What happens when you stop trying so hard to be creative?

This week, we’re joined by therapist and ceramic artist Melissa Grisi to talk about creativity, clay, imposter syndrome, and what it actually looks like to find your way back to making when you feel stuck.

Melissa shares how clay has followed her through different chapters of her life, why it took her years to fully claim the word “artist,” and how slowing down has completely changed her relationship with creativity.

We also get into creative blocks, the pressure to constantly produce, why sitting in your creative space without making anything still counts, and the surprisingly tiny steps that can help you reconnect when creativity feels far away.

Plus, we talk about redefining what it means to be creative, finding inspiration in your environment, building a “menu” of things that support you, and why sometimes the first step back into creativity is simply getting the pencils out.

In this episode:

• finding your way back to creativity after a long break

• creative blocks and making the first step much smaller

• imposter syndrome as an artist and therapist

• why slowing down and doing less can make space for ideas

• letting go of the pressure to perform or post your creativity

• how our environments influence what we make

• expanding our definition of what “counts” as creativity

• the art and craft of therapy

• and, of course, a little clay appreciation

If you’ve been feeling creatively stuck, disconnected, uninspired, or like you need to make something “good” before you even begin, this one’s for you.

Resources & Links:

• Melissa Grisi, LCSW - Blue Sky Therapy
• Melissa's Instagram: @the_desert_therapist
• Allie's cyanotype supply picks

Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ or visit our ⁠website⁠ to learn more. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, you can apply ⁠here.⁠

You can find Allie on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠, and you can find Emily on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠ to learn more about all they do and stay connected

You can find Austin on ⁠Instagram⁠ for all of your podcasting and musical needs

If you enjoyed this episode, follow along and share it with someone who could use a little more creativity in their life.

And this is your reminder that you don't have to be an artist to benefit from creativity. You're welcome, as you are, in this creative community.

Whimsy is having a moment.

Searches are up, whimsymaxxing is everywhere, brands are bedazzling their products, and what started as people sharing the tiny, weird things they do to make ordinary life more fun has somehow turned into… a shopping list.

So, did we accidentally lose the point?

This week, we’re talking about what whimsy actually means, why we think so many adults are craving more play, color, silliness, nostalgia, and everyday magic right now, and whether something changes when a mindset becomes an aesthetic you can buy.

And because neither of us is about to pretend we don't also love ridiculous little objects that make us happy, we're asking a more complicated question: can buying something be whimsical too?

We get into whimsy as permission to play, making mundane things feel magical, reconnecting with the things you loved as a kid, using creativity to practice play again, and why whimsy might even be a tiny form of rebellion against a culture that wants everything we do to be productive.

Plus: emergency purse sprinkles, googly eyes on household appliances, medieval soundtracks for doing the dishes, the most whimsical fruit, and why you should probably just use the good stickers already.

Because maybe whimsy isn't something you can buy, maybe it's a way of moving through the world.

Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ or visit our ⁠website⁠ to learn more. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, you can apply ⁠here.⁠

You can find Allie on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠, and you can find Emily on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠ to learn more about all they do and stay connected

You can find Austin on ⁠Instagram⁠ for all of your podcasting and musical needs

If you enjoyed this episode, follow along and share it with someone who could use a little more creativity in their life.

And this is your reminder that you don't have to be an artist to benefit from creativity. You're welcome, as you are, in this creative community.

Being a beginner sounds fun until you are staring at a blank page, comparing yourself to a version of you from ten years ago, or thinking, “I do not have time for this.”

In this episode, Allie and Emily talk about what it really feels like to begin. Sometimes that means trying something completely new, like learning mahjong. Sometimes it means returning to an old creative practice and discovering that it somehow feels familiar and brand new at the same time.

They share their recent experiments with cyanotypes, the joy of learning in community, the projects they find easiest and hardest to start, and the very different ways physical setup and mental pressure can keep us from making anything at all. Emily shares why a portable art bag makes creating easier, while Allie explains why she sometimes removes scissors, brushes, and other tools that invite perfectionism.

