Good Life Project - Building a Living Around Your Creative Soul: Cynthia Morris

Episode Date: May 12, 2015

"The creative act is surrendering to not knowing."There's this scene I have etched in my mind. This week's guest, Cynthia Morris is dancing around a fire in Costa Rica, giggling mercilessly, utterly at home in her playfulness as another friend plays guitar and belts out 80s hits. In that moment, she's the person I wish I could let go enough to be on my best days. Yet, for Cynthia, it's simply who she is. Every day.Beyond an alluring level of ease with her essence, Cynthia is also a gifted writer's coach and creativity coach, a multi-time author, both fiction and nonfiction, an international workshop facilitator and, more recently, she's taking her seat as an illustrator.What started as her own personal process for visual note-taking as she traveled and learned turned into a form of arresting artistic expression. Her main canvas was the little-known accordion Moleskine journals. And it's led to not only a burgeoning career illustrating, but also her powerful Capture the Wow process, which she teaches in workshops around the world. Cynthia's energy and viewpoint on trusting the creative process are profound. We discuss how she found her way through her varied creative pursuits, how she crafted a fulfilling career out of them, and how she's built a very real living traveling, creating, laughing, teaching and speaking French.This episode is for everyone who wants to be an artist but thinks they don't have it in them, or they could never make a living doing it.Follow Cynthia:Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter"True power is our resourcefulness."Check out our offerings & partners: My New Book SparkedMy New Podcast SPARKEDVisit Our Sponsor Page For a Complete List of Vanity URLs & Discount Codes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So I think a lot of people self-identify based on how the world responds to them. And that's one of the things that as a coach and as a creativity coach and a writer's coach that I seek to correct. We get to decide who we are. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were going to be fun on January 24th. We'll be right back. The Apple Watch Series X is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you eight hours of charge in just 15 minutes.

The Apple Watch Series X. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone Xs are later required. Charge time and actual results will vary. In a recent conversation with Jeff Goins about finding your calling, this interesting term, portfolio life or portfolio career, came up.

And we went deep on what that is and what it really is. And it's being used these days to describe a career where you blend a series of deep interests or passions or things that you feel very called to, to form a path through life where you're driving your living and spending a lot of your time doing a wide variety of different things, or sometimes just a handful of different things, sometimes complimentary, sometimes entirely different. Cynthia Morris, who's this week's guest, is a really fascinating and compelling example of this. A world-class writer's coach and workshop facilitator who leads workshops around the world, she kind of kept a secret, which is that for a very long time, she's been an illustrator, not just an illustrator, but a really gifted illustrator. And it didn't start out as her thinking that she was actually making illustrations. In her mind, she was just doing what she did to take notes as she learned throughout the world.

But more recently, she's made the decision to step into, to own, to call herself an artist. And today's conversation tracks that journey that I have a feeling many of you have been either trying to figure out how to embrace or thinking seriously about stepping into. I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is Good Life Project. Hi, Cynthia Morris. Hi, Jonathan Fields. So how weird is this to be sitting, hanging out and actually interviewing? It's not an interview, but having like a real conversation that's recorded for the podcast. I think it's kind of cool because it's a completely new setting and I'm all for new situations and new settings. Okay. So here's my chance to ask all the weird and appropriate questions of people that I've known for a fairly long time on a friend level and now a colleague level. But I never like drilled into your past because I never had an opportunity to sit down and

grill you for real. Thanks for sending the questions in advance. I'm ready for this. There are no questions. Oh, wait, you got the fake questions? That's so cool. Yeah, for the real ones. Okay, let's go back in time.

So right now we're hanging out. We're in New York City, recording studio. We're going to get into what you're doing now, but you've got this really cool blended career where you're helping people, you're making exquisite art, you're traveling around the world, you're writing. And I want to get to how that all threads together. But let's take a big step back because I want to know, what was Cynthia Mars,

the kid, like? And where did you grow up? I grew up in Ohio. Where? Just outside of Toledo in Sylvania. What was that like? Bucolic, quiet. My family lived outside of town, outside of the subdivision. So on an acre of a property with a big garden in the back. So I had a life that was always, I was always just on the outside of things. I went to Catholic school where I got very good training in how to sit still. As I'm watching your news, like learn my grammar. I know my grammar.

Hopefully. So what else did you get good training in? My mom and dad both worked. So I was one of those latchkey kids. And it was great because I would come home from school and do what I love to do, which is get a snack and crack open a book and read. So I was a big book kid, big book person my entire life. So, which is kind of interesting because now you're a writer also. That's one of the many hats that you wear.

When you were a kid and you were like this kid who would love to come home and crack open a book, was there anything in your mind that said, someday I want to be writing these things? Yes. So when were you first aware of that? I don't know. I remember looking at some kind of list of careers that were possible and it was something like nurse and teacher. And I knew it wasn't one of those.

And I said, I want to be a writer. And my dad, being very practical, hardworking businessman, said, how are you going to make a living doing that? And I said, I don't know. But it ends up that I do. I make a living as a writer and helping people write and helping people create things that they really care about. So I don't want to gloss past that, though, because the conversation that you just shared is a conversation that I think unfolds a zillion times, you know, all over the place with parents and their kids,

when their kids say, there's this thing that I just keep thinking I want to do, and I think it would let what's in my heart come out. And the parent is thinking, okay, we're both working, and we've got two people working, hardworking people, solid jobs, nine to five, nine to seven, nine to nine, six days a week, to put a roof over the house and, you know, like food on the table, you know, and we're doing that so that our kids can have more opportunity than us. And then Kate comes and says, well, I want to do something where the parent perceives

it to be potentially less opportunity. So how does that, like, take me deeper into the conversation and how it unfolded, maybe on a more ongoing level in your family or your life? Well, so I studied, I loved, always loved reading and books. And I got that great grammar background. And then in high school, I was on the yearbooks, I studied journalism. And then when I was going to head into college, I wanted to study English, but I said, you've got to be practical. So I went for magazine journalism. So I spent my entire college career studying magazine journalism in French. I spent a year abroad in France. Wait, so you've got practical magazine journalism, and we need to, we've got to balance that

with something else. French. Right. Well, you have to study a language. So I chose French when I was 14 because of my mom's roots in Louisiana. And my grandmother was not allowed to speak French in school. So I took up French rather than any other language. And I loved it. I had this total fantasy about Paris all through high school. So I got to college and I'm studying journalism, magazine journalism, made it all through college, did my year abroad in France. And by the time it came to my fourth year, I was way closer to a French degree than a journalism degree. It was the difference between one class and another year. So I ended up with a highly useful French and West European studies degree.

And when you're wrapping up, you're like, okay, this is what I'm darned with coming out of school. Where do I go with that? Where did I go with that? For 10 years, I didn't really go anywhere with it. I moved to Colorado, and that was when I really devoted myself to being a writer. I took writing classes. I started writing. I started learning about writing in 1994. I really claimed myself as a writer. And I considered that the moment when I

started my writing life. But then in 2005, to jump ahead, I had this crazy idea to lead a creativity workshop in France. And, um, had you led a workshop before? I'd been teaching. Yes. I started teaching in 96. I taught cooking classes for 10 years, vegetarian cooking classes, which if you can teach us, like how many layers of the onion can we start to peel here? Well, this is what it is to be a creative person without a specific career trajectory. You, you try all of these different things. And when I was young, I did not have any clue how to make my way in the world. I have no idea what I'm going to do or how I'm going to survive. So I was pretty anxious about that when I got out of college and moved to Colorado. And some

wise part of me said, don't worry about it. Don't worry about what your resume looks like. Just do whatever you want to do in your 20s. And then when you hit 30, that's when you kick into gear with a career. And so in my 20s, I took writing classes, I started teaching cooking, I satisfied some of my wanderlust. And then by the time I was 30, that's when I really started teaching writing. Yeah, it's interesting to me also, maybe it was last year or something like that. I got, when we were doing these short segments on here and I would just be for a couple minutes and I was just answering a lot of questions that were sent in to me. And one of the questions was, what would you tell your 20 something self? And one of the big things was, you know, lighten up

and use your 20s to just run a series of experiments. Just trying to figure out what lights you up. And it sounds like that's exactly what you used your 20s for. That's exactly what I did. And I tried to go the traditional route. I went to graduate school for one miserable semester at SUNY Buffalo in French. It was way too theoretical and way too not me. So when I went home from that semester back to Colorado, I got a job at a bookstore, a secondhand bookstore. And I consider that my true graduate studies because I learned how I learned so much about books. I read

so many books, but more so about people. That's where I learned how to be in conversation with any kind of person. And we were right across from the Capitol. So I could be talking to a politician. I can be talking to a totally crazy person, street person, and anywhere in between. But you're assuming there's a difference also. We're not going to go down that rabbit hole, though. But that's really interesting also because you weren't just testing the things that light you up, but you were also testing different environments that gave you a set of skills that would maybe even without that intention, but that gave you the set of skills to understand social dynamics and how to work with people and understand. And were you selling at the bookstore? Selling books.

Front of the house? Oh, yeah. And buying books. Right. And just so many kinds of people and being able to interact with anybody at any moment. It was like improv from the moment we started the day until the end of the day. And I loved that. I loved the dynamic of anything could happen. And then books as a social object that we got to have conversations around.

So you got to kind of circle back to the book thing also. Yes. Because the library wouldn't hire me. I don't know why. A little too creepy, maybe. Maybe the lack of a degree, the librarian degree or whatever it was. So you're hanging out and running a series of experiments, working in the bookstore, leading workshops, and you get this idea to run a workshop at France. Well, I should backtrack to 2000 where I'm still trying to figure out. I had just started studying coaching.

