546 - How to Transform What You're Drowning in Into High Octane Creative Fuel

0:00There's just not enough time to make good creative work. Do you ever feel like that? I feel like that sometimes, but today's episode is about a shift that will help you quit feeling like your creative stuff is just another block of time that you need to fit into your already stacked schedule and instead more like the mortar that's holding this whole brick wall together. I definitely understand this I've got three kids two dogs a house all of these responsibilities I'm also a podcaster a public speaker illustrator author and I often feel like this but when I remember that creativity isn't another thing to do but something that supports what I do it makes all the difference.

0:51At the end of this episode, I'm going to share something you can do today to make creativity more effortless. It's called Create in Your Sleep. But first, we got to talk about the 80s movie that I think holds the secret of this sort of effortless creative energy. Let's go.

1:09Andy J. Pizza:On the creative journey, it's easy to get lost, but don't worry, you'll lift off. Sometimes you just need a creative pep talk.

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4:11it's really easy for me to scoff at those super elaborate toxic masculine morning routines where it's like get up at 4 a.m jump into a cold plunge of thumbtacks and nails and then eat a vitamin the size of a chicken nugget like that it's very easy for me to look at that and just laugh but But I don't know if us artists can really talk because we can be just as superstitious. Got to get up, do 18 morning pages, make sure that I get to the coffee shop where the creativity was last time and I got to bottle that lightning. And it feels like this elaborate Rube Goldberg machine, you know, like the start of Back to the Future where this thing, the toaster pops up and it leaves the bowling ball going down.

5:03lights the match and that's how you feed the dog in the morning. It's just so delicate. If the one thing goes wrong, goes awry, then you don't have it and you're not going to be creative that day. Now, that's not only a problem because none of us have that kind of time and energy to regularly do that sort of thing. But the other thing that's crazy about it is that lightning never strikes twice in the same place. And so you can do all those same things in the same way in that routine, but it's unlikely that it's gonna show up like that again. And even if you are in back to the future and you know exactly where the lightning's gonna strike, you can remember how elaborate and ridiculous that was and how impossible it was to bottle that in the flux capacitor.

5:54They had like a one in a billion chance. And so yeah, every once in a while, maybe you'll get there, but probably not. because you don't know where it's going to strike. And I feel like this episode is me coming back from the future to my past self, like Doc Brown being like, Andy, where we're going, we don't need to bottle lightning. We don't need plutonium. We just need your trash because creativity is a vehicle that runs on your trash, your waste, your burdens, your hurt, your heartbreak. Like this is the thing that can fuel your creativity for a lifetime. And the good news is you're probably surrounded with that kind of crap.

6:39I don't think I've ever heard it said better than by Susan Cain in her sublime book, Bittersweet. She says, whatever pain you can't get rid of, make that your creative offering. And I don't know about you, but there's a lot of pain. There's a lot of heartbreak. I think the reason why historically when things are out of whack and people are hurting, this is why in those times there's so much creativity that comes out of that. Maybe not when you're right in the thick of it, but definitely following it sometimes during it. And it's not because there's more time to be creative. It's not because the muse is throwing lightning bolts like Zeus at that time.

7:31It's because you don't need to bottle lightning. You don't need the plutonium. You don't need this elusive thing. you are surrounded by all of the creative fuel that you could ever want. If you can see it for what it is, if you can see that this stuff you're carrying around on your shoulders, this is the perfect lead to turn into gold. That's the creative alchemy. And that's the shift that I'm hoping that you can embrace today. Even if you're like, I'm not a musician who does sad music. I'm not a protest artist. It doesn't matter what kind of creative person you are. We're going to talk about how even you can turn that trash into fuel.

8:20Let's go.

8:34So in just a minute, we're going to get to the action, And the creative call to adventure, creating in your sleep, that effortless sort of creativity that you can tap into anytime, anyplace. But for now, let's talk about the three types of trash fuel. Not trash fuel because it's bad fuel, but because it is plentiful. You're surrounded by this crap, but it is the fuel of the creative vehicle. The first one is propane, a natural byproduct. Now, I didn't know this, but propane is a byproduct of creating gasoline, I think. But I know it's a byproduct. And the point of this one is you have your mind, your psyche, you have a lot of byproduct.

