My friend
goes on weekly culture “solo dates.” Every week she researches events going on around Paris, clears out her Friday afternoon, and saunters off to an exhibition, concert or unfamiliar neighborhood to fill her cup with beauty and inspiration.She’s very, very protective of this time and rarely lets anyone tag along. But if you somehow do, you’re instructed to keep your opinions to yourself while she communes with whatever she’s eyeballing.
I thought of her weekly routine as a quirky personality trait, until my conversation with today’s guest helped me see the relationship Ajiri’s carved out with her Friday expeditions in a whole new light.
You see, we tend to talk and think about creativity as something we have to do.
Write that proposal. Complete that project. Perfect that performance. Master that medium.
But what if we're completely missing the point of engaging with creativity?
What if creativity isn’t something we should be trying to manipulate and extract something precious from—like we’re mining for diamonds, or those rare minerals China is hoarding in retaliation for Trump’s ridiculous tariffs?
What if creativity was just like any other living, breathing, loving relationship we treasure, one that just wants to be tending to, cared for and regularly spiced up?
I’d even say that midlife is an especially fantastic time to drop our incessant predictions and projections, and just welcome creativity in, give it some tea and a big-ass hug without weighing it down with all sorts of complicated and lofty expectations.
This liberating creative reframe is at the core of my conversation today with Liz Kimball. Liz is a creative catalyst, transformational coach, and visionary thinker whose work lives at the intersection of imagination, embodiment, and identity. Liz doesn’t just coach women to “get things done.” She helps them reimagine the creative process as a living relationship with their voice, their purpose, and their future self.
Liz grew up as an only child in a super artistic home and began dancing seriously at a very young age. Ballet became her creative container. A space where she poured years of discipline and devotion into the pursuit of excellence. Everything seemed mapped out for a professional career in performance, until one day, in a moment of radical clarity (which she shares in her TEDx talk), she walked away from it all. That choice unraveled everything predictable and sparked something entirely new.
Liz giving her TedX talk titled “Why We Need to Grieve our Childhood Dreams” @TEDxGunnHighSchool
Today, Liz is the founder of The Creative 15 and The Expansion Project. Her work has been featured on Oprah.com, The Guggenheim, and more. With an MFA and a CPC certification, she helps women birth the great work of their lives, not just the external projects, but the truest version of themselves.
In this episode we explore:
When goals become cages instead of containers
The myths that block women from creative freedom
The difference between creative output and creative intimacy
Why “too much time” is exactly what women need to fully express themselves
And Liz’s best practical tools to nurture a creative practice that feels alive instead of performative
I really hope you enjoy this chat with Liz and can’t wait to hear what resonates with you! Please like, comment on and share this episode with anyone who needs a creative reboot.
And remember if you want to take this work deeper, you can reach out to me for a discovery call, or if you’re in Paris this June, you can join me for Creative Camp—a five-day immersive designed to reignite your creative spark.
xxx
Zeva
PS. As always, you can listen to the episode on the above browser or on anyone of your preferred podcast players, like Apple, Deezer or Spotify.
PPP. Really, there aren’t that many spots in the Creative Camp, so snatch yours up while you can.
Share this post