1999 was when I discovered life coaching and I took the courses to be a coach. I was still looking for a little bit of adventure and I found this job on cooljobs.com being a hot air balloon chef in Switzerland. So I applied and got the job and went over there. And it was one of the most difficult jobs I've ever had, but it got me back to Europe. And when I was in Paris in 2000, in the Père Lachaise cemetery, I had this realization, wow, I speak French. What am I doing? I actually know how to speak French. And I made a vow that I would go back to France every year after that. And I did. And it wasn't until 2005 that I figured out how to actually monetize it and pay for it. So there was a book, Sarah Mida's South of France, which is

this beautifully adorable illustrated book of her year in Provence. And I thought, wouldn't it be cool to do a workshop where we, not a tour where we're pointing out the sites, but a workshop where people fill a journal of their experience, recipes and little sketches and their own creative interaction with a place. And so that's where that Leading Workshops in France started in 2005. So what was in your mind, who's coming to this workshop and what are they going to get out of it? You know, my mom was the first person to sign up. No kidding. Bless her heart. And she's great.

So she's a great example. You know, a woman in her early 60s, somebody who wants a little bit of adventure, but maybe her spouse doesn't want to go to Europe. Or has a creative spark, but hasn't really had any big outlet for it. Maybe somebody who went to art school so she came and her she was making these sketches and drawings and we looked at what she was doing she's an amazing artist she's now doing watercolor and taking classes and did you know this i mean before that no and she's very artful and design she was an interior designer and she's got a lot of style but i never knew that she was she could put things on paper like that and now my sister she and my sister take watercolor classes together so um people

like that who are looking to reawaken their creativity in an unusual setting so it's just daring enough they're going across the ocean but they're not going alone i figure out all the lodging and everything and then um we just have a really good time. My way of helping people transform both their lives and their creativity in a real world setting outside of a classroom. So you and you take this. What was your when you did that first workshop? How do you feel doing that? Like what?

What? When you when when you you wrap that first workshop, how did you feel doing that? Like when you wrap that up, right, and you just kind of like the last person leaves. It was great. I was doing it with a friend. A friend and I co-led that. And then there was a vacation in between with my then boyfriend. And then I led another one in Paris. So I'm one of those people who likes a challenge.

So I did the first workshop in Arles in Provence. And that's when I started blogging too they're ready for the next step and just stepping out of their lives and giving them a notebook and some creative tools to process what's inside and what they're experiencing. It was so satisfying to see that kind of transformation in a concrete way. At the end, we do a show and we share our journals and hearing how people talk and how it moves them. It's really satisfying. Yeah. If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered.

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whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest-charging Apple Watch, getting you 8 hours of charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series 10. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required. Charge time and actual results will vary. Mayday, mayday.

We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were going to be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're going to die.

Don't shoot him, we need him. Y'all need a pilot. Flight Risk. I think there's so much power also to, I mean, getting people out of their heads and expressing themselves with their hands, you know, through actually making something physical. And then you add that also there's so much power to removing somebody from their physical environment, you know know and kind of dropping them into something which is you know if it's not far away it's it's very different you

know it's geographically it's just everything about it is different um and i think probably even a different language just sort of reinforces that it's that alone i think makes a profound just shift in your state then when you add in some sort of intensely creative process that really makes something external, that's sort of an emanation from you. And you do it in a safe place with other people. I mean, I think it's an amazing experience that so many of us don't even think about experiencing. Yes, it's very much out of their comfort zone. And I've been doing it long enough to realize that it's only until day three that they kind of land and feel a little bit more

comfortable. But the way I help ease that discomfort is I wrap everything in beauty and sensuality. So we have really beautiful food and really beautiful. I have a wow kit that I give everybody at the beginning to make things sensual and pleasurable so that they have that aesthetic comfort and joy while they're in this, you know, Paris is where I usually lead them. It's pretty intense cities and there's a lot happening. So I try to make it easy without coddling them. They have to figure out how to make their way around. And I give them a map and send them. One of the things that they have to do is get lost. Yeah.

So, and that's when they become empowered. Yeah. No, I love, I love the term. The first time I heard the term, you familiar with the term flaneuring? Flaneur. Flaneur. The first time I heard it was, I guess, Rolf Potts, who wrote Vagabonding and talks all about, you know, deliberately getting lost. And I was like Rolf Potts, who wrote Vagabonding and talks all about deliberately

getting lost. And I was like, it's brilliant. And we don't allow ourselves that luxury of absolute agenda-free discovery. And it's even worse now with the phone, because everybody is now face in phone. If you're lost or you want to find something, just look at your phone. And what does that do? It it's a super handy tool and i use it as well but if you've got your face in your phone all the time you're really missing what's going on around you and that is a real danger to our creativity because a we're learning how to be reliant on something other than ourselves instead of our senses that's a loss that's a serious And then B, we're losing out on that getting lost. And to me, whenever I get lost and I'm just wandering around, I'm in the discovery mode.

And I'm always rewarded. I always find just this magical shop or the perfect cafe or something that I could not have planned. And that's what I'm seeking when I go out into the world. And I've just been wandering around all morning in New York. I even biked around. So things that push me out of my comfort zone and I feel a thrill and a power after I do that. But there's this psychology, right, that says lost is wrong. You know, like I once was lost, but now I'm found, right?