They also talk about the connection between perfectionism and procrastination, why five creative minutes still count, and why the imperfect first attempt is not a failure. It is evidence that you showed up.

Also discussed:

• Beginner’s mind and the possibilities we lose as we become more experienced
• Comparing your current creativity to your past work
• Why adults have such a hard time being bad at things
• Bedazzled mahjong racks, naturally
• The embroidery projects waiting patiently in both of their homes
• Why creating privately can help quiet your inner critic
• Matching your creative ambition to your actual energy level

Your challenge this week is simple: try one small creative thing you have never done before, or return to something you miss. Let it be imperfect. Let it be small. Let it be a beginning.

Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ or visit our ⁠website⁠ to learn more. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, you can apply ⁠here.⁠

You can find Allie on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠, and you can find Emily on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠ to learn more about all they do and stay connected

You can find Austin on ⁠Instagram⁠ for all of your podcasting and musical needs

If you enjoyed this episode, follow along and share it with someone who could use a little more creativity in their life.

And this is your reminder that you don't have to be an artist to benefit from creativity. You're welcome, as you are, in this creative community.

The fastest way to turn a room of strangers into a room full of friends isn't a good icebreaker question — it's giving them something to make, share, and taste.

In this episode of The Creative Collective, our art therapy podcast and creativity podcast, we sit down with Kiki Canuto, the chef and founder behind Getaway Plate — a traveling culinary studio that thoughtfully builds creative community. She moves from city to city, working with local artists, designers, and organizers, and builds each event around whatever's local and in season.

In this episode, they discuss:

• The tortilla-making party that reminded Kiki what she's actually building toward, and why it was never really about the tortillas
• How a chance conversation about cider at a Christmas market turned into a full dinner collaboration on the Danish island of Bornholm
• How a food-waste collaboration with a textile artist turned an avocado pit into naturally-dyed fabric
• Kiki's still-forming dream of a multi-disciplinary day retreat that brings movement, art, and food into the same space
• The cookbook that changed how Kiki thinks about following a recipe
• What Kiki learned about herself during a period of saying yes to everything, and why she now commits fully or not at all

Resources & Links:

• Kiki Canuto - Getaway Plate
• Kiki's Instagram - @getaway_plate
• Emma Collins, Textile Artist hosting workshops
• Two Dozen Eggs by: Hugh Corcoron

Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ or visit our ⁠website⁠ to learn more. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, you can apply ⁠here.⁠

You can find Allie on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠, and you can find Emily on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠ to learn more about all they do and stay connected

You can find Austin on ⁠Instagram⁠ for all of your podcasting and musical needs

If you enjoyed this episode, follow along and share it with someone who could use a little more creativity in their life.

And this is your reminder that you don't have to be an artist to benefit from creativity. You're welcome, as you are, in this creative community.

What if the creative friendships that actually last aren't built on grand gestures, but instead, on your average Wednesday afternoon standing-date?

In this episode of The Creative Collective, our art therapy podcast and creativity podcast, Emily and Allie talk about creative friendships — the specific kind of connection that forms when you make things alongside someone else. They get into why shared vulnerability speeds up closeness, why a weekly standing plan might be the most useful friendship tool either of them has ever used, and what actually happens when creative jealousy shows up between friends.

In this episode, they discuss:

• Why making something together, even something as small as doodling side by side, builds connection faster than most shared activities
• "Activity day" — the weekly standing plan that supports repetition mattering more than any single big event
• What genuine creative support actually looks like beyond liking a post, and the story that reminded us why it matters
• How to handle creative jealousy without turning it into shame, and the difference between being inspired by someone and imitating them
• Why competition and creative friendship can coexist, and what keeps that dynamic healthy
• This week's challenge: make one specific plan, with one specific person, instead of a vague "we should do something sometime"

Resources & Links:

• Ohuhu Alcohol Markers
• Famesick: A Memoir by Lena Dunham
• Allie's Time Magazine feature
• Texture Hunting Supplies - Emily
• Texture Hunting Supplies - Allie

Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ or visit our ⁠website⁠ to learn more. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, you can apply ⁠here.⁠

You can find Allie on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠, and you can find Emily on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠ to learn more about all they do and stay connected

You can find Austin on ⁠Instagram⁠ for all of your podcasting and musical needs

If you enjoyed this episode, follow along and share it with someone who could use a little more creativity in their life.

