Common Shapes

Hello Common Shapes listeners.

This week on Common Shapes podcast, I'm deep in conversation with poet, teacher, and my dear friend, Jacqueline Suskin.Jacqueline is a poet and educator who has been teaching workshops, writing books, hosting retreats and creating spontaneous poetry around the world since 2009. She's published eight books, and her most recent one, A Year In Practice, was just released with Sounds True press.Together we talk about seasonal practices, radically reconnecting with the Earth, Fern Gully, writing multiple books, having multiple calendars, and choosing to remember.Tune in to learn about—The radical nature of connecting to the Earth's cyclesHow to tap into seasonal rhythmsJacqueline's daily & weekly planning practicesWhat's our work & what's not our workHow to hold nuance in your writingLinksVisit Jacqueline's websiteOrder Jacqueline's new book, A Year in PracticeSubscribe to Jacqueline's Substack newsletterGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

This week on Common Shapes podcast, I'm joined by my dear friend Fariha Róisín for a conversation at the intersections of writing, politics, care, and liberation.Fariha is a multi-disciplinary artist born in Ontario, Canada and raised in Sydney, Australia. As a Muslim queer Bangladeshi, she is interested in the margins, liminality, otherness, and the mercurial nature of being. She's the author of five books and writes the Substack newsletter, How to Cure a Ghost.In this episode, Fariha shares her experience telling the truth amidst propaganda and channeling righteous rage into writing. She explains how she approaches writing about Palestine during the genocide in Gaza and how she embeds the depth of her feelings and beliefs in her work.Tune in to hear about—Feeling the responsibility to speak outFariha's process for working on two books at oncePouring your feelings into your writingDemystifying spiritual practiceThe importance of surrenderWhere the personal meets the politicalHow Fariha writes her weekly newsletterLinksVisit Fariha's websiteOrder Survival Takes a Wild ImaginationSubscribe to Fariha's Substack newsletterFollow Fariha on InstagramMentioned in the episode: James Baldwin, Mother Country RadicalsGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

I've been writing personal essays for over a decade, and I believe that my personal essay practice allowed me to leave social media.So in today's episode, I share how I blend the personal, the poetic, and the political in my writing. And I unpack how that supports me in speaking up and sharing my work without shying away from what's happening in the world.I hope this episode inspires you to share your writing with the people. Tune in to learn about—The importance of your life storyHow to share your political valuesFacing fear when we don't know what to sayBeing willing to get it wrongWhy you should choose a container for your writingHow personal essays can help you leave social mediaLinksGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondaySign up for Writing the Personal, Dec 3 -17Mentioned in the episode — Body Work by Melissa Febos, 69herbs, Sister Spinster, Lukaza's Substack, Fariha's Substack, Friendship Village book, Bear Hebert, Off the Grid podcast, Ayana Zaire Cotton SubstackFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

Welcome to season two of Common Shapes! Since last season, I took a big step in my life and logged out of Instagram for good.So in this episode, I'm going to share why I left and how I did it. Not from a place of knowing-it-all, but by asking the question, “what does it actually mean to be done with social media?”I hope this episode inspires you to take supportive steps that are right for you. Tune in to learn about—What it's like to leave InstagramThe portal of the validation loopA big business success moment since leavingIs Substack social media?Weaving the personal, poetic & politicalLinksGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondaySign up for my Skillshare class, Success on SubstackListen to Off the Grid podcast — especially the 5-step Plan to Leave Social Media & this conversation with Melissa WordFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

Making this podcast brought me into a business ecosystem crisis. Very little of my output changed, but my inner understanding of my work needed to shift.So in today's episode, I'm sharing how my job description has changed since I launched this show. And I'm exploring how shifting your job description can transform your relationship to your work.Tune in to learn about—How to discover what you're devoted toWhat are the themes of your jobWhat is not your jobHow to write your job descriptionAligning your job with your values & interestsWhat's next for Common Shapes podcastLinksGet my mini-workshop Your Everchanging JobBook a Creative Advising SessionsGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

Your offer ecosystem is how your creative offerings branch out of your artistry, fit together in the world, increase your income, and expand your reach.In this episode, I share how I've crafted my offer ecosystem over the past decade, and I tell you the stories of how a few of my offers have evolved and even ended.Tune in to learn about—What an offer ecosystem isMy favorite ways to get ideas for your offer ecosystemHow to choose a container for an offerWhy one-on-one work can be a great place to startCharging for your offeringsLinksLearn more about Teaching As A PracticeGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

Teaching online classes is how I've made the majority of my income since 2017. And it is a great joy of my career to have had such amazing, invested, weird, inspirational students.In this episode, I'm going to share my approach to creating an online class by walking us through how I teach my class A Quilt Is Something Human.I hope that this inspires you to become the teacher that you are meant to be. Grab a pen & paper, then tune in to learn about—How to decide what to teachReasons to teach onlinePricing your online class5 reasons the world needs your online classSome of my favorite tech for selling online classesLinksLearn more about Teaching As A PracticeGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayLearn about Melissa Word's class Grief ThreadsFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

This week on Common Shapes podcast, I'm joined by my internet friend Anna Fusco to discuss dedicating your life to art.Anna is an artist, writer, deep thinker, question asker and truth teller. Her practice consists of writing her Substack newsletter and making drawings.Together we talk about our daily list practice, creating a gallery show, the challenges of pricing your work, and what it means to be a full-time artist.Tune in to learn about—The List aka Project MiracleMaking art & having art showsPricing your workNewsletters & SubstackHow to get started as a self-employed artistLinksMake Miracles in Forty Days by Melody BeattieVisit Anna's poster shop, Lord CowboySubscribe to Anna's Substack newsletter, UnsupervisedFollow Anna on InstagramGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

I think the great fear of most creative people is that we'll run out of ideas and not know what to do next.I come up against this time and time again in my own work, so I've developed a series of practices for releasing fear, removing blocks, returning to center, and discovering what's next.Tune in to this episode to learn my six favorite tools for when I don't know what to do, including—Morning pages & artist datesMovementPhoning a friendSetting up an easy practiceList-makingRecovery & spiritual practiceAfter you listen, go get my free Creative Ideation Portal, and join me in dreaming up what's next for you and your work.LinksGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayGet Julia Cameron's The Artist's WayFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

This week on Common Shapes podcast, I'm sharing the mic with my friend Tamara Santibañez for a conversation about oral histories, tattooing, freelancing, and art as activism.Tamara is an interdisciplinary artist and oral historian living and working in Brooklyn. Their work is rooted in storytelling and the visual language of identity construction, exploring subcultural semiotics and the meanings we make from bodily adornment.Tune in to hear us discuss—Tamara's studio practiceOral histories & oral traditionsTattooing as liberation workHow to balance many projects as a freelancerMaking time for movement workCoalitions & political responsibilityThe different feelings/functions/forms of Instagram vs SubstackLinks—Visit Tamara's websiteFollow Tamara on InstagramSubscribe to Tamara's SubstackGet Tamara's book, Could This Be Magic? Tattooing as Liberation WorkGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

This week on Common Shapes, I share four practices for checking in with your creative pace — internal seasons, intuitive sharing, weather systems, and the earning pathway.This episode feels like an updated version of How to Not Always Be Working, and I hope it serves your practice, your pace, and your deepest alignment.Listen in to learn—Why lists are how I orient myself in my lifeHow to identify & live by your internal seasonsWhat it means to share intuitivelyHow to cultivate your earning pathwayWhy it's so important to find your own paceAfter you listen, go get my free Creative Ideation Portal, and join me in making our art and pacing ourselves.LinksGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayTake my class, Organizing A DayFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

This week I'm welcoming Common Shapes' very first guest, Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo.Lukaza (they/them/Lukaza) an artist, abolitionist, educator, storyteller, cultural worker and person of multitudes. Through a practice based in the printed multiple, community-based work and installation building, they invite the viewer to recall and share their own lived narratives, offering power and weight to the creation of a larger dialogue around the telling of B.I.Q.T.P.O.C. (Black, Indigenous, queer, trans, people of color) stories.Listen in to hear us discuss—The web shape for creative workHow to craft a studio practiceClaiming our work as our main income streamHow to weave your values and your activism into your sharing practicesThe radical history of newslettersLinksGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapesMