“Art for Your Sanity: Susan Hensley on Healing, Journaling & Creative Renewal”

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Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show podcast, the podcast show where we unlock potential one dream at a time. Today we have another guest whose journey is truly worth hearing. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the Moneyway experience.

What's up, my good people? Welcome to the CJ Moneyway Show in association with Believe Network. Where we bring you inspiring stories from leaders, creatives, and changemakers who help us navigate life challenges with resilience and joy. I'm your host CJ Moneyway Johnson, and today's episode is about creativity, personal growth, and embracing change. Our guest today is Susan Hindley, a transformational coach, speaker, and author of the book Art for Your Sanity: How Art Journaling Can Help You Manage Chaos and Unleash Joy After decades of experience as a corporate executive and leadership coach, Susan discovered the power of art journaling during one of the most challenging transitions of her life. Now she's on a mission to help others navigate life transitions with creativity, playfulness, and being authentic. Susan, welcome to the CJ Moneyway Johnson Show. It's a pleasure to have you on today.

Oh, CJ, it's great to be here. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Yeah. So like I say, Susan, I appreciate you taking the time out to come on the CJ Moneyway Johnson Show. So Susan, you spent decades as a corporate executive and leadership coach before finding your way to art journaling. Can you share a bit about that journey? What led you to discover that practice and how did it transform your life?

So I can honestly say it completely transformed my life. Now, it wasn't overnight.

Right?

And I discovered it by accident about 7 years ago now. You know, I'm working in— it was in the office back in the day when everyone went into the office, you know, 5 days a week and talking to some coworkers. And one of the women had a— still does— has a really nice side hustle as an artist. She's a legitimately good artist. She creates art and sells art. And there are a few of us standing around saying, you know, it's pretty typical, like, I have no artistic skills and I don't in the traditional sense. And so she's like, hey, you know, I'll have a few of you over a couple hours on a Saturday, you know, maybe do some wine, cheese and crackers. I'll teach you a little bit, right? I'll be fun, low-key. So I go on this Saturday and she's teaching, you know, sort of about the color wheel. We've got— we're at a table, we've got all these paints and collage and I'm sort of off to the side listening, but like, oh my God, I haven't had like paints and stuff. I'm sitting there messing around and I make a mess, right? It's just I've got this soggy piece of paper by the end. I'm not sure. I think she was trying to teach the color wheel or something like that. And I have this big like splotch that I didn't quite let dry, sort of brownish, but I love it. It was like the 2 hours flew by.. And I thought, wow. So in my professional sense, at that time, I was working human resources, really helping people in their careers. I was doing a lot of executive coaching and career coaching. And I always told people, and, you know, really good coaches do this, look for the things that light you up, right? Whether you call it a glimmer of joy or just something that gives you a little spark. And pay attention. It doesn't mean it's the next career. It doesn't mean this or that, but start to pay attention about those things that, like, really catch your attention and make you feel great. And that's what playing with this art did. I actually took that soggy piece of paper home, hung it on the refrigerator. I mean, it was— this thing is not attractive. It's like a blob. My husband sent it home at the time, like, huh, what, what's going on? What's the mess? And we still had some art supplies. So, you know, it's one of those things like I, I forced myself to take my own advice and we had some crayons at home and I just started to play. Sometimes I'd be in the kitchen, you know, literally waiting for like the water to boil. And instead of just scrolling on my phone or multitasking, I would just doodle. I would draw something, scribble, and it sort of grew. I went to the kids section, got myself some glue sticks, all super inexpensive stuff. And I would play with art maybe about 10 minutes a day, right? Not a big commitment. And it wasn't ever about creating something. I mean, all this stuff was like a big splotchy mess or a collage, right? I love like the glue stick and the crayons. But what started to build over time, and this aligned with what I was doing in my corporate job, is I started to pay more and more attention to how I was feeling. I got really curious, like, why am I enjoying this? Like, it's a release, right? It's fun, makes me feel like a kid again, no pressure, right? And then about then the pandemic hit and locked in, work went crazy. Was very worried about some people very close to me during that time. So there's a lot of caregiving. And I started to use the art journal, like, process all my anxiety, like my fears, anger, had a lot of anger. You know, you You don't always know what it is, but then all of a sudden you find yourself drawing these little screaming faces and the little, like, a little emoji and the screaming faces yelling like rage or shame. And I laugh about it now because it's a funny crayon drawing. At the time, so real. And then I just got really curious, like, what's going on here? Right. And as I started to research it, there's a lot of brain science out there that what was going on is I was getting out of like the left side of my brain that was analyzing where the worry, the logic was, over to the right side of my brain because I was playing. I was releasing my fears, if you will, and my emotions into something that was sort of holistic. And art journal is just mine. It was private, right? I mean, I could save it. It was just a little notebook. I could throw it away. It didn't— have to be anything other than for me. And the more I did it, and this has been going on now for about 10 years, the more I realized it was time to have a different career. It was time to sort of, as much as I loved the company and the people, it no longer— that kind of job no longer fit me and what the kind of work I wanted to do, right? It really was me, not them.

Yeah.

And that happens, right, in life. We grow. And if we don't pay attention to those growth signals if we're too afraid. And the art journaling, I would say, really encouraged me to take the leap. So to your first question, how has it changed me? It— through doing it, I quit a job that I was planning. If you had asked me a couple of years before, I would have said I'm going to be there another 5, 6, 7 years, right? I was just going to keep going. I changed my whole plan. I sort of jumped off the cliff and did part-time work here and there and consulting. And eventually I realized I was talking so much. And as I was coaching people, talking about art journaling, I thought, I need to share this more broadly. And that's why I wrote the book, because I'm talking to people about it one-on-one, you know, and it's like, no, I might as well share this, see if it helps anyone else.

Mm. You know, Susan, I'm going to be quite honest with you. And I used to work at a job where we used to have to make boxes. I was, you know, it was a candy factory. And so, you know, we used to have to put the boxes together for displays and things of that nature, and I could never do it. And so I used to tell them all the time, I say, I never was good in school with arts and crafts. Hey, ain't never been my lane. Drawing, none of that. I, you know, I don't have the steady hand for that, but kudos to you for being able to hang in there. Like you say, it wasn't your thing. 2 hours went by, you had fun. I don't know. Even if I spent 8 hours in there, I probably still wouldn't catch the concept of it. So I'm going to have to check out your art journal and see what you're actually talking about. So Susan, you mentioned the pandemic.

Yeah.

You mentioned the pandemic and your own impending retirement brought in Miss stress, because you say you had like 5, 7 more years to go. How did art journaling help you navigate those challenges?

First of all, right, because the art journaling is just honestly whatever you want to create, right? It's not about making art. It helped me to process the emotions and the fears I told you about. I was laughing, but like the little screaming face when I was in a rage and it helps you to start to see that your emotions pass, right? Whether it's your fears about the future, your uncertainty, you know, even when you're feeling really pumpey, you know, we're not our emotions. Our emotions come and go. And the better we can, if you will, be aware of them and manage them. So art journaling really helped me get out of the fear of the unknown. I had a lot of well-meaning advice that I needed to know exactly what I was going to do when I left my job. And if I didn't know, I would go crazy because I was this high-energy person, right? Or I thought I'd lay on the couch all day and watch Netflix. It felt like it had to be one or the other. There was no middle story, which is just us telling ourselves silly stories, right? We torture ourselves, our thoughts, and well-meaning family and friends, they want us to be happy. And truth was, through art journaling, it really helped me to just ride, if you will, the wave of uncertainty. And then I ended up getting into— and you mentioned in the intro— sort of life transitions coaching, which is what I did. I made a major job change about that same time, became an empty nester. My husband and I moved across the country. To a new place. So all of that, all of a sudden my life doesn't look like anything I used to know. I'm not with friends, I'm not working full-time, not raising a family in the same way. And you can get really overwhelmed when so much changes in your life all at the same time, and you want to fix it right away, and you want to get the new new, and that's not always great. And so art journaling, which was really just using color and image or collage for a few minutes a day to just express however I was feeling really helped me, in essence, create a new life. And now, you know, I've realized there's so many of us that go through— I mean, humans go through transitions. There's research about every 12 to 18 months, right? Whether it's relationship changes or job changes, sometimes, you know, loved ones getting sick, we are becoming a parent, right? And that changes our, our life. And we need some time to process what we want our new world to look like.

So Susan, in this art capacity, many people think that art is something only for artists. How would you encourage someone who feels like they aren't creative to give art journaling a try? Somebody like myself?

Yeah.

Okay.

So I want to start again with— I don't view myself, and I've been out for 7 years, I've written a book, I do workshops, I have online training. I, as of this day, absolutely do not consider myself artistic. I draw like a 5-year-old, and I've chosen to keep drawing like a 5-year-old. Hearts, flowers, whatever, because that's where the fun is. So what I would say to people is think of what you loved to do when you were 5, like in kindergarten, if you had any art supplies at all in your kindergarten or whatever it was. Maybe it was Play-Doh, maybe it was building things with rocks or sticks, right? I mean, most young kids have some creative outlets, whether it's in kindergarten or first grade or it's, you know, in the neighborhood. Kids are always playing and making up things. So think about that. And that's what you want to tap into. So it's absolutely not about creating art. I tell some people to scribble. Like, one of the opening exercises when I teach a workshop is you put on your favorite song. Most songs on people's phones are between 3 and 4 minutes, right? So I— we choose one person's song, play it out loud, about 3 or 4 minutes. I have them take 2 crayons and just fill a piece of paper. The goal is to get as much color with 2 crayons on that piece of paper. That's not about making something you're ever going to show anyone. It's truly about like scribbling or figuring out how to draw square lines. It's up to you. But what people experience is a sense of freedom, a sense of play, a sense of I'm not trying to be good, right? Adults in general, we always want to get better at things, right?

Yeah.

And which is good. It's important. It's natural for us. It's hard to take yourself seriously as an adult when you're holding like a crayon or a glue stick. And that's what gets you over to play and creativity. If it's only 5, 10 minutes a day, it's a really nice break because just about everywhere else in our lives— and I'm not saying this is bad, but it puts pressure on us. We're trying to improve, right? You and I are recording this at the start of the year. You know, there's probably people working on exercise, on eating healthier, on, you know, maybe getting that next promotion, or— which is all great, right? I have goals as well. But when we live in a state of constantly trying to improve, we can be really harsh with ourselves. And that's where I think these, like, breaks of play or creativity— so I want to just go back. It is not about artistic ability. If you can hold a crayon or hold a glue stick and glue some pictures down on a piece of paper, you can in essence play with art.

You know, as you were saying that, I'm sitting back thinking because you said you go back and think about yourself as a child, you know, kindergarten, 5 years old, and the things that, you know, you like to do and the things that you was doing. And so, as you know, you just said something about with the crayons and the glue sticks. I was actually trying to picture in my mind, how could I put a glue stick and the crayons and make the image of me hitting somebody upside the head out there on the playground? Because those are the things with my little bad, badness self when I was coming up in kindergarten. These was the type of things I was doing.

