Podcast: When Life Demands More of Us Than We Have to Give
The whole point of this podcast, of Exhale really, is to pursue creativity alongside motherhood. So what happens when circumstances don’t leave much room for creativity? Sonya interviews Abbie in this episode, asking her to dig into what making a decision to step back from a creative project really looks like. How do we accept a season where the demands of our very real lives exceeds what we’re able to give?
For anyone who doesn’t know: Abbigail Kriebs an avid reader, freelance writer + editor, and work-at-home mom of two. She’s been working on the same novel for many, many years and may yet finish it someday. In the meantime, she co-hosts the Chasing Creative podcast, eats waffles in quantities that would make Leslie Knope proud, and serves as an elected official on her local Town Board. She and her family live in the middle of the woods on a road that goes nowhere, but it’s not too far from Madison, Wisconsin. You can get her once-a-month newsletter on what she’s reading at inkwellsandimages.substack.com, listen to years of episodes of the Chasing Creative podcast, or follow her on Instagram.
Resources we shared:
Our episode with The Lazy Genius, Kendra Adachi was No. 45, and it’s all about building a routine for a creative project in the life you have right now.
The Facebook thread in the Exhale Group Abbie mentioned is here.
The Chasing Creative episode where Ashley Brooks and Abbie talk about audio conditioning and how it’s affected their creative lives.
If you haven’t already read it Greg McKeown’s book Essentialism is a must-read. You can nab our discussion guide here.
Sonya has an essay about navigating all the non-negotiables: The Neverendingness of Recurring Non-Negotiables.
Meet our next Exhale co-host Adrienne Garrison! Head back to Episode 47 - Behind the Essay No. 2 to hear Adrienne talk about a specific essay and what it’s like to get an MFA in creative writing.
A quote from this episode:
“I want to write my novel, of course, but I think I need to trust that writing will grow out of the care I show myself, not ignoring myself in favor of a word count each day.” – Abbigail Kriebs
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