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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1026
Remember that Not Everyone Likes the Holidays E...
I’m just here with a quickie today because I know it’s a busy week for a lot of people. I just want to give all of us a reminder that this week is a really really tough week for a lot of people.
2 min
1027
Today Is the Dawn of a New Era—What Do You Wan...
Today’s Monday, but more importantly, it’s the day after the winter solstice. And the day after the winter solstice is the dawn of a new half of a year. The question I’m asking myself and that I’m posing to you in honor of this occasion is…
4 min
1028
Shop Local (and to Hell with Amazon) (Is That R...
Since today is Friday and on Fridays I talk about finances, and since it’s the holiday season and so many of us are spending more money than we typically do at other times of the year, am going on the record and asking you to patronize small, local...
6 min
1029
One Question: How Can I Help? EP: 83
Today’s tip goes straight to being a better person in that it helps you interact with more kindness and openness with other people and helps you be of service in the world.
4 min
1030
Save Yourself from Text Neck EP: 82
The average person spends five hours a day looking at their phone, and it is wreaking some serious havoc on your musculoskeletal health, too. It’s not easy to be your best when you’re in chronic pain. Especially when that pain has a fairly simple fix.
4 min
1031
Say Thanks, Publicly EP: 81
Thanking people publicly gives those folks some much deserved recognition. It helps them feel appreciated. But what you might not consider is that it also lifts the curtain on just how many people it takes to do cool things.
4 min
1032
Act on Your Inspired Ideas Before They Vanish E...
Today your mission is to close the gap between the time when you get an inspiration or an idea and when you act on that inspiration or idea. I’m telling you, this tip has the power to really change your life and to do it pretty quickly.
6 min
1033
Money and Mindfulness EP: 79
It’s so easy to wake up in January and look at your credit card bills and your bank account and regret how much money you spent. I’m not here to tell you to make a budget, or keep freeze your credit card in a block of ice. I’m only going to...
5 min
1034
Make Your Language More Gender Neutral EP: 78
I admit it: the thing I’m sharing with you today took me a couple of years to adapt to. And that thing is to use more gender neutral language in your everyday interactions. (E.g, no more “you guys.”)
6 min
1035
Show Your Feet Some Love EP: 77
Let’s face it, unless you go to get a pedicure, your feet really don’t get a lot of love. Yet they are your base, your foundation. They make it possible for you to get around and do all the things you need to and want to do.
6 min
1036
Are You Working Like a Consultant, or a Service...
There are two basic buckets that work falls into -- either you are being a service provider, or you are acting as a consultant. If you don’t have an awareness of which role you’re filling, and when, and why, you’re likely to get stuck in one or...
6 min
1037
How to Let Go of Anger EP: 75
Emotions don’t go away just because you stuff them down. It’s a paradox that the most efficient way to process an emotion is to allow yourself to experience it.
7 min
1038
Plan for No Plans EP: 74
Something that we all need any time, but especially in the midst of a whirlwind like the end of the year, is downtime. Or what I like to call, white space.
5 min
1039
Name Your Sacred Circle EP: 73
Raising kids takes a village, but so does being a person. Today we’re talking about consciously thinking about who are the people in your life who lift you up, and you do the same for them.
6 min
1040
Find Time to Read EP: 72
I’m not here to sell you on the concept of reading. What I want to do today is help you find the time to read. Because that is often the biggest impediment to actually doing this wonderful, heart- and mind-expanding thing.
4 min
1041
Be Coachable EP: 71
It’s a very rare person who truly enjoys the process of hearing something that they’re not doing great at. But getting hip to it is how you start to get better.
4 min
1042
Shift the Dynamic EP: 70
Today’s tip is something to reach for when something you’re working on or toward isn’t going as you’d like, and you’re starting to get frustrated, or angry, or dispirited in some way.
5 min
1043
An Alternative to Black Friday: Be of Service E...
A lot about Thanksgiving is focused on consumption, both the actual feast and the shopping frenzy that happens the day after. A nice counterbalance to all that consuming is giving.
3 min
1044
Reduce Holiday Stress by Setting an Intention E...
No matter what holiday you celebrate, today’s tip can help you lessen some of the stress at whatever holiday gathering you might be attending.
4 min
1045
Replace Your Negative Self-Talk with a Specific...
I want you to head into the holiday feeling refreshed and uplifted. That’s why today’s tip is going straight to the source of where nearly all stress originates, and that’s to your very thoughts.
4 min
1046
Cook When No One’s Hungry EP: 66
Cooking is actually fun. It’s creative. It’s got good smells, pretty visuals, and good tastes. It’s movement. What’s not fun is try to produce something edible when you and/or the people you’re feeding are hungry. That’s stressful
5 min
1047
Why Driving Without the GPS Is Good for Your So...
Surely there are some places in this world where you don’t need an omnipotent GPS voice to get you there. I mean, what happens when the grid goes down and we’ve all lost the ability to navigate by ourselves? What then?
4 min
1048
Have Fun, Dammit (Why Fun Matters) EP: 64
When you’re having fun, you are in the moment. You are very present, and you are relaxed. That’s when things can flow. As paradoxical as it may seem, sometimes you have to plan for fun. This is one of those times.
4 min
1049
Set Better Boundaries with an “I Don’t” List E...
Knowing what’s on your “don’t list” will help shore up your boundaries, and that helps you walk a little taller and keeps any bad behavior from taking away from your well-being.
4 min
1050
Identify Your Bad Habits EP: 62
What are your bad health habits? Are you like me in that you intend to drink only one glass of wine, but always end up having two? A lot of times, after you raise your awareness about something, it starts to shift all on its own.
3 min