iving with mental health issues and physical disabilities can be a challenge in a world that does not often show compassion or understanding for one or other (or both). Jenny C, is using her own creativity through the use of Zines to do just that.

Jenny C is a librarian in Washington, DC who writes about her experience growing up with rheumatoid arthritis in the zine series Tributaries. She also compiles the zine Collide, featuring stories on the intersection of physical and mental illness. When she’s feeling chatty, she hosts the podcast Participation, where she talks with friends about their creative work and the beauty of vulnerability.

During this podcast we discussed how she started using writing to convey her health challenges and how she included mental health in the mix. We discuss how this format of creative expression provides a rich potential for communicating the day to day challenges of these and similar issues to help bring education, awareness and understanding to the public. She also shares how you can get started writing a zine to communicate and explore your own self-expression creatively.

Jenny C can be found on twitter @jcnotstacy and her zines can be found at tributaries.storenvy.com.
​
​You can find this podcast on Stitcher, Google Play or Sound Cloud.
Listen to this episode below.

​The Mindfully Creative Podcast is back with the latest episode and the first one for 2018.  This time we are talking about making career changes into a creative career later in life.  Lisa Vogt and I had a great discussion about how those of us over 40 can make some career changes to fuel our creative interests.
Lisa Conners Vogt, MBA, APR helps others to see their experiences as stepping stones to an exhilarating future. Lisa is a life coach, speaker, podcast producer, author, and corporate marketing professional whose mission is to help people realize their talents and skills and take action to use them for a larger purpose.
Through her Ever Better Podcast, she shares inspiring discussions with people who are living extraordinary lives and making a difference in their communities. Ever Better is a highly-rated iTunes podcast that debuted in the New and Noteworthy Top 10 and was featured on NPR’s The Big Listen. Lisa has been a guest on podcasts such as Maturepreneurial, Working Women Entrepreneur, Simple Change, and Financial Karma.
Lisa has ridden the roller-coaster of multiple professional and personal transitions and her speaking is infused with stories of these experiences. She also draws on wisdom that dozens of innovative entrepreneurs, coaches, and authors have shared with her through in-depth podcast interviews. Through using humor to share these lessons, she opens a path for others to see possibilities.
Her career has included roles as corporate communications professional, business owner, consultant, non-profit executive, and digital expert. She is a wife, mother, sister, daughter, breast cancer survivor, and volunteer who is deeply involved with multiple communities.
Her formal education and training includes an M.B.A. from University of Rochester’s Simon School of Business and a B.A. from Colgate University. She holds the Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).
Lisa lives in Bethesda, MD with her husband and teenage son and enjoys spending time with her extended family, preferably near a beach or lake.
During this discussion, we talk about how to plan and prepare for making a career change into a creative field, including networking, unique ways to get experience, education and training, and other cool stuff.
Where to find Lisa:
Website:  http://www.everbetteru.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EverBetterU
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EverBetterU
You can find the podcast on Stitcher,  Google Play or Sound Cloud.
Listen to the episode here:

This episode of The Mindfully Creative Podcast spotlights creativity and the aging process with guest, Wendy L. Miller, Ph.D., co-author of the book, Sky Above Clouds: Finding Our Way Through Creativity, Aging and Illness (Oxford University Press, 2016).  In this interview, we talk about key concepts from the book and specifically how creativity can benefit all of us as we age.

About the Book:
"Through their scientific research, clinical practice, and a remarkable life together, husband and wife team Gene Cohen and Wendy Miller uncover new clues about how the aging mind can expand awareness, build resilience, and continue growth, even during times of grave illness, upending long-held assumptions about the aging brain. Cohen, considered one of the founding fathers of geriatric psychiatry, shares from decades of research and personal journals detailing his exploration of the aging brain and the vast potential that is often overlooked. Miller, an expressive arts therapist and educator, highlights stories of creative growth in the midst of illness and loss encountered through her personal life and her clinical practice. Together, Cohen and Miller show how resources that naturally reside within us remain our most valuable tools as we navigate the uncharted territory of aging and illness.
Sky Above Clouds traces the path that Cohen and Miller traveled together as the foremost expert on creativity and aging confronted his own aging process and a metastatic disease that threatened to cut his life short. Cohen’s distinguished work led to breakthroughs in science and society as, for more than a decade, despite his illness, he continued to pioneer geriatric research and advance the public conversation about aging well.
Sky Above Clouds draws deeply from the couple’s merged wisdom and new lessons learned in a struggle through illness and loss within their extended family, eventually including Cohen’s own untimely death. The book blends both authors’ perspectives and voices, incorporating journal entries they wrote together in the years before Cohen’s death.
What happens when the expert on aging is confronted with his own in the context of a grave illness? What happens when the therapist who helps others cope with illness and loss is forced to confront her own responses to these experiences? With Miller’s insights and expressive psychological writing, Sky Above Clouds shows how attitude, community, creativity, and love shape a life through health, illness, and even death. The result is a richly informative and emotional journey of growth."
-Source: Oxford University Press

