We have found that the more we tap into our creativity, the more we enjoy the holiday season. In this week’s episode of The Spark File Podcast, we explore creativity in the form of gift-giving. Join us as we discuss the history of giving tangible gifts and why the tradition continues. We’ll explore some of the incredible gifts given (and received!) by members of The Spark File community and touch on some of our favorites from over the years. And, we’ll check in on some expert gift-givers to see ...
Dec 24, 2024•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we’re exploring an experience shared by more than half of the world’s population: Menopause. If you are thinking to yourself, “Oh, that topic isn’t for me.” We’re here to tell you the truth: menopause impacts everyone. If you have had a period in your life, or if you love a person who has had a period, this episode is for you. (Spoiler: that means it is for everybody.) While the word itself might feel familiar, Menopause is deeply under-studied and continually misunderstood, even by m...
Dec 18, 2024•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Like many artists, we deeply empathize with the world around us. It can be hard to manage all the tough feelings that come up. A lot is happening in the world—a lot to laugh about, cry about, shout about, and rage about. Sorrow can bring joy, anger can bring calm, and it can all feel impossible to face. And, like it or not, we believe there is one path forward: To get through it all, we’ve got to go all the way there. This week’s episode of The Spark File podcast examines our long-held belief th...
Dec 11, 2024•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast In our opinion, creating a connection with others is the most singularly powerful tool any creative has in their armory. Unfortunately, a lot of us find that it’s easier said than done. This week, Susan and Laura explore Molly Beck’s book Reach Out: The Simple Strategy You Need to Expand Your Network . Join us as we discuss Molly’s research-based guidance and how it intersects with our practical approach to creative work. We’ll share the do’s and don’ts of networking outreach. And, we’ll share s...
Dec 04, 2024•37 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Lately it feels like so many of us are longing for belonging, but finding it harder than to connect. But why? In this week’s episode of The Spark File podcast, we dig in to find the answer. Join us as Laura examines the work of social scientist Bob Putnam, whose book Bowling Alone: the Collapse and Revival of American Community connects the decline of American social organizations, guilds, and community spaces with an increase in isolation and a greater political and personal divide. The 2023 Ne...
Nov 27, 2024•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast The weight of the world felt heavy this week, but tough moments are when we feel luckiest to have this incredible community. Like we always say, everyone is creative but smart creative people do not go it alone! So this week, we did what we so often recommend to our coaching clients when the path ahead feels cloudy: We reached out to all the brave creatives in our lives (including you!) to see what is sparking comfort, catharsis, and change in their lives right now. We asked, and, boy, did you d...
Nov 20, 2024•38 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Here at the Spark File, creativity is a way of life and a way of being in the world. In this week’s episode of The Spark File Podcast, Laura digs into Rick Rubin’s book The Creative Act: A Way of Being . A profoundly successful American record producer, Rubin is the co-founder of Def Jam recordings, founder of American Recordings and former co-president of Columbia Records. He is someone who has spent his life making things—and, like us, he believes creativity is so much more than one project: i...
Nov 13, 2024•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever found yourself giggling at the most unexpected insult, like "sparrow's fart"? Join us as we kick off this episode of The Spark File with laughter and a light-hearted exchange that sets the stage for a journey through creativity and introspection. We'll explore the wonderful world of "spark files," those magical little tools for capturing inspiration, and emphasize how much more fun the creative process can be with good company. As the conversation unfo...
Nov 06, 2024•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this week’s episode of the Spark File podcast, we head back to the beautiful Saunders Farm in Ottawa, Canada, where we were fortunate to host our almost annual SPARKFest. This week, on the eve of Halloween, we’re embracing the spooky season. Listen on to hear directly from Spark File community members. In this week’s episode you’ll hear sparks that explore Why (most) human beings love being scared, and how our fear sparks fear in others (spoiler: fear contagion is real!) The history behind ha...
Oct 30, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Every so often we hear the question: what is that “ special sauce” that helps make up this “warm clan of creatives.” The truth is, a healthy culture and community requires a commitment to that mission from every single person involved. As educators, we’ve spent years learning about what conditions are most optimal for connection and community. As creatives, we’ve spent years participating in various collaborations and configurations of people working together and noting what processes and agreem...
