And it is time once again to get solar powered. We welcome you back to the solar powered podcast celebrating the world changing magic of ordinary people sharing extraordinary stories. My name is Ryan Hall. Thank you so much for joining us here today, and I think we've got a real treat for you here today. She's a previous guest on our podcast. Her name is Laura Westman. She's a coach, songwriter, improviser, author.
I think she's got enough slashes for a for a Guns N' Roses concert right now, but she's got a lot of cool things going on right now. Got some new music coming out. In fact, it'll be live once this podcast goes live. And, she joins us now. Laura, Westy, thank you so much for getting solar powered with us again. Right. And thank you so much for having me back. What an honor. Absolutely. I'm, you know, I'm glad glad to be able to speak with you here today. You know?
I I remember we we connected a few weeks ago, and I think it was, like, the first time that maybe we had spoken since our previous, our previous conversation on the solar powered podcast. Yeah. I think it's been a while. Yeah. Yeah. It was. So thank you so much for taking the time today. Totally. I mean, I wanna thank you be and how cool to get to be back on the solar powered podcast because as you might remember, I actually wrote about it in my book. You did. You did. And I definite yeah.
No. I guess let's lead off with that. Talk about the book and, you know, the the acknowledgment you gave your appearance and of me a bit on that podcast, which is really special to me. So if you wanna, you know, share a little bit about that. Yeah. I'd love to. So the book for anybody listening who doesn't know me or hasn't read this book yet, it's called how to be creative in the age of digital noise. And there's a lot to say about that book and how it came to be.
Maybe we'll talk about that a little bit later.
But in the book, one of the themes that I'm exploring is really how do you find your own voice and really listen to it and cultivate it and curate it and care for it, you know, in an age of humanity where we're just constantly surrounded by digital noise, like social media and, you know, just the those particular influences that can have a really intense, like, kind of silencing effect on our on our creative spirit and our confidence and all of that.
And when I was writing the book, I was sort of tracing for myself a bit of a a line back through my personal timeline of, like, what have been some of the critical moments of hearing myself, like, my personal voice in a way that has been helpful or influential to me? And I've realized that one that was, like, actually a really huge game changer. Like, talk about inflection point for how I heard myself and how I even thought about myself was I recorded a podcast with you.
I think we talked a lot about creativity and improv, and it was it wasn't anything super crazy now that I reflect on it, but I think it was just it was just this wonderful opportunity to get to carve out some space and time from what felt like a very busy life and connect with you and talk about things that I think are actually really important, really important, you know, like, mean a lot to me.
And when that podcast came out, I kind of begrudgingly listened to it because I was like, oh, I should probably hear how did it come out. You know? And what I found instead was I was like, oh, this is me. There's like a different me here when I get to connect and drop in and talk about the things that I actually are re am really passionate about. Not the things I feel like I'm supposed to be talking about because of my profession, but the things I actually really deeply care about.
And I also heard in that I heard my speaking voice in kind of a new light. And I talk about this in the book because I and I can't remember if if we talked about this together the last time I was on the podcast or not, but I had a dream to grow up and be a singer and an actor. And when I was around the age that I would have been auditioning for schools and singing and, you know, that kind of thing, I developed vocal nodules, and I actually had to stop. Like, it actually caused me pain.
Mhmm. And so it's a pretty big part of my story is kind of coming back from the heartbreak of that. Like, the loss, not only of of that dream, but also this kind of, like, lack of healthy access to my physical speaking voice, let alone my singing voice. You know? Yeah. And I feel like when I listened to our podcast episode together, I actually found myself having an experience about my voice I'd never had, which was actually liking it. Oh, that is incredibly powerful.
Just kinda reflecting on something from, like, my own history is that I my my listeners all know that, that I was in the I was in the radio business for a long time. I was in radio for, like, 9, 10 years. When I was in college, that's what I that's what I wanted to be in. I wanted to be in broadcasting. I wanted to be a sportscaster, but I never felt like I had confidence in my speaking voice. And I remember discovering an old promo for my, for the old radio show that I used to, produce.