9:20You have a lot of stuff that you need a container for because your spouse doesn't want to hear it. Your friends are sick of hearing you talk about it. Your kids have just had enough. What is the stuff? What's the stuff that you just can't shut up about, can't stop thinking about, can't stop going gaga for? That becomes your art. Your art becomes a container for that. Anytime over the past 10 years that I've fantasized or pretended like I was thinking about quitting the podcast, you know, if I was having a bad week or whatever, I was just stressed or overwhelmed, I didn't feel like I had enough time, I might say to Sophie, my wife and be like, I just don't, I don't know if I can do this anymore.

10:03And she always said the best thing. She's like, look, I support you and whatever you need to do. However, if you quit this, you can only quit this podcast. If you can tell me where all of this is going to go, all of this stuff, all of these thoughts, all of these ideas, all of this thinking that you put into being a creative and about creativity and the creative path, where are you going to put it? If you can tell me where you're going to put it, if you quit the podcast, then by all means, do it. And she's totally right. Like, this is just what my brain does. I'm constantly thinking about this phrase that Jerry Seinfeld said, the joke chuck.

10:46He's like a woodchuck, but he's a joke chuck. His brain just chucks jokes. It's just what it does. And being a comedian, having that art, that's just a container that can hold this stuff. And so that's the first thing, like what is the thing that you just can't stop obsessing over? How can you turn that into a creative project? The second one, steam, steam powered, steam fueled, and steam is your anger. I'm a big believer in this idea. Ryan Johnson, the filmmaker, talks about how a lot of his projects, things like Knives Out, came from what he was most angry about and in particular, what he was most angry with himself about.

11:27and I've had really great ideas come from this when I just think like, okay, what am I mad about? What am I angry about in the world, in myself? The thing I like about this is that it kind of aligns with this thing I learned when I was just starting out early 20s. I worked at a youth shelter, juvenile detention center and they were teaching a lot about emotions and things because there are a lot of emotions in there and one of the things they talk about is that often anger is a secondary emotion, that it's a thing that it's where a regular emotion or experience has become so intense that it's bubbled up to the surface and now it's just exploding from the surface.

12:06It is the steam coming out of the teapot. It's not the water. It's not the thing. It's that it's bubbling out because it's been repressed. It's been held back, but it's such a big feeling, such a big thing that it's spilling out everywhere. And that's how it busts out in anger, in rage. And so if you have something that you're that mad about, that is a fuel. That's a resource. That's saying, hey, I have something burning hot within me that I need to find an outlet for. Your outlet can be creativity. So what are you angry about? The third thing is your compost. And that is your breakdown. Okay?

12:45Like the broken eggshells, your broken heart. What is the thing that breaks your heart? What is the thing that, for me, it's like, what are the burdens from your childhood or from your relationships or just the things that you cannot seem to move past? Those are things that you can use your creativity not to add another thing to your schedule, but to help you relieve some of your stuff that you're carrying around. The weight that's weighing you down, that's causing you to struggle to get through things. So if you think about like, what are the things that I keep thinking about with my parents?

13:24What are the things I keep thinking about with my friends? What are the things I keep thinking about with past relationships or in the relationship that I'm in or the weight of what I'm going through? What are those things? that can also be an incredible source of creative fuel. And it's a way to alchemize these things from these really negative things, lead, lead poisoning, like these things, turn those into gold. That's the magic and the beauty of creativity. And I can speak from personal experience. We did a project called Right Side Out a couple of years ago and it was about ADHD and my relationship to getting that from my mom, who I was pretty much estranged from and hadn't seen in a couple of years and had a really rough relationship with throughout my whole life.