So, okay, so you were fashioning things to play with other kids, apparently in this case to hit other kids. Right? So you're creating little weapons, right? You're building— it's a little sculpture, right? If you think about it, because you said that, of course I pictured what, you know, what you could create with it. And so you might play with— say you're curious about this, you might play with sticks and glue. I saw someone once take the coffee stirrers, you know, those little wood coffee stirrers you see, like black coffee. Somewhere. They took a few of those from a place and just some glue and started to break them apart and just like glue stuff together. 10 minutes. It was just play, right? I mean, I talk a lot about crayons and collage because if you want to keep it in a journal, but if you think about what you like to do, you may not go chase someone today. It's maybe, or maybe that's where the fun lays. But what I loved about that, so I will say this, if you think of the image you just told us about, you shared, you would construct something and go chase some other kids around. You weren't thinking the very next day you were necessarily going to get better, unless you wanted to be faster than the kid, right? You were just out for that moment having a good time. And that's where I think as adults, that constant need for self-improvement, even in our recrea, in many cases, recreation or things we play, we want to improve, can be really a good release from stress. It can be really mentally healthy to do it just for the sake of play. And when you think about your 5-year-old self, because you told the story, you had a big old smile on your face, right?

I don't know what I was doing for real.

Well, right. But what I love is it was, and you lit up telling the story, right? Look at you, you're chuckling away right now. You love it. And that's the feeling I'm talking about tapping into. Right.

Okay.

Yeah, you're not going to chase someone around, but you could find something that sort of gives you that playful feeling that you get curious about. So yeah, you did it. Yeah, you're still laughing about it.

Because I keep having these visions in my head, hitting the kids upside the head, taking a, you know, like Oreo snacks, cookies and all that type of stuff. I was the bully in elementary school.

So funny.

So Susan, let's switch gears here a little bit. Let's talk about what we came here to talk about. Let's talk about your book, The Art for Your Sanity. Now, what inspired you to write this book, and what do you expect gainers to take away from it?

Sure. Well, I decided I needed to write it because as I was coaching and working with people, I would explain it to them and say, this might really help you. And I watched people use it and get insights and enjoy it and make it their own. But that's very one-on-one, right? And the more I realized I was talking about it with anyone I was working with or with friends, or say I'm in the kids art section of, you know, Walmart or Target getting myself some new crayons, I'm talking to other people in there, you know, other women are like, you have kids? I'm like, no, this is mine. It's all for me. So, you know, when you find yourself sharing, and, and I'm sharing not to show anyone my art, because once again, this isn't about an artist, it's to see if it helps them. That's the point. Very well, I mean, friends have said you should write a book, it's an easier way to share it, right? Other than one-on-one and people I'm, you know, either working with or accosting in the kids' art section. So that's when I decided to write the book. And if a person reads the book or gets the book or looks on any of my stuff, my website has a free PDF, How to Start. There's videos with exercises, right? There's lots of ways to think about it. But what the book does is about 3 things. It explains just the process, like what is art journaling. It's not about creating art. It's— you're thinking of its visual representation. It gets through my story and how I used it for major life transitions and really processing difficult emotions, taking risks, really tapping into that inner wisdom I believe we all have. And then the third thing is I was able to find, because other researchers, some really great brain science, is to why this is the case, why it's good for our mental health, why adults spending some time in play and working on problems with creativity is so important for us. So those are the 3 things that you get when you read the book. It's sort of like a how-to. It's a little—

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My own story, and then it's the science, if you will, behind the why.

Mm.

Yeah, I like that. 3 points that you broke down. So Susan, you also have other things that's connected with this. You also offer an online course called Artful Transitions. How does that course complement the book and who could benefit most from it?

So what the course ended up doing. I wrote the book first, and then people read it. And it's all the kind of person you are. Each of us knows how we learn best. The course really goes deeper, and there's a workbook to sort of guide you through the process and some of the self-discovery. It gets you to look at how you're feeling when you're doing it, what kind of colors you're using and why, right? Because colors mean different things to different people at different times. It helps you work on your values, like to make sure you're really clear on what your values are, and are you living in alignment with your values? So the course and the companion workbook really goes much, much deeper through it. You know, it starts with play, then helps you work through difficult emotions, then helps you work through sort of messages and tapping into your inner wisdom. And then I've done one or two other just short videos to get people started, right? Some people just want a quick explanation, others want to really take it very seriously and do the work and do their value clarification and really sort of develop a system for better understanding themselves.