This would have been 98, 99. And I remember hearing my speaking voice, and I would have been maybe 21, 22 years old, somewhere around in there. And I remember hearing my voice as I was voicing that over, not really recognizing it to the person that I am today.
And I think I think just to kinda reflect on what you just said and first of all, it it's, you know, it really means a lot to me just to you know, with the understanding that your appearance on my podcast was such a, you know, huge transformation point for you and how you see yourself and how you heard yourself.
But, also, I just think it's in I just think it's incredibly powerful because like, I'm a firm believer, and I'll shut up eventually, but I'm a firm believer is that our voice can rattle the world. Our speaking voice, our message, our, you know, our story, all that stuff can rattle the world.
And just kinda knowing that, you know, even as much as I admired you before, you know, before that podcast episode, just kinda knowing that that was a, you know, that was a piece of that for you just really means a lot. And I think not only your listeners to your own podcast, which we'll certainly talk about here, but your listeners to your podcast, but to your music and to your, you know, to your stage work, I think really means a lot.
So I'll get up here eventually and, yeah, if you have any reflections on that. Thank you. That's so cool. That's so special. I know it's such a personal tender thing to think about your literal voice, I think. You know? Yeah. And what you just shared about about yours. And, I mean, I think it's such a real and intense feeling, you know, where you're like, oh, this dream that I have is connected to this particular part of me.
And, yeah, it's like it's I mean, Bay and I talk about this a lot on west of Wonderland about how when you're a kid, people hold the dreams that you have with a lot of reverence or at least they'll fan the flames. Like, they think they're cute at minimum. You know? And then we kind of yeah. We hit this point where suddenly other forces are louder than the call of that particular dream or desire. You know?
Like, either the voice of comparison or the, you know, demands of going into the industry of something, which is a different thing than doing something for fun. You know? Industry of something, which is a different thing than doing something for fun. You know? And when you when just when you share that dream of being a sportscaster, I feel like you've never told me that before, but it's very fitting. I feel like that's that makes a lot of sense knowing you. It's a dream that fits.
Yeah. And it really does. And, yeah, the whole comparison thing, the you know, my mentor in the radio business was a man named Doug Layton, who was the long time, like, for 30 plus years, voice of the Crimson Tide. And Doug Layton had one of those just big commanding voices that you instantly recognized and just he had complete control and confidence in it. Mhmm. And when I was a, you know, just a super young man working with him, I kinda felt intimidated by that. Mhmm. I would too.
Yeah. You know? That's like a giant that's like a giant of a person. You know? Yeah. And it's so rare that someone if you just think about how many people are on the planet, every once in a while, there's somebody like that where, like, their voice and their presence and their drive and their passion all line up to create a legacy like that. That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. That's so cool. Yeah. Well, enough about me. Let's talk about you. You've got a lot of stuff going on right now.
You've got the book, which I highly recommend, and we'll, of course, include a a link in the description of this podcast, but you've also kind of established a bit of a YouTube presence. Oh, yes. Yes. I have. Yeah. Do you wanna talk about that? Sure. We can thank my husband, Cody, for that. Last year, after I had written the book, I was like, cool. How else do I get the word out about all the stuff I'm building? And he was like, oh, you should probably go on YouTube.
He sort of he was sort of like my YouTube channel doula. You know? He, like, kinda held my hand, so to speak, as I wrapped my head around being that out there. You know? But I think he was right. It's been really fun to do. So the YouTube channel is called the creativity broadcast.
And the channel is really a space I kind of hope anyway, I hope that the feel of the channel is like you're coming over to my tree house, and we are gonna talk about creativity in really specific, weird, practical, helpful ways. And so I have a number of different types of video on the creativity broadcast. I have a lot of guided journaling so that if you're like, oh, man. I kinda need to connect with myself. I'm not really sure how. You can go in there.