So the goal is to move from being lost to found. And that's kind of what we're taught, where there's not a lot of sort of identification of there's a gorgeousness, there's a beauty. There's a creative power in deliberately creating scenarios where you're completely lost. And you have to figure out the language, the place, whatever it may be. And your goal is not necessarily to be found or to find your way

through. Your goal is just to be as present as you can be while you're there. Well, it's about not knowing and not knowing is the ultimate creative power. And yet everything in our adult lives tells us that we should know, we have to know everything, know where we're going, what we're doing, what our why is, what it's all about. But in the creative act, when you're making something, it's surrendering knowing, it's surrendering having everything figured out. And you wrote about, you wrote a whole book about this, Uncertainty. And it's really something that we have as children that artists and creative people tap into daily, not knowing, being clueless.

Yeah. And I think we're judged for being in that place. We judge ourselves internally because it just feels bad internally for most of us. We've never equipped ourselves with the tools to actually be able to stay there and say, wow, there's amazing stuff that's happening here. There's possibility within the window of uncertainty that does not exist once you create certainty. And that possibility is where the amazingness happens. And then I think we're being judged from the outside in also just societally. People are like, well, if somebody comes, like if other people say, oh, Cynthia, oh, she's lost. They're not saying that is a good thing.

Well, true power is our resourcefulness. So whether you're lost in the world or lost with your career or lost with, I just don't have access to the resource. The real power is in being able to figure it out and trusting yourself. Like if I'm lost in New York or any other place in the world, I trust that I can make my way home. One time when I was in London, I was really, I was in my early twenties and I somehow spent all my money on a phone card. I had no money. I had no subway pass and I had to walk across the city to the squat where I was staying. It took about five hours and I had an A to Z map. It was page by page making my way across. After that, I'm cool anywhere. I can do that. I can do anything. And that taught me that

if I had had the phone or if I hadn't had that experience, I would not have gained the self-trust that has taught me that I can pretty much make my way anywhere. So I really want people to, if I had my way and I had a magic wand, I would say pocket your phone, sheath your device so that you're not constantly relying on it. I think we're really at risk of losing that self-trust and losing touch with the just a creative vein, but also the ability to just drink in so much of life without having to lock it down. I think there's so much suffering in the quest of security, of locking it down. What do you mean by that? But we sort of define comfort as knowing what comes next. Oh. And so to the extent that we're comfort-searching beings, we want to create as much knowing what comes next as humanly possible.

And that's supported, and we're taught that. That's what we aspire to. You get your solid job. And like when your parents were saying to you when you're a kid, you know, well, that's great, you know. But, you know, you've got to maybe do that on the side because you need something secure. You need something where you know the paycheck is coming every two weeks. And I don't begrudge that to anybody. I mean, it's so interesting because I'm a parent now. So, you know, if you ask any parent, what do you want for your kid? Oh, I want them to be happy.

But that's actually a lie. That's not the first thing any parent wants for their kid. The first thing any parent wants for their kid is for them to be safe. And resourceful. Yeah. And then they want them to be happy. But they actually, like,

they don't want them to be resourceful right off the bat. They want them to be safe. They want them out of harm's way. And in their mind, having a kid who has not found a way to be able to cover their costs exposes them to being unsafe. And so it's not that you don't want your kid to be happy and be fully expressed, which may be a route to happiness and meaning. It's that before that, you want them to be safe. And safety equates in your mind to certainty. Well, and that's a biological imperative.

Oh, totally. And that's real and right. There's another layer on top of that where we evolve past that. Your child gets to be 18 or 20 or however, and then you've given them the tools they need to be resourceful and responsible. But I think it's an interesting question, like balancing that everyday comfort and everyday exploration, adventure, discovery. And not everybody is like that. Not everybody has to be on the edge of being challenged and discovering.

For me, it's how I live and how I experience the world is directly linked to how I make art and how I create. And it's always being just on the edge of being linked to how I make art and how I create. And it's always being just on the edge of being able to execute something or being able to do it. And that's, I so agree. And I think, you know, what the phenomenon I was talking about as a parent, I see myself doing it all the time. And I very deliberately try and dial it back and say, you know, give the kid room

to breathe, give the kid room to make mistakes, give the kid room to fail, and feel what it feels like, give the kid room to actually go out and get on a subway in New York and deal with, you know, that those moments, you know, without wanting to them to be in harm's way, or whatever it may be, but at the same time, to feel like, you know, to give, give her the gift of then stepping the steps out of the subway on the other end, you know, the first time she rides it and saying, just feeling inside, yeah, you know, I figured it out and I'm okay. And every time she does that, she gains power. Yeah, absolutely. And I think we take that away a lot.

And even as adults, we take it away from ourselves. But I like what you were saying about just this. It doesn't, you know, we're not talking about taking big risks. We take it away from ourselves. But I like what you were saying about just this. We're not talking about taking big risks. We're talking about just little moments that allow us to just be in a place of uncertainty, of unknowing throughout the day, every day. And every time you survive that and you go beyond surviving but actually realize, well, actually something cool came out of it. I think that's when the magic happens that's when creativity explodes true um so paris um you have since then run a lot of different workshops and you built this really fascinating

career and um it's something where it's interesting. There's one other thing that we haven't really talked about that I want to bring into the conversation, which is that you're so you're a writer, we know that you're a, you know, a devout reader, and and that inspires a love of writing and the craft of writing. And then, and then you're fascinated by human behavior and helping people become and be and create and And that leads you into the world of coaching and, and you start to blend these things. You're also an artist in different ways. So those journals are the things that you were helping people create in Paris. I remember the first time we were hanging out in a room and you showed me these

stunning accordion journals. And we'll, we'll, we'll add some for you guys listening we'll add some uh images into the show notes so that you can actually see what i'm talking about here and and if you're listening you've got to go to the show notes because there's there's nothing that i can tell you in audio to describe um what cynthia does visually but she'll take these you'll take these accordion journals, Nick, accordion moleskins, which I didn't know existed before and create these stunning works of art. But to you that, that didn't start out as like the intent to create art, did it? No, the, the premise behind my first workshop that I led in France was creativity plus travel equals transformation plus coaching equals transformation. So if we come out into a situation where we're, I'm guiding the conversation through the journal process and guiding people to be aware of what they're experiencing, they're going to leave transformed.

So I'm leading these workshops and I'm filling the journals as well. And I started liking it more and more. I've been filling handwritten journals for since 1994. And that can just get boring. And you're never going to necessarily go back and read through the whole thing. So I started filling the journals on my own. For me, it was a way to play and be creative without having to be good or it having to go anywhere. So since I say I started around 2005 with that, and I've got about 45 journals filled now. And it's the impact that it had on me was very meditative, calming, grounding, being in the moment being present with

what's around me, but also in touch with what's going on inside me. The journal is kind of a translator between me and the world. And then slowly improving my craft. When I look back at my first drawings, they're definitely sketchy and hesitant and sketchy and hesitant. And now my line is much more confident. But it wasn't until I finished my novel and published that in 2012 that I kind of opened up a ton of bandwidth to be able to focus more on the art making. So since January 2013, that's when I really started making more art, taking more classes, focusing more, and then just recently decided to go pro and become more professional and actually sell my art. Yeah, which is, I mean, so funny to me, because the first time I saw them was in 2012.

And my jaw dropped. You know, I'm like, I okay, so I know you're, you know, like a brilliant coach. I know you, you're a facilitator and a workshop leader, and you love to travel and you write. But you're an artist. I mean, you're a painter, you're an illustrator, you're a watercolor artist, you're a visual journalist. And when I saw, my mind was just blown by this because you didn't identify yourself as that. And so I was blown because it came so out of the blue when I first saw it. And I remember being in the room and there were a bunch of other people and we all kind of saw it together. And we were all like, oh, my God, where did this come from? And why is this not sort of like one of the things that defines who you are in the world in a more public way?

What was the psychology there? Two things. When you're running a business, you have to niche. This is the advice. You have to be one thing and be known in that one way. So because I was an author and helping people write and working to publish my novel, that was the lead thing I had to present to the world. And at the time, the art and the illustrated journaling was really just for fun and just for me. I did not know where it was going. I had an instinct and a

desire to be more of an artist, but I had no idea what that meant or what that was going to look like. It was still very nascent and innocent in terms of not being savvy or having a plan. The other thing is I got an F in high school art. I failed high school art. So you had like your high school art teacher on one shoulder saying, you suck, you're not an artist, basically. F. My sister was in the same, she's several years ahead of me,

and she was the great student and he loved her. And then I came along and... So you're like, my sister's the artist, I'm not the artist. Right. So I think a lot of people self-identify based on how the world responds to them and that's one of the things that as a coach and as a creativity coach and a writer's coach that I seek to correct we get to decide who we are it's not somebody who says oh don't quit your day job um and frankly that was why I did not want to say I was an artist because I wasn't

confident that my work was good enough. And if I showed somebody and said, Oh, look, I'm here's my art. I'm an artist. I was already bracing myself for that. Don't quit your day job. And I didn't want to step over that threshold from innocence into I don't know, connoisseur or professional or whatever the other state is. Because if I did that, I would go from play and innocence and joy, and it doesn't have to be good to, well, this better be good. If you're charging money, if people are hiring you to illustrate something, it better be good. So it took a good period of time for me to get to that place. And the way I did that was in 2013, every Friday for the entire year on

my blog, I had Friday art and I showed my art every week and I was trying new things and some worked and some didn't. But the response was very encouraging. People were really kind and the words that they used to describe my art really spoke to that innocence. They talked about play and joy, Lisa Congdon, who, who, you know, has done a series of year long projects where, you know, like once a week or whatever it is, she puts something out and it's sort of like a form of public accountability. But also now in the online world, you know, like the moment you put something out there publicly, people will reply, you know, if they love it, if they hate it, you're gonna know, and sometimes in lovely, respectful language, and sometimes not. So what, what's the decision where you feel like I'm still enough, and I'm open

enough to now go and start this Friday project and be open to whatever the world brings back to me. Well, you introduced me to the work of Lisa Congdon and to her work and her world. And I'm really grateful for that because she's an incredible role model for me. And I listened to an interview that she did and she said, just show your work, make and show, make and show. That became my mantra. And she said, yep, at the beginning, it's going to stink. And you're going to look back later and be maybe cringing a little bit, but just do it. So her instigating me to do that is where I where I got started with that. And for some reason, knock on wood, I'm incredibly lucky. I've been publishing my newsletter since early 2001. And when you first start something like that, you are stepping out kind of into an open field and you fear that everyone's there waiting to attack and shoot you down. And that luckily has never happened to me. And so I, in my experience, when I put my stuff out there, the people who don't like it, don't say anything. And I'm really grateful for that. So I've only had, I guess I've had what I've given out,

just encouraging people to be their creative, authentic selves. And that's what people have given me back. And I feel really, really fortunate for that. Yeah. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest charging Apple Watch, getting you 8 hours of

charge in just 15 minutes. The Apple Watch Series X. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required, charge time and actual results will vary. Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised.

The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were going to be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're going to die. Don't shoot him, we need him.

Y'all need a pilot. Flight risk. So you start doing that every Friday. And that was in 2013, right? Mm-hmm. And that emerges to a point where you start to become, I mean, it's so interesting the way it works, right? Because it forces irregularity.

It's like a commitment to, I must create in this way, at least weekly. And not just create, but there's got to be tangible output. Like I have to create something which is finished to a point where I'm willing to actually just bring it to the world. No matter where it is, it's like on a Friday, the world isn't going to see it. So there's the public accountability. There's probably pushing you to work on it more than you normally would. And there's also the repetition, which

makes you better at the craft. Well, I was doing what you would call a series of experiments. And so there was... When I sit in a session at a conference or something, I take visual notes. They're colorful, and I'm playing with hand lettering and little sketches. They're stunning. They're fun. What you call visual notes,

people walk by and they look at it and they're like, oh my God, like sell that or can I buy it? It's amazing to see what you do. Oh, thank you. And then just little illustrations and then abstracts. So for me, it was a playground to try different things and to see what I really liked. And the visual note-taking, you could also consider that graphic recording. I looked at what I had done and I thought, this isn't really at a professional level. If I want to go down this path, I need to study more. So I do what I always do. I get a book from the library. I looked at the book on graphic recording and realized, nope, not going down that path. So set that aside and abstract art, not really me. Fine art, not me right now. Finally getting to a point where I realized, okay, I can call myself an

illustrator. That's what I'm doing. I'm doing illustrations from life. And so I did that for the whole year. I'm not really sure what I was doing in 2014 but I know when I came back from Camp GLP I was pretty fired up and with lots of ideas including doing a podcast and the thing is about running your own business is that is incredibly creative it's very creative you're always problem solving and making things and figuring out that blend. And I got very stimulated in that way toward doing more for my business, Original Impulse. And then I said, wait, what about the art? And I sat myself down and I said, what do you want to spend your time doing more of?

So I wanted to, if in terms of building more for Original Impulse or building my art. Original Impulse is your bigger brand. Coaching and workshops, yeah, which I love. And I'm not done with that by any means. But if you're going to build something, add something new, creating something new, it was to make art. And that's when I said I'm going pro with my art. And almost immediately I had a paid illustration job where I had to learn how to figure out a contract, an illustration contract. And since then, I've had commissions and also been hired to illustrate a book.

So what happened? I think a lot of work behind the scenes. So remember 2005, that's 10 years of quietly noodling away in my journal. 45 journals, lots of art classes, which usually make me cry, but I often learn something. And then being out there in the world. So the people who hired me to do illustration for them saw me either take notes, visual notes, or saw my work on my website. And that's what Lisa Congdon's example was. If you put it out there, you're going to attract people who see your work and are interested in it. It creates something. So I'm always encouraging people to just try it, put it out there. You're not going to attract anything if you're just hidden in your cave. I actually was in my cave for a long time before I showed people.

Um, so yeah. And which is, you know, you're the overnight sensation that only took 10 years, which is about what it takes your average person. But what was it? What was the moment where you decided? Cause you said, you know, in 2014, at some point you decided I'm turning pro. What made you feel inside you're ready? I love making things and putting them out in the world, launching things, either a workshop or launching my book, or I've just made another product. All the problem-solving creativity that goes into a project, that's my sweet spot. So all the practicing and playing is great. And then I get to the point where,

well, I can either write another book now about writing and creativity, or I can do illustration and start making things like cards and posters. I actually have an illustrated book that I want to do after I finish this other one. So to me, I work on a project basis. I don't have goals. Like I'm going to be a famous illustrator. I just like to work on projects. So that, that's what sparked me. What's the next project. And what's the next project I'm going to work on with somebody else and get paid for. That's, I like that blend.

Yeah. Because the working with somebody else is a big piece. I've been running my own business since 1999, and I love it. I love the control. I love the freedom to make things. And I also love collaborating. Collaborating with other people challenges me. It brings communication skills into play.

I feel like my next level of creative growth is really collaborating with people. So you're working on a book right now, an illustrated book. And from my recollections, that was kind of like a dream book also. Like for your first sort of like seriously paid pro gig as an illustrator. Yes. And you recently also just showed me you're starting to create your own product also, your own illustrated product. There's some really cool stuff that I'm sure will probably even be out

on the market by the time that this airs. And at the same time, you've got this, you've got original impulse, so you've got this really fascinating blend of high-level coaching, high-level travel slash creativity slash personal transformation, workshop facilitation around the world that fills your Jones to create, to learn and to travel and to facilitate transformation. You're an art artist, capital A pro artist, who's now getting paid for her work and collaborating on projects. You said that you made a decision about how you want to spend your days.

So what did your day look like when you said, this is how you want to spend your days. So what did your day look like when you said, this is how I want to spend it? And how close are you to closing the gap to the way you spend it now and that? Well, this is something that I experienced with my clients. I call it getting on the coaching cloud. We sit up on a cloud in an hour conversation and we plan things out. And here's how it's going to go. I'm going to write from this time to this time and I will create. And that doesn't really actually play out.

Maybe it will play out for a week, but we're much more fluid than that, which goes back to that self-trust and the desire. Like I'm hungry for making art right now. Now I'm hungry for this. So what I do is I have my client calls set up on a certain structure during the month and the other work that goes into running a business. And then on alternating weeks, I'll have studio time. So that's, that's how I've got it now. And it does have to be pretty fluid. And as you launch a product, you get more into the outward facing marketing and all of that. And I found I really miss studio time. So even just going into the studio and playing with color helps me. It's a real soothing thing. So I don't have it figured out. I have a lot of the major

pieces in place and I'm always turning the dials and always having to be fluid because that's what people, when we see, I'm going to write nine to five every day, or I'm going to the dials and always having to be fluid because that's what people, when we see, I'm going to write nine to five every day, or I'm going to do it this way. There always will be something that's going to pop up. There is never a normal week for anybody. Okay. So how is turning the dials every day and not having it figured out? Well, what I have figured out, it's not a set schedule. And that's what I think people, we make the mistake of thinking we're going to have a set schedule figured out and then follow that. What we really have to have figured out is that inner awareness of what to do next. And especially when you're self-employed, there are a million things you could be doing. And that is one of the things that my clients and creative people have a really hard time with is what do I do now? And we get lost, especially we get lost online. So what I do is what what's first, I look at what do I need to

get done so that I can feel satisfied at the end of the day. It may be bookkeeping. That's not fun. That's not happy, but I will be satisfied when I get that done. So I kind of get those things out of the way. And then what do I want now? What's the feeling state of what should I do now? Not should based on what I think I should be doing, but what feels right. And that's what I do to follow my original impulse. What's next? And that's what I train people to do is to listen to their own inner wisdom of what's next for them, because that will never lead them wrong. Is that where the term original impulse came from?

I don't know where it came from. I was walking around in Boulder in 2000 trying to figure out what to name my company. And on a walk, as you know, you get all these ideas and it came in. And that was a long time, and it still holds true. But I do think that we have that inner knowing, that inner GPS, that is our authentic core. And the biggest challenge is shutting out all the noise to listen to it and to trust it. And I struggle with that still. What is right for me? And especially, those are the most creative things.

Those are the things that make us stand out is being authentic, being authentically expressed. I think so many of us struggle with that in such a major way. I know I do. It's hard. It's really hard. Very often as you move through life, your desire to be fully expressed in alignment with the fiber of your being, assuming that you even have a clue of what that fiber of your being is, however you define it. Most of us don't. Most of us are so tuned out to who we really are and what matters to us and what lights us up. you do um and tell me if you've experienced this too either yourself or just with people that you work with when you start to move into life your desire to have to put that as like the core of

where you put your efforts very often starts to conflict with deeply held values and and the and the main value that i see it really butting heads with is, you know, with every decade further into life that people get is the need to feel like you're providing for yourself or for your family. And, or even if, you know, if you don't, if you don't have a partner or kids, maybe your parents that are supporting you or just, you know, that we very often the values evolve so that financial security on some level becomes a really strongly held providing in some way value. And then we feel that that conflicts pretty strongly with our deeper desire to be fully expressed in who we are and devote the vast majority of our time to that thing. And that's not an easy dance. No, because if you speak up and speak out and stand up, you're a target.

And people may not like you. And I think there's that primal tribal impulse to be liked because then we're going to be safe. But the people that I respect and admire the most are people who are so of themselves and so willing to express their complete true voice and true nature. And so I look for those people and they're, I call it, they're just so out, not necessarily out there, but they're, they're kind of extreme. And one of the, one of the first people I can think of

in that regard was Tim Ferriss. He's so extreme. He's a nut, total nut. And I love him because he was so willing to say things that not everybody's going to agree with or's a person completely of himself or herself. And that's a model for me to do that. And I'm not even close to being as fully expressed as I would like to be. So I'm not, I don't want to put off the impression that I've got it all figured out. I think none of us. I don't think I've ever believed anybody who said, yeah, I've got it dialed in, man. Totally good. Figured it out 100%. I've got it dialed in, man. Totally good. Figure it out 100%. I'm like, you are delusional.