So let me ask you, Susan, because you say, you know, you get colors and like you have a color scheme like me, you know, before we got on, I talked about how I like being creative, doing thumbnails and things of that nature. So with art journaling and things, you know, like back in the day and you're still doing it. When you draw a picture or when you coloring in the coloring book, you color the main characters and try to outline it, and then you wanna have a blue sky behind it, you know, as the background. And so with art journaling, as far as, you know, the color scheme, do you also have like contrasting colors too? Do all that blend together with your main, you know what I'm saying, with the main course, and then you just use that color scheme Throughout, you know what I'm saying, what you're doing, or do you change it up?

So I change it up. And what I really encourage people to do is— because they're using it as a journal for how they feel. Let's take blue for a second because you mentioned the blue sky. Any given day, blue can be a blue sky, which is like clear, calm. Blue can also, for a person, represent sad, right? If I said draw a little face, like if you think of a little emoji right now on the phone, you think of a little crying emoji. Those are like blue tears because it's, you know, and so what I actually encourage people to do is to think about the color they're using and what it means, right, to them, because each of us has different associations with color. So I'm looking at you right now and I see the Lakers poster, right? Is that what I see behind your head?

Exactly what you see. That's the only thing you gonna see in my house, Susan.

Okay. So say you were playing with like the purple and the gold and yellow. You're probably associating that— maybe some people from New Orleans may be associated with Mardi Gras, others may be associated— you're thinking of all your maybe favorite basketball norms, right? And excellence and championship. I don't know. Only you know if I said use these two colors, what do you think of? Because we're all so individual, right? Whether it's happy associations, cheering. That's what I encourage people to do. So it's— you're using the colors, you're using the colors you're drawn to. I don't want people to think too much about it. It's afterwards. Say you do 10 minutes of art and you chose 2 colors. It's afterwards, take a step back and sort of say to yourself, why did I choose that? Maybe you were feeling a little down and you wanted to be inspired. I'm just going to keep going with the Lakers theme because I'm looking right at it. You want inspiration for excellence, say. So you're using those colors because that's what you associate, right, with excellence, with support, right? We're making this up. You know how you do the Lakers, but I'm guessing you think they are excellent, right?

Well, not right now. I've been a fan since 1980. So you just don't turn things on and off like that, Susan. You should know that coming from Northern California.

I do. I do. No, you don't turn it on and off, but you do appreciate their runs. And so maybe it's hope for you, maybe it's nostalgia. I don't know how you would feel when you use them. But the one thing I will say about them that's sort of interesting is even with ups and downs, it's an interesting symbol, right? I might say to you, you and I are talking, you're like, yeah, they go up and down. I'm not— I'm loyal, right? So here's some of the things you might be thinking using those colors. I'm loyal. I can ride the wave. I believe in them, right? I mean, that's what I talk about with some of the values that start to come out. Now I'm making this up just because the poster's like right there.

Right smack there in your face.

Exactly. So it's easy and it's got so much color, right?

Yeah.

It's popping out at me.

Yes. Yes. I've been a Laker fan since 1980. I don't want to tell people my age, but, uh, you know, Been there for a long time. Magic Johnson. So, and talking about Magic Johnson, life transitions.

Yeah.

Whether retirement, uh, career changes as you talked about earlier, or personal losses can leave people somewhat stuck or overwhelmed with their situation. How does creativity help people move forward during these uncertain times?