And there's a lot of different topics for guided journaling. And I like those videos. They're kind of body doubling videos so that it looks like you and I are sitting down at the same time to journal, which I think is really fun. And, yeah, I have a couple of videos that, I think people have found particularly interesting and spicy. I have one that's called, do you struggle with wanting to be famous? Which I made because one of my dear friends who is, pretty she's, you know, has some accolades.
She's an Emmy nominated filmmaker and really struggles with what's next in her career and whether or not she should want fame and, like, is that a how does that relate to her creative passion? I don't know. It's just this very interesting question, I think, for a lot of people. And so I made a video about that. But recently, I did one about my quote, unquote creativity cocoon that I put myself in this winter.
And that one is so I'm surprised actually, but that one has the most views within, like, the 1st week. I mean, people are just curious about it. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. The it's you wanna talk about that a little bit, the the creativity cocoon? I I think our yeah. I think our listeners could really get some you know, take away some cool value from that. Yeah. I mean, there's so much to tell. My video about it, I did in a q and a style.
Like, I asked people in my community and my clients what questions they had about the cocoon. So there's a literal 30 minute video of me just, like, straight up answering questions and talking about it. You know? But I think the for purposes of our conversation, one of the things about that that was particularly powerful for me was I had a really strong desire. So last year, my book came out in February 2023, and the book sort of showed me what other things were asking to also be made.
And part of that was definitely a suite of courses around your creativity. I could see the whole thing, and I spent much of 2023 testing out material. And then I got to a point in January of 2024 when I was like, okay. Great. I think it's ready to be made. And then I just looked at my calendar, and I was like, but when? But when? You know? I feel like it's such a common stopping point with any creative endeavor. You know? Like, I think we all have You don't say.
Yeah. I mean, tell me if I'm wrong about this, but I feel like a lot of creative people we have this fantasy of, like, oh, if I could just drop everything and only work on this, then everything would be amazing. You know? And I think that is a wonderful fantasy. It's not really practical for being able to live with the demands of your day to day adult life. You know? So but you I do think we have more control than we think over where our energy and attention and focus go.
And so my cocoon sort of came to me one day. I was, like, journaling one morning, and I was kind of just trying to quiet down and listen to myself. I'd had this nagging feeling that something in my intuition wanted to talk to me, but, like, I couldn't connect to it. And then out of nowhere, I was just sitting quietly during my journal practice and the word the word cocoon and quiet down. Those were the phrases that just, like, came into my into my mind at that time.
And I was like, oh, I actually need to go inward. I need to cocoon. If I'm gonna make this make these courses and, like, actually make this into a thing, I need to give myself the proper amount of time to do it and do it well and create the conditions for me to be the, like, creative genius I know I can be. And to kind of hold that energy as the most important thing for a while. And because I I don't know about you, but I I mean, I have a lot of people pleasing tendencies.
I'm also pretty extroverted. I have a lot of social needs. And I think also because of my line of work, like, because of my coaching business, I tend to be very oriented to talking to people. So, like, if someone calls or someone's like, can we get coffee? I tend to just be a yes because it might go somewhere. And also because it's fun. You know? I like really love being around people.
Yeah. And so I knew if I was going to Cocoon, it would be less about, like, managing other people contacting me, and it would be more about me actually saying no for a while to give myself that peak creative energy. You know? So that's kind of the that was the thinking behind that. I get that. And Yeah. Yeah. Just and kinda coming out of that, you've you've got some really cool things on on the, like, in the future.
Like, once this, podcast goes live you gave me a sneak preview of it before we, before we went on here. But once this podcast goes live, you got a new single coming out. You've got a new song coming out, and it's really freaking good. Thank you. Yes. Yes. It is. And my I think my audience knows how much of a discerning music fan that I am. And I'm not just saying that because you're a friend. It would be okay with me if you were.
I would I would also my music is one area where I'm like sure you would. Yeah. You know what? If you don't like it, just lie to me. Okay? I'm just it's vulnerable. I don't mind. I don't mind that. Yeah. I mean, it was so interesting because, so what I did in my cocoon, I kept a couple of things running. You know? Like, my my clients, like, my business, anything client facing or revenue generating kept going.