About Wendy L. Miller, Ph.D.
Wendy Miller, Ph.D. ATR-BC, LCPAT, REAT, LPC, BCPC is an expressive arts therapist, writer, sculptor, and educator. She taught for over fifteen years in various universities throughout the country, including JFK University, San Francisco State University, Southwestern College, Lesley College, California Institute of Integral Studies, and The George Washington University. She is the co-founder of Create Therapy Institute, which offers clinical services in arts-based psychotherapy and trainings in the expressive arts. She is a founding member, and first elected (past) executive co-chair of the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association, where she continues to be on their Advisory Council. Her current work is evolving as she continues the legacy of her late husband’s work, pioneer of creative aging, Gene Cohen, and his Washington DC Center on Aging, where she is guiding it into projects on intergenerational communication. She continues to research the relationships among the arts, creativity and health, and recently published her book from the writings she and Gene did together, entitled: Sky Above Clouds: Finding our way through creativity, aging and illness, released in March 2016 from Oxford University Press.During this episode we discuss:

• How did the idea of Sky Above Clouds come about?
• As the Baby Boomer Generation ages, how are they engaging in more creative pursuits than other generations?
• What are, if any correlation between wellness and creativity for older adults?

You can currently find Mindfully Creative podcast on Sound Cloud, Stitch and Google Play.  Listen to Episode 10 below:

And we’re back!  After a brief hiatus, the Mindfully Creative Podcast is back and looking forward to some great episodes this Fall.
The Mindfully Creative podcast explores how art is being used for personal and community healing as well as some tips on how creatives can break through barriers to make their “art” whatever that might look like. Powered by SJB Creative Ventures and Spark Your Creative.
Episode 8 focuses on the fine balance between maintaining your creative goals while parenting.  Khadijah Ali-Coleman is our guest and she is sharing some great nuggets about how she has maintained and expanded her creativity while being a parent to a teenage creative!
​
About Khadijah Ali-Coleman
Khadijah “Moon” Ali-Coleman is founding Director of Liberated Muse Arts Group, a theater company and multi-media arts organization specializing in entertainment and educational products and services. Khadijah Ali-Coleman started Liberated Muse in 2008 as a digital community for artists of all genres to fellowship and engage with one another. Through Liberated Muse Arts group, Khadijah has edited book anthologies, produced plays and music soundtracks. She is also an emerging visual artist, her photography published in several publications and her film and video work gaining attention as she has completed commissioned projects for various clients. Her bylines and photography work have appeared in numerous publications such as SoulTrain.com, Ebony.com and The Washington City Paper.


A solo artist in her own right since the late 1990’s, Khadijah, using the stage name Khadijah Moon, has had her music, written and performance poetry work featured on PBS, Pacifica Radio, FOX News, the television show Showtime at the Apollo and other media programs.  She was awarded a 2015 Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Non-Classical Music Solo Performance, debuting her first CD, titled Song of a Space Cadet in 2016, presenting music from the CD in a one-woman show presented by Artscape.
Khadijah is actively performing as both solo artist Khadijah Moon and as a member of Liberated Muse Arts Group.  She also works a creativity consultant for aspiring writers and performers, sharing her expertise weekly on the “Living Unbound” segment on WEAA 88.9FM on the show First Edition with Sean Yoes.  She also hosts the alternating monthly artist mixer series C3: Creative Creatives Creating that takes place at the rl hotel inner harbor in Baltimore, Md. Currently, she is a doctoral student at Morgan State University, pursuing a doctor of education (Ed.D) degree in higher education/community college leadership.
She is a home-schooling mother to her teen-aged daughter, Khari, a 9th grade published writer and film/theater director.
​Where to connect with Khadijah:
Twitter: @khadijahonline
Instagram: @khadijahonline  @LiberatedMuse and khadijah_moon
Websites: BirthYourCreativity.com or TheCreativeMidwife.com (Creativity Coaching)
                 KhadijahMoon.com (Music)
                 LiberatedMuse.com (Liberated Muse Arts Group)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MoonMami
Watch videos by The Creative MidwifeListen to the podcast below:

Episode 7 of the Mindfully Creative Podcast features Tessa Barr.   Tessa is the Art Specialist for Cornerstone Montgomery’s art program Studio In-Sight. Cornerstone Montgomery empowers people living with mental health and some with co-occurring substance use disorders to live, work and integrate successfully within the community. Tessa holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of art and feels that both her teaching and her art making practice have been heavily informed by the many things she has studied over the years. In particular, she often incorporates her education as a graduate from Tampala Institute’s movement based Expressive Arts Program, studies with Cultural Anthropologist Angeles Arrien and her work with mentor Ruth Boerger (from the Gestalt institute of San Francisco). She began her teaching career working with artists at the Cedars of Marin’s Victory Center for arts and communications in Marin County California. Tessa currently lives in Baltimore with her husband and two dogs.
Studio In-Sight was established in 2006  to bring space and inspiration to artists who may be outside the mainstream. Artists of the Studio In-Sight are the clients of Cornerstone Montgomery, a psychiatric rehabilitation facility in Montgomery County, Maryland (neighboring Washington, DC) that serves those living with a chronic and persistent mental health disorders. The studio is a part of the Life Skills Program whose mission is to guide, train, and empower the clients in a social and supportive atmosphere.
The studio is dedicated to artists who want to work as artists. Studio In-Sight provides a space where art can happen in a safe and nurturing environment. Opportunities to share what is created for the benefit of the artists and for the community are explored regularly. Specially trained staff support and provide guidance as needed.
On this episode, Tessa and I talk about what I consider the magic of Studio-In-Sight and specifically how art can help people who are in recovery from mental illness. We also talk about a special exhibition I help to organize and co-curate, Dialogue a collabortive projeect which included professional artists from the Washington, DC area and artists of Studio-In-Sight that was launched in 2016.  Also, Tessa shares advice to artists who are interested in working with people who have mental health challenges in similar programs in their communities.
Learn more about Studio In-Sight and the Personal Visions Gallery below:
Websites:
Cornerstone Montgomery: http://www.cornerstonemontgomery.org/
Studio In-Sight:  http://studioinsight.org/
Personal Visions Gallery:  http://personalvisionsgallery.org/
Social Media:
Facebook: 
Cornerstone Montgomery: https://www.facebook.com/CornerstoneMontgomery
Studio In-Sight: https://www.facebook.com/cornerstonemontgomerystudioinsight/
Instagram:
Studio In-Sight: https://www.instagram.com/s_insight/
Twitter:  
Cornerstone Montgomery: https://twitter.com/CornerstoneMoCoListen to the interview below.  You can subscribe and follow the Mindfully Creative podcast can be heard on Stitch, Google Play and Soundcloud.

In this mini-podcast episode Sharon Burton host of the Mindfully Creative Podcast introduces what an Artist Date is (based on the concept from Julia Cameron's ground breaking book for creatives, The Artist's Way), explains how Artist Dates can be used as a tool to help move past creative blocks and shares advice on moving past your personal hesitation regarding Artist Dates and scheduling them. Features music by JR Rivers, "Breakin Bread", copyright the artist, all rights reserved. ​

