Artists for Joy

Artists for Joy is a space for creative people to reconnect with that joy that made them want to be an artist in the first place. Join host Merideth Hite Estevez and special guests as they debunk the "tortured artist" stereotype and explore how the creative life can be sustainable...how being an artist needn't be a life of pain and turmoil...that we can choose joy. New episodes go live every Friday!

#174: There's another way 05/03/2024

#174: There's another way Season 5 Premiere! What if inside every creative block is an invitation? Today on the show: a story about what a chance traffic encounter taught me about responding to block. Links: /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/31098218

Creating in the Wilderness with Sarah Bessey 03/22/2024

Creating in the Wilderness with Sarah Bessey SEASON 4 Finale! This openhearted, vulnerable conversation with author and knitter Sarah Bessey is the perfect way to tie a bow on Season 4 of Artists for Joy. In this interview, Merideth and Sarah discuss: The spiritual nature of creative practice The important difference between self-care and self-comfort Processing the grief of losing friend and fellow author Rachel Held Evans What Sarah does when she's creatively blocked Merideth shares some of what she'll be doing during the upcoming podcast hiatus and how you can stay updated on what's new with Artists for Joy, so listen all the way to the end! /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/30483718

Walking the Creative Path with Emily P. Freeman 03/15/2024

Walking the Creative Path with Emily P. Freeman Emily P. Freeman is a writer and spiritual space-maker. She is the author of six books, including the Wall Street Journal Bestseller "The Next Right Thing: A Simple Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions" and "How to Walk into a Room: The Art of Knowing When to Stay and When to Walk Away." In this episode, Emily joins host Merideth Hite Estevez to discuss discernment, creativity, and joy. They talk about how to make every aspect of life creative, how to overcome people-pleasing (the answer will surprise you!), and the most valuable creative inspiration Emily's received lately. This episode is perfect for anyone looking to create a more soulful and intentional life. Whether you're struggling with decision fatigue, feeling stuck in your creative process, or simply want to learn more about how to live with more joy, Emily’s insights and advice are sure to be helpful. /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/30377343

Mini-Joys: Self-Coaching Exercise–Creative Reflection 03/08/2024

Mini-Joys: Self-Coaching Exercise–Creative Reflection This week, Merideth offers a self-coaching exercise to help you create your path. 1. Name what’s on your mind before we begin: Is there a fork in the road you see coming around the bend? Is there a question you’ve been asking yourself about your creative practice or life that you want to explore with gentleness and grace? Or take a cue from Emily P. Freeman, in her new book, "How to Walk Into a Room," and ask, "What are the primary rooms of my life right now?" Spend some time naming whatever comes up. 2. Choose one line of inquiry to explore in this creative reflection session. Write the question down on a sticky note or note card and put it somewhere you can see it while creating. 3. Create in whatever medium sounds fun. You are not necessarily setting out to answer the question you’re holding; you are just creating and reflecting alongside this inquiry. Let your mind wander, and invite whatever thoughts that show up move through. Set a timer for half an hour or more if you can spare it. 4. When you finish this session, look at the question again. What came up? Pretend your very best friend wrote that question. What would you like to tell that friend now? How did the creative process help you hold space for the uncertainties and complexities of your life? 5. Email Merideth at or post your creation on IG and tag /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/30279163

Creating Your Path 03/01/2024

Creating Your Path What scripts are holding you back from creating your own unique path? What would you do if you weren’t so afraid? What parts of yourself have you been ignoring, squashing down, so you can fit in where you are? Are you ready to move forward but unsure of how or where to go? This week's episode will meet you right where you are. Inspired by author Emily P. Freeman, Merideth reflects on what role creativity plays in our discernment process and ways we can shift our mindset to become empowered decision-makers and artists creating the most important thing we make: a life. Submit questions for Emily via email: Leave your question on our voicemail: 302-415-3407 /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/30179513

Mini-Joys: Rewriting the Unhelpful Story 02/23/2024

Mini-Joys: Rewriting the Unhelpful Story This week, a coaching exercise we're calling "Rewriting the Unhelpful Story." Take a few moments and fully realize the unhelpful story you’re telling yourself. Write it all down in the third person. What does the rejection mean to her? What is the main character in your story currently letting this rejection mean, or what is he/she/they afraid it means? Spend time writing it out in your journal or speak your thoughts out loud to a safe and helpful friend, therapist, or coach. Zoom in again and focus on the main character of your story. Write about him/her/them for a second. What is she like? What is her creative potential? What do you like about her? Personify the lead in that story, and write 3 to 5 compassion-filled phrases or truths you want her to know. Flip to a new page and write a new story. Make the ending good, surprising, outlandish, even fanciful. Be as creative and generous as possible, write a new tale as unbelievable as you can, and fill in all the details you are longing to know. Submit a question or comment to Merideth via email: via phone: 302-415-3407 /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/30072933

Write a New Story About Disappointment 02/16/2024

Write a New Story About Disappointment This week's episode explores the challenge of persevering through creative disappointment. We meet Ian, a musician whose band falls apart, and learn the tool that is helping Merideth cope with a recent and painful rejection. Listen for encouragement to embrace your sensitivity and vulnerability and to find ways to move beyond disappointment to create with more joy and freedom. Submit a question or comment to Merideth: via email: via phone: 302-415-3407 /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/29980398

Mini-Joys: 3 Steps for Ordering the Chaos 02/09/2024

Mini-Joys: 3 Steps for Ordering the Chaos This week on the podcast, Merideth offers three simple (non-judgmental!) steps for taking action when faced with chaos. This episode will help you accept the invitation that life's raw material offers and find more creative joy. Submit a question or comment to Merideth: via email: /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/29866573

Order the Chaos 02/02/2024

Order the Chaos This week on the podcast, the final word-of-the-year installment (less word, more motto): "Order the Chaos." What freedom awaits when we stop resisting the chaos of life and instead embrace it as an invitation to creative possibility and joy? Merideth explores how this mindset shift is helping her leave guilt and doubt behind and find a more hopeful and gentle way of being in 2024. Plus, she'll share stories of 18th-century buildings mended with legos, a deep truth she learned from a 5-year-old, and the tale of one Holy Goose. Submit a question or comment to Merideth: via email: /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/29762568

Musical Meditation: Open-handed 01/26/2024

Musical Meditation: Open-handed Coaching Questions: 1. Think of a time when you transitioned or crossed one of life’s thresholds. What was it like for you? Who did you become in the "after"? What gifts were waiting for you on the other side? 2. What creative offerings have you released into the world? And what chaotic trajectory did they take? How did it surprise you? 3. What are you feeling led to give away, to release from your hands, in this season? How can you love yourself well during the vulnerable, sometimes scary process of opening your hands? Submit a question or comment to Merideth: via email: /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/29654848

Open-handed 01/19/2024

Open-handed This week on the podcast, the second installment of my words of the year: Open-handed. What are we missing when we hold too tightly to our expectations? What role does letting go play in the creative process and how can we get better at opening our hands and releasing work into the world? Merideth answers a listener's question about how to stay well and inspired on social media and shares a powerful story of an artist seeking joy. Submit your listener question: [email protected] /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/29550988

Mini-Joys: Life's Algorithm 01/12/2024

Mini-Joys: Life's Algorithm 3 ways to cultivate abundance in your life today: Enjoy what you have. Say out loud what you're grateful for and what delights you. Give more than you get. Believe in benevolence. Feed Life's algorithm and watch what happens. /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/29437548

Abundance 01/05/2024

Abundance Where is the line between the power of positivity and foolish denial? How do we become more comfortable asking for more, hoping for more, believing there’s more? Merideth lets us in on some of her inner chatter this week as she launches a big project, and she'll answer a listener's question about the spiritual nature of creative blocks. Submit your listener question: [email protected] /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/29351148

Choose your word(s) of the year 12/29/2023

Choose your word(s) of the year This week on the podcast, Merideth helps you choose your word(s) of the year. Grab your journal and earbuds and explore the prompts paired with meditative music to craft an intentional, creative year with joy. Reflect on 2023: looking through your phone at photos of the last year, ask yourself: what do I wish there had been more of? If you had a word(s) of the year, in what ways did you see them reflected in your life? If you didn’t, based on the last twelve months, what words might you have been living by? Now looking forward: Answer this question with a stream-of-consciousness list–This year, regardless of my circumstances, I want to feel… Write as many words as possible about how you want to show up in 2024. Read your list and circle the words that resonate most. Look especially for verbs or action words. Take the list of circled words and make a fresh list. If anything is missing, add it now. Sit with this list of words for a few days. Talk to a loved one, therapist, or coach about it. What activities, deadlines, trips, and events are coming up in 2024, and which of these word(s) will help you show up as you most want to, regardless of the outcomes or circumstances? Narrow it down to one (or more) words you’ll live by this year. Please share yours with me on Instagram on the post for this episode so we can cheer you on. /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/29198398

Joy Actually: An Invitation to a Wholehearted Holiday 12/22/2023

Joy Actually: An Invitation to a Wholehearted Holiday What if all your feelings were welcome this season? This week on the podcast, Merideth offers a meditation on persistent joy, an invitation to a wholehearted holiday where grief + excitement or sorrow + joy can coexist. She'll share a story of when joy appeared in the most unlikely place and answer a listener's question about maintaining creative routines when everybody's home. Wishing you and yours a joyful holiday, whatever you're carrying. /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/29193103

The Spiritual Invitation of Movement 12/08/2023

The Spiritual Invitation of Movement Have you felt a spiritual stirring during a long walk or a workout? What connection do creativity and movement have? Why did so many famous artists throughout history take long walks in the afternoon? This week, Merideth explores how movement helps us connect to something larger than ourselves and invites us to practice self-acceptance, deep listening, and completing the stress cycle. Submit your question: or leave us a voicemail 302-415-3407 /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/28984018

Mini-Joys: 3 Tips for thriving this "Gigmas" 12/01/2023

Mini-Joys: 3 Tips for thriving this "Gigmas" This week on the podcast Merideth offers 3 ways to thrive this month. "Gigmas," or the holiday creativity vortex that hits freelancers like a polar express, is upon us. Listen for things you can do to keep your head above water during "the most wonderful time of the year." /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/28875498

Meet an artist who wastes nothing (with Heather Lanier) 11/24/2023

Meet an artist who wastes nothing (with Heather Lanier) This week, Merideth chats with writer Heather Lanier about creating in the cracks, why she writes, and how to become more comfortable with the inherent uncertainty of making a new work of art. Heather's bio: Heather is a poet, essayist, teacher, speaker, and thrift-store shopper. An assistant professor of creative writing at Rowan University, she is the author of the memoir, (Penguin Press, July 2020), a , along with two award-winning poetry chapbooks, , and . She is the recipient of a Vermont Creation Grant and an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award. Her full-length poetry collection, Psalms of Unknowing, is forthcoming from Monkfish Publishing. Heather often writes at the intersections of spirituality, motherhood, and feminism. Her essays and poems have been published in , , , , , , , and elsewhere. Her TED talk, has been viewed three million times and translated into 18 languages. Her essay, was among the top 10 most-read Longreads essays of 2021. With an MA in Teaching from Johns Hopkins and an MFA in Creative Writing from Ohio State, Heather has taught Shakespeare to ninth graders in Baltimore, conversational English to housewives, ship workers, and executives in Japan, and expository and creative writing to undergraduates at places such as UC Berkeley, Miami University, and Southern Vermont College. After seven years in the Green Mountain State, she is learning to live—and drive—in New Jersey. If you follow her on Twitter or Instagram, she vows never to post a post-workout selfie… although if you do, she’ll cheer you on! /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/28683033

Nothing is wasted 11/17/2023

Nothing is wasted This week on the podcast, something we all need to remember: no creative act is wasted. If you find yourself wondering what the point of all the tiny efforts are or if you need a reminder of the long game that is being an artist, this one is for you. email Merideth a question for the show: [email protected] Leave us a voicemail 302-415-3407 /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/28678963

Mini-Joys: Off/On Ramps 11/10/2023

Mini-Joys: Off/On Ramps This week on the podcast, a Mini-Joys episode all about something that's really helping me recently: an off/on ramp! Listen to learn more, and tell us on if this worked for you! Design your own off/on ramp: Think of something you’ve been avoiding or dreading, something you've been worried about starting or finishing. Ask yourself: What might future-me need? Is there a task, activity, or decision that will help to do or make before or after? How do you want to feel? Make space and set boundaries to give yourself what you need. /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/28571423

Throwback: Letting Go 11/03/2023

Throwback: Letting Go It's hard to podcast when you have no voice! This week in lieu of Ariel from The Little Mermaid (post- encounter with Ursula), you're getting a throwback… one of Merideth's favorite episodes from Season 1. How can letting go be a creative act? What is it in you that only letting go can reveal? Original show notes (updated): This week, Merideth explores the the art of letting go. Is it beautiful or just plain painful? She’ll share her thoughts on how it can be an expected part of the creative process and even a road to healing. Learn more about artist Emie Hughes: Blue Jar Studio Instagram: Pyxis Piano Quartet: Submit a creative conundrum here: /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/28499948

Musical Meditation: Loving-kindness 10/27/2023

Musical Meditation: Loving-kindness In today's episode, a loving-kindness meditation to some music by Franz Schubert. As you listen to each selection, repeat the mantras: "May I be well." "May you be well." "May all manner of things be well." Email your question to be read on the air: [email protected] /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/28436723

How can we go on? 10/20/2023

How can we go on? This week on the show, Merideth answers a question we all tend to ask when the world is on fire. How can I feel creative joy in the face of violence, injustice, and brokenness? She explores why art matters in these moments, especially, and how our creativity offers us a place to process the pain and turn our anxiety into energy that can make a difference. The late famous conductor, Leonard Bernstein, answers the age-old question, “How can we go on?” and we learn about two fantastic non-profits using creativity to change the world. Email your question to be read on the air: Photo cred: Littlesun.org /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/28372433

Musical Meditation for Inspiration 10/13/2023

Musical Meditation for Inspiration This week on the podcast, a Musical Meditation for Inspiration featuring music of Chopin performed by Emile Pandolfi, Gleb Ivanov, and Yuval Vilner. Settle in and make some space for quiet time to reflect as you listen. Self-Coaching Questions When have I felt the most inspired? Remember a time when you couldn’t wait to sit down and make something? What transpired that brought this frenzy of creativity on? What activities or actions inspire you most? What is a way to embed more inspiration into your daily creative life? Where is there white space for inspiration to strike? If you don’t see any room, can you work to create larger margins for yourself so that inspiration can find you? And lastly, what creative endeavor or project is just for you right now? Take out your calendar and find an hour to get out the watercolors or dust off the guitar or take out the novel you were writing. /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/28302548

Inspiration 10/06/2023

Inspiration Season 4 opener! Let's discuss the ephemeral, mystical, inevitable miracle that is creative inspiration. Merideth shares about a hobby she is not monetizing (yet) and a powerful story of a chance encounter at Staples. How do we escape the constant pull to monetize our creative work? How do we become the kind of person who is more inspired and connected to the spiritual invitation of creativity? Chat with Merideth about the book tour: /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/28240226

Mini Joys: Q & A 09/29/2023

Mini Joys: Q & A Today's episode of Artists for Joy is one of our Mini-Joys episodes, and in this one, Merideth answers alllll the listener questions. From creative routines to how it feels being edited to creating in the cracks...she tells a little of what life has been like on the book-writing journey and how you can shift your lens and make space for creative joy. Even if you don't call yourself a writer (yet!), this one is for everybody. Enjoy the show? /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/28173323

Mini-Joys: Perfectionism + a Special Surprise 09/22/2023

Mini-Joys: Perfectionism + a Special Surprise Today on the podcast, Merideth shares a central thing she’s been learning on her journey back to joy for music. Plus, she has some exciting personal news and a sneak peek inside a big project coming soon. Email the show: /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/28109903

Mini-Joys: Time Management 09/15/2023

Mini-Joys: Time Management This week on the podcast, a new bonus episode series: Mini-Joys. Got 10 minutes? Listen for three questions to ask yourself if you’re struggling with time management. What is possible? What is the percentage I need? Where is the “ma”? Email the show: /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/28037703

9. Artist as Peacemaker 09/08/2023

9. Artist as Peacemaker Today on the podcast: our final Creative Archetype….Enneagram 9s. Teachers call this type The Peacemaker. Merideth chats with author and editor Ariel Curry, bassist and author David James, and author, spiritual director, and retreat leader Lori Melton, all about life as a creative 9. They discuss figuring out how you feel, cultivating a relationship with conflict, and making room for individuality through creative expression. (Side note: All 3 of these 9s are married to Enneagram 8s. How about that!) These 9s invite you all to celebrate the space you inhabit in your personality as we encourage them to step into and celebrate theirs. Invitation: Take a moment to grab a pen or pencil and draw what you see with your non-dominant hand. 9s are great at not judging, so as you create, sustain judgment of yourself. Be open, playful, and imaginative as you take up space on the page. Allow whatever comes up to come up, and whatever you do, don’t stop until you are done. When you feel finished, journal about the experience. What was your inner dialogue like? Do not let the noise of your critic shake your inner peace. Give yourself permission to try and try again. Email the show: /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/27974718

8. The Beauty of Challenge 09/01/2023

8. The Beauty of Challenge In the penultimate installment of our Creative Archetypes Series, we chat with Enneagram 8s. Authors Shannan Martin and Meredith Boggs, as well as hornist and educator Johanna Burian, share what life is like as a Challenger. We explore how creativity can feel like a full body experience to 8s, how vulnerability and levity are key to health, and something we can all do to help the 8s in our lives feel known and loved. Invitation: Take this prompt to your journal or answer the questions with a friend or therapist: What creative challenge(s) am I facing right now? What beliefs underneath the challenge(s) need to be challenged? Email the show: /episode/index/show/artistsforjoy/id/27904983

Artists for Joy

TOPICS