Oct 23, 2024•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this week’s episode, you’ll get an extra special glimpse into SPARKfest 2024, our Spark File community retreat, held last fall at the beautiful Saunders Farm in Ottawa, Canada . When we say that The Spark File is a warm and wonderful clan of creatives, this is what we mean! Listen in and you’ll feel the live-in-front-of-a-crackling-fire ambience straight from the Saunders Farm ciderhouse! Our SPARKfest attendees met the challenge of finding and crafting a spark to share inspired by their time...
Oct 16, 2024•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast As we grieve the loss of our dear friend Gavin Creel, Susan called out for memories, wisdom, and lessons learned from Gavin, and we were touched by the outpouring of love from all across the globe. In this week’s episode, titled “WWGD? (Learning from Gavin Creel)," we hear from people who learned something from Gavin over the years—in rehearsal halls or classrooms, in nature, and on a city rooftop. We gathered all the light that Gavin reflected onto others and put it together so that we cou...
Oct 09, 2024•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this special episode, we draw from Laura’s experiences having lost both of her parents and discuss the ways in which creativity can help us to move through grief. We share thoughts on the non-linear path of grieving, and how to meet grief in the sometimes-unexpected places that it manifests. We also take a look at how profound artists like Frida Kahlo used grief in their own work. And, with examples from our lives, we examine the power of intentionally processing grief as a method of healing....
Oct 02, 2024•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Here’s a summary of the key takeaways from this episode! In this week’s episode, we discuss the idea of “shining the light” on your creative work.What do we mean by “shining the light”? In The Spark File Community, we think of the creative cycle in three steps: generating sparks, fanning the flames of creativity, and shining the light on your creative work. This step involves inviting others to share in your work. This might be requesting feedback, inviting folks to a reading, submitting to a fe...
Sep 25, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Certainty or Creativity - which will you choose? This week, Nathan Hill’s novel “Wellness” serves as a springboard for Laura’s spark. The specific line that ignited our conversation? "You can choose to be certain or you can choose to be alive." We'll discuss how this notion impacts all our creative journeys and share wisdom from playwright Stephen Karam on the price of admission for love and artistry. This episode marks the launch of Season 5 with a fresh approach—shorter, more fr...
Sep 18, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Holy Moly! Season 4 of The Spark File is coming to an end! In this episode, Susan + Laura reminisce on some of our favorite sparks from this season. . . And with a bonus spark inspired by Milwaukee Bucks player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who left us with this mini ted talk when asked if he believed this season was a failure because they didn’t win the playoffs. Just because you don’t win, do we count that as a fail? . Season 4 of The Spark File is wrapping up, but don’t worry - there are 178 episod...
May 03, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ever wonder what's needed to take your creative project to the next level? Or wonder if maybe good is good enough? How do we know when to invest the additional time and energy it's going to take to go from Good to Great? If you're ready or when you're ready to level up your work, Susan and Laura discuss the difference between Good and Great, and some of the factors it takes to get there. Inspired by the book, Good to Great by Jim Collins, but seen through the lens of creativi...
Apr 26, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep 24•Transcript available on Metacast Is there anything better than a well-crafted personal story told with humor, authenticity and heart? Even better if its a TRUE story, right? Well, the folks at The Moth have boiled the art of storytelling down to a science. In this week's episode, Laura and Susan share how sparked they are by The Moth and their book How To Tell a Story. We all have one - tune in to learn how to tell YOUR story! BRAVE Creatives! Your creative work is needed now more than ever. Join us for The Spark Fil...
Apr 19, 2023•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Friends, trust us when we say it is valuable, meaningful, and potentially essential that you take the time to celebrate your creative wins - large and small! Join us this week as Susan and Laura discuss why it's so important that we take the time to acknowledge and reflect on the milestones and the conclusions, the hits and the misses. BRAVE Creatives! Your creative work is needed now more than ever. Join us for The Spark File 2025 New Year Creativity Kickoff January 1, 2025 from 11am...
Apr 12, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep 22•Transcript available on Metacast Do you have a creative project that has never seen the light of day because you just don't think it's ready to share yet? Despite years of effort even? Do you have a creative project you've dreamt of making but you haven't even started yet? Because the thought of it not turning out great keeps you from even trying? On this week's episode, Laura and Susan dig into the plight of the perfectionist. Thanks to researchers and authors like Brene Brown, we might just have a cha...