You are so right that when you get thrown a really big curveball, right, right, you just brought Magic Johnson here, you're one place and then you're not, your whole identity gone in that moment. And so much uncertainty, right, at the time about the implications. That is such an extreme example. But when we go through a transition, on many cases, lower levels, but not always, health diagnoses are one of the biggest life transitions that bring us to our knees, whether it's a loved one or our own. Those are the transitions where we have to reassess. But where creativity helps is, one, the tendency is to just hunker down and to want to escape it or make whatever it's going away or to feel sorry for ourselves. We can't do that for long. And so getting creative first about just now what when everything you believed was one way and all of a sudden now it's different. You know, there's a grieving process, and art and creativity can help with that and the releasing of sort of what was and all those feelings which are, you know, anger, frustration, fear, uncertainty, right? Whatever it is in our life transition to what now. And that's where doing things that are creative opens our eyes up because sometimes we get so stuck in only thinking one path that when you're doing something so playful, that's maybe a little messy, it shows you there's a lot of paths. There's so many more paths than we can even imagine because we're constantly trying to, you know, fit ourselves in that box. So using art and doing creative things really can help people to reinvent themselves. About half of the life transitions we experience happen to us, right? Half we may initiate. Right? We may meet a partner, choose to get a new job, have a family. But then there's half, which are health diagnoses, you know, job loss, any number of things that occur, empty nest, different things like that, that are just part of life that we can get stuck if we're not careful. And the whole idea of transition coaching, and like I said, I think art journaling is really helpful, is to help us grow through it. It's not to ignore it. It's not to get stuck. It's not just to do the next thing no matter what, even if it's not a fit, right? You've got to be comfortable while you reinvent yourself. And you're not going to get it right the first time. And that's, I think, where people need a lot of support because you talk in a transition, there's the end of something that you have to process. There's the big messy middle, which is not straight. We want it to be fast. We want it to be straight, right? We just want to get through that uncertainty. And then we want to get to the new exciting thing, whatever that is. And the truth is, that middle is, for most people, because I think it's just part of being human, it's long, and it's all over the place. It's a big old scribbly mess, which is why I love scribbling. Because, Dave, that is just what life is like. It's a big old scribbly mess.

Yeah, somehow, like how I write, when I write notes, I wrote a whole book scribble. I can read it, but if I was to show Susan my notebook, she'd be like, what is this that you have going on, Corwin? But I can, I can start reading every word, uh, verbatim. And so, uh, so I get what you're saying, you know, sometimes things are messy, uh, that, you know, you love the beginning but it's that middle sometimes too. As I'm hearing what you're saying, that's that trying period, you know, like You know, like, oh, can I get over this obstacle? Or as a writer, you know, writer's block, or, you know, oh yeah, get this thing together. How do I connect this with that? And I know the beginning, I know the ending, but what do I add in the middle? You know, that's when things— and that's life too— start getting tricky.

Always. No, you're— it's that middle that's so uncomfortable. Where all the growth happens, if you're willing to stick with it. And I think that's where sometimes working with a coach or working with someone is really helpful to keep you from getting stuck. And also not just jumping to the next thing. And, you know, if you don't build during that, that middle, that end you're trying to get to sometimes isn't a good fit. And you need to be, you know, careful.

So Susan, As we getting ready to close, uh, pretty soon, let me ask you a question. You bring a unique perspective having years of experience in leadership and human resources. How do you blend creativity with traditional leadership coaching, and how can leaders benefit from incorporating creativity in their work?

Yeah, I think it's more important than ever that leaders incorporate creativity, and for a few reasons, right? AI, AI, AI, AI, right? All we're hearing about is AI, and it does amazing things. But the human creativity, the human being willing to look at things differently, and in business, every business needs to innovate because things are changing. You don't innovate because there's been a playbook already written, right? It's already been done. If there's an ABCD, it's not new. Yeah, it's not fresh. Innovation is just another word almost for creativity, if you think of it. And so, I think leaders are so challenged right now with all the generations in the workforce, the different expectations of different generations in the workforce. You can't just do things the way you were originally taught. You need to really sort of step to the side. And think about, what does my team need? What does this organization need? And how can I look at things just a little different to get different changes? And that's where doing some creative exercises is really, really helpful, because the more you just keep thinking, I have to do something different, you just are staying in that left side of your brain, just going over that same loop over and over. You're not getting anywhere. You need to sort of get yourself out of it. I liken it to— and tell me if this has ever happened. I've heard lots of people say they get their best ideas in the shower, right? Have you ever heard?