I did a lot of prioritizing of, like, exercise and sleep so that my body was, like, really taken care of, and I could kinda keep my spirit, like I don't know. This is corny, but, like, keep it pure. You know? And, yeah, that was pretty awesome. And then so what I did was create my free guide, which is uncover your creative magic, which I personally think is a work of genius.
And then the thing that was sort of like the bigger project was creating my course creative clear out, which is kind of like creative clear out is sort of like a both physical clearing and also mental and emotional clearing for your creative self. So there's a good amount of, like, instruction around here's things to do. Here's things to think about. You know?
One of the tasks in the course is to actually create like, to turn a physical space in your home, in your home environment into a space that can be for your creative stuff. You know? So it's very, like, action oriented, very practical. But it I do think one of the things that I love about it the most is that it focuses on your relationship to your personal creative genius. Like, how do you hold that part of you? You know? What do you know about it? What do you remember about it from the past?
Like, really focusing on bringing it close. But it's also about having sustainable routines around your creativity so that it isn't something that is very, like, fits and spurts. It's more like, oh, how can I hold these different ways of being creative and weave them into my real life so that they actually stick around, you know, so it doesn't go missing again?
So Yep. I I have told some people that creative clear out is a little bit like a colonic, like, for your creative life, you know, because it started just, like, clears everything out. But there is a really, like, heavy emphasis on great what do we practice now, and what do we create now? So I'm really excited. I I'm gonna be doing a launch of that in July, so stay tuned. I love it. Yeah. A a colonic for your creativity. Yeah. Like a juice cleanse for your creativity. Kinda.
Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes you gotta get the crap out till the golden flow. I feel I feel that in my bones. It's true. Yeah. But do you do you feel like when and I know you can really only speak for yourself and for the, you know, for the clients you work with.
But do you feel like when life gets in the way, when priorities, you know, when obligations rather get in the way, do you kinda feel like people will put those creative projects on the back burner and really, like, focus, you know, like, focus themselves to get out of that, to to kinda get out of that obligation. Like, in an analogy I love to use, it's just, is like dust on a like a dusty piano or having dust building up on a guitar.
Do do you feel like people have to put those into kinda put those in the mothballs, for a while? And do you have ways that you can kind of even when you're going through some stuff to be able to keep pushing forward on that? Such a good question. I think I think it is kind of like a thing that happens to most people when they slide into adulthood where very slowly most of the time, I think it's a slower shift where we're just taught that we are supposed to value other things now.
And some of it is very practical. Some of it is, like, very practical truth. Oh, I have to pay my bills. Okay. How am I gonna do that? I have to spend my time on it. You know? Like and I I think that that can kind of snowball, and our creative passions can kind of become these things that it feels sort of frivolous. Or sometimes they feel like more work because we wanna be using it to produce something. You know? But we're taught if we're working, it's gotta be over here and for this purpose.
You know? I do also think that the more time that goes by and the more dust that builds up on the piano, so to speak, I think that we very, unintentionally some of the dust is literal, you know, and some of it can also be self judgment. Like, we judge ourselves for not doing it or we hate how or we think that, like, because we've been out of it for so long, it's gonna be terrible. So what's the point? You know, where we compare ourselves.
And that's to me, that's the digital noise aspect is, like, we're always comparing ourselves to stuff that we're taking in from the Internet, which again is not helpful for our own sense of well-being and creativity. But I so I think those are there's just a lot of layers to the dust. You know? And that have you heard that term that people use some time about lots of different things, like breaking the seal on something?
Yes. Yeah. I feel like that about about creative and artistic passions where, like, once you break the seal, it's not as hard to get going again, but sometimes that first choice to open up that sketchbook again or to start writing or sing or whatever. Sometimes that first one is the one that actually feels the hardest.
And I think it's the in the spirit of that, creative clear out is really, like, loving around it and makes it very easy and approachable to you know, it's not like diving into the deep end of the swimming pool. It's more like a nice slow, walk in to the ocean. You know? Yeah. So that it's it's actually really approachable. Because I think if we if we force ourselves to go back in, we're kind of, like, shocking the system. I don't think it's very helpful.
