Speaker #0Hello, my sweet creative cutie, and welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative. I'm Lauren LaGrasso. I'm your host. I'm your gal pal. And today, teaser, I'm doing something on the show that I've never done before. A couple of weeks ago, I did a solo episode. And when I recorded it, I thought it was pretty unhinged. But when I listened back, it was actually pretty good. And one of the main things I talked about was creative grief and reinvention. and needing to take a break. And in six and a half years of this show, I've taken one week off fully. I think it was Christmas. It was like the week after Christmas. It was either 2023 or 2022. And that's it. And I have loved every single second of it. And I'm getting to a point in my life where in order to keep this fresh, in order to keep this a creative venture, I need to take my own advice, which is that rest is part of the creative process and rest fully from the show for just a little bit of time. I've been scared to do this. I think I told you on the show that I was afraid that if I did this, that everything and everyone would go away and people would forget about me. And basically the show would just like evaporate. And I need to have more faith in my creative community, in you, in myself, in the show's amazing track record. I mean, it's one of the most awarded indie podcasts in the world. And just also in my own intuition that if I take a break, I will come back better and people will be energized around it because I'm going to be energized around it. For the first time in my life, well, maybe not the first time in my life, but for the first time in a long time, I'm trusting my intuition over my logic. My logic, my brain says, avert, don't do this, don't take the break, keep going, push, push, push. You know that only on, well, what they say in the podcasting industry is always on shows are the ones that make money, always on shows are the ones that build audience. And I've been always on for six and a half years. All the shows that I loved growing up, like Friends and all the good sitcoms, you know, they took a break over the summer and then they came back in the fall. And so I, like the great American sitcom Friends, The Office, etc., I'm going to take a short break this summer. So here's my plan because I want to give it to you completely straight so you know everything. Because if you ever start a podcast or any sort of creative venture, one of the most important things is being upfront with your audience about when you'll be there. And I have been extraordinarily consistent every single week on Wednesday at 1 11 AM Pacific time. I have had a new show for you. So for the next few weeks, there will be no new show. The great news is there's over 350 shows in the back catalog for you to choose from. I'm going to go over some of my favorites at the end that I highly recommend episodes that changed my life that I think are worth the first or second listen. that I'm probably going to listen to while I'm off too, just to remind me of what I've learned. So that's a recommendation I'd have for you. But I will be back with a special episode with Timmy the week before my wedding, that's August 20th. And so come back for that. We're going to be talking about everything we've learned about ourselves and our relationship through planning a wedding. Because weirdly, planning a wedding has been an incredible self-development journey and has taught me a lot about my relationship with myself, my relationship with others, where I still need to grow, where I'm really strong. And also, it's just been fun and just amazing. So because I've taken you through every single era of my life and every single thing I've ever done, I want to make sure that I bring you into that too. And that also we have this beautiful public record of this moment right before we got married and what it was like. And that's one of the best things about having a podcast. It's like having a. a public diary that you can go to and be like, oh, what was I thinking during that time in my life? Oh, let me listen to what I said. And so, yeah, I just think it'd be really special for us to do that episode because you've been with me every step of the way to hear what it's been like planning the wedding and what we're excited for and yeah, take you into that part of the world. So that will be coming out. Let me give you the exact date. We will put that out on August 20th. And then, for season two, the longest season one ever, six and a half years. I want the world record. But season two of Unleash Your Inner Creative will be coming out week of September 15th. So one other thing, I'm not 100% certain about this yet, so I'll keep you updated, but I believe I'm going to start airing on Tuesdays. Originally, I aired my episodes on Tuesdays when I started producing Brene Brown's podcast during the pandemic. I switched my podcast to Wednesdays because I'm like, oh, it's so hard to like release her show and my show on the same day. I mean, frankly, because I was getting paid for that one. I wanted to make sure I prioritize getting it done. And so I'm like, I'll push it to Wednesdays and go figure. The minute I decided that's what I wanted to do, her team switched her release date to