I’ll never forget the moment that sparked my book Getting Messy: A Guide to Taking Risks & Opening the Imagination. I was teaching in the teacher credentialing program at UC Berkeley, and one of my students—a soon-to-be teacher—asked if I had any tips for “keeping things under control” in the classroom. She wanted things to…
There was a particular moment in my teaching career when I asked a room full of graduate students to imagine a world beyond what they saw around them. We were discussing creativity, and I could sense their hesitation—they were accustomed to relying on facts, on what was tangible and “real.” I shared that Einstein once…
We’re the most human when we’re being creative. Whether it’s painting a masterpiece, solving a tricky problem, or reimagining a relationship, creativity is what makes us feel alive and connected. It’s not just about art—it’s about engaging with the world in a way that allows for possibility, growth, and transformation. But here’s the thing: creativity…
After I finished my Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, I tried very hard to do what I was ‘supposed’ to do… get a tenure-track position at some respectable university. But I couldn’t do it. Instead, I moved to the wilderness of northwest Montana and lived in a teepee for a few years. Here’s what…
I once heard Terry Gross interview the celebrated filmmaker David Lynch interviewed on her program, NPR’s Fresh Air. Gross asked Lynch something about what he does when he makes a movie and Lynch responded, “When I work on a movie, I don’t really know what I’m doing.” I loved hearing that. When the amazing David…
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