And Just Like That...

Published February 8, 2026

...the final episode of Season Seven is out.

Ten months ago, I was sitting in a writing class at Sarah Lawrence telling my instructor that I felt like I had no time to be creative. Since having a kid, finding space to do the things that actually inspire me has been hard. I was especially struggling with writing, and I felt like if I wasn’t doing it every day, I couldn’t really call myself a writer.

She asked me where that belief came from, and I realized pretty quickly that it wasn’t actually mine. It came from every writing class, every post, every piece of advice that says “real writers write every day.” I thought about people I admire deeply. Tim Federle writing every morning before rehearsal. Dicky Murphy waking up at 5am to write before his kids were up. And I remember thinking at the time, "How on earth do they have the energy for that? I need all the sleep I can get."

When I shared this with my instructor, she said something that shifted everything: “That’s what worked for them. That is clearly not what’s going to work for you.” Instead of trying to find time every day, she suggested we find a small amount of time once a week.

So we looked at my schedule and found 30 minutes. That was it.

We also talked about the podcast, and the guilt and overwhelm I was carrying about not having released an episode in over a year. We made a plan that felt doable, not punishing. And then we let it be flexible.

Ten months later, I’m honestly kind of amazed that it all happened. The season came together because I didn’t force it. If I’ve learned anything this past year, it’s that forcing things rarely works. Making a plan helps. Letting it shift when it needs to matters just as much.

Which brings me to this week’s episode.

My conversation with Gina Rattan feels like a perfect bookend to this season. We talk a lot about anxiety, performance, perfectionism, and nervous systems, and one of my favorite moments is when she reframes the idea that we need to get to zero in order to move forward. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you’re at 100 and you get to 70. Or you’re at 70 and you get to 30. Those small shifts matter.

Ironically, Gina and I had to reschedule our recording several times. Something kept coming up for one of us, and at one point she apologized. I told her it was okay. It would happen when it was meant to happen. And when it finally did, we had a calm, grounded conversation because neither of us were operating from obligation or overwhelm.

That feels like the theme of this season.

Check out Gina's episode here

I’m going to take a break for a couple of months, and we’ll be back in the fall with a new season focused on community and community building as artists. In the meantime, you’ll still be getting bi-monthly emails from me.

Thank you for being here, for listening, and for giving yourself permission to do things in a way that actually works for you.

Be healthy. Stay creative.

– Allison

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