Because I think our creative self is very sensitive. It's part of its power. You know? And so I think I think oh, the other question that you asked was around, like, you know, when life is getting really demanding, like, what can we do, basically? And I I'd be interested to hear what you think about this. I think for me, I've learned to value what my creative practice turns on in me that makes it easier for me to deal with life.
So now I'm at a point where taking a break to sing and play guitar for 10 minutes is probably the best use of my time if I'm feeling stressed because it's gonna settle everything. It's gonna connect me to my power, which I experience in my voice. It's really different, but it's taken a long time to get here. You know, years ago, that would not have been the case. Right. Yeah. Well, just what's come what comes up for me is I think 2 things. The first thing is that I get that same rush.
I get that same thrill when when because I have a really bad tendency when I'm working on a creative project, be it one of my books, be it a, you know, be it a podcast or really being, like, some courses that I've been kinda playing around with. When I get when I start super overthinking something, everything stops. Mhmm. Like the, like, the, the, the blinking cursor on my computer screen just feels like it's mocking me at that point.
And the judgment starts to the judgment starts to flow the the, you know, just the self flagellation, so to speak, starts to flow and it just stops. Mhmm. But I also noticed that when I'm really in the zone, that when I'm really writing well or when I'm really doing something creative well, and I know that it's like, I know that there are some things that might not be working.
There may be some things that that I might be trying to figure out, but the the things that do work work incredibly well. It's like, you know, it's like a jazz musician. It's like somebody who really, really spends a lot of time in improvisation, one of your, you know, biggest, one of your biggest passions right now, but somebody who spends a lot of time on improvisation, you're never kind of on an island by yourself.
You may you may try something at the guitar or the piano that might not work, But you've got a drummer. You've got a bass player. You've got people on that stage to help pull you out of that. You know, it's like Miles Davis says, do not fear mistakes. There are none. So when I kinda get into that mindset of there are no mistakes out there, there are no, like, there are no things that could go wrong during a creative pursuit, that's what it just flows like butter.
Mhmm. Mhmm. Yeah. It is really crazy how much our internal judgments play a role in not only what we can create, but also the experience that we have of that creativity. You know? What you said, I felt so viscerally about, like, the cursor kind of just, like, blinking there and, like, mocking it. You know? Like, it is wild what our imaginations can do.
Yeah. It's almost like the it's almost like just, as a musician, if you like, musicians who practice with a metronome, and if you're just listen to that thing tick back and forth and nothing feels like it's coming out, it's kind of the same thing. It's like when the when the cursor is just, like, can almost hear the cursor blinking. Yeah. You know, it's so funny that you bring up the metronome because so I started taking piano lessons when I was 5, I think. So I was little.
And when I was a teenager and I had, like, gotten through all of the piano education books, you know, and we're sort of in the territory of, like, I had to be more self led in terms of what my piano lessons would be for and be about. And I remember getting into more classical music and needing to practice with the metronome in order to deliver that kind of sound And to play it in this particular way. And, Ryan, that metronome was the bane of my existence.
Like, for some reason, the thing that would come through me that allowed me to play piano well was not the same thing that valued precision. You know? Right. Yeah. And it's so funny because, now I'm kind of at a point musically where I can hold those as different skills. Like, I actually know there's wisdom in it. But for so long, I was embarrassed about playing piano in front of people because I couldn't keep time in that particular way.
It's just because my natural way of playing is very different. I'm kind of, like, generating something in the moment instead of, like, delivering something that has been practiced so it can be performed, etcetera, etcetera.
So now that we are starting to prep my songs to be not only in the full album together, and it's more of like a rock band sound, but we're starting to practice them for, like, acoustic sessions and being able to perform them, you know, in open mics and different venues and stuff like that. It does mean that, I've really had to negotiate with the part of me that is like, f you metronome because I'm playing with multiple people, and we we rely on that consistency. You know?
