Olive Jars (436) | Creativity Matters Podcast (CMP)

Episode 436 of the CMP, a Creativity Matters Podcast — olive jars, coffee cups, the too-muchness of the world, simplification, daily ratings, and more.

This episode is long. It was long. It was longer. It was part of last week’s Episode 435 and then broken off to stand alone. And then as it sat and marinated and I ruminated over and over about the threads, it started to shrink. Funny how that happens sometimes.

There are multiple tangents and throughlines in this week’s show. The title olive jars don’t make an appearance until the very end. Before that are vignettes about giving each day a daily rating (and the “year in pixels” mentality), two bookstore moments that, at the time, were so overwhelming in their brightly colored and glittering too-muchness that I felt keenly aware that I have been somehow missing out on the magic of life, and a bag of empty olive jars. And there are coffee cups…. just a few (which is the point).

(Note: regarding those bookstore moments… yes…. the glittery too-muchness was alive in a way that left me thinking I have been on the wrong road, but it wasn’t quite that simple because even then I was torn by the fact that part of me wanted to run far, very far, from the too-muchness. I don’t want to want so much stuff, and yet I do. At the same time, I realize that when I’m not faced with the too-muchness, I want less, I crave less, and I spend less energy thinking about what I don’t have.)

Listen to Episode 436

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Mentioned in this Episode (or Related)

Tools

Notes on large format sketchbooks
ROYGBIV supplies: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet
Uni-Gel Alpha Shaker pencil (mine is listed as “slightly firm” – but it’s super cushy; they do come in other softness/hardness ratings. I really do love this shaker!)
Pentel Hi-Polymer Block Eraser, Large, White (these things disappear like socks; you can never have too many white erasers lying around)
Moleskine Art Sketchbook (what I’m using for regular drawing and my illustrated journal)
Moleskine Art Sketchbook — the REALLY big one — A3 (11.75″ x 16.5″)
Platinum Carbon Black ink (what’s in my fountain pen)
Sktchy app for inspiration photos
Micron 08 (larger nib good for thicker lines or filling in small-medium spaces)
Micron 01 (favorite for drawing)
Micron Sampler