Exploring Creativity: Threads & Bones

Howdy Listener, To paraphrase Frank Sinatra, “And so the time has come…🎶 …I’ll do it my way” Yes, this is an I Dibs The Front episode, you know, where I talk to you from my car as I’m driving to or from town? (100% legally I might add - start recording a voice memo before you even turn the car on and don’t touch your phone until the engine is shut off at your destination - edit accordingly) But a...

Heya, it’s time for another book review! Tim Minchin is an uber creative writer, comedian, and musician and today’s podcast episode is a review of his book, You Don’t Have To Have A Dream . This episode looks at life lessons on creativity, authenticity, ambition, hard work, luck, and building a meaningful life. Three addresses or speeches that were given when Minchin was awarded honorary doctorate...

Buckle up for some laughs and incredible insights from this chat with my friend Paul Frasz. She and I danced together in the late 80’s after which she continued her lifelong career as a dancer, choreographer, and educator. Paula is a retired professor emeritus (emerita?) and presidential engagement professor from Northern Illinois University, where she taught for 30 years. Now three years into ret...

Do you know what, “doing a Rebecca” means to my sisters? No? Well, if I told you then you’d have no need to listen to this shorty episode of I Dibs The Front Seat 🚗 Yes, I’m back for another edition of talking to you from my car and this time I’m riffing on how a family or group connects through “in jokes” or shorthand phrases. People from the outside don’t necessarily understand them, let alone...

In this episode I’m talking to my friend and crazily creative producer, Amy Sanyer. Amy and I go waaaaaaaay back, we met in our 20s and now we’re in our 60s - you do the maths. We have had many an adventure. She runs Brolly Arts, an umbrella arts organisation that curates community based projects as a way to champion important social and environmental issues. The conversation explores Amy’s evolut...

My quest to read and review books on creativity led me to purchase, The Spark, Igniting The Creative Fire That Lives Within Us All from one of my favourite used bookstores in Brisbane. This book is from Cirque du Soleil and it’s a quickie. Both the book (135 pages) and the review (just over 20 minutes, which for me and my flapping gums might be a record) are brief. It’s a story about how easy it i...

Howdy Listeners As always I’m very excited about my podcast guest. Today’s episode features my friend, Natalie Collie, who is a lecturer at the University of Queensland in The School of Communication & Arts. Yes, she’s a Dr.🤓 Nat’s remit is to teach writing to students from varying disciplines whose future jobs will require them knowing how to write. (maybe she could help me edit that very awkwar...

Well it’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted a podcast episode but this is one I’m really thrilled to share. My brother-in-law Kirk sat down with me the end of last year for a discussion on his passion for photography and how revisiting his journal helped him process my sister Pippa’s death, and that even if he doesn’t understand it, why he feels compelled to turn it into a book. 📝Show Notes & K...

What drives you to be creative? In the case of my guest and friend, Tracey Fischer , some of its FOMO. Basically it kills her to feel like she’s missing out on any creative adventure; she just wants to be EVERYWHERE experiencing ALL THE THINGS. In this episode of Threads and Bone: exploring creativity , I sit down with this creative force, and intuitive explorer for a deep, meandering, and soul en...

Didn’t want to leave you hanging so here’s part two of my book review on The Art of Creativity, 7 Powerful Habits to Unlock Your Full Potential, by Susie Pearl. This second (and final) episode looks at habits four through seven. Just a reminder that there are two episodes on the one book because the original, rough recording of the full episode was close to two hours! While I managed to whittle it...

Howdy Listeners, The book review on The Art of Creativity, 7 Powerful Habits to Unlock Your Full Potential, by Susie Pearl is broken into two episodes. This first episode looks at the first three habits. Why? I took sooooooo many notes that the original, rough recording of the full episode was close to two hours! I managed to whittle it down to an hour and eighteen minutes, yay! But, I edit in Gar...

This week it’s another I Dibs the Front and it comes to you instead of a book review because what I’m reading to eventually share with you is full of great exercises and I’m committed to doing them and they are taking time - they’re also fun. (sorry about that huge, long, sentence!) So while I work through that reflective process, I’m keeping it topical and bringing you a real-time December episod...

🚗 In this “I Dibs the Front Seat” episode, I take you along over a three car trip ramble that somehow manages to weave together the movie Babe , giant fruit, failed campground marketing, a local parade, drought-driven ingenuity, and why creativity might be the beating heart of every small town. This episode is one long, meander through how communities use creativity to be seen, remembered, and vi...

If you ever want to be creative, just get started. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Better to start imperfectly than never perfectly 🦜In this warm and *ahem* sometimes tangential chat, Bec reconnects with her friend (& old client) Wibke Rettberg who’s a passionate upcycler, nature-lover, and creative spirit. Wibke finds beauty in the overlooked and overused and joy in the process of creation, whate...

📝 Show Notes: OMG, I’m back! Here’s the first episode of Season Two of Exploring Creativity: Threads & Bones ! 🎉 I’m kicking things off with Nicole Harper - creative leader, festival director, and community powerhouse. This was such a fun chat! Together we dive into how curiosity and courage fuel a creative life, the power of DIY beginnings, and why thriving communities should be built from the...

📝 Show Notes Hello hello hello — it’s Bec back behind the mic with the Season 2 trailer of Threads & Bones ! After a break for travel and projects, I’m ready to dive into more conversations, reviews, and reflections on all things creativity. Here’s what you can expect this season: SOS DS?(same old s**t different season?)🤔🤣 🎤 Interviews - candid chats with makers, thinkers, and doers about how...

This solo episode marks the end of Season One - a milestone that’s less about being finished and more about taking a breath. After 20 episodes, I’m reflecting on what’s worked, what’s challenged me, what I’ve learned, and what comes next. I talk about why now felt like the right time to pause, the three episode formats that have taken shape, and what I’ve learned about creativity through this whol...

Whoop, whoop we made it to 20 episodes! This week’s episode is for every soul, creative or otherwise, who’s faced a Life Storm and wondered how to keep going. In this milestone episode of Threads & Bones , I sit down with trauma informed coach and creative guide Alexandra Walker to explore how creativity isn’t just a luxury, it can be a lifeline. We also talk about the entwinement of creativity wi...

In this episode of Threads & Bones , I chat with the unstoppable, deeply creative Lourdes Ivette. She loves all the things! Whatever grabs her fancy, whether it’s crocheting, woodworking, baking, or candle making, she tries to master it. She’s also a mother, a podcaster, a human calculator, and all-around problem-solver. From her early days watching her mom turn raw materials into finished product...

In this I Dibs the Front episode, I reflect on two things. First is how we use creativity in the grieving process, helping us deal with the immediate loss of a loved one. Second, how do we use creativity to remember and honour those we’ve lost - grief is always there. A year on from my sister Pippa’s death, I talk about how shared jewellery, clothing, and even a tattoo have become powerful reminde...

📝 Show Notes: In this episode of Threads & Bones , I sit down with my brilliant niece Emma, a recent design school grad who bravely moved to London to kickstart her creative career. Our chat touches on everything from design philosophy, realising that studying what excites you is not a crazy idea, imposter syndrome, and what it means to live creatively, even when you're still putting down roots i...

It’s time for another book review on creativity which this time is Wired To Create, Discover the 10 things great artists, writers and innovators do differently , by Scott Barry Kaufman & Caroline Gregoire. The co-authors, an academic and a journalist, outline the ten often paradoxical habits and traits found in highly creative people. Creative minds are messy. They tend to be open and sensitive, i...

In this solo "I Dibs the Front Seat" episode, ride along as I reflect on the creativity that blooms at music festivals (and how much fun people watching can be). 🎧 Show Notes I talk about 🎤the wide range of musical artists from well known names to new discoveries 🪅the outfits that let people explore new sides of themselves ⛺️the playful ways folks set up their campsites ✨the magical moment wh...

I’m thrilled to share my chat with Liesel Zink. If you listened to Episode 11 (Making Space, Staying Sane…) then you’ll know that I’m a participating as one of 89 performers in a large public-space work mid May (2025). Liesel is the choreographer of that piece, Us And All Of This , and is a delightful human being. I’ve had so much fun reinvestigating a bit of my past creative life through her lens...

In this episode, I reconnect with my longtime friend (and ex dancing buddy) Andy Noble to delve into his unique perspective on creativity. Our conversation spans his journey from a breakdancing teenager to a dance professor and choreographer, highlighting how his experiences have shaped his artistic vision and ideas on creativity. We talk about the power of creative collaboration, why constraints...