Well, it's death to the creative person. We are always having to have something new to figure out or to create or to learn. Yeah, because that's what we do. I mean, you know, like the maker, the scientist, you know, like what we do is we want to create and you can't create if something's already in existence, which means that you have to struggle with figuring it out along the way. And this has been something that's always been a part of my coaching. I never, I'm, I'm a creative person doing something right alongside all of my clients and students. And it's, you know, after 20 years of being a writer and sort of figuring out how that's going to work for me.

And I wouldn't say an expert, but comfortable in the seat of being a writer. I eject from that and go into the beginning, back to the beginning of being an artist. And so that I'm right there with my clients when they're kind of gripping the cliff and saying, I don't want to let go or I don't know how to do this or I'm really afraid. I can feel that. Yes, I know that. I'm with you right there. And we're doing this together. So I love that about my work, that for me to be successful isn't to have it figured

out and be an expert, but to be as creatively naive and creatively brave as I'm asking my clients to be. Beginner's mind. It's fun. It is terrifying and fun. And maybe that's why it's fun. If you have the tools to see that it's fun and not just terrifying. I feel it in my body. I feel it very viscerally. I rented a bike in New York this morning. I would never have thought I could pull off biking in New York. But when I did it in London, that was the total big, like one of the biggest life thrills I've ever had.

So I'm walking along, I pass the bikes and I even went to rent one and said, No, don't do it. I walked two blocks. And I was like, Really? You want that thrill? And I went back and I got like, so I've ridden a couple times around the city this morning. That is the same kind of thrill I get from putting something out there in the world in a creative vein. So what scares you most right now? Being timid. The next genre of creativity is doing more videos in kind of a stand-up comedy vein, more monologues and rants about things that I believe and want to share. The thing that scares me is not having the courage to do that. So how do you handle it?

I get really good buddies, mastermind partners who help me and hold me accountable. About four years ago, I did a weekly video show called Juju Infusion. And I did that for six months. And I started by having a friend. And I said, I'll send you a link every week. I'll do one video every week and I'll send a link. So having that initial person at the other end of the wire while you walk across the wire is the best thing that helps me. And I know that helps some other people too,

is having that accountability. Yeah, that's huge for me. I mean, it's a big thing for me as well. What's fascinating you right now? People are endlessly fascinating. Cities are really fascinating to me and how cities function. I can walk down the street

and be just completely in awe that things are working and the millions of stories that are happening and the millions of ways that things are functioning on a visible and invisible level just fascinates me. It's endlessly fascinating. What drives you? What drives me? Well, the need to make a living is a potent driver. I, people have often said, wow, Cynthia, you're so amazing. You do all this great stuff. And I'm like, well, I have to make a living. That's a very potent motivator. But aside from that, um, having an impact is important to me, having a positive impact on people and that the videos that I make

or the products I make or the things that I write have a positive impact on people that ripples out, that motivates me. So that gets me, that drives me to make things and put them out there. So the name of this is Good Life Project. So if I offer that term to you, to live a good life project. So if I offer that term to you to live a good life, what does it mean? To be engaged with projects that matter to me, that put me just outside of my comfort zone, my creative edge, and what I just said, to have a positive impact and to have good relationships with the people that I work with, the people that are my friends, my family, that is not as easy as it seems. I'm seeking conscious communication and I'm always tripping and falling and always trying to be a better communicator. So to have a good life means being in relationship in ways that

both nurture me and grow me. I like that. I like the being in relationship parts too. Yeah. It's about the in-between. Right. That's where a lot of surprise happens and where I get outside of myself. Like hearing you talk about my career, I don't really think of my career that way. So hearing you say that and reflect that back to me, that's a very powerful thing for me. So thanks, Jonathan. My pleasure. Thank you. As always, I hope you enjoyed the show this week. I'm always so excited to share these wonderful conversations and interesting people with you. Thanks so much for tuning in. As always, signing off for Good Life Project, this is Jonathan Fields. If you're looking for flexible workouts, Peloton's got you covered. We'll see you need it. Find your push. Find your power. Peloton. Visit Peloton at onepeloton.ca.

Mayday, mayday. We've been compromised. The pilot's a hitman. I knew you were going to be fun. On January 24th. Tell me how to fly this thing. Mark Wahlberg. You know what the difference between me and you is? You're gonna die. Don't shoot him, we need him! Y'all need a pilot?

Flight Risk. The Apple Watch Series 10 is here. It has the biggest display ever. It's also the thinnest Apple Watch ever, making it even more comfortable on your wrist, whether you're running, swimming, or sleeping. And it's the fastest charging Apple Watch, getting you 8 hours of charge in just 15 minutes.

The Apple Watch Series X. Available for the first time in glossy jet black aluminum. Compared to previous generations, iPhone XS or later required, charge time and actual results will vary.