Wednesday. So it all ended up being on the same day anyway. So long story short. I always wanted to be on a Tuesday. I think Tuesdays are a great day to release because there's not as many shows out on that day. It's just like a hard day to get through because it's like, oh my gosh, there's so much of the week left. So I want to be like that bright shining light for you. So not 100% decided yet, but the first new episode of season two will be out week of September 15th. So be refreshing your feed during that time looking out for us. And who knows, maybe I'll release one on the 16th and the 17th just because I'll be like so energized and ready to come and bring the heat. And OK, as far as shows, I think you should revisit. Number one, I always go back to this one. My episode with Greg Holden, he's a singer songwriter. He wrote the song Home by Philip Phillips. He's just such an inspiring person. He that was like one of the first episodes where I was like, whoa. First of all, like, I love this and I feel like I'm really good at it. And it just... altered my soul, taught me so much about like authenticity when it comes to artistry. I really recommend the first ever episode I did with Julia Cameron. It was just so beautiful. Like out of nowhere at the end, she started singing and I felt like I saw her little girl self come out. And after I did that episode, she wrote me a personal note and told me it was one of the best interviews she'd ever had. And so if you're a Julia Cameron fan, if you don't know the writer of The Artist's Way, definitely. check that out. I always say there'd be no Unleash Your Inner Creative if it wasn't for Julia Cameron. So paying homage to the queen. Also, all the episodes I've ever done with her have been great, but that first one was truly special. The episode I did about body neutrality with Jesse Neeland, highly, highly recommend. That cracked me open. The episode I did with Lee Esposito, the first one, about Italian heritage, it was just so beautiful. Speaking of Italian heritage, I recently re-released this, but... definitely check out the episode I did about going back to Sicily and meeting my long lost family that I didn't know about. And I showed up on their doorstep and it was like a 70 year long dream come true. Just go listen to it. It's such a beautiful story and like one of the best things that ever happened to me in my life. And recently this episode I did with Erica Wright about codependency and the difference between codependency and creativity. There's so many more. I mean, any flavor of the rainbow that you could ever want. It's in the back catalog. So go through, look for what you're going through. There will be an episode for whatever your creative or self-development dilemma might be. So check it out. And oh, also all the ones I've done with my parents, even the ones on Christmas, like yes, they're Christmas themed, but they're so fun. Check out all the ones I've done with my parents. People love those. And I'm people because I love them. And to wrap it up, I do want to read... something that I wrote in my journal. I've been having really cool journal entries lately. One thing I definitely want to do in my time off from the podcast, obviously, like finish planning my wedding. But another thing I really, really want to do is just more writing. So if you're not subscribed to my newsletter, be sure to do that. There's a way to subscribe on my website, laurenlagrasso.com. You can also go to Substack. dot com and look up Lauren LaGrasso because I'm going to finally start a sub sack in 2022. I wrote coming soon. So soon is relative time is, you know, made up anyway. So I guess 2025 is still soon. So I will be starting a sub sack, hopefully within the next month, but at least like generating the idea for it in the next month. And I'm starting to share more and more of just my general writing. One other thing. If you are booking people for speaking, please reach out. I just booked a super cool speaking gig for October. I'm really excited about it. I'm going to tell you all about it soon. And I also am doing coaching. And that has been so beautiful and so affirming and just like soul opening. So definitely check out my creative coaching practice at LaurenLagrasso.com slash coaching and set up a free discovery call with me. I would love to guide you. And these are things I'm going to be really delving into more while I'm in this time off, quote unquote. It's also going to be a time when I'm really thinking about the podcast. I'll still be doing some interviews. I'm still going to be interviewing a few people and gearing up for the new year. But and also feel free to reach out and tell me what have been your favorite episodes. What has resonated the most with you about the show? Please leave a comment on Spotify. Like I said, that really helps boost us up the algorithm. I don't even know if that's the right way to say it. But it really helps bring visibility when you leave a comment because it shows Spotify that people care about this podcast. But leave a comment and tell me what have been your favorite episodes? What kind of new content would you like to see from me in the future? What kind of guests? Like, are there specific guests you want to hear from? Are there topics