Emerging Form

“In our evolution, we are coming to understand nuances and in betweens are necessary to living a full life,” says poet and painter Wendy Videlock. She quotes F. Scott Fitzgerald: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless yet be d...

In today’s bonus episode, Rosemerry and Christie discuss the poetry and music that have been getting them through this difficult time. Fall (Herbst) by Rainer Maria Rilke The Thing with Feathers by Chris Bursk Let X=X , Laurie Anderson No One , Alicia Keys *Photo by Finn Trommer This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit em...

This is the most difficult episode we’ve ever recorded. In the span of two weeks, Christie and her family were thrown into a scary state of limbo and Rosemerry experienced an unthinkable loss. In this episode, we discuss what we’ve noticed about our relationship to creativity in this time of upheaval. Rosemerry explains how her 15-year practice of writing daily poems helped prepare her to meet thi...

In this week’s episode (recorded in late July), we jump right in with our delightful guest, Andy Offut Irwin. One of the most sought after performing storytellers in the United States, Andy has been a Featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival more than ten times. He has appeared fourteen times as Teller in Residence at International Storytelling Center. Among other gigs, Andy has been...

Sometimes, telling a story can save you. In this episode, we speak with novelist, short story writer and journalist Charlie Jane Anders about her new book, “how writing helps us set rules, create frames, and surprise ourselves with what is possible. “Stories keep us alive,” she says. We also talk about writing and politics, writing the story you want to read, changing gears and creativity as a “sa...

Have you ever felt like an imposter in your own creative life? As if you are not truly as competent as others perceive you to be? In this episode of Emerging Form, we talk about imposter syndrome with violinist, award-winning author and scholar/associate professor Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman. Imposter syndrome is not always just your crazy brain telling you that you're not good enough — sexism and...

Failure is, of course, a big part of life, and learning how to meet it in healthy ways is a major part of creative process. In this episode, Rosemerry presents six or more ways we might fail, drawing from Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life . Rosemerry and Christie talk through the different kinds of failure--their experiences and successful ways to move through each kin...

Two of the most important tools any creative has? Your experiences and your time to create. And your biggest impediment? Distractions. In this episode of Emerging Form, we speak with author Catherine Price about how to strengthen “the muscle of attention,” how to set boundaries for yourself, how to give your brain space and how to change your habits. She focuses on our relationship with our phones...

Openness and curiosity--how do these attributes contribute to the success of creative endeavors? In this episode of Emerging Form, we speak with science fiction and nonfiction author Annalee Newitz. They talk about back up plans, the relationship between luck and hard work, how writing for free can really pay off, how we frame our experience, challenging our expectations, and creating opportunitie...

Struggle. It’s an essential part of the creative process. How do we move past the desire to give up and find the energy and time to continue? In this episode, Rosemerry and Christie talk about recent projects and their longtime experience with how to stay with a project when we’d rather give up. We speak about going back to the beginning, how community helps, ways to create accountability, deadlin...

When creatives show up for their practice, they bring a lot of tools: perhaps books and pens and paper. Perhaps canvas and paint. Perhaps a camera or a script. But all creatives have one thing in common: they bring their bodies. In this episode, we speak with poet/teacher/dancer/zen monk Brooke McNamara about body awareness and creative practice. How did her own body awareness inform her practice...

How long must we wait for the form to emerge? Sometimes right up to the last minute! In this episode we speak with Kate Fagan, Emmy-award winning journalist and No. 1 New York Times bestselling author. We talk about her new book, ALL THE COLORS CAME OUT, a memoir about her relationship with her father and his death from ALS. Kate shares with us the differences between writing memoir and reporting...

Have you ever felt envious of someone else’s success? In this episode of Emerging Form, we speak with Dear Sugar herself, Cheryl Strayed, and get practical, heart-opening, career-inspiring advice about how to meet this very natural and difficult feeling. We speak of abundance mentality, leaning in to our own heart’s desires, and the “all boats rise” when one of us succeeds philosophy. Strayed talk...

Can envy help your creative practice? The origin story of this podcast would seem to offer a resounding yes! In this episode, Rosemerry and Christie recall the strange circumstances (Christie’s word is “mortifying”) in which they first met in 2008--lots of laughter--and how play and vulnerability are now at the heart of their friendship. Christie offers insight about envy and how it can be an invi...

In this bonus episode, Kim Langley tells us about dealing with imposter syndrome and going to not one, but two writers retreats where she couldn’t write. Kim is the author of Send My Roots Rain: A Companion on the Grief Journey , 60 poems and brief reflections combined with suggestions for mindful activities and journaling. The book was well received by individual grievers as well as hospice, pall...

Kim Langley is the author of Send My Roots Rain: A Companion on the Grief Journey , 60 poems and brief reflections combined with suggestions for mindful activities and journaling. The book was well received by individual grievers as well as hospice, palliative care, social work, chaplaincy, and other helping professionals and so is in its second printing. Kim has facilitated numerous writing/discu...

In this bonus episode with author Kristi Nelson, we talk about how she transitioned her self-perception from “creativity appreciator” to “creative person.” She also talks about the gift of envy and how it has served her.  Kristi Nelson is the executive director of A Network for Grateful Living and author of Wake Up Grateful: The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted. She has spent...

How might gratefulness infuse your creative practice with trust, awe, acceptance and wonder? In this episode we speak with Kristi Nelson, author of Wake Up Grateful: the Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted , about the surprisingly practical ways gratefulness inspires and fuels our creativity. She offers lots of prompts and how-to steps.  Kristi Nelson is the executive director of...

Wouldn’t it be great if we had a crystal ball so we could see where our creative road might take us? Or, perhaps as we discuss in this bonus episode of Emerging Form, perhaps what we really want is to just stop worrying where our path might take us. We talk with science journalist Jill U. Adams about her own creative arc and the surprising chat with a college counselor that sticks with her. Jill U...

Everyone agrees: creative routines can ignite our creative practice. But why are they so hard to maintain? How can we create more sustainable creative practices? In this episode of Emerging Form, we talk with science writer Jill U. Adams about her morning routine--how she established it, how she changes it, how it serves her, how it pushes it, and how she makes it sustainable. A sweet surprise: Ho...

Early to bed, early to rise, coffee and quiet--these are some of the daily routines that help drive the creative life of poet, editor and writing coach James Crews. In this bonus episode, we talk about life on the farm in Vermont with his husband, the importance of trust in our creative life, how we can sabotage ourselves by trying to know where our creative path will take us, and Crews’ mentor Te...

How might stillness and a heightened sense of awareness infuse your creative endeavors? In this episode we speak with poet, editor and writing coach James Crews about how a daily mindfulness practice can help us meet creative stumbling blocks such as self-judgment and writer’s block with more clarity, curiosity, acceptance and even surprise. Can mindfulness be a hindrance to creativity? Are there...

A few words about what happens at a writing retreat. Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe

Photo: Rosemerry’s altar for her recent writing retreat. What would it be like to give over completely to your creative self? To get away from daily distractions and responsibilities and just write or paint or dance? In this episode of Emerging Form, Rosemerry and Christie talk about writers' retreats--why going away somewhere to write (or create) is so important, what it might look like, and how...

How do we abstract our sense of self-worth from our creative work? That’s one of the themes in this bonus episode in which we converse with writer/artist/poet/editor Sarah Gilman. We learn about her reliance on small blank notebooks, the efficient layout of her office and the importance of having books around. Sarah Gilman is a Washington state-based freelance writer, illustrator and editor who co...