Glass Half Full
Glass Half Full
Beyond Words: How Art Reveals What Your Soul Already Knows
Ever felt stuck in your own head, trying to think your way out of difficult emotions? Susan Hensley discovered a powerful alternative when she picked up some crayons during the pandemic and let her "inner five-year-old get loose." This simple act of creative play opened a doorway to profound healing and self-discovery that changed the trajectory of her life.
Susan joins us to share how art journaling became her pathway from corporate executive to transformational coach and author. With warmth and wisdom, she explains why this practice works especially well for people who don't consider themselves creative or artistic. "I have yet to meet an adult who takes themselves seriously while holding a crayon," she laughs, revealing how this simple tool helps silence our inner critic and access deeper wisdom.
What makes Susan's approach so refreshing is its accessibility. Her three-minute scribbling exercise requires nothing more than two colors and a small piece of paper. Yet this brief creative play can provide what she calls a "turbo boost" for emotional processing—helping us move through rage, fear, and uncertainty with greater ease. She shares fascinating examples of how the images and symbols that emerged in her journals revealed truths her conscious mind hadn't yet recognized, from winding paths that predicted her career transition to an open door with a yellow lab that appeared just as she was publishing her book.
For anyone navigating life's "messy middle" between endings and new beginnings, Susan offers both practical tools and compassionate perspective. Whether you're facing career changes, relationship shifts, or simply seeking more joy in your daily life, her insights on creative resilience provide a refreshing alternative to traditional self-help approaches. Try her simple exercises, explore the patterns that emerge, and discover what your soul might be trying to tell you through color, shape, and symbol.
Ready to scribble your way to greater clarity and peace? Visit susan-hensley.com for free resources to start your own art journaling practice today.
https://susan-hensley.com/
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, and welcome to another episode of Glass Half Full, a podcast and a safe platform where we talk with a variety of teachers, entrepreneurs, spiritualists, uplifters, givers, shakers and serenaders. Everyone has a lesson to learn and a lesson to share. Let's use our life experiences to enrich someone's heart, mind, spirit and soul. Through sharing our experiences, we can be a learning inspiration for one another. I'm your host, chris Levins. If you love the show and want to support us, you can become a monthly subscriber or make a one-time donation. Can become a monthly subscriber or make a one-time donation. Just look for the heart icon or the support link on our podcast platform. We're so grateful for your continued support. It helps us keep making this show even better.
Chris:Let's welcome today's guest. Today's guest is Susan Hensley. Today's guest is Susan Hensley. Susan Hensley is a transformational coach, speaker and author, dedicated to helping people navigate life's transitions with joy, creativity and resilience. With decades of experience as a corporate executive and leadership coach, susan has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities that come with major life changes. Let's welcome Susan Hensley. Good morning, good morning, good morning.
Susan:Good morning, how are you?
Chris:I'm great thank you, and thank you for taking some time out to be a guest here on Glass Half Full. We're happy to have you today.
Susan:I'm really looking forward to our discussion. I love what you're doing.
Chris:Well, thank you. Thank you so much, and so I didn't even ask how are you today?
Susan:You know I'm terrific. It's when we record this, because of the time difference it's morning, so I'm always I'm a morning person, so I've got lots of energy and enthusiasm.
Chris:I love that. Can you tell everyone where you are in the world and what time it is?
Susan:Sure, I'm in Austin, texas, and it's eight in the morning.
Chris:I love that I have some dear close friends to my heart that are extended family that live in Austin, Such a great city.
Susan:It is. It's got really really good energy. I enjoy it very much.
Chris:Yes, Awesome. Well, we're going to jump right on in. I like to ask my guests this first question. I believe that our lives are in spiritual design. Can you share your life layout or blueprint with everyone, how you grew up your family lifestyle up till today?
Susan:Sure. So because I'm 60, I'm going to try and keep this a little.
Chris:Hey, nothing wrong with that, you're still young. Hey, hey, nothing wrong with that, you're still young, hey.
Susan:Oh, you know the way people live. If we're fortunate, I may have a lot of years and part of it's just reinventing ourselves.
Susan:I grew up in Northern California. I was born in Wisconsin but really grew up in San Jose area area, and two-parent family Original spirituality of sort of origin was Catholic but was exposed to a lot of different concepts, mainly some meditative or more Buddhist concepts. Buddhist concepts and really the ability to spiritually work with God in our lives. And just my general perspective is, things unfold. We don't understand why or how, but there's something in faith, there's something in intention, there's something in co-creating with the universe.
Susan:I've had I sort of joke when I look at my various careers. There was a career in journalism. There was a career, multi-decade career in corporate America. But I did a number of different things, including living in Asia and Hong Kong for several years. I have viewed my life, you know, not as a ladder things are not straight but really as a sort of a spiral staircase, with one experience leading to another, but not always going somewhere right. But you don't really see what's around that next corner. And that's what makes it fun, and yet it does build. I've taken all those experiences with me. That's really led me to today.
Chris:I love that. I love that. And do you have a family, any pets?
Susan:I do. I have a husband 30 plus years.
Chris:Oh, congratulations.
Susan:Thank you, thank you. Oh, congratulations, thank you, thank you. Young adult son. We've typically always had a dog and cats. Right now, our beloved dog passed about a year ago. We have not felt really at the life stage for another dog, so right now we just have two cats, but I do view ourselves as dog family.
Chris:There just is not one currently. You still keep your card, Don't worry.
Susan:Don't worry oh yeah, and stray or I don't even know. If they're stray, they don't need to be fed. Random neighborhood cats always find their way to our door. I don't know what that's about, but there's always extra cats hanging about. Do you feed them?
