Creative Headspace #1
Make space in your mind for what you want to create.
Happy Monday! I’m trying something this week to set up some of the channels I want to have on my Substack: I’m going to share a different kind of post every day. There’s this one, an FAQ coming, a Coach Spotlight, something in the What We Can Learn About series, and something in the Book Coaching 101 series.
I am still thinking about what I can do to honor the people who have chosen to pay me. Stay tuned for that!
One of the secret superpowers for writing a good book or running a successful business is to think about it: to make headspace for the story or the idea or the service/package/event you want to provide for your readers or your clients. A lot of excellent work can get done in the shower, and in the car, and on a walk, and while chopping onions to make soup, because these are the times we can something think about what it is we want to create. My entire Blueprint framework for writing books is about getting the writer to stop for a hot second before they start writing and think about what they are doing. I thought it would be fun to do an occasional series on what the thinking looks like in my own brain: it’s a little obsessive, a little circular, and one of the great joys of my life . This is the first in the series.
I saw Debbie Millman’s book, Why Design Matters, on the front table at my yoga studio (Yoga Soup in Santa Barbara, CA). Yoga Soup has a shop out front and to be honest, it’s one of my favorite bookstores in town. I always feel like I’m having a mind meld with the book buyer. They put out books I’ve just read, books I want to read, books I’ve never heard of that I can’t keep away from. The vibe on the side of the giant wooden book-selling table I love is all about creativity.
Why Design Matters is a $60 coffee table book, in shrinkwrap, so you can’t get AT it— quite a tease! So I came home and googled it and contemplated buying it and went instead to Debbie’s podcast, Design Matters. I downloaded two recent episodes for a long plane flight over the holiday – the one with Alan Dye, VP of Human Interface Design at Apple, and the one with Chip Kidd, the celebrated book cover designer.
I fell in love with Debbie Millman’s soothing, calm, and inspiring voice. I scribbled dozens of notes for things to go look up online, including Chip Kidd’s book on graphic design for kids. I’ve always wanted to understand graphic design and a book for kids seems just about right.
I bought the Chip Kidd book online… and broke down and bought Why Design Matters.
I put Why Design Matters on my nightstand, which is hilarious, It’s a huge book and my nightstand is TEETERING with books. I have not cracked it yet, but one of my New Year’s commitments is to walk every morning before I start work – just 10 or 15 minutes of getting outside. I can get sucked into work and not stop for a very long time and it’s not good for my back or my neck or my wrists or my eyes or my brain. So I needed some books or podcasts to listen to… and went back to Debbie’s podcast.
I picked the Rick Rubin interview. I purchased the Rick Rubin book, The Creative Act, months ago and didn’t get the hype. It didn’t speak to me but there has been a lot of hype. I thought, Well, maybe I’ll listen to him talking with Debbie Millman and see if I feel differently.
I was gobsmacked. Rubin, too, has a soothing, calm, and inspiring voice and I wanted to write down Every. Single. Thing. He. Said. How did I not adore his book? What weird malaise had overtaken me? I walked for an hour +. Now I have to bring The Creative Act to the top of my reading pile and see if it was the book I didn’t like…. Or maybe I really did have some kind of weird malaise.
In the Rubin interview, Millman mentions Seth Godin. I thought, I love Seth Godin. I wonder what his interview with Debbie Millman is like? I looked it up and found that Godin has been on the show three times. I put on the most recent – from 2021. This interview occurred when Godin was marketing his book, The Practice – which was another book I wanted to love but didn’t. Given my experience with the Rubin interview, I wondered if I would have the same change of mind.
I was gobsmacked. I wanted to write down Every. Single. Thing. He. Said. He’s talking about writing and book publishing and letting go of expectations and trusting the creative instinct. He’s talking about an experiment he did with 500 writers (challenging them to write for 100 days – I think) and what he learned about showing up. (td;lr – it’s everything.) I’m only about 20 minutes into it right now, and know I will be listening again.
Where it all leads:
I will be re-reading The Creative Act.
I will b re-reading The Practice
I will be reading Why Design Matters
I will be listening to Design Matters on my morning walks.
I will be working on the book book I have been noodling on (see the #amwriting substack to hear more about that.)
I will be doing more yoga (and also going back to pilates) so I can a.) keep my back and neck and wrists and mind healthy and b.) check out what books will be on that big table next
Great post, Jennie! I loved that Rick Rubin interview! Will try the Seth Godin. My wife loves the Design Matters podcast.
Seth
Will I ever get to my TBR pile? It's kind of like having goals. You should always have one. After reading the Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, my days start out by putting my yoga mat on the floor. That's all I need to start my practice. Then it's to my office for some writing. Stephen Pressfield, Like Godin, also preaches showing up is everything. It was his book, the War of Art, that finally told me it was ok to call myself a writer. I'll have to start following Millman now!