This week: spiritual perils, creative blocks, and the wild idea that maybe… we don’t have to strain so hard??

Can you actually be an artist without the suffering and the constant striving? Apparently that’s the goal. Why do we feel like if we’re not straining, we’re not doing it right? What does self-protection around your creativity look like, and how do you make it about the journey instead of chasing the next gold star?

We’re talking creative blocks—yours, ours, everyone’s—and how they sneak into our lives dressed as necessary distractions. Anna gets into alcohol, people-pleasing, and how both get in the way of quieting down enough to actually create. Sarah wonders if she’s a workaholic (lol same) and asks whether her desire for deep, true partnership is actually narrowing the straw of her creativity.

We also spiral on the impossible question: can you really protect your creative life from all the chaos of the outside world? Or is that just a cute idea we tell ourselves? Then Julie Cameron herself (okay, through the book) comes in hot and spicy with this truth bomb: “If you don’t have time for Morning Pages, maybe you don’t have time for a creative life.” RUDE.

Also, we build a fort. And we try to convince you—again—to just do the Morning Pages.

What’s the main point? Show up. That’s it. Just keep showing up.

We love you!

💛💜💛💜💛💜

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

This week, we’re talking U-turns, and asking the big question: Are you lazy, or are you just blocked? Because spoiler alert—it’s not always easy to tell. We dig into whether your so-called laziness is actually just fear in a really good disguise. We’re also getting real about fame culture and whether it’s secretly ruining your life. Is it possible that not feeling your feelings is what’s keeping you creatively blocked? And what if jealousy is less of an emotion and more of a neon sign flashing, “PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR OWN STUFF”?

We also wonder: What if you stopped trying to make perfect art and just made art? Would the world end? Could the cure for fear actually be love? (How?!) What’s your relationship with discipline—is it a helpful tool or just another stick to beat yourself with? And could curating your creative space for your artist child actually change everything? Also, enthusiasm? How do?

Anna and Sarah lean into their own creative U-turns, confess how they got turned around, and try to figure out what it takes to get moving in the right direction again. Spoiler: it’s not clean-cut for artists, and it’s definitely not a straight line. But hey, when is it ever?

Grab a snack and let’s go!

💛💜💛💜💛💜

References:

Sarah Bonneville featured on The Current's Scouting Report

Leila Hormozi

Anne Clark of St. Vincent

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

How do you even podcast?! We’re officially releasing episodes and recording AT THE SAME TIME! Anna spirals (hello, self-awareness overload) but also shares how wild and powerful it’s been to listen to yourself learn in real time. It’s cringey! It’s growth! It’s both!

This week is packed with big, juicy questions:

🧠 Is understanding something intellectually different from understanding it emotionally?

🔥 Can you metabolize pain into energy? (Excuse us??)

🛠️ Is pain just your system screaming, “FIX THIS”?

We also get into the realness of studying art at school. Does it help? Does it mess you up? Can you grade creativity? Is imagination actually more important than knowledge?

Plus: what happens when your creative project becomes a product? What if your process is the most sacred part—and not the outcome?

And the kicker: what if the goals you create for your creative life should aim at your definition of success, not the world’s shiny, hollow version?

Big questions, lots of heart, zero clean answers—but we’re in it. Let’s go!!!

💛💜💛💜💛💜

References:

Get your hair dyed by Mia Bella

Balls Cabaret: Sundays 2-4pm at Strike Theater

824 18th Ave NE
​Minneapolis, MN 55418

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

It’s Week 7! This chapter hit us with a big one: “Art is not about thinking something up, it’s about getting something down.” Um… WHAT. You mean no straining? Just ease? Openness? Receptivity?!

Okay but… how do you actually do that? Is it a mindset? A lifestyle? Can you really just show up and make the thing, or are we all too tangled in our own perfectionism to even start?

This week, we wrestle with:

— Whether or not limits actually help

— If the universe cares and gives us what we need (???)

— The radical idea of actually expecting good things to happen

— And why making mistakes feels so impossible when perfectionism is running the show

Anna comes face to face with her “no mistakes allowed” policy, while Sarah gently reminds us (and herself) that doing your best doesn’t mean doing it perfectly—and maybe that is enough. She also admits her deep fear of looking stupid, and honestly? Same.

Do we have answers? Not really. But we do have questions. And messy progress. And a lot of trying. Because at the end of the day, you just have to do the thing.

Enjoy the episode!

💛💜💛💜💛💜

References:

Rick Rubin

Cathy Heller

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

Welcome to another week of Yes Ma’am Pod!

Surprise—there’s no chapter this week.

Instead, we bring you what we’re officially calling an interlude. You know, that moment when life completely takes over (hello, holidays) and your creative project gets sidelined by the chaos of being a human.

We could’ve kept this part of our journey creating this podcast quiet and pretended we were right on track, but we believe in honesty. And the truth is: every creative journey includes an interlude. It’s not a matter of if—it’s when.

So what exactly is an interlude, and how do you get through one without completely losing momentum? How do you come back to your work when it’s been dropped for a minute (or many)?

This is our most practical episode yet, full of tools, real talk, and gentle encouragement—so grab a notebook, give yourself some grace, and enjoy the show.

💛💜💛💜💛💜

References:

Martha Stewart Documentary Trailer

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

It’s Week 6, and yes—we’re talking about money. Again. Because it turns out, money is kind of a big deal. It’s a constant consideration, a major stressor, and, let’s be honest, a very convenient excuse to stay creatively blocked. In this episode, Anna and Sarah unpack their personal money systems and ask some real questions: How does the way we think about money control our creative lives? How is our sense of worthiness tangled up in what we believe we deserve financially? What even is a “little luxury,” and how do we tell the difference between what we actually want and what marketing tells us we need to not be sad? We also explore what would happen if we treated money with intention and attention, instead of fear and avoidance.

Then things get philosophical: why do we associate difficulty with virtue, and where did we get the idea that art is “just fooling around”? (Spoiler: it’s not.) Plus, a public service announcement—watch out for blocked people. They’ll cut you!

We have so much fun this week, even while confronting all the messy stuff, and ultimately we land in a place of encouragement: stay in your body, stay in the flow state, and keep showing up. We love you.

💛💜💛💜💛💜

References:

Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

Blue Door Pub

Selling Sunset (for an example of Fake Luxury)

Landman (Watch It!)

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

Welcome to Week 5, folks. Buckle up, this one’s a long one. 🏎️💨

This chapter had us going wait. like. what?! on repeat. Real talk: God has a LOT of money. Like, unlimited?

We dive headfirst into the deep end of God, spirituality, and organized religion and ask: Are they the same thing? (spoiler alert: they are NOT). How do we, as artists in recovery, reclaim a spirituality that supports us without dragging along the baggage of human-organized religion? And is a personal spiritual connection the only real path to intimacy with others?

We get real about the fear of abandonment and how it affects literally every single choice we make, all the time, forever. 😵‍💫 Anna attempts to speak Gen Z (send help), while Sarah lives in a van down by the river and teaches us how happiness can exist independent of all things. 🚐✨ WHAT!

Anna has a full-on Kevin McCallister moment and hides under the bed after her creativity actually shows up! Sarah wonders if expecting your art to pay for your food and roof is even a good idea (yikes). We also break down the difference between possible vs. probable when it comes to how we view our creative projects, wrestle with how to be a good human to the people who are relying on you while still doing your own thing, and, most importantly…

🚨 Just freaking buy the ticket, yo. 🎟️

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Authors & books & references:

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Deborah Keenan: poet

Norwegian Slow TV

Van Down by The River SNL Skit

Tommy Boy

"Can't Remember the Taste of Strawberries" Lord of The Rings

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!

WELCOME TO WEEK 4!

Dude, what does reading deprivation even mean in a world dominated by the internet and social media? Sarah actually does it. Anna? Absolutely not. But that leads us to the real question—how do we make space inside ourselves?

This week, we examine what we do to numb out, what distracts us, and what pulls us back into our bodies. Anna discovers that, shockingly, the Artist Date and Morning Pages actually work (she wrote something!), while Sarah fills the newfound silence by talking out loud to herself.

We also introduce the concept of Flow Suck™, ask whether you can love something and still abuse it, and wonder if there’s such a thing as a good loss of self. Anna reveals her obsession with Survivor’s Jeff Probst and hopes he’ll somehow end up on the pod, while Sarah has a full-on existential moment about kriyas (is it actually cry-a?).

Plus, we tackle the painful reality of sitting with yourself, the question of whether you can create without radical self-honesty, and the unsettling thought that you might not be able to express anything unless you have a self.

Oh, and did we mention we sing a song? Because that happens. So buckle up, because this week we go everywhere—including a wild conversation about Butterfly Goop and why you definitely want some of that.

💛💜💛💜💛💜

References:

Poet Deborah Keenan

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

Where the name Rodney for Adam's van came from

Thank you so much to MPLSART.com for sponsoring this show! Exhibitions, writing, resources, and more from the Twin Cities visual arts scene: https://www.mplsart.com/

@yesmaampod

We love you!