101-111: Listening x Creativity

101-111: Listening x Creativity

Welcome to an 11-part series exploring the intersection of listening and creativity. Why is listening so important? How can we become better listeners? How can listening make us more creative?

You’ll hear stories and insights from the lived experiences of 11 diverse listeners: a composer, TV morning show producer, improvisational theatre extraordinaire, mediator, jazz vocalist, clinical psychologist, former radio show host who embarked on a 3-month vow of silence, dog trainer, family lawyer, creative strategist and chiropractor.

101: In this first episode, composer Emad Saedi shares his story about quitting his full-time job as a tech journalist to pursue an uncertain (but soul-giving) career composing music. You’ll hear his views on listening across cultures, as well as why he believes silence is beautiful and necessary.

102: In this episode, senior TV news producer, Kati Mason, describes how she listens as a journalist and producer, understanding the unspoken biases and motivations behind every story. She explains key journalistic foundations and storytelling devices, including how they are impacted by listening. Also, Kati and Diana try to solve world peace… no big deal.

103: In this episode, improv extraordinaire (and Diana’s high school drama teacher!) Tim Miller, describes what we can learn about listening through the world of improvisational theatre and how the key foundations of improv are also excellent guideposts for life. He shares personal and vulnerable anecdotes about how listening to himself and listening to others has made him a better person.

104: In this conversation, mediator Oliver Martin, articulates what active listening looks like, why our brains make it so difficult to actively listen, as well as why listening is hugely important as a means to help others clarify their own thoughts. Oliver reminds us that listening is a superpower in the pursuit of what it means to be human and connect with others, offering strategic approaches to becoming a better listener today. Let’s get compassionately curious.

105: In this conversation, professional jazz vocalist Kalya Ramu describes how listening is quintessential to performing live music, as well as how making music happens in a virtual environment. Kalya shares how she actively listens to a piece of music as a professional and how we can all benefit from this type of meditative music listening experience too.

106: In this conversation, Clinical Psychologist Dr. Jennifer Hunter gets into the nitty-gritty about different types of listening exchanges, as well as how to tap into our emotional states as a way to listen on another level. She and Diana explore the imbalance they feel in how communication is taught (speaking vs. listening) in classrooms of all levels, as determined by metrics like participation grades. Dr. Jennifer Hunter also identifies listening’s transformational power, listening’s role as a precursor to creative thinking, the role self-esteem plays in listening and she positions the act of listening as a gift we can offer others.

107: In this conversation, former talk show host and fellow curious human, Drew Marshall, shares his experiences during a three month vow of silence while walking the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St James); a nearly 1000 km walk in northwestern Spain. Drew shares what led him to walk 1000 km in silence (what he calls ‘accidental intentionality’), his insights about the importance of asking questions as a precursor to listening and why his vow of silence gave everyone permission to dive below surface level in conversations. Drew shares a powerful story about what happens when we make assumptions, including how listening can open our hearts and minds to receiving new people and new experiences. Finally, Drew explains the way in which life slowed down when he went silent, how silence affected his creativity and his approach to ‘chasing the why’.

108: In this conversation, dog trainer Jenna Kingston shares how dogs listen to one another and to the humans in their lives. Jenna explains the power that intuitive energy plays in canine listening, as well as how dogs in a pack communicate with one another. Dogs teach us that calm energy is required in a chaotic environment because you can only control yourself and not the world around you. Lastly, Jenna shares her thoughts on being willing to remain quiet and listen so that we can learn from every situation.

109: In this conversation, family law litigator Jenna Beaton describes the patience and restraint often needed while listening as a lawyer, as well as the directive component to listening (controlling the conversation parameters) often required in law. We explore the importance of asking the right questions, separating emotionality from the content in high stakes listening and the importance of asking ‘why’ to question the status quo.

110: In this conversation, creative strategist Douglas Davis, generously shares the way listening is critical to the dynamic of understanding communication gaps that can exist between various stakeholders in the creative process and how listening allows creatives to be more strategic, including the importance of listening for the questions behind the questions. He also shares how learning to control our emotions is necessary within the context of the creative process through listening to our own bodies, as well as his take on imposter syndrome, drawing parallels between today’s creative climate and that of the turn of the new millennium (in the early days of web design). Finally, Douglas reminds us that listening is required to allow creative people everywhere to remain on brand, on strategy and on message.

111: In this final conversation, chiropractor and acupuncturist Dr. Christine Wozniak explains the intimate relationship between stretching our bodies and improving our ability to listen through a process of attunement. She explains ‘attunement’, how to achieve it through the act of stretching and how it can positively impact our ability to listen. Like our interconnected bodies themselves, this episode helps us understand the links that exist between mind, body and creativity.