14:10And doing that project, I don't really know. I know that a lot of listeners got something from that project. It's not on YouTube if you're watching this there. This is before we were doing YouTube. So it's episode, I think, 459, I think it is. If you wanna go check it out, we did six episodes, kind of narrative nonfiction, different than the rest of the show. I don't really know if anything creative in my career is really going to come from that. I know a lot of people enjoyed it, listening to it. But the biggest takeaway for me was just how therapeutic it was. It really, truly transformed this heavy burden, this brokenness around my relationship to my mom and myself as an ADHD person, something that I've carried around my whole life.

14:58And after that project, I carry it at least very differently. And that is a testament to the power of creativity and tapping into this trash fuel.

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16:58I'm a big fan. Squarespace is an all-in-one website platform designed to help you succeed online. Here's what I love about Squarespace. They're intuitive and super versatile drag and drop tools. I mean, you can make a custom website without knowledge of code that makes people say, whoa, who made that for you? Looks like you built that from scratch. People have really said stuff like that to me about my site, and I built it myself quite easily with Squarespace. You can check it out at AndyJPizza.com if you want to check that out, what I did with it. It doesn't look template-y, and it screams my creative brand.

17:31I also love that I have all of my domains through Squarespace now, which makes it seamless and easy to manage. I know the first thing us creative folks do when we get an idea is to grab that URL. Now you can keep track of all your websites and your domains in one place that's super intuitive and easy to manage. Head to squarespace.com slash peptalk for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use promo code peptalk, all one word, to save 10 % off your first purchase of a website or domain. All right, it's time for our creative call to adventure. It's called Create in Your Sleep. I think that there is a big misconception around creativity like this, creativity where you're tapping into your heartbreak, your pain, your burden, your suffering, your trash, what have you.

18:18I think that the obvious way that this works out is in protest art or if you make sad music or sad movies or art films or whatever it is, Like those are obvious ways where this stuff translates, but I actually think this applies to any type of creative, no matter who you are. And I want to talk about a little bit how you can tap into this. Even if you make pattern design, even if you're a designer, even if you're an illustrator and you're just making personal projects, like whatever it is, you don't have to spill your guts. You don't have to overshare. It's not about that. It's tapping into your experience and then finding symbols that you can work with, that you can carry that can contain some of this hurt and pain and suffering.

19:03And it sounds really fun, but it is, it is fun. And so here's what it is. So creating your sleep, this is what it's about. One of my favorite things about dreams is that we all dream whether you really remember them or not. And dreams are miraculous, not just because maybe they're messages from another dimension. But even if they're not, even if they're just us going over our day and figuring out what to throw in the trash, our brain is like, this memory's trash, that memory's trash. You know, I sometimes wonder if our dreams are, the reason why we're conscious is that they're literally, I don't know if I heard this somewhere, but I think it's an original thought.

19:42It feels like one of those apps on your phone that gamifies throwing photos away. Have you seen this? It like serves you up photos from your photo reel camera roll and on your phone and then you can just delete them as like a game easily go through them whenever you have like free time and i sometimes wonder if that's what dreams are if they're just like you're conscious because your brain's like what about this guy what about that thing what about this experience what about your second grade math teacher. Should we keep that or throw it away? And you're just kind of like swiping, throwing things away, keeping things.

20:23I don't know. I like to think it's a little bit more mysterious than that, but it's like, for me, it's at least like a poem that you write to yourself. The thing I love about dreams though, is that they are all the evidence you need that every person is creative because you are able to instantaneously create storylines, characters, conflict in your brain while you sleep. That's how easy it is for you to create stuff. You don't need to bottle lightning. You're doing it while you're snoozing and you are creating these symbols and these, like, if you don't believe me, think about it, like a test back in high school, taking a test.

21:00That's your brain writing a poem saying it's as if you're back at the start. You're back in your immaturity being tested by what's in life. If you met, you're missing a flight, That's your dream saying it's as if you're missing a flight. And you just instantaneously grab these things. And so this is what we're going to do. You're going to take one of these heartbreaks. You're going to take one of the compost, the propane, the steam, one of these things. And you're going to say, okay, I'm going to try to work with this. Now, there's two ways in here. The first way is that way where you're going to start with what you're experiencing, what you're carrying.