And this is your reminder that you don't have to be an artist to benefit from creativity. You're welcome, as you are, in this creative community.

What happens when the career you were promised doesn't show up as promised — and you have to build one from scratch?

In this episode of The Creative Collective, our art therapy podcast and creativity podcast, we talk with Cheryl Walpole Tiku, a licensed art therapist who started her career in product development at Ralph Lauren before training at Pratt Institute and spending nearly two decades across hospitals and private practice in New York. She's now the editor and co-author of a new book that says something most people in helping professions feel but rarely admit out loud — that following your calling can make life harder, not easier.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What Cheryl noticed inside a fast-moving, image-driven fashion job that eventually pushed her to walk away from it
• The disorienting creative block she hit early in her art therapy training — and how she found her way back
• Why she and a grad-school friend built an entire international art therapy program in Namibia, because the one they wanted didn't exist yet
• Why she believes you don't have to sell — or even finish — what you make for it to count
• The creative groups she's started for women entrepreneurs and founders, and what she's noticed about high achievers and creative access
• How a vintage etiquette book became one of her go-to creative practices, and why "keep your dignity" is the only line she left visible

Resources & Links:

• Cheryl Walpole Tiku — Instagram @the_line_between_studio, thelinebetweenconsulting.com
• The Business of Art Therapy (Routledge) — out now
• Chery's Substack: The Line Between Studio

Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ or visit our ⁠website⁠ to learn more. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, you can apply ⁠here.⁠

You can find Allie on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠, and you can find Emily on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠ to learn more about all they do and stay connected

You can find Austin on ⁠Instagram⁠ for all of your podcasting and musical needs

If you enjoyed this episode, follow along and share it with someone who could use a little more creativity in their life.

And this is your reminder that you don't have to be an artist to benefit from creativity. You're welcome, as you are, in this creative community.

What if coming back to creativity didn't have to look like a commitment — what if it could look like one small, imperfect thing you did on a Tuesday afternoon and never showed anyone?

In this Creative Check-In episode of The Creative Collective Podcast, Emily and Allie get into the real reasons people drift away from creativity — and more importantly, what it actually looks like to find your way back.

Whether you've been away from a creative practice for a few weeks or a few years, or you're considering starting something for the very first time, this one is for you.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why people stop being creative — and why that's not a character flaw
• The case for starting small and why "tiny" is actually the most sustainable entry point
• Emily's tufting class story: what happens when you try something you've never done before and genuinely have no idea what you're doing
• How changing your environment (a cafe, a museum, a walk around the block) can take the pressure off in a way that staring at a blank page never will
• The art of noticing — and how a color walk can snap your brain out of autopilot
• The creativity menu: a practical tool for getting started when your brain is tired and the options feel overwhelming
• What both hosts currently have on their own creativity menus, organized by five minutes, twenty minutes, and an afternoon

Resources & Links:

• Mermaid Books Lino Cut Workshop in Connecticut hosted by: Rachel
• Tufting Class led by: Tufted Love at the amazing community space Absalon in Copenhagen

Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ or visit our ⁠website⁠ to learn more. If you'd like to be a guest on the show, you can apply ⁠here.⁠

You can find Allie on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠, and you can find Emily on ⁠Instagram⁠ or her ⁠website⁠ to learn more about all they do and stay connected

You can find Austin on ⁠Instagram⁠ for all of your podcasting and musical needs

If you enjoyed this episode, follow along and share it with someone who could use a little more creativity in their life.

And this is your reminder that you don't have to be an artist to benefit from creativity. You're welcome, as you are, in this creative community.