you want to hear me do solo episodes about? Would you want to be in a creative coaching episode? I want to do more of those. So reach out, leave comments, send me an email, lauren.lagrasso at gmail.com. Would love, love, love to hear from you. I want this show to wrap around what you need and what you want. And for this to be, as always, a creative collaboration between you and me. So with all that said, just thank you for being here. Thank you for believing in me. Please come back. Prove me right that I trusted my intuition. You know, that's a thing. And I hope that you can take from this too. Maybe this is an era where we're really meant to trust our intuition more than what our logic says. Logic is wonderful, but often it gets in the way of creativity. And I think I've let my brain get in between me and my creativity or me and my desire so many times. And this break, doesn't make sense. Like it just doesn't, but it makes sense to my soul. And I'm trusting that even though it's really, really hard, you can hear that I'm even struggling with it now. Cause you know, even in saying this, I'm like, am I just trying to like prove to myself? Like my brain is even going now, am I trying to prove to myself that this is the right thing to do even though it's not? But I know like when I feel into it, remember we did this episode on decision-making and my way of making a decision. is I feel into my body, and if it feels expansive, I know that it's right. And if it feels constricting, I know that it's a no for me. And when I feel into this time off, it feels expansive, and it feels like it's going to lead somewhere bigger for us. So I'm trusting that, even though it's hard. And I hope Whatever the question is for you in your life right now, whether it's creative or personal, if your soul and if your intuition is telling you, you need to go toward this expansive option, even though it feels ludicrous to your brain, I really hope you trust your soul. It's not easy, but maybe it is easy. I don't know. But either way, I just hope you trust your soul. And that's what I'm doing. And so with that said, I want to read you this, I almost said article. I want to read you this journal entry that I wrote on Friday. Okay. I'm planning to take time off the podcast. It feels good, scary, but right. Like everything else right now. This year is bonkers. I made Unleash Your Inner Creative to prove to myself and others that we could make change and not die. so that we could remember our birthright to creativity. And so that we could, I made, I first made Unleash, I made Unleash Your Inner Creative to prove to myself and others that we could feel fear and make change and not die. So that we could remember our birthright to creativity and live it out daily. And as time went on, I realized that all of that had a lot to do with loving, trusting, and knowing yourself. I learned the difference between creativity and performance, the difference between creativity and codependency, why who you are is the best thing about you, that your creativity is just an extension of who you are, that preparation is equal parts spiritual and emotional as much as it is literal and physical, and it's actually probably even more spiritual and emotional. I have so much to share. When I come back, I'll be revealing a huge creative leap that I'm taking. I hope that leap inspires you the way that everyone who's come on this show so far and shared their stories inspired me. I can't wait for Unleashed Season 2, the new era of a Lauren truly unleashed in the arena, ready to live fully and stop buying into convention. I love you and I believe in you. Let's do this. I'm leaving an awesome caterpillar and coming back a quirky, brave butterfly. Will you join me, creative cutie? You are everything to me. And I feel a little like sadness because I'm going to miss doing this week after week, even though it's only really a few weeks off. Okay. I'm going to be back every single month, even next month. August 20th, I'll be back for that wedding episode. But yeah, I'm feeling like this like fluttery, exciting feeling in my heart, which lets me know that this is right. And I'm feeling a little sadness because I'm going to miss being here every week. And I'm feeling this. Big expansion that's coming. And I can't wait to come back and do this the right way. I don't even know what that means, but that's in my head. Come back and do it the right way. Like from a fully rested place, from an energized place, from a place that is more intentional and more specific and geared toward you and what you need more and what I need more. And just a true co-creation between you, me, life, God. the universe, and all things that are good. I'm so grateful for you. This show has been an absolute lifeline for me. And I hope it's been for you too. It has helped me get to know myself and love myself and trust myself. And I think I'm about to be creatively unleashed. I can't wait to share what I've got up my little sleeve, both my sleeves at this point. Anyway, big, big announcement when I come back in September. I can't wait. I can't wait to tell you. I will see you on August 20th for our wedding episode. And until then, I love you and I believe in you. Talk with you on August 20th. Bye, cutie.