Like, there are some spaces with my music where improv can lead the way. But right now, my practice is actually leaning into more of that structure, not to self flagellate like it would have been in the past, but actually to enhance the overall sound. You know what I mean? Totally. Totally. You know, what comes up for me is John Bonham, the iconic drummer for Led Zeppelin, who, you know, is on the just the pantheon of rock and roll drummers, but was famous for being just a terrible timekeeper.
But he had such feel that you could really pick that you could really pick that up when you listen to their music. But he had such feel. He had such individuality, maybe chemically enhanced, but he had such feel and such individuality that that's what made that band so iconic. Yeah. That's wild. That's wild. Yeah. One of the greatest drum drummers of all time was known as being a terrible timekeeper. Go figure. That's truly hell like, let that be a lesson to all of us. You know?
That, like Yes. If you just own your thing and own it till the cows come home, that's the only thing to do. That's the only thing to do. So, 2 weeks ago, I got to go and see Guster play up here in Woodstock. And Guster is one of my favorite bands since I was, like, I don't know, 14 or 15. You know? I've loved them for a very long time. And, they played this show kind of last minute because their friends were opening a theater up here and asked them to come and christen it with them.
And because of the size of the theater and, like, the lack of lead time on ticket sales, I got to be right up at the front, and it felt like a private concert. Like, there were so few people there. It was amazing. It literally felt like Guster was performing for, like, me and a couple of strangers who happened to, like, the same music that I like. Like, it was so cool.
And one of the things about it that was awesome is that Brian Rosenworcel, who's the drummer of Guster, is kind of notorious for playing the drums with his hands most of the time. So, like, no matter which kind of drum set, the percussion is always happening by hand. And it's just one of those things where, like, you feel like you get used to it.
You get used to someone's sound, and then you see them do it right in front of you and do it with so much joy and presence that you're just like, holy crap. Like, falling in love with it all over again. That's really powerful. And I think live music is about the only kind of venue.
It's about the only kind of art form that can really bring up that kind of feeling in people because, you know, even if you're, like, in a play or something that is not, like, heavily improvised, you're gonna be rehearsing that until, you know, until the cows come home. If you're you're but but live music, especially something that can be that just incredibly intimate. Like, they're probably they they probably play bigger venues, sell out bigger venues, but it just felt intimate. Mhmm. You know?
Even, you know, even, you know, some of the concerts that I've been to over the past few years, yeah, the you know, it's a, you know, it's a, like, a 3,000 seat theater, but it feels like instead of playing to the back road, they're playing to each and every person in each and every seats. Mhmm. Mhmm. Yeah. That's so cool. That's awesome. Yeah. I mean, that is if you're actually using the seat when you're at the at the show, but It's true. That's a different story for a different day.
You know, before before we wrap this up here, talk a little bit about the west of Wonderland podcast. I know that, I know that you've been doing that for a little while. Talk a little talk a little bit about that if you would. Oh, don't touch on it. I know there's a there's a plaque right kinda right behind your shoulder there on your bookshelf that says Wonderland that I'm one Yes. Kinda reminded of that. Yes. I I bought that for me, one for bae, one for Emily who does our social media.
Because, I mean, come on. How cute is that? When I see Wonderland stuff at, like, box lunch or hot topic or something, I'm often the person buying it. So west of Wonderland podcast. Let's see. I'm like, how to start this project that I love so much. So west of wonderland was born on August 8, 2021. And we picked this date because August 8th is not only Bay Quiney's birthday, my cohost, but it's also my birthday. I was about to say that felt very familiar that date. Oh, yes.
88, the Lions Gate. Oh, we love it. So west of Wonderland is basically the place where Bay and I talk about our three favorite things. We talk about coaching and transformation and personal development, as you know, favorite thing. We talk about magical media, the stories and books and that, that, you know, filled with characters and journeys that inspire us. And we also talk a lot about theme parks and experiences and, like, experiential, magic and how it relates to leadership.