21:33And you're going to just try to figure out any type of symbol that you can work with. and this can look like, okay, let's say you, one of the ones I've been thinking about for me is peace isn't something you surrender to, it's something you fight for and it's this kind of flip on fighting as not being the end of peace but often like the cost of peace and I think this in my own relationships also globally but in my own relationships, it's like the biggest changes and impact that people have had on me or the people that fought for me, that fought me when I was not fighting for myself and were willing to go into conflict.

22:13And so fighting, I can take that idea and I can say, or I can say fighting for myself or fighting for peace. These are fighting for peace. There's two different symbols there. And I can make illustrations about this. I can do it by saying, all right, fighting, what comes to mind? And we can go through nouns, people, places, things animals what comes to mind a boxer a wrestler what kind of places a wrestling ring a mountain what kind of animals maybe a dragon that's not a real animal but it counts a lion like what are the fighters and i take those things and then there you go that's stuff i can start making illustration i can start i can make a lion illustration like say this is representing my my call to fight uh i can i can think about a cage match a wrestling ring a mountain the places that you can think about things like boxing gloves and swords.

23:03And now I've got a bunch of stuff to just start making from, just to start creating in. And so I think even if you don't make a conceptual thing and you make a decorative pattern that's boxing gloves or swords or dragons or whatever, there's a difference when that container is full of life experience. You're gonna bring a different energy to that, even if you're not spelling it all out. Now, the flip side of this, You can go from experience to symbol or you can go to symbol to experience. You can say, what are things that keep popping up in my life and how can I engage with those creatively? Even weird things that maybe don't make sense.

23:39For me, it's been possums. Okay, I don't know why I've been thinking about possums. I saw possums on the side of the road. I don't know what is coming up in my feed, like how cute possums are, whatever. It's just something that I've just noticed a bunch in my life. And you can take that and you can say, all right, we had Jared K. Anderson on the podcast. last week. And he does this so well. This is a big thing that he does when he has an encounter with something in nature, he kind of ruminates on it. He meditates on it. And he tries to think of like, what are your associations with that? Carl Jung, the famous dream analysis, psychoanalysis guy, he would say that, forget about the book of dream symbols.

24:21We want to know your personal personal associations, your personal symbology, your personal mythology. Okay. So let's talk about if this, if, you know, last night, honestly, weirdly enough, I'm getting ready to record this podcast back to the futures on my mind. I had my first, uh, night terror where I was having a nightmare about Biff Tannen, the bad guy in back to the future. And he was, and I woke up and he was in my room for a split second. It freaks me out. I can't believe I'm telling you that, but, It was ridiculous. And so I can't even remember what I was telling you that guy. Oh, Carl Jung, psychoanalysis.

24:56This guy, he says like personal mythology. That's where it counts. So what are your associations with Biff Tannen? Toxic masculinity for one. That's like the primary one. Bullies. Like just start spider diagramming out all your associations with possums. So for me, possums are misunderstood. They're often seen as like carrying rabies when they're actually the ones that are immune from rabies. They are the ones that are cool under pressure and rage. All the whole animal kingdom around them is getting enraged. They're able to rise above. They're the ones that eat tons and tons of pests and insects.

25:38They clean up the mess and they're also doing it thanklessly. And so I start thinking about, are there ways that I feel like that sometimes? What is it about me that's being pulled to this? And it doesn't have to be cosmic. It doesn't have to be otherworldly. It's just, now I'm just, it's an inkblot test. And I'm like working through like what's going on to me. So you can go either way. But for me, this process is really powerful. So whichever one you want to do, find some symbols and start creating some work from that place. That will be as easy as creating in your sleep.

26:26All right. I hope that if you take one thing away, you take away this notion that when you're feeling stressed about fitting another block of time into the already stacked brick wall of your schedule that you would quit seeing creativity as another huge block to put in and more like the thing that supports the whole structure and think of the back of the future this is not you trying to figure out how to capture this lightning be at the clock tower at 301 80 whatever the time is at 88 miles per hour at the per like no no no you don't have to do all that to be creative. You don't need to bottle lightning.