Welcome to the sixth edition of the Mindfully Creative Podcast series!  This sixth episode focuses on the role that artists can play in advocacy, specifically focusing on how “The Walking Gallery” movement got started to address patient rights in healthcare.  Our special guest is mother, artist, author,  speaker and health advocate, Regina Holliday.
Regina Holliday is a Maryland-based patient advocate and artist known for painting a series of murals depicting the need for clarity and transparency in medical records. This advocacy mission was inspired by her husband Frederick Allen Holliday II and his struggle to get appropriate care. Afflicted with kidney cancer, Fred suffered poor care coordination, a lack of access to data and a series of medical errors and, as a result, lost his battle. During Fred’s 11 weeks of continuous hospitalization in five facilities, Holliday learned that she would have to wait 21 days and would be charged 73 cents per page for Fred’s medical records. In addition to already expensive care, the many necessary pages would have cost hundreds of dollars. These institutional flaws spurred Holliday to try to improve care for her husband as well as all patients who are abused in this way. As a result, Fred’s death inspired Holliday to use painting as a catalyst for change.
With her passion for advocating for patients to receive timely access to their health care data, her artwork became part of the national healthcare debate. Reported on in the mainstream press, as well as reviewed by such journals as BMJ and APA, Holliday has earned a platform to push for legislation that would provide electronic healthcare records to patients. Continuing her advocacy through art, she also started the Walking Gallerymovement, where more than 350 volunteer members don business suits or blazers with either their story or their loved one’s story painted on their backs to attend public meetings. The jackets, which were painted by Holliday or one of 42 artists, depict the story of a medical patient or an element of medical advocacy. The members of Walking Gallery attend medical conferences with a powerful visual story painted on their back which makes the feel of the meeting more human and less distanced. The paintings help to convey the fact that the people wearing them are living, breathing examples of lapses in health care, as opposed to just a statistical number.
In addition, Holliday is published author. The Walking Wall: 73 Cents to the Walking Gallery,her first work, is devoted to the stories that comprise her Walking Gallery campaign. Her latest book The Writing on the Wall (2015), a memoir, takes readers on an odyssey of abuse and empowerment.
Recently, Holiday was honored at the H.I.T. Men and Women Awards reception for her trailblazing vision and perseverance in advancing the adoption of health IT, innovation, and best practices to improve healthcare. On July 13, 2010, she was honored to represent the patient voice during the Meaningful Use Stage One Announcement. She appeared on stage with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius, Don Berwick from CMS, and David Blumenthal from the ONC, and Regina Benjamin Surgeon General. In addition, she appeared in the Safety Leaders/Discovery Chanel documentary Surfing the Healthcare Tsunami and is part of the creative team working on SpeakerLink.org.
Backed by her own patient and caregiving experiences, Regina Holliday travels the globe heralding her message of patient empowerment and inclusion in healthcare decision making and offering guidance on crowd funding in healthcare. She fearlessly stands before officials and practitioners demanding a thoughtful dialog on the role patients play in their own healthcare.
During this conversation we talk about Regina’s journey into healthcare advocacy after the death of her husband, the role her art has played in her reaching health care providers and decision makers about her message, the birth of the Walking Gallery movement, the upcoming Cinderblock4 Patient Advocacy Conference in Grantsville, Maryland this month and advice for artists and creatives regarding getting involved with advocacy work.
​Learn more about and follow Regina and the Walking Gallery at the links below:
Blog: http://reginaholliday.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @ReginaHolliday
Instagram: @Regina_holliday
Walking Gallery Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkingGalleryHC/
You can listen to episode 6 below.  You can find the Mindfully Creative podcast on Stitches, Google Play and Soundcloud.

Welcome to the fifth edition of the Mindfully Creative Podcast series!  This fifth episode focuses on the role that alternative therapies, specifically the healing art of reiki plays in unblocking creative energy as well as enhancing it.  Janice Buerkli (a.k.a Janice B.)  is the featured guest for this topic, a multi-talented woman whose musical and healing arts journey has roots based in the Baltimore-Washington, DC area.
Defying genres and transcending the standard music industry labels, songwriter & singer Janice B. has created her own style which she calls “Eclectic Soul”.  Whether it’s R & B, jazz, blues, rock, country, or house music it is soulful.  Born in Washington, D.C. and growing up in Maryland, Janice began her professional music career as the co-founder and lead vocalist of the band Intuition. After a fairly successful five year run, Intuition disbanded and Janice continued as a songwriter and solo performer  with producer Maurice Carroll.  Having just completed her third project with Carroll, Janice continues her songwriting journey collaborating with many talented artists. She has worked with International DJ/Producer N’Dinga Gaba on several house music tracks.  Their songs “Feeling Fine” in 2013 and the 2014 remix of “Watch Me Fly” gained worldwide attention when they both charted in the top ten on the Traxsource Soulful House and Afro House charts respectively.  Janice is involved in bringing awareness to the worldwide issue of human trafficking and modern day slavery with her song “Freedom”.  Proceeds from the download sales Of “Freedom”benefit local charities.
Janice B. is also an Usui Shiki Ryoho & Holy Fire II Reiki Master/Teacher providing intuitive reiki treatment, energy clearing, chakra balancing and crystal healing.  A lifetime of intuition and clairsentience (the ability to read people and feel their physical states and well-being) eventually led Janice to the world of Reiki and energy work with a passion to help people heal themselves. Her unique, transparent approach to healing combines reiki with intuitive insight, chakra balancing, and work with crystals.  
During this conversation we talk about Janice B.’s journey from music to healing arts, the role reiki has played in her creative career as well as how it has benefitted other creatives that she has worked with in her practice. Whether or not you personally believe in the power of alternative therapies, there is no denying that reiki and energy healing has increased in popularity as one method to deal a variety of physical health and emotional issues.   This is by no means is a recommendation that reiki be used to heal creative blockages, but may be worth exploring as one of many ways to address this concern.
​
Learn more and follow Janice B. at the following links:
Music Website: https://janicebmusic.com/
Reverbnation: https://www.reverbnation.com/janicebuerkli
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/JaniceBuerkli
Facebook (Music): https://www.facebook.com/JaniceBMusic
Reiki/Healing Arts Website: https://www.janicebreiki.com
Music Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janicebmusic/
Reiki/Healing Arts Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janicebreiki/