So we when we started west of Wonderland, we were kind of in a place where I think we both knew we wanted to work together in some capacity, but we didn't have a ton of room, I think, between just both of what was going on in our our lives and our businesses at the time to really explore it. So we thought, okay. Let's just start a project and we're gonna learn through our conversations over time. What are the themes, you know, what's in the west of Wonderland Lexicon, so to speak.
And we will be celebrating our 3rd birthday this summer. And west of Wonderland also is like, I think for a lot of our listeners, some of our listeners are coaches and some of them are people who we could call them muggles. I won't because they know what magic is. You know, people who really wanna believe in the power of their own dream and create magical means of of getting there. We also launched this year the academy for magical coaching, which, of course, sounds nice and fancy.
It's, actually a lot chiller than it sounds. But, once a month, we have drop in the rainbow sessions. Intimidating. I know. Doesn't it? We just wanted it to be as close to Hogwarts as possible without calling it Hogwarts. So, we do, like, a once a month drop in training session. They're oriented toward coaches who want to kind of bring more magic and reverence to their practice.
And, so we had our first one was called wishes and no. Our first one was called dreams and our second one was called wishes because dreams training was so cool and people came and engaged at such a level that at the end of the session, they were like, can you do one about wishes and, like, how are wishes distinct from dreams? And we were like, oh my god. So anyway, that's that's how that is unfolding.
And in July, our academy session is going to be a rewards workshop because we talk about rewards on west of Wonderland all the time. And we do so many weird things with rewarding ourselves. Even coaches are crazy about rewards, you know, so that's gonna be our magical academy session in July. And, yeah, we're also hoping to put together our first west of wonderland retreat, and I can't reveal the theme, but I'm pretty psyched about it. Love it. I love it.
That's you know, sometimes I find that as a creative human being myself, I mean, let's not, you know you can't write as many books as I have written without being incredibly creative. But as a creative person myself, I find that if I don't play in that world, if I don't play in the whole, you know, magic is real. If, like, if I don't play in that world, nothing gets done. Nothing gets accomplished. Nothing gets made.
But if but if I'm kinda playing in that world and the clients that I work with and the, you know, and the readers of, of my books, the it it picks up. It people really pick up on that stuff. So it's you know, I think it's important work, not just for in the coaching and leadership space. Wow. Thank you so much. I really receive that. I mean, it makes sense. I think that those kinds of things really speak to people on a, like, on a heart level. You know?
It's something that your adult mind, it kind of, like, calms the the normal preoccupations of the adult mind. It kinda lets you drop into your heart, you know, where the belief in what's possible becomes the most important thing again. And so I think that's awesome. That's so cool. I love it. Yeah. You know? I know we're kinda running out of time here, but the you know, one thing that really stuck out to me is, you know, some somebody who again, I'm working on a new book idea.
I don't really wanna go into much detail on it, but it's something that I've never done before, in this particular world. But I was having just a ton of self doubt just earlier today. Ton of self doubt, the anxiety was just barking.
And I remembered this picture that I shared on my social media many years ago when I was maybe 3 years old, and I'm standing in front of this old old mobile, old mobile car not being able to know what I, you know, what I do with my hands, and I still don't, you know, even in my late forties now.
But, like, I remembered that, and I just wanted to say that when you when I have those self doubts, I have to remind myself of who I'm doing this for, of the kid who who just fell in love with stories once upon a time. He you know, hearing his teacher, reading, you know, tales of a 4th grade, nothing once upon a time. So what can, you know, what can you say god. Julie Judy Blum would probably be about the only author I'd be intimidated to meet right now.
But what would you say to somebody like that who who may be feeling some self doubt, who may be feeling some anxiety in their own creative projects and just kinda reflecting it on, as we coaches say, are what for? Am I what for is that little guy? Yeah. Oh, it's so powerful in the first place. Like, having a what for like that. When you said that, I was flooded with imagery of, like, for myself of, like, my inner 9 year old and my inner 12 year old. You know?
