Traveling is a joyful exercise when you need inspiration and a break from your routine. Your ability or inability to move impacts your creativity. With the current travel restrictions and civil unrest around the world, no one is immune from getting feelings of uncertainty and anxiety during these trying times.
In today’s episode, Meera Lee Patel gives us a glimpse into her creative process when writing her book, My Friend Fear. She tells us how the pandemic and her pregnancy affected her creative flow. She also shares her stories of overcoming fear by feeling at home with herself, no matter where she is.
If you feel stuck physically, emotionally, and mentally, this episode is for you!
[04:55] “When I open myself up to the world, when I'd let somebody see me for who I was, not for who I thought they wanted me to be, I was welcomed.”
[16:55] “In order to be creative and make the work, you need time alone. So much of being a creative is solitude.”
[19:13] “Whatever was cycling in your head and giving you such anxiety, maybe that is a very small part of life and your life and a very small part of what is affecting you in this grander scheme.”
[26:51] “Something that helps me always with my anxiety is remembering that the way I feel right now is temporary. Just like everything else in life, this moment is temporary, and it’s going to pass, and it won’t be like this forever.”
[29:14] “Losing control, and letting go of control, and learning to be okay with that has been really freeing. Instead of making me more anxious that anything can go wrong, instead it makes me feel like, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen. And that means that there is a lot of possibility.’”
Meera Lee Patel is an illustrator and writer based in Nashville, Tennessee. Coming from Brooklyn, she began working as an editor at a publishing company after graduating with degrees in English and Journalism & Media Studies. A self-taught artist, her stationery and gift line are inspired by nature and her home country, India.
She published three journals, namely, Start Where You Are, Made Out of Stars, and Create Your Own Calm. Her works encourage self-exploration and help build a practice of introspection through art. Her book My Friend Fear features Meera’s reflections about her fears, thoughtful questions on creativity, and beautiful watercolor paintings.
If you want to connect with Meera, follow her on Instagram and Twitter or visit her website.
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To feeling radically loved,
Rosie