Susan:So we used to I used to have a whole cat colony when we lived in a more rural place. We would trap them, either spay or neuter them, get them their basic shots and then just feed them. They would roam because of where we lived. The ones who visit us in Austin are extremely well-fed. So, I'm not feeding them because we have raccoons and fox in the area.
Susan:And what I don't want to do is end up feeding all the wild animals, and then I want birds to feel safe. So I'm actually not feeding them right now, but it is tempting.
Chris:Oh, wow.
Susan:It looks quite well fed. I truly believe these guys who come cruising through are just cruisers not needing food.
Chris:I love that, oh, wow, okay. And so tell us, tell us about the creative outlet that you found, that you realized during the, that pandemic time that brought you through um art journaling and my art journaling practice and I.
Susan:I started that back probably 2017, 2018. I was in a I think you've read, you know as a HR executive, and um was really always a person who, although I tried to be balanced, was more comfortable being productive, a human doer right, I love being busy doing, got you know, got a lot of strokes for that right Doing all the things and, although tired, I needed an outlet and a friend.
Susan:She had a side hustle. She's a legitimately terrific artist and would sell her work, taught a few of us on a weekend. She says I'll come over for two hours. It was a rainy Saturday. I'll teach you guys a little bit about just art, right, like color wheel, and there were about five of us there and I sort of ended up in the corner and she had some paints.
Susan:I remember she was teaching people about the color wheel and I'm over there just messing with the paint and it is like my inner five-year-old got loose. It was so fun. I made a soggy brown mess because I didn't wait for any of the paints to dry and if you don't wait for anything to dry, you end up largely with a brown mess. I'll just be depending on the colors you're working with. You end up with something muddy. But I loved it and in all of the coaching, certifications and training I've had one thing that I was always taught that I really encourage clients to do is look for those sparks of joy, like moments where you're going through life and something just lights you up, it gives you a thrill right or a giggle, and that's what playing with paint and I was just playing, I mean really this was and I took it home.
Susan:I actually put it on the refrigerator, like when you're your own proud parent right, so there's these things, we look for these glimmers in life.
Susan:And it wasn't that I thought, oh, I want to go be an artist. It wasn't that. It's like play. As an adult, we don't allow ourselves to play and explore in that way. Right, we're using our left brain looking for answers and what's next? So, you know, we still had some art stuff in our house, some crayons, some stuff from when my son was younger and I had some nieces and nephews who'd come over, so I would just play with it. Just to go honestly with my written journaling practice in the morning, I meditate in the morning for a few minutes and journal. These aren't hours, these are minutes, right, sevenths of minutes. And so I started just playing with art, but like you would, in a journal, not to create anything, and I really discovered how fun it was. And when something's fun or a release right, we're more apt to do it. It's not as good and pandemic hit, and I really doubled down on playing with it. Right, and all things you use.
Susan:As a kid I loved the old Elmer's glue stick and you know any catalogs that would come or old magazines I was collaging, just it was fun, it was an outlet and I started to notice it became a really safe container for all the emotions. Right, I would go and scribble little rage or screaming faces or fear, all the things. You know the pandemic was a time of such fast and intense emotions that you could feel one thing one minute and then another another and you know, you just flip the page and I recognize that truly, that true ability to flip the page like and that's right like rage or fear, and it's like oh, clean page.
Susan:And that you know, we hear a lot as adults in therapy. You know about safe containers and safe places. There was nothing really safer. And in playing with color, when in playing, you really suspend that inner critic which I think is so, so important, right, that's what play does for us is it allows us to suspend that inner critic, and as adults I think we need that. It then allows you to be curious, right, it's like on that flip side of that critic, if you will, is curiosity.
Susan:And it's like where's this going? That curiosity leads to, you know, creativity, to our authentic selves, to spirit. You know, after a while I started to recognize the images and symbols in the art journal to me are telling me things before I even know them. If you will, it almost became for me and for others a way to you know, talk with your soul is what I believe, with your soul is what I believe, and because we're more apt, you know, world history is filled with symbols, right? I think we're people who respond to symbolism and colors, and this is your own symbols. And that's what sort of inspired me to write the book, you know, art for your Sanity. And then to teach workshops, because we could all use more play. It's short, it's easier, it's got no barrier, it's not about being an artist at all, it's really just about, you know. It starts with play, then it goes to some curiosity and then some self-compassion, which are things we can all use a little more of. True.
Chris:Wow, this is interesting. So when you say that you would see things before that happened, were you drawing like images of things? Were you writing down words? Was it?
Susan:It was more images and some of it was images I was doing collaging. I was drawn to, and some of it I'll explain. I would always plan on staying longer in my job than I did. I left a few years earlier than I had planned and I was being drawn to images of people on cliffs and on edges of windy, windy paths, of windy roads. I would draw that things that felt foggy or uncleared, with a little yellow sun coming up right, and at first you would just say, oh, it's an uncertain time, right, it was during the pandemic. You can explain anything and it can be very much in the moment. Right, I can look at what I've drawn and say, oh, that's how I'm feeling.
Chris:Yeah, of course.
Susan:Yeah, and. But then when you go back over it, looking back with months, you really start to see ready for a big step and it starts to dissolve some of the stories we've heard, like you shouldn't quit till you know what you're going to do. Well, the truth is, in many cases, depending how intense your job is, you don't have the headspace to actually know or to be creative enough to know. I mean, not always Some people know exactly what they want to do. That's what's the winding images, and the cliffs were Years after I had done that. There were images of growth, images of doors. So these are images that speak to me Doors for when I'm afraid to go through them. And then you start seeing open doors, open doors.
