Play is an essential way in which to get some of your best work done. Go out for a walk, throw a frisbee, go to a theatre show instead of doing the dishes one night, you will thank yourself. You will feel that energy.

The idea of playing at something new is even more interesting, the idea that we are challenging ourselves and learning is crucial. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, talks about the flow state and that is when we are truly engaged in a process and one of the ways to find yourself in that state of flow is to engage in play. To have fun.

If you are listening to this episode right now I am certain there is a vast number of you who are already experiencing some form of burn out and you don't even know it. You need to turn to someone, ask them about your level of burnout and how you can introduce a bit of play into your life.

Go find your sense of excitement and challenge again, in any manner that may look like to you.

Doubt can be a huge block for many creatives. Vince introduces us to the idea of a doubt door, how to identify when the door is present and what to do about kicking it open. Vince has been quickly building a great balance between play and work and is finding that MANY people are finding his approach to be a HUGE breath of fresh air. Vince is an animator and social worker creating a world of fun and learning in such a unique and open and honest manner.

One of the main ways to combat a doubt door getting in your way is to truly think about and live an authentic life. Truly knowing yourself, what excites you, what bothers you, all of that stuff and much more can lead to your ability to try more things. The more things you try and the less doubt you have you will absolutely enjoy the journey you are on.

Do yourself a favour and get over and watch Vince and the wild and the serious and the fun that is over on http://twitch.tv/cartoontherapy

As always thanks for the listen and/or the watch. If you would like to connect on any of the cool shit you are doing or anything else please reach out over at: http://domorecoolshit.com

Music created and performed by: Doug Wallace.

Expectations absolutely CAN suck, mainly because they can keep you in that stage or dreaming and idolizing the future for a very long time. Over time if we stay in that state long enough we can become dissatisfied with the now and the reality. We can become unhappy. Hell we can even become depressed. So how do we stop this? Well, we need to truly understand that expectations can suck. There are 3 main reasons that they suck:

1. Everything will ALWAYS take longer than you think.
2. They are NOT reality.
3. They can let you down.

So how do we combat this? How do we stay happy and grateful and moving forward while still trying to get grow and achieve things in our life?

By living in the now. By making sure that you truly understand who YOU are and what YOU want out of life. This will be an ebb and flow, it will almost never be a straight path. But understanding that there is a journey, that it is a long and changing journey, and that in reality there is no true END to our search and our accomplishments will help with this. By living in reality, by pausing, by looking around and seeing how far you have already come and wha t you have and who YOU are right now in this very moment is really friggin' cool. By allowing yourself to sit in that for a moment, you will be happier and you will be motivated, your flame will grow stronger. By giving your spark a bit of oxygen you will be propelled forward each and every day to take the next step. All of these things will help you in your creative pursuits.

If you listened to the whole episode I hope you really do try the exercise of changing your expectations into reality. To really figure out what steps TODAY you need to take. If you are struggling with that, let me know. Drop me a note over on: https://domorecoolshit.com/ I love talking about that stuff and helping people move the needled just a wee bit every day. You got this!

Rachel from episode 56: https://www.twitch.tv/babe_rosss
Vince upcoming in episode 58: https://www.twitch.tv/cartoontherapy

Ps. I'm sorry, but I never found that clip of the older make marker being interviewed in his studio when he was talking about "what the hell else would I be doing everyday if I wasn't making marks." If you ever find it or any other great clips please never hesitate to drop me a line or send me a link. I love capturing all of them.

Thanks for listening. Go do some more cool shit!

All music is created and performed by: Doug Wallace.