You?

Okay, look at those arms go up. So let's think about why that is. Because in the shower, you're just feeling the water. You're in there to get clean, right? You're enjoying the water. Whatever it is, frees up your mind for just that period. You move out of that left brain that's just grinding, grinding, grinding, you go over to the experience you're having, right? Whether you like hot shower, cold shower, whatever, soap smells, and all of a sudden, you've got that space to be creative because you're not grinding against it, right? It's so important to— I talk to people sometimes, I actually have clients I work with stand up and take a step or two sideways when they're really stuck on a problem. It's like, just step out of this mode and step just a little bit sideways and see if something else comes to you. Can you imagine how to do this differently? Like, where you're just sort of playing with imagination. So I think— long answer— I think creativity is absolutely critical right now. It's as critical now as it's ever been between, you know, the technology changes that are happening and, you know, the changes with consumers. If you're running a business that Yeah, it's really important. And you don't get creative by telling yourself and beating yourself up. I need to be creative. You get creative by doing something fun and releasing your mind. That's the key thing. That's why the darn shower is so great. Right?

Yeah, I love the shower. That's why I get a lot of my thoughts from, like you say, a lot of things, you know, just come to me in the shower. And For the record, I like hot showers. Not scalding hot, but hot. I can't do cold. Yeah, you know, another thing too, uh, Susan, I get ideas too, you know, just riding to and from work with no radio, you know. Yeah, a lot of time and getting, you know, a lot of ideas and trying to be creative on things that I'm trying to do as well. And, you know, I agree with you too. You said something earlier like you got your main So like you, human resources, you have your main job, but you know, you being creative to do other things. And so it takes your mind off of that. You know, like I do the podcast, but I have other things besides the podcast where I'm, you know, I'm trying to work on a screenplay and things of that nature. So it takes my mind off of this because I'm being creative in doing that. Or when I'm putting the thumbnails together, or when I get ready to put this episode out and do our video clips and things of that nature, just the creativity part of it. And I'm guilty. I love AI. It generates everything you put in it that you want to come out of it. I'm guilty of that. Like I told you before, and I wouldn't tell you a story, I'm not good at arts and crafts.

So I love AI. I think it's a terrific, terrific tool. Right? I think it's the tool. We just don't want to outsource are creating. But when you said the screenplay, so here's— that's so interesting. What you're describing when you switch between different things is what's happening and what I'm, you know, telling people to do with their brain. You get off one task and one thought, your mind, magnificent, it's going to keep working it, but it's just going to work it in a different way, more holistic, more integrated, without what I call the stress or the deadline or the pressure. I agree with you. The drive or the commute for some people when they, you know, listen to music is another great source where you're sort of allowing yourself to just process and observe and be. And that's where I think, you know, when we give ourselves some space, we get pretty creative.

Yeah. Yeah. And you got to have space. Space and peace. You know, that's one thing that that I preach on, and I thank my wife, and I had to tell her on New Year's Eve, I was just telling somebody this the other day, I thanked her for giving me the space that I need to create and be creative and do the things that I'm doing. You know how it is, you're in that space where you writing books and you doing things, we need space. Yeah. I don't need you hovering over me complaining about what I'm doing and this and that, 'cause sometimes it takes us away from the family, you know, because like you writing a book or doing an online course, I got deadline to meet or I got this to do, I got this to do. I don't need you nagging, you know what I'm saying? Honey, let's go to breakfast or let's go to lunch. We'll go tomorrow. Today I gotta do this. So, you know, I thank God for having a wife that I have that lets me be in my creative form. And I'm pretty sure with your husband and y'all traveling all around the world, And so I know that that's nothing new to you guys.