Chris:And you were drawing these.
Susan:Yeah, I was drawing them and I will buy for me. I'll go and grab some magazines every once in a while, different magazines, and there was a period I must have gotten a magazine with like a paint ad, because there are all these doors and most of the doors were closed, doors of different colors, and there was one door that was open with a dog sitting by it, and this was when I'd published, or was getting ready to publish, the book and I had a lot of concerns because it's both brain science, a how to on art journaling and my personal story which felt very scary to put out there. I'm sure.
Chris:Right.
Susan:And anytime being vulnerable. Exactly. And all these closed doors and yet images of growth, and then I end up finding an open door with you asked me about pets with a yellow lab sitting by it and I wrote the book in the mornings with our at the time yellow lab sitting by it. Oh wow, you chills wow when I love it it's like I didn't intentionally look for that image.
Susan:That image happened to be in a magazine I'd had for a couple years. Right, I keep these things for for years and tear them up and do different things with them, and then at the moment, wow yeah, and that's what I mean by.
Susan:I could go back and try and rationalize it and there's a reason and it also feels like spirit, soul, god however you want to think about it, whatever you're comfortable is also guiding you, working through me, encouraging me right in that encouraging, resilient way. It's like, yes, you're ready. Here is an open door, and not only is the door open, but this beloved fur family member in the right color, in the right time yes, someone that brings you joy and connection.
Chris:Yeah, they're waiting for you.
Susan:Joy had passed. All these symbols are there to walk through the door.
Chris:I love it.
Susan:Yeah, story after story like that has emerged for me and other people. And it's not that you look through it, You're just expressing yourself. I don't know why I like those different doors or how I even ended up with a magazine that I swear I've been doing this for eight, nine years. That's the first time there was an ad for door paint and I try, and you know, buy different magazines or pick them up. You know it used to be magazines everywhere and doctors and dentist's office, that sort of all went away.
Susan:But because I like collaging and images, it's been really interesting to see what you're drawn to and why. Because it's not like vision boarding in that way, it's more just what strikes you in the moment.
Chris:Wow, yeah, this is really. I love that. And I say, hey, why question it? You know, after a while, when you start to realize that things are falling in, I say why question it? We've just learned to step on into that moment and say okay, you know, we're where we're supposed to be, or things are happening as they should, which is great, so good.
Susan:Well, and that's the faith. Yeah, when we talked, you know, when your opening question like about spiritual life and how you grew up. I think, if you are open to it, you see excuse me signs and symbols everywhere. Yes.
Susan:And but to be really open to it that it's not the exact sign and symbol you want, right? It's that attachment to the way it should be versus oh my gosh, look at this, I've been afraid. I've been drawn to all these closed doors and here's this open door, or person willing to jump off a cliff, or the sun coming up over horizon, whatever it may be, be open. What I found the encouragement that comes through art, journaling, through playing creatively, through moving into that, because you're moving into your right side of your brain, which is so intuitive and connected and holistic.
Chris:I love that. I love that. I'm wondering how has your background in HR, as an HR executive, helped shape the art journaling or shape the way that you approach your art journaling?
Susan:Where it really shaped it was through all of the training and time I've spent coaching people right and I would say that the first career in journalist and then the HR training in coaching career development has just helped me to always reflect and ask deeper questions Like how do I feel when I'm art journaling? Like after I'll draw or scribble or rage on a page for a few minutes. Like how do I feel Rage?
Chris:on a page. I few minutes Like how do I feel Lighter, freer Rage on a page. I love that.
Susan:Or tense, oh, believe me, I've done lots and lots of raging on the page. What I love about raging on the page is. It's a really great place to rage, right. I never thought about it Versus turning it inward or goodness forbid outward right, yeah, I guess true. Yeah, I guess true. Yeah yeah, it's a safe place. So no raging raging on a page that's yours in private. You can throw it away. You can flip the page. I never thought about it.
Chris:Okay, I'm going to try that. I'm yeah, I never. It never even crossed my mind. I'm wanting to be like I'm going to get it out, so, yeah, verbally. But wow, I'm going to, I'm going to try that, so yeah, verbally. But wow. I'm going to try that. Yes, so how do you feel? How do you feel after you've raged on the page? I feel fantastic.
Susan:So here's what I've recognized sometimes is in a really big, intense rage. You know, I'm there working with my crayons and there's no image from a magazine. It's screaming faces. It's words like rage and shame. It's screaming faces. It's words like rage and shame. It's little flames. It's lightning bolts. I'm a five-year-old drawer. I have not tried to improve my skills, because it's not about the art, it's about the release. The release yes.
Susan:And what I realize is it dissipates faster. When I see it there on the page and afterwards I almost sort of shake it off just a little bit right, like you get out of the pool or shower. It's just sort of that little shake and you feel calmer.
Susan:You feel peace. It takes a while for that to process through your body, that kind of energy. Then you feel lighter and the most amazing thing is when I go back, because I'll flip through pages to find the next clean page. I have such empathy for the person who is in such a rage and I recognize so much because I went through a period where I was like I am a really angry person who knew I had all this bottled up inside because I was taught to reframe right and I think in working in HR and I was reframing too fast. I was talking myself out of anger, shame, guilt, annoyance, whatever the uncomfortable feeling was. I would reframe too fast and not allow myself to actually process it, to watch it pass through me.
Susan:And as I started to rage on the page more freely and actually enjoy it. I would go back and I'd realize how scared I was that, although so much of it felt like anger and it was anger, I mean, that was the best way of describing it Someone had done something.