​EPISODE 4:  “Art Therapy Unveiled” Featuring  Gretchen Miller, MA, ATR-BC, ACTP Registered Board Certified Art Therapist.
Welcome to the fourth edition of the Mindfully Creative Podcast series!  This fourth episode focuses on art therapy,  and fittingly so since it is the start of Creative Arts Therapy Week!   Gretchen Miller is the featured guest for this topic, a woman who is a creative force online for promoting the field of art therapy and encouraging its use in a variety settings.
Gretchen Miller MA,  ATR-BC, ACTP is a Cleveland, Ohio based Registered Board Certified Art Therapist, Certified Trauma Practitioner, and an Adjunct Professor at Ursuline College’s Counseling and Art Therapy Program. Clinically she works with at-risk children, teens, and adults often impacted by trauma and loss- using art for the intervention and management of traumatic stress., Her online art making community, 6 Degrees of Creativity, unites concepts of social networking, connecting, collaboration, and creativity into an engaged global community of artists spreading creative goodness. She also serves as Community Organizer for the Art Therapy Alliance, a resource embracing social media to promote art therapy and the work of art therapists.
During this conversation we get to the root of what art therapy is (and isn’t), who can benefit, and how to become one yourself!
You can learn more and follow  Gretchen at the following links:
Website: www.gretchen-miller.com
Blog: gretchenmiller.wordpress.com
Instagram: @gretchenmiller
Twitter: @gretchen_miller
For information about art therapy and how to find an art therapist:
Art Therapy Alliance: www.arttherapyalliance.org
American Art Therapy Association: www.arttherapy.org
Art Therapy Credentials Board: www.atcb.org
You can currently find Mindfully Creative podcast on Sound Cloud, Stitch and Google Play.
Listen to the podcast here:

EPISODE 3:  “Peaceful and Productive Creative Spaces” Featuring  Sherry Burton Ways, CEO/Principal Designer of SBW Aligned Expressions
Welcome to the third edition of the Mindfully Creative Podcast series!  This third episode focuses on the importance of creating a space to allow for creative manifesting.  Sherry Burton Ways (who is also my twin sister!) is the featured guest for a quite informative discussion about how our physical enviroment plays an important part of our creativity as creators.
Sherry Burton Ways is the CEO and Principal Designer of SBW Aligned Expressions.  Sherry has 20 years of combined Urban Planning and Interior Design experience that she utilizes to create Aligned Expressions Design. Combining the positive characteristics of the neighborhood or community in which the space resides with the personal goals and desires of the client is key to her design approach.  To further define the unique design needs of her design clients, she also utilizes her certifications in the ancient Chinese practice of Feng Shui, Color Therapy, Interior Environment and Design Psychology Coaching to create desired interior design results.
Her mission is to create alignment between the Aligned Expressions Design experience with beautifully-expressed, productive, nurturing and functional interior environments.  Her philosophy is that all interiors should evoke a grounding balance of function,  flow, and feel for all occupants and the space.  She has been quoted in Essence Magazine, Rodale’s Organic Life Magazine, the Washington Post, Forbes.com among others.  She is a DoTerra Essential Oils Wellness Advocate and a Design Columnist for E- The Magazine for Today’s Female Executive.
Books by Sherry Burton Ways:
Feel Good Spaces: A Guide to Decorating Your Home for Body, Mind, and Spirit
Sherry also has a new book that will be available late 2017 entitled “Landing on Your Feet and Putting Down Roots: 21 Rituals to Transform Your Life and Your Space.”
Follow Sherry at:
Twitter: @sbwaligned
Instagram: @sbwalignedexpressions
Facebook:  Sherry Burton Ways
You can currently find Mindfully Creative podcast on Sound Cloud, Stitch and Google Play.Listen to the podcast here: