Finding the Throughline with Kate Hanley
Finding the Throughline: Conversations about the Creative Process invites you into the minds of writers and other creatives as they open up about their process, their doubts, and what kinds of changes they’re thinking about making. The questions are mildly invasive, honestly, and the answers are unvarnished…and so refreshing!
Whether your creative work is writing, painting, making music, parenting, or simply living, Finding the Throughline can help you get—and stay—inspired. Invigorated, even.
For detailed show notes on each interview, visit katehanley.substack.com. And if you’d like to hear these interviews in one ad-free episode (as opposed to broken up into three shorter episodes with a few ads sprinkled in to keep the lights on), become a paid subscriber once you’re there.
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676
I’m Always Running Late and Forgetting Stuff--A...
Today’s trait is running late and forgetting stuff and therefore, potentially letting other people down. Let me just say, I FEEL this one.
9 min
677
Are You a Bad Person If You’re Impatient? EP: 517
This week on the podcast I want to flip things and instead of talking about being a better person, to spend a little time talking about the things we all sometimes do that can leave us wondering, am I a bad person? When I surveyed listeners several...
9 min
678
Finding Your Way to Self-Acceptance EP: 516
Accepting the things about yourself that you might otherwise judge as "bad" is a big piece of loving yourself. After all, love isn't conditional. It's not, I'll love myself after I lose 5 pounds, or get a new job, or things calm down.
7 min
679
Refilling Your Attention Deficit EP: 515
These August days are about as quiet as it gets on the work front (except for, perhaps, the week between Christmas and New Year's). Let's take this opportunity to restore our ability to focus.
8 min
680
How to Cultivate Grit with Shannon Polson EP: 514
To help us all think about how to go about cultivating more grit I wanted to talk to a pro, so I reached out to Shannon Huffman Polson, the youngest woman ever to climb Mt. McKinley, one of the first women to be trained to fly an Apache...
11 min
681
Strengthen Your “Keep Going” Muscles EP: 513
One of my better person principles (that I shared last week in episode 509) is that every challenge has an opportunity wrapped up inside it. Even the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad challenges, like, say, a global pandemic. And one of those...
8 min
682
What’s the Better Person Thing to Do When It Co...
You used to more or less be able to decide when you wanted to wade into a potentially heated conversation. Now, whether you're talking about masks, vaccines, or the start of school, you can stumble into them multiple times a day. What's a person who's...
8 min
683
Better Person Principle #5: Being better is a c...
Being a better person isn't a fluke of genetics. Everyone has inherent goodness. Everyday, you’re faced with hundreds of decisions, and it’s in those decisions where you have the potential to move toward better.
6 min
684
Better Person Principle #4: There’s a time and ...
You don’t have to be a better person ALL the time. And thank goodness for that. Because trying to do anything 100% of the time is a recipe for burnout.
6 min
685
Better Person Principle #3: There’s an opportun...
Looking for the opportunity keeps your eyes open to what good things might be trying to emerge. And finding those opportunities is what helps you use the simple act of living your life as a personal development seminar.
5 min
686
Better Person Principle #2: Awareness is the fi...
Even though it’s a simple concept, awareness is a pretty rare and wonderful thing, like an orchid in a sea of carnations. Because it’s a lot more convenient to not pay attention to stuff--particularly your own stuff. Being able to see yourself...
7 min
687
Better Person Principle #1: It’s not about bein...
You don’t have to transform yourself into Mother Theresa or Gandhi or whomever your ideal ‘good person’ is. Truly, you just have to care enough to opt for a better choice at your next opportunity.
7 min
688
Admit that you’re probably going to stink at fi...
One huge obstacle to creativity is your inner critic, which is obsessed with keeping you safe, and will try to convince you that anything new you’re either thinking, doing, or trying to create, is either dangerous--as in, it could open you up to...
7 min
689
How to get inspiration to pursue you like Miss ...
Fun fact: the root of “spire” means breath, so inspired means filled with breath, or since if you aren’t breathing you’re dead, filled with life. So even if you don’t care one whit about doing anything creative, inspiration is still...
8 min
690
Finding your creative practice (even if you 'do...
OK, let's talk nuts and bolts. HOW do you incorporate creativity into what I'm assuming is already a pretty gosh darn busy life? I'm interviewing Jackie Dishner, an Arizona-based artist, author, and writer who teaches creativity classes. I'm gonna get...
15 min
691
If you don't (yet) feel creative, try feeling t...
Some of us--many of us--do NOT feel like we are creative beings. Like, it’s something that only gets handed out to some folks, and others are stuck in logical land. When really, creativity is an innate human trait, we all have it, in some form, to...
8 min
692
The amazing, Important Benefits of Creativity E...
Covid cases are trending back upward, this summer has been intense on the weather front, and you know, I think the collective we could really go for a topic that’s comforting and taps into the dreamier, more imaginative side of life. Plus,...
8 min
693
Taking stock and easing the stress of being in ...
This pandemic summer, when we still can’t really predict what the fall, winter and spring ahead will be like, and yet we theoretically are out of the worst of it, is a very transitional time to be. And the human brain typically does NOT like...
9 min
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Things I’ve Learned from Producing 500 Podcast ...
Today is the 500th episode of this podcast! Can you believe it? I hardly can. For today’s big idea, I’m sharing five things I’ve learned over these past 500 episodes. But before I do, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart...
7 min
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Is the universe sending you a message through n...
Since tomorrow is the 500th episode of this podcast, and I am so blown away by this number, that I wanted to talk to someone who knows the symbolism of numbers to help me understand what this particular milestone means on a symbolic level. I...
21 min
696
What to do when you’re jealous of others’ vacat...
C'mon, you can admit it. When you see the photos of your friends on their vacations to the Cape, or Hawaii, or the lake, part of you is jealous. Maybe even a little judgy. Today, let's talk about how to work that feeling and turn it into an...
6 min
697
GIve to Yourself, Too EP: 497
Something we don’t generally think about when we think about being more generous is giving to ourselves, too. Which is a really important piece of being a more giving person, because you can’t give from an empty cup.
6 min
698
We’re All Stingy in Some Ways--What Are Yours? ...
You can be generous in some ways, and stingy in others. And it’s really fascinating to start to unpack where you are a natural giver, and where you might be more likely to freeze up and think, oh heck no.
7 min
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Giving More Without Giving Too Much EP: 495
While giving is often energizing, there are definitely times when it’s draining. In addition, sometimes *your* giving can make the person you’re trying to give to feel bad--micromanaged, or like you think they aren’t capable. So today,...
6 min
700
Emotional Labor: How to Keep it From Taking Too...
Today I’m talking to four-time TED speaker Damon Brown about emotional labor--why it's the best thing you have to offer, and also how it can quickly deplete you if you're not intentional about it. PLUS, we break down the costs of letting someone...
22 min