Susan:Something had knocked on my way. I mean, I could point many a finger in the moment. Underneath it all, in most cases, was feeling afraid, not feeling in control, feeling disappointed, feeling vulnerable or exposed right Under. So much of what I was experiencing was fear, and I would find on subsequent pages I would be drawing hearts, I would be writing the word love, I would be making little yellow suns, because that balance balance to to fear, right. I? My belief system is that, you know, love is when we get out of fear, right. Fear is just when we've forgotten that that love is the really the currency of the universe.
Chris:Yeah, we're acting from one way or the other.
Susan:Right, it's either from exactly exactly, and I would find if I could get it out on the page, it would allow me to open up to all the love that's around me, but not in that instant reframing that I was doing it, but in a very deep way that I could feel. You know, feel in my body.
Chris:Wow, wow, this is something.
Susan:Yeah, it's a simple little tool, but it can be really, really powerful. I mean, I'm talking minutes, not not hours.
Chris:by the way, yeah, this is it right. You're saying just a little bit of time, you're not giving like your whole day.
Susan:No, no, no. And the thing I joke a lot of the time. Why I still use so many crayons is I have yet to meet an adult, in the years I've been doing this and then teaching it, who takes themselves seriously holding a crayon. And I think getting rid of that inner critic is so, so important when we need a release.
Chris:Yes, I mean, yeah, the ego, whatever we're calling it. There's a few names, but yeah, sometimes the voices can be really loud. For sure.
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Susan:You know, I think they go hand in hand. I think creativity helps us heal faster right. Because we need to heal holistically. We're using a lot of words interchangeably, but I'm going to just talk pure brain science right now. When we are thinking about healing and we're working on emotional healing, we can stay very stuck in that left brain, right, logical, orderly timetables and goals, which true healing doesn't have.
Susan:those Tables and goals, which true healing doesn't have those you need to get to that right side of the brain.
Susan:We can heal all at once and we can re-heal from wounds over and over again, but not as deep and faster. So, as much as we may want healing to be immediate or one stop and there's obviously cases of that some of the life patterns that I think we're here to work on that, as your listeners reflect on those lessons we see, come up, but in different forms that give us an opportunity to really build our skill. Creativity speeds it up, makes it joyful, right? Not all healing has to be, or even needs to be, painful. It can be joyful.
Susan:We can have a sense of humor and gratitude and resilience as we face some of the healing, resilience as we face some of the healing. So I think I think creativity through play is just such a path to joy and I think that's our, our true self right. So if that, if we are bypassing the ego, if we're in presence and being, that it's peace, it's joy, it's connection and that heals you I hate to use the word instantly, but it heals you so much quicker because you're not grasping, you're not in the pain, you're becoming sort of peaceful with it.
Chris:But yeah, it's like a turbo booster, that's what I was thinking in my head. The way you're describing like, yes, a turbo booster. I play video games.
Susan:Yeah, yeah, that's a great way. Yeah, it gets you to another level, or several more levels right. It shoots you up and because we all need that. Yeah, I love that analogy.
Chris:So now, what would you say, susan, to someone who says, hey, I'm not, I'm just not creative. You know, like I'm not a person who feels creative, but they are curious about trying art journaling.
Susan:Yeah. So I'm not creative.
Susan:Right, I have found art journaling works best for people who don't this is going to sound funny identify as creative or an artist, Because the whole key is to approach it as you would, as a five-year-old year old. The research has shown that most people, by about age or nine in Western sort of society, have gotten messages that they're not creative or a great artist or whatever. And if you can tap into when you just created without thought, right, that's why I joked about that mess I made when I hung it up on the refrigerator, there's something about being your own sort of like proud parent of making a mess. Right, that's really what I'm advising people do. All the early exercises are about making a mess and scribbling, so this works best for people who just don't view themselves as creative.
Susan:I still. I've done this for so many years and if you said you know the first words about me and the first descriptor, even in five, 10 minutes of getting to know each other, I am. I don't know that I've actually ever described myself, still as creative. I mean, it's a really interesting. We have a very narrow definition of creative. I mean, it's a really interesting. We have a very narrow definition of creative. I think so.
Chris:Now would your friends or would your husband say that you're creative? What other people think?
Susan:No, literally everyone who would know me would say I'm super responsible. I'm great at getting things done. I'm really organized. They would say I'm passionate about helping people. Okay, I still creative is never coming in like 15 or 20 adjectives, but yet I think we all create.
Chris:Yes, of course we do. We sure do. I love that Our impulse for growth.
Susan:Right, it's if what we're really put on this planet to do at this time is to grow and evolve.
Chris:Yes.
Susan:And you do that through curiosity. Yes, all growth is creative. So in being a human in this time, yes, I am creating, but in what I call the definition, the way we use creativity, Are defining yes, no.
Chris:The definition, the way we are defining yes, no.
Susan:So it is absolutely for people who want, who are curious and who want more play or joy, or self-discovery. That's how I would say play with this or come to it. You need to. Really, it's really important to actually to release that creative label and move it to. I am playing.
Chris:I'm being curious yeah.
Susan:Yes, I think play and that's why I really advise people don't spend any significant money Like buy stuff in a kids section If you're around children steal.
Chris:Go to the dollar store and get yourself something.
