"I'm a unicorn that simply refuses to be put inside a horse box." (Sarah Masters bonus episode)

0:00Radim Malinic:Welcome to another episode of the Daring Creativity Podcast. I'm back to unpack some of the gems from this week's conversation, pulling out those moments that deserve a second look and dig deeper into what makes them special. This week I spoke to Sarah Ellen Masters, a collage artist and founder of Colet. She leads workshops that offer the safe, supportive spaces she never had when learning to live and work with dyslexia. In our conversation Sarah explored why collage asked nothing of perfections How her diary entries became her morning visual pages And why people are starving for hands-on connection in the screen-saturated world The episode published a few days ago was titled Dare to Pick Up the Pieces And it was one of those raw and honest conversations that resonated with listeners far and wide If you haven't checked out the full episode yet, let me share with you these four standout moments I don't think I actually also realised that till later how dyslexic I am as a child I had a really tough time at school not fitting in and there was just not the curriculum or opportunities to explore the different ways that I learn in fact I was moved to schools because my parents realised I wasn't very happy and I think they were doing the best that they could so put me into a different school in order to try and help change the way I learned.

1:24But actually, I don't think the facilities were in place in any schooling system. Yes. When I was early adolescence, I was put into a private school. And again, the schooling system just wasn't in place for me to the point where I wasn't only bullied by other kids, but I was told in front of a class by the teacher that I

1:45Radim Malinic:was stupid as i've mentioned in the intro and if you have listened to sarah's conversation it was a very honest encounter of what it was like to be and what it might be still like to be going through the school system with dyslexia and this moment in her life landed hard because it didn't come from a peer this comment came from a person whose job was to believe in her A teacher holds enormous power over how a child understands their own worth And Sarah was given the worst possible verdict in the most public way imaginable What makes it especially significant in the context of the conversation Is that through line it creates Every piece of Sarah's story The isolation, the shame, the out-of-body experiences The late discovery of her creativity It traces back to this moment And yet here she is, a running workshop specially designed to make people feel capable and seen.

2:47Radim Malinic:That is not just resilience. That's a complete reversal of the damage turned into omission. But he had mentioned collage, which is really interesting because when I'd done my bachelors, we'd had a term on collage and I had such a bias about it. I thought it was just kids play. I was like, this is nonsense. Why are we doing this? and I had a very opinionated friend that was also on board with this. We're like this is just ridiculous that we've got a whole term doing this so I had just thought it was complete nonsense but I think when I got to my master's level I wanted to question that bias because I was starting to realize that a lot of the assumptions I had about creativity were very role so I decided to explore collage for that reason, to understand why I thought it was invaluable.

3:37Radim Malinic:The best origin stories often start with the thing the hero dismisses. Sarah didn't reluctantly warm to collage. She actively rolled her eyes at it. That 180 degree shift makes her conviction so much more credible now because she's earned it through genuine questioning rather than blind enthusiasm. He also makes her a far better advocate for the medium. When a workshop participant walks in skeptical, Sarah can honestly say, I was you, I thought this was a waste of time too. That shared starting point is incredibly disarming. It removes the pedestal, levels the room and builds trust instantly. Her passion isn't inherited or assumed.

4:23Radim Malinic:It's the product of real intellectual challenge she says herself and that makes every word she says about collage carry genuine weight. I wrote out diary entries for each month of the previous year and then I would combine that into three words that summarise the diary entry and then I would find imagery. It could be abstract or it could be literal but basically I was just finding and not even necessarily going out to do it but I would find what I had to hand that matched these words and then I started creating collages out of that and I was starting to feel a sense of being seen through my work and process on a probably very self-conscious level what I'd gone through that was the start of my practice the more practice I got into and I was trying different things I was trying like fit and collage just in black and white to start with just with one color and kind of finding my way and what helped ground me and get more focused but the other thing I also think is really valuable is I went through a season of reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and I couldn't get into that because it's very again the practice of the morning pages is obviously all very text based so i kind of see my collage practice as a visual way of doing the morning pages so i use collage my collage practice has basically become a way of getting out what's inside with what's to hand so i mentioned julia cameron's book the artist way and if you're familiar with the book mentions morning pages that are beloved by many but let's be honest they might not work for everyone, especially if you're dyslexic and words have always felt like the enemy.

6:25Radim Malinic:What Sarah did here is quietly brilliant. She took an established creative framework and rewired it completely, replacing language with image, text with texture, writing with making. That's not just a workaround, it's innovation. It shows a deep intuitive understanding of what the practice is actually for? Externalising the internal, creating space between you and your thoughts, and found a route there is that suits how mine actually works. For anyone who's ever bounced off traditional journaling, this reframe is genuinely liberating. It suggests that the method matters far less than the intention behind it.

7:08I think it's Maya Angelou that said she learned from a really early age to have her own back and I think that I am now reveling in getting in the reps because I can give myself a kudos just for showing up and just getting an extra rep in and the more reps you do you just marginally get a little bit closer to confidence every time and that there's no ceiling to that today I get anxiety over sending a voice note I've just come on a podcast

7:40Radim Malinic:I hope this moment And this conversation Travels even further than it has already Because it's one of these episodes That I genuinely Knew that when we finished it It was so raw and honest And so relatable Because yes I, you know I choose guests from all walks of life Some of those that Are known around the world Some of those who have had A 30, 40 year career and they can eloquently speak about their careers. The episodes who travel the furthest are the ones like this one with Sarah because those stories feel so human and so relatable and a lot of people actually see themselves in this. They can actually hear their own echoes of their own story.

8:28Radim Malinic:For anyone hearing this quote can agree that this moment makes the episode real. It would be easy to package Sarah's story as a neat arc Shame to healing to confidence But this single line punctures any tidy narrative She's not fixed, she's not cured She still feels anxious about the smallest acts of communication And yet, she showed up She spoke to me for over an hour She had some of the most vulnerable parts of her life With an audience she'll never meet That gap between the fear and the action is where all the courage lives. It's also the most practical thing anyone listening can take away.

9:09Radim Malinic:You don't wait to feel brave before you do the thing. You do the thing, shaking, and that is the bravery. Thank you for joining me on this bonus episode. I can only encourage you to check out a full conversation with Sarah Allen Masters. It's one of those conversations that will stay around for a while. And thank you. I'll see you in the next one.

10:02Radim Malinic:and use the code podcast. Have a look around and start living daringly.