No, no, it's true. And gratitude, you know, you really hit on something, CJ, that spending some time being grateful actually makes us more creative as well because we have such a negativity bias as humans. Like, you can always find that the stress or things that aren't going well, but spending time where you actually think about what you're grateful for and why, like you really articulate your wife why her giving you space is so important. And even that is an act that moves us into a space of possibilities because it sort of makes us pause for a minute and just look at it differently. It's not all deadlines. It's, gosh, here's this person. So there are a lot of ways to build creativity, you know, creativity, because it doesn't have to be you create this art thing. But I love the fact you brought up gratitude because in the life transition coaching, a gratitude practice, particularly in that messy middle and when things are ending, can be really helpful. It can, you know, just make you feel like it's all not destroyed because sometimes we can feel like, you know, there's nothing here anymore. And there's always a lot more here than I think meets the eye sometimes. So big fan of gratitude.

Big fan of gratitude. You gotta be thankful. Just like today, like you said earlier, then you here on this podcast today, just being thankful for life in general, you know what I'm saying? To be here and do what we're doing, to be in our right minds, to be creative and do the things that we doing. And so there's so many things to be grateful for in life, period, you know? And which a lot of us take for granted, you know what I'm saying? So yeah, that's the thankfulness. I'm gonna leave you with this question, Susan.

Okay.

Your journey is so inspiring and the work you're doing is helping people bring more color and meaning to their lives. Looking back, what's one piece of advice you would give to someone who's afraid to try something new, whether it's a creative practice or a major life change?

That's actually a great question. And if you're afraid to try something new, Take the smallest possible step. I don't know what it may be, but think of what is the smallest step and take one of those each day, new career or something. Many times, people think they have to do it right away. I need to send out all the resumes. I need to network. I need to have this all done. We get really discouraged or really overwhelmed. It's like being a detective or looking for— I mean, I'm going to call it like looking for little breadcrumbs. My advice, if you're afraid to do something, is to take the smallest possible step. You asked about being creative. For 1 minute, doodle, right? Literally, nothing will happen. That is not a scary thing to suggest to someone, right? But instead of you go out, you buy this stuff, you're going to dedicate all of this, it's like, play with it. And whatever that small step is, whether it's a career change or changing your life, as you Take each small step, pay attention to how you feel, and sort of thank yourself for doing the small step. Don't mock yourself for the steps too small, right? Just that you build up courage, not so much by all of a sudden getting brave, it's just getting a little more comfortable. You're just trying to expand your comfort zone. So people get way too far out of their comfort zone, they tend to freeze up and not have the skill. So it's little steps.

I like that. That's a good one. So Susan, I really appreciate you. It's been a pleasure having you on your show. Your story is a powerful reminder that creativity isn't just for artists, as we talked about earlier. It's for anyone looking to find joy and clarity in life. So thank you for sharing your wisdom with us today. Before we wrap up, where can we find your book, Art for Your Sanity, your free downloadable PDF, and more information about your coaching program and online courses?

Sure. Well, the book's available anywhere you buy books online, Amazon, but I have links on my website. So the best place to go is Susan-Hensley, which is H-E-N-S-L-E-Y.com. There's the PDF. You can buy the book off of it. It can link to the online course, other videos. So everything's there. But the book's widely available.

Mm, you heard it right here. Hey, again, thank you, Susan, for joining us on the CJ Moneyway Johnson Show. And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in. If you found value in today's episode, please leave us a review, subscribe, and share it with someone who might benefit from Susan's message. Make sure to visit SusanHentley.com to grab your free guide on getting started with art journaling and learn more about her book and online course. Until next time, stay curious, stay creative, and keep finding ways to bring joy into your life. This is your boy CJ Moneyway signing off. We outta here. Peace.

Thank you for listening to the CJ Moneyway Show. Don't forget to share this episode with your friends, leave a comment, and drop a review. Be sure to tune in every Tuesday and Friday for more inspiring journeys. Who knows? Your story might be next.

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