Susan:Go to the dollar store, steal the kids. It's whatever you can do, because when you're not investing a lot of money or a lot of time, you are more apt to play and explore and get yourself over those hurdles or barriers, and that's where you're more quickly tapping into your soul. Right, it's all I've tried to create because I've seen it work for me and others. So here I'm going to use the word create, and this is the HR person in me. I've tried to create a model that I've seen work for people. I've tried to make it as accessible as possible. If a listener's curious, right On my website there's a free PDF how to get started. I talk about exercises and the whole goal of all of this is to serve. Right, this is something I've seen help people. It helps me every day still, and it brings me some joy. Right, I think we could all use these little sparks of joy, and that's the other reason it's like, even if you don't get any great message, could you use a few minutes of fun today? I bet you could.
Chris:Yes, of course, of course.
Susan:Of course.
Chris:And I was going to ask you about you know some practical ways that people can start doing some things? Um, you spoke a bit about silencing the inner critic. Um, and you know what are some ideas or some tips that you can give for people to try to silence the inner critic?
Susan:Yes. So one of um, one of my favorite exercises it's really the first exercise in in workshops and I've got some exercises on the website is for three minutes. Allow yourself to scribble. If you have crayons, great, choose two crayons. If you don't, you probably have two different colors. Pens, maybe a pen and a pencil laying around. It doesn't matter a lot. The exercise is three minutes. Find a song, a piece of music a lot. The exercise is three minutes. Find a song, a piece of music you like. Most music's three minutes. I mean it's really interesting. If you look for something. It's about three minutes. You'll find something you can put on a longer one, but I love three minutes. Get a scrap piece of paper and just fill the page. I don't care how you can draw circles, shapes, scribble, but you're just going to do a three-minute. Fill a page, and the page I'm talking about is like five by seven. I'm not even talking like a printer piece of paper.
Chris:Okay, we're not even going to A4. Okay, no.
Susan:I'm not, I'm not, I'm talking like, think of a journal size which is like that, five by seven typically. And three minutes. Just fill the page Like it's good. If you have crayons, choose two. It goes faster.
Chris:Are you holding both crayons together?
Susan:You can do whatever you want. There is not a rule. But what I want you to do is fill the page minutes In three minutes so you just don't have time to think, and then just sit and say how do I feel afterwards? I will tell you I've done this exercise so many times and most people, when I debrief this or when I've done it in person or on the live trainings, feel silly in a good way free, relaxed. They couldn't believe how fast the time went by. They loved the music, they felt like a kid, they wanted to keep going and very few felt any critic during that time because they weren't going to show it to anyone. They had constraints.
Susan:There's a lot to be said for silencing the inner critic in a constrained environment, right, you have very low expectations for yourself in three minutes, on a small piece of paper with two crayons, right, and what happens is when you recognize you're doing something without that inner critic or that ego. It feels good, you feel freer, you feel lighter, and what I ask people to do and this is the coaching and HR background is to notice it and to create environments where they can repeat that intentionally. The other thing because we go back a lot to childhood is children are very comfortable until they're told they have to be nice, quite honestly, about telling other kids they can't play with them. I want you to do that to the inner critic, right, it's like I don't actually need you right now. Our inner critics are there to help protect us, right, and originally they then grow into these little monsters of perfectionism and societal expectations.
Susan:But the original growth is to keep us safe, right, and I, as we go on in the book and in trainings I try and have folks do a lot of dialogue with that and in my coaching it's like you know, I've got this, I'm safe right now. You can sit over here. I appreciate you, right, I know that you're here, you're not bad. I just don't need you right now Because I've got this three minutes with my crayons, right, and I never have people show it. And the craziest thing is people always want to show me what they created. It's that proud parent when the very instruction is you are never going to show this to anyone, you can write whatever, and when they have freed themselves, it's really interesting.
Susan:So that's something your listeners can do, and I think there's a real key in the time limit three minutes in filling the piece of paper. I'm not asking you to draw something perfect, I'm asking you to cover the piece of paper. I'm not asking you to draw something perfect, I'm asking you to cover a piece of paper, rather it's, with symbols, with words, with scribbles, with circles, however you choose, with shading right. I mean, it's up to you, but you're doing it fast. It's a very freeing exercise and I think it reminds people of what it was like to play and I'm going to use the word create for just the play of it.
Chris:Nice, that sounds so fun. I'm going to try it.
Susan:I'm going to try it, it is, it's a blast. It is truly fun.
Chris:Yes, I don't think I have any crayons. Another reason, something else to buy. Yeah, wow, okay, that's awesome. Oh, that's so fun. Thank you for that. Thank you for that. Sure, I want to talk a little bit about your book. Art for your Sanity Sounds like a powerful guide, so what was your intention in writing it?
Susan:So the whole intention of writing it is I had incorporated art journaling into my coaching practice and I was talking about it frequently, and the intention to write it was to share it more broadly Once again.
Susan:I've been exposed through a number of years in my career to all these great tools that help people right in the coaching world, help us through transitions, and I really feel that the art journaling is fast, it's powerful, it's playful and in writing the book, art for your sanity and the subtitle is like how to manage chaos and unleash joy, right, and I wanted more people to have access to it than I would be able to go around telling, and so that's the whole reason I wrote the book. The book is short, comes out of my first career as a journalist. It's a combination of both how to why it works and then my own story. So that's where you get into a lot of the spiritual story, if you will, and tapping into your inner wisdom and your authentic self. That's really what motivated it and then that's what led to ironically, you know, it's what led to online training and workshops and really embedding it more. Coaching was the desire to help and serve, which you could say is a creative impulse right.
Susan:It's just it expresses itself in a different manner.
Chris:Yes, I like the way that's put. You're right. How long has the book been out?
Susan:Gosh, I was just thinking about that this morning. It came out 10 months ago, on the day we are recording this Stop it Isn't that recording this?
