get out of a rut. We finish, as always with a guest interview. This episode features Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist at Columbia University and author of the new book, Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization.
What We’re Reading:
Rosemerry:
· It’s National Poetry Month, and surprise! I’m reading lots of poems! But I’m also memorizing lots of poems, or as I prefer to say, learning them by heart. A life-changing book on how and why to learn poems by heart is Kim Rosen’s Saved by a Poem, featuring many exercises to see just what this engagement with a poem has to teach you.
· I also read a really fun historic romance series by Lisa Kleypas, five books in The Hathaways series, in which four sisters and a brother are unexpectedly launched into London’s aristocracy. Dark secrets. Lots of passion. Gypsy kidnappings. Hedghogs. You know, the usual.
· Keeping Quiet, by Pablo Neruda, has been one of my favorite poems for years. It’s never felt more relevant.
Christie:
· I devoured Laura Zigman’s new novel, Separation Anxiety, which I binge read. The dedication made me cry because it still hurts that Lisa Bonchek Adams died far too soon. This book made me feel less alone in grief, which is the most beautiful thing that writing can do.
Online Resources:
· Feeling isolated? Wish you could have a cool writing prompt for every day of April? You can! Author and TED speaker Suleika Jaouad has been hosting a prompt a day, asking friends to contribute, too. I’ve been having so much fun with them—a great way to get your creative juices going!
· Need a little happy hour at home? Every day at 5:30 PST, celebrated tenor Dennis McNeil is doing a porch concert live on Facebook. Simply show up on his page at that time and you’re in for a blend of Broadway, Frank Sinatra, pop songs, opera and more.
·
Two Questions:
(share your answers with us here on Substack)
What does self-actualization look like for a creative person?
What’s the path to self-actualization in one’s creative life?