Like, this is definitely for the those ladies most of the time. So that in itself, I think, is really powerful. I do think when we get to a moment where we're, like, in self doubt or anxiety or we're doubting our creative direction or, like, is this worth my time? Should I just give up, etcetera? I think we have a lot of options about how we want to hold ourselves in that moment.
This thing you said about create like, kinda coming back to that what for and, like, who am I doing this for is a super powerful choice. I also wanna offer up one practice that I love that I think I talk a good amount about in my book is a practice of appreciation, and it's a little different than a gratitude practice. A gratitude practice is like, I'm grateful for blah blah blah. An appreciation practice is like, okay.
Let me look at the thing I'm doubting, and let me turn that doubt on its head for a few minutes. What are the things I love about this? What are the things I appreciate about this? Yeah. So you're kind of like this is dramatic, but you're kinda, like, worshiping your creation at a moment when you wanna tear it down. And it changes the whole trajectory if you do that. So I'd recommend that as a kinda cool, cool practice.
I would also say, just to bring back something you and I were talking about before we started recording, I think, sometimes when I wanna, like, tear stuff down or I feel like it's not moving fast enough or it's not good enough or something, I like to think about the like, I I go back to a time in my recent memory before my creativity lived this way and had this much room so that I can see like, oh, yeah.
This was the future that I wanted for my creativity was like this much room and this much space. And so it makes me connect to like, oh, yeah. It's really special and magical that I'm even having this problem. And when you connect with that, it's a really good way to kinda zap the doubt again because you're like, I fought so hard to be here. Right. Right. Cool. Okay. I love it. I oh, oh, that gave me chills.
That gave me chills because when we because when we, as creative humans, when we get into a place where where we just where, like, the doubt starts, like, chirping at us.
I feel like and I can only speak for myself here, but I feel like I get disconnected from just why I'm doing this, from just, like, you know, what you know, how I fell in love with storytelling, listening to my grandfather around the campfire or, you know, reading those incredible books when I was a kid or listening to that incredible music that was constantly on in my house.
Just hearing that kind of creativity, feeling that kind of creativity, it just gets me reconnected to just why I'm doing this and what I'm trying to create with it. Mhmm. Yeah. It's beautiful. I feel like that's, like, the creme de la creme of being alive is moments like that. Yes. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. Well, you and I could absolutely go on about this all day long. No. We totally could. And and and if we had the opportunity, we certainly would. The door is over always open, my dear.
I'd love to have you back. Thank you so much. This was such a pleasure, Ryan. Thank you. Absolutely, Laura. I know you got a lot of stuff to plug. How can people find you? How can people get connected with you? Oh, yeah. So I'm most active on Instagram. So if you're on Instagram, go on over. You can search my name, Laura Westman. My, Instagram name is westygrammed, w e s t y g r a m m e d. It's a holdover from early Instagram days where everyone put, like, their name and then Graham after.
I thought it was really funny. I just haven't changed it. And then, if you wanna test out my free guide, you can go to Laura westman.com/uncover. And that's my cool free treasure hunt to get your creative magic back. My book is called how to be creative in the age of digital noise, and you can find that on Amazon. And like I said, my course creative clear out is is actually gonna be available in my launch in July.
So if you're following me on, Instagram or for friends on Facebook, you'll see some info about that. It's gonna be cool. It's gonna be not only lifetime access to all of the course modules, but it's gonna include a free coaching call and some other bonuses, and it's gonna be a good time. Gonna be a good time today, Laura. Yeah. It's been a real treat. You're a real treat. Thank you so much for getting solar powered with me today. Thanks, Ryan. Bye, everybody. Alright.
And thank you for listening to the solar powered podcast, a presentation of Royal Hearts Media. For more information about me and what I'm up to, just go to royal heartsmedia.com. You can follow me on the social media machine at Ryan Hall writes on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or if you're in the mood, just shoot me a good old fashioned email at royal hearts coaching at g mail dot com. But that'll do it for this episode of the solar power podcast.
Until we meet again, this is Ryan Hall saying thanks for listening so long for now. I love you all, and go get solar power.