Chris:Stop it.
Susan:Isn't that?
Chris:crazy. I love it.
Susan:How much has happened since then and how afraid I was right. That's the time I was seeing the open door with the lab was right about, and that's a very recent symbol for me, so yeah.
Chris:I love that and I mean, and where you are at this point as well, and in sharing the story Wow. Yeah, and this is to me another sign, you know. Yeah, it is, we don't have to search too far to realize like oh okay, there it is, you know. Oh nice, Nice, nice nice.
Susan:Have you had any chance to hear any feedback from the readers that have read the book at this moment? No, I've gotten a lot of great feedback and one of the thing in the publishing industry because this was the first book I had done, I didn't understand it. You get all these pre reviews from different sources, one called NetGalley. And what was so meaningful to me before it came out because I was very afraid, I'm sure Right and was that several of the reviews were exactly what I hoped it would be, and I'll tell you what it was Because I chose to write a shorter book and use my own images, which made me feel very vulnerable.
Susan:My very favorite review was I was able to read it tonight and start in the morning I'm writing this. I was inspired and curious, so to me it spoke to what I wanted it to do. You know, I would like to think it's well-written and interesting, but I had no expectations right that this is like an earth-shattering book. It's like I want this to be helpful for people I want them to be able to read it in a setting.
Susan:And it's a tool and then be able to do it. That ended up being one of my very, very favorites. Another that was a favorite and went against my fears right, I think, when we see our fears on paper. But you realize it's not really a fear, it's a strength. You asked me about being a creative person. I told you no one's ever described me that way. This reviewer had a art background, a professional art background, and what they wrote was I love her book for people who don't have an art background because it makes it accessible and takes away the fear. Right here I was thinking someone with an art background might say this is us being mean to ourselves or just those fear talking, talking.
Susan:It's silly, it's simplistic, and instead my two big fears were that it was too short or too accessible and that I wasn't an artist, these early reviews before it was published felt like gifts quite honestly and signs from the universe that my biggest insecurities were actually being seen your biggest strengths? Yeah, and these are independent reviewers. You don't know. You know who they are. And it didn't matter who it was, it didn't matter.
Susan:It was the point that they yeah, this could be revealed to you One of my very favorite that really helped me is we went into launching the book.
Chris:Oh, that's great. Yeah, I mean, hey, this is it that ego get in, the doubt, get in and we're questioning ourselves. But I love that that you had a chance to be able to see someone else who doesn't even know you to be able to give an honest opinion about exactly what they saw. I love it. I love it. Yeah, we can't get caught up into that inner critic. Yeah, and sometimes it will convince us of things that do not exist, to lead us off.
Susan:Yeah, we can tell ourselves a vicious and mean story to keep us, yeah, small and afraid, and it takes a lot to work our way through that for sure.
Chris:No, it's true, so true. I wanted to ask you what is your hope for listeners who might be in a life transition and they're hearing this story for the first time.
Susan:So my hope is always that if anything in our conversation has struck a chord, a bit of curiosity, made you like smile, feel giddy, follow that right. That continues to be my advice is you know your life and you know you and your soul better than anyone and it's really giving yourself permission to follow that glimmer, that spark, that sort of just question like huh, you know I want to try that, so that's my hope.
Chris:I love that. I love that you know as a teacher. You know they always say you really get a chance to learn when you're teaching and it's like you know before being in that field you're like what. But you know it's true, as you are teaching you really are learning in a different way, because life is different and people are different and circumstances are different in teaching and they will unfold when things are happening in. I'm wondering if you had anything to give for people who were in this type of I wouldn't say transition, but if they were in a place where you know they weren't really journaling wasn't something that they were able to do, but they know that there was an outlet of some things that they were able to do. What else would you recommend? Even saying a therapy or seeing in some type of group of that recommend for people that might be helpful. If they're not, if this is something that they can't do or they're not, able to do.
Susan:Sure, yeah, so I'll step back. You know we go through a lot of life transitions and sometimes we go through a number of them at once. You know we go through a lot of life transitions and sometimes we go through a number of them at once. It can be jobs, change, relationships change, location, changes, something in our family. So what I would want people in that situation to know is that one transitions are tough and we all go through them. No one has a magic way of going through them, but there's three very predictable stages. They're not necessarily always linear, but if you're aware of them, they can help. One is there's an ending that you need to honor and spend some time even if it's a change or transition you want, if you will grieving and honoring or ritualizing, whether it's a job change, a location, change, a health, change, a relation you know, a family situation. It's really important. If we don't create an ending and acknowledge an ending, we carry a lot with us. Then there's messy.
Susan:Then there's this really messy middle and as humans we want to get through that as fast as possible. Right, we would like to be done with it and to the new thing immediately. And it rarely, if ever, works that way. And in this messy middle you're sliding backwards, you're going sideways. It can feel very ambiguous to give yourself a lot of grace, ask a lot of questions during that time, create you self-talk, right.
Susan:If you can't do art, I mean, I always a fan of therapy, so you know any therapist, any trusted spiritual counselor, always great to have a neutral third party. And then there's a new beginning, right, so you've got an ending that you need to honor and create some ritual and you may not grieve just like we don't heal at once. You may not put that behind you all at once either. You will keep revisiting it. Then there's this messy middle, before you get comfortable or even see what the new beginnings like. And then we want to think once the new beginnings here, whatever it is, we're set that the new beginning is got some challenges. You may slide back, it may not be what you thought it would be. It may eventually be what you thought it would be, but it feels new and awkward, like when you're learning a new skill. So what's hardest on people is when you're going through a number of life transitions it's called a life quake all at once. Wow, I've never heard that.
