Episode 46: Flow, Play, & the Benefits of Creativity

On today’s episode, Tracey and Cayly are keeping it relatively light, answering the following question:  Why is it important to have a creative outlet?

In this conversation, Tracey and Cayly both talk about their creative passions, explore the positive ripple effects they’ve seen in their lives as a result of these creative outlets, and discuss their experience of flow.

They also talk about failure, how to eliminate distraction, and why doing something you love can sometimes feel really terrible.

If you’re looking for permission to pursue a creative project, this episode is for you.

Enjoy this conversation and consider leaving the show a 5-star review and/or rating in iTunes if you do! Tracey and Cayly would really appreciate it!

Highlights from this episode:

- Creativity by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Flow-Psychology-Discovery-Invention/dp/0062283251)

- How do Tracey and Cayly channel their creative energy?

- How creative outlets can give us places to regularly fail and why this is important

- Creativity and risk-taking

- What is flow? (https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-Classics/dp/0061339202)

- How do Tracey and Cayly transition from the “real world” into creative flow?

- The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler (https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Superman-Decoding-Ultimate-Performance/dp/1477800832)

- Flow Genome Project (http://www.flowgenomeproject.com/)

- Why multitasking is a lie

- Deep Work by Cal Newport (https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Work-Focused-Success-Distracted/dp/1455586692)

- The importance of eliminating distractions for creative work

- How having an accountability partner can be helpful for prioritizing creative projects

- What are the beneficial ripple effects of creativity into the rest of our lives?

- Does creative work ever feel terrible while it’s happening?

- It’s Okay to Feel Terrible Sometimes on Cayly’s website (http://organicacupunctureportland.com/okay-feel-terrible-sometimes/)

- Interview on Being Boss with Brooke Castillo (https://beingboss.club/podcast/episode-160-customer-focused-business-brooke-castillo)

- How your self-critic can get in the way of flow

- Can you edit and create at the same time?

- Playfulness in creative work

- Meeting Faith by Faith Adiele (https://www.amazon.com/Meeting-Faith-Forest-Journals-Buddhist/dp/039332673X)

- The benefit of sharing your creative work

- How technology robs us of creativity and why it is important for us to be bored sometimes

- Cayly’s experience of being off of Facebook for almost a month and how Tracey has been using social media more mindfully this year

- And more!

Piquing Our Curiosity:

Mint (https://www.mint.com/), an online platform and app for managing your finances, where you can pay bills, create budgets, track payments, and all that jazz. Tracey loves this platform and has been using it for over a decade. I have yet to look into it, but plan to do so after hearing her rave about it. Check them out online here (https://www.mint.com/) or download the app from the App Store or Google Play.