Apr 05, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Have you gotten into the AI craze yet? Have you asked Chat GPT to write your next marketing plan or promotional copy? Have you asked it to write lines of dialogue, jokes for a stand up routine or a synopsis for your pitch? Have you asked it to write your resume? This week, Susan and Laura dive into what AI might be great for, where it's limitations are, and where it's headed. Do creatives have anything to worry about? Tune in to sort it all out. BRAVE Creatives! Your creative work is n...
Mar 29, 2023•53 min•Ep 20•Transcript available on Metacast Ever wonder what exactly is going on in your brain when you have an Ah-ha moment? On this week's episode of The Spark File podcast, Susan + Laura discuss what is transpiring in your head when you get that spark of an idea - and the rush of excitement that goes with it! Wouldn't it be great if we could understand it so that we can create conducive conditions to invite more and more Ah-ha moments to happen?! BRAVE Creatives! Your creative work is needed now more than ever. Join us ...
Mar 22, 2023•1 hr•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast Were there stashes of gold hidden around the country after the Civil War? Did leaders of the confederate south intend this money fund a second Civil War? Was the outlaw Jesse James responsible for hiding some of this treasure? And has it recently been found? 💥 Tune in this week to find out more about the Knights of the Golden Circle, their confederacy gold, and what role Jesse James may or may not have played in it. 💥 A fantastic article in Popular Mechanics by @davehoward99 has left us...
Mar 15, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, Laura and Susan discuss that tremor in the force you felt a few weeks ago when New York Magazine's The Cut handed us all The New Rules. These 194 rules on how to exist in polite society, sparked conversations everywhere. Listen in to get our take on their take on everything from dating apps to work slacks, texting friends and lovers or engaging with stangers and others... Are we all doing it wrong?? BRAVE Creatives! Your creative work is needed now more than ever. Join us f...
Mar 08, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast You know at The Spark File, we are not afraid to contemplate our own mortality, especially if doing so enhances our lives and our creativity. According to the author, Michael Hebb, “Of the many critical conversations we will all have throughout our lifetime, few are as important as the ones discussing death—and not just the practical considerations, such as DNRs and wills, but what we fear, what we hope, and how we want to be remembered.” On this week’s episode of The Spark File podcast, Susan a...
Mar 01, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, Laura and Susan get sparked by a corporate apology that was so authentic it made the news. Discovering the components necessary for an apology to be sincere, this episode explores the painful blocks that keep good people from being able to apologize, AND the creative ways artists have used apologies (or the absence of apologies) to inspire their creative work. Sites like SorryWatch.com share incredible sparks of apology and introduced us to an artist named Jennifer Dalton and her work...
Feb 22, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast Ever wonder what you can accomplish in an 8 minute phone call? Turns out... A LOT! In this week's episode of The Spark File podcast, Susan + Laura dig into the The New York Times feature " The 7 Day Happiness Challenge " and explore the little things that can make a BIG difference in our relationships and our lives. Take a listen, then ask yourself, "who you gonna call?"... BRAVE Creatives! Your creative work is needed now more than ever. Join us for The Spark File...
Feb 15, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Do you feel that people value you only for your output, so you put work above all else, even above getting a good night’s sleep? Or have you ever been so busy that you've uttered the dreaded humble brag “I’ll sleep when I’m dead?” In this episode, Laura and Susan discuss what going without sleep can do to your life and your creativity, the normalization of grind culture, some positive steps we all can take to rest and rejuvenate, and what, exactly, Warren Zevon has to do with any of it. BRA...
Feb 08, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Why is it so hard for us to break patterns that are keeping us from our goals? In this episode, Susan and Laura discuss and discover the ways in which we as humans and artists can navigate lasting positive change. They dive into the powerful process and book “Immunity to Change,” by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey, which unravels the concept of change and specifically how to close the gap between aspiration/good intention and actual behavior shifts. Susan and Laura discover that when experime...
Feb 01, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast What do a 1998 wall calendar, a couple’s disappearance, and a half-burned postcard have to do with one man’s quest to create the perfect home? In this episode, Laura and Susan discuss the true story of a film editor who took his own obsession for acquiring his dream home perhaps a little too far. Petty crime, lost relationships, and a last-minute trip to a remote part of Spain are just a few of the pieces to the puzzle of this incredible story of one man and his quest to own a three-story buildi...
Jan 25, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
