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AND. It’s one of the smallest words in the English language. And it’s one of the most powerful. It connects opposites, builds bridges, and brings ideas and people together. When individuals embrace AND, they are more authentic, creative, and free. When organizations and communities embrace AND, they are more innovative, inclusive, and loving. Life in the AND is a podcast about how we all can embrace AND create more authenticity, inclusion, and love in our lives, businesses, and the world. Dr. Erin Baker, a transformational coach, and social psychologist shares some of the most powerful ANDs she embraces in her life, and has inspiring conversations with leaders, entrepreneurs, authors, and creatives to unearth their answer to the question, “What AND do YOU stand for?”

Aug 4, 2020

Laurie Shiers is a Creative Development Coach with a nerdy passion for the creative process and all its nuances. Laurie, a creative catalyst, made a literal Creative Block, a collection of cards that help people get unstuck and enter a new creative headspace. Taking this step further in inspiring people into new ways of creative thinking, Laurie co-authored the forthcoming book, Mindset Mondays: 52 Ways to REWIRE Your Thinking and Transform Your Life, which will be available September 01, 2020.

Laurie joins me today to explore the ANDs she discovered in the creative process. She explains why she created the Creative Block and the importance of letting ourselves feel feelings and what happens when we don’t. She discusses why emotional tension and the state of flow are both essential in the creative process. She also shares how she inspires herself to be creative and breaks down the five phases of the creative process. 

“Creativity opens the door to emotional freedom. And the way to emotional freedom is by expanding your creative range and developing creative confidence.” - Laurie Shiers 

This week on Life in the AND:

  • Pulling a card from Laurie’s Creative Block and how it can help your creativity get unstuck
  • The value of throwing a tantrum and what happens when we avoid feeling emotions
  • Emotions as catalysts to the creative process and the five phases of the creative process
  • How we get the big aha! moments of creativity while doing low-grade physical activity
  • Why the creative block and the state of flow go hand-in-hand in the creative process
  • Giving our minds the time to marinate and incubate ideas
  • How we lose creativity as children and using the growth mindset to foster creativity in younger people
  • How the narrow definitions of creativity prevent us from finding our creative genius
  • Why Laurie created the Creative Block
  • Why childhood is one of the biggest wellsprings of creativity
  • Creating in the absence of inspiration and when the mood strikes
  • Writing a book for Laurie’s 12-year-old self
  • Creativity as a door to emotional freedom and emotional freedom as a door to creativity

Connect with Laurie Shiers:

Embrace Life in the AND

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Life in the AND, the podcast helping you embrace the AND in your life to cultivate more authenticity, creativity, inclusiveness, and love in every area of the world around you. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review.

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