What is Artful Living?

Welcome to Artful Living! I’m Rachel Norris—a music therapist, counsellor, and someone deeply interested in the creative process: not only the art we make, but how being creative shapes the way we feel, connect, and relate to the world.  In this first episode, I’m joined by one of my closest friends and fellow music therapist and counsellor, Lorelei Dietz, for a conversation about what it means to be creative, what activities count as creative, and why we can sometimes feel disconnected from that part of ourselves. These creative arts therapies topics are not always explored in accessible spaces so this inspired the idea of structuring these conversations to create an arts and health podcast!  This first conversation begins with how this idea started, and starts to explore the intersections of creativity, connection, and the many ways art and expression can look. Lorelei and I reflect on our own creative passions, blocks, and tools we’ve discovered to support the ebb and flow of staying connected to creativity in our own lives: In this first episode, we start to unpack:   1. What does it mean to be creative or to be an artist?  2. What is a creative activity and how do we define it?  3. Why do we resist engaging with creative activities?  4. What changes when you focus on the creative process instead of the quality of the final product?  5. Could playful, silly, and imperfect forms of making may be the most sustainable creative practice of all?  If you’ve never considered yourself to be a ‘creative’ person, this conversation might change your mind.  *Related Links * Concordia’s Creative Arts Therapies Department: https://www.concordia.ca/finearts/cre... More about Music Therapy  Canadian Association of Music Therapists (CAMT): https://www.musictherapy.ca/  American Music Therapy Association (AMTA): https://www.musictherapy.org/  How to become a Music Therapist  In Canada (MTA): https://www.musictherapy.ca/about-cam... In the United States (MT-BC): https://www.musictherapy.org/about/re...