Susan:And that's really where I would advise you know, find a coach, if you can, a therapist, nothing else. Read something about transitions, because these stages are really well researched, like I said, they don't happen quite as linear like you can slide back and forth between them, but just the awareness of what you're going through and why it doesn't feel good right now, or your frustration that the new thing isn't working out or isn't here yet. It's really big life transitions can take years to get adjusted to and none of us like that. Right.
Susan:It's a patience, it's a faith thing, and that's where having someone to talk to or a tool can be really really helpful.
Chris:So nice. That was awesome. I love that breakdown of those three the ending, the messy middle and the new beginning Put so well, so well and spoon-fed to us. We can easily understand it. We love it yeah no, thank you.
Susan:It's great stuff that I feel really honored to coach and help people with, because it's part of the human experience and when there's, I think, models that support us and keep us curious, we're not as alone feeling, because society, movies, social media, whatever can make things look so simple. So true, and we can suffer so silently inside that it's really good to demystify some of these things.
Chris:It's so true, so true. I love that. I want to do a little fill in the blank with you. Sure, I'll ask and you can just fill it in whatever comes to your mind about it. I'm happiest when I.
Susan:In nature.
Chris:Do you? Where you're living? Do you have access to nature immediately or a garden that you are able to?
Susan:I have access to a garden. We're in a very small house. We did a huge downsize and it's sort of got a walled place and I've created. It's very small but a little garden and every morning I go out it gives me such joy to see what's bloomed, what hasn't just the changes. So I'll do it, though I do have access to lots of trees. Austin's got a lot of trees and I walk in the neighborhood. A small garden. Even my houseplants serve as nature, but I do try and get outside every day.
Chris:Good, and what does it make? How is it that? What kind of happiness are you feeling when you see?
Susan:I feel connected to the earth, so the happiness is a connection and its connection to um something larger than myself, and I feel like nature moves me there almost immediately nice, thank you.
Chris:I'm hardest on myself when I I continue to be impatient.
Susan:I laugh at myself. I started by sharing that I am 60 and I don't think I was patient ever. I see it more clearly now I do, but I'm starting to accept that I just may never be that Similar. We were joking about creative in the adjectives used to describe me by those who love me. They're not saying patient. Now they may say I have tremendous compassion or loyalty, right, I mean they may use words that someone might say, oh, you're patient or stamina.
Susan:But internally I think we know what patience feels like this is it? That's a constant tension for me and I spend a lot of time meditating on that and peace.
Chris:I love that. I mean, it's true Like we have so many words that there's just a definition and you just say, oh yeah, I've, I know what happiness is, or oh, I know what joy feels like, and in reality sometimes we don't really know what the real meaning of the word is. You know, before living in Japan, I always knew what the word peace was and I thought that I had peace, that I lived peacefully. But after living here I realized that I was never living peacefully in America, in New York City.
Chris:You know, you're walking up to your door you're taking one earphone out, you know, making sure no one's behind you, this whole and here is the safest place, place. You know you can drop your wallet, someone's going to return it. You can leave your computer on the train like you'll get it back like it's. It's a whole different type of safety. So it was the first time to feel the word feel peace in my life and really feel like wow. I never knew what the word, what the meaning of it, felt it was, even though I thought that I did for all these years. So I get your understanding about that.
Susan:Isn't it interesting? No, I agree. I lived in Hong Kong for a while. It was the same way. My husband left a bunch of cash and a pocket that went out to the laundry. A wad of cash was returned.
Chris:See, this is, and you know like where we're at, that money ain't coming back. You know from America it ain't happening. No, it's a whole.
Susan:but I'll tell you that living there does change you, because where I live now not that I don't have trust, but I want to make sure that I am applying those standards everywhere Right, I find cash in a parking lot. Am applying those standards everywhere. Right, I find cash in a parking lot. I'll look around, right. I mean, at some point you don't know what to do. But it's really it. I do try and emulate some of what I learned living there in terms of finding the owners of things.
Chris:Yes, this is it Right. This is it Okay of things. Yes, this is it right, this is it Okay. Let me ask you I'm grateful for Life breath. I love that. The strength I'm most proud of is Resilient. Such a good one. Such a good one. Yes, back and back again. I'm stronger when I.
Susan:Am vulnerable.
Chris:Wow so good. This is true right. It's hard. Yes, thank you for your honesty so hard?
Susan:Yeah, I don't want to act like that one, not at all. But boy, does it. Teach you how people show up and make you feel good yeah.
Chris:I agree, I agree. Let's see One more. I'm working on being better at.
Susan:Presence and it's interesting, it's a hard one. Hard one, right, we've talked about patience, but it's a muscle I I can really see over the years and years in my meditation and other practices, the cycle gets shorter of me getting caught up in the story or the delusion. It's a muscle, but it continues to be one that I must work on.
Chris:Yeah, we all, yeah, definitely. Oh, those are great answers. So good, so good. I'm wondering are there any life transitions that you're working through with your art journaling right now?
Susan:Yeah, you know it's. It's interesting. Earlier this month I gave a Ted talk and a talk at a major university and there was a lot.
Chris:Congratulations, susan, thank you. Let me give you a little of this.
Susan:It was. It was huge. I didn't see either coming in that way and both were great. But when you finish, when I finish something really big, all of a sudden it's like what next? And I've been journaling because I do the art journaling for a few minutes I'm just drawing question marks. I got myself some inexpensive pastel sort of oily crayons from Amazon myself some inexpensive pastel sort of oily crayons from Amazon.
Susan:I felt like I could see you smile when you're saying these, when you're talking about the crayons Like a $4 box and yeah, I've spent several pages and days just drawing question marks and then I'll tell you that this is interesting you talk about, about the signs.
Susan:I'll draw a page of question marks because it's sort of like what now, if you've been really focused on a goal and doing it, and then it comes right, the event comes and it's over and all of a sudden you're left with that empty thing, like what now drawing the question mark, and then all of a sudden I've never drawn this symbol I start drawing butterflies. Don't know why, they're easy to draw, right, anything that's easy to draw. At some point I probably try. And then I see, you know, it's interesting and it's the time of year, but I start seeing butterflies everywhere because I'm asking for a sign and I don't know what the sign is, other than I'm enjoying seeing them, and somehow I'm creating a, a patience. So that's the transition. I mean, this has really just been in the last two weeks. Yeah, I am just putting some question marks.
Chris:Something is, is is about to reveal itself. Yes, yeah.
Susan:Who knows? So that's my current transition.
Chris:I love that. I love that. I want to change a little bit and I want to ask you who is around you that helps keep you present and motivated and together. Who is that person that helps you?
Susan:person that helps you. Uh, my husband for sure helps me the most and he's he's quite opposite from me and the where he helps me the most it's been 30 plus years yes, a long time. Congratulations on that thank you, yeah, but it's like, do it right, like I'll say something that's not remotely his interest or his jam. He's like, yes, do that. He is a great empower. I don't think he's a glimmer like about he comes back with yes and it's quite magical. So he definitely gets the call out on that.
Chris:What's his name?
Susan:Bob.
Chris:Oh, we love the name Bob, one of my best friends is Bob yeah. So great, that's so nice. It's my best friends is Bob. Yeah, so great, that's so nice. It's important to have people in your corner. It's important to people who have your back, because the world can be so cruel.
Chris:Now, with this social media, you don't even see the people, but they can type up anything to say to be hurtful, so it's nice that you can have someone in your corner who's just being like yep, let's do it. Okay, great, let's come on. Just the extra, I got your back, so that's awesome, that's awesome. I like to ask my guests this final question Is your glass half empty or half full?
Susan:Always half full. No, really. I think I was born half full, for sure.
Chris:I love that. I love that. Yeah, everybody has a different answer. It's so great for this question. Yeah, it's funny.
Susan:But that's an easy one. It's interesting. So many other questions you don't know, but no, I think it's just yeah, we all feel that, answer whatever it may be.
Chris:Yes, this is it, Whatever it may be. Whatever it may be, I want to ask you do you have any final thoughts for our listeners You've given us, so much stuff, but what would you like to leave?
Susan:us with Final thought and I'm repeating it, but if it's at all curious, anything we've said, because it's been such a great and rich discussion and so open and connected but anything's giving you the slightest glimmer, play into it for a few minutes, right, Whatever it is, play into it. That really is how we tap into our soul.
Chris:Hmm, I love it, I love it and I'm going to get me some crayons now.
Susan:My mom and sister.
Chris:Both have coloring books and they color like, yeah, these big coloring books. And I was like, oh you know, I haven't colored in such a long time. I loved it when I was a kid, but when you were talking it brought it back to being like, wow, I really always enjoyed the time coloring, but as an adult I've totally forgotten about that until this moment of even having the time to even do that.
Susan:Yeah, and you can do it right. It doesn't have to be a big thing If you think of what you doodle doodle with a crayon nearby or a colored pen, because sometimes it helps us process right. And it's about, I I think, creating that opportunity. There's something about using color that's really, really freeing it's. It represents a lot in our psyche that makes sense.
Chris:That totally makes sense. Definitely about it. Wow, so good, so good. Thank you for all of the amazing information that you've given. Can you tell everyone how they can reach you if they want to find out more about you?
Susan:Sure, it's simple. It's just my website. It's the easiest place. It's just susan-hensleycom and everything's on it right? There's the free guide on how to get started art journaling there's book, there's video trainings, there's all that stuff. But if you have a question, you can just hit contact me. I get a form and I answer all those, so I'm also happy to. I love hearing from listeners of podcasts and folks with questions, so feel free to just hit the contact me button.
Chris:Oh, bless your heart. That's so sweet. And of course, all of this will be underneath the information so they can easily click it In today's times. No one's writing things down anymore. So, it'll be a click away, yeah it, click it.
Susan:Yeah, any of that.
Chris:Yes, I love it. And so simple Just one place where everything is at. So we thank you so much for your time and your energy this morning. It has been so great.
Susan:Thank you, no, it's been a wonderful conversation. You have a terrific day Thank you, oh, you as well.
Chris:We'll be in touch real soon, thank you, oh, you as well.
Chris:We'll be in touch real soon, okay, thank you All, righty, bye-bye. Thank you for tuning in to another inspiring episode of our podcast. I'm your host, chris Levins, and I want to express my gratitude to each and every one of you for being a part of our supportive community. Remember, glass Half Full is not just a podcast. It's a safe platform for everyone to share their life experiences. Your stories and voice matter, and we appreciate you for being here with us. If you enjoyed today's episode and want to stay updated with our future content, please subscribe, follow and rate our podcast on Apple Music, spotify and YouTube. Your support means the world to us and it helps us reach even more listeners who can benefit from these valuable life experiences. As we wrap up this episode, always keep in mind you are blessed, no matter the challenges you face. There's a reservoir of strength within you. Until next time, stay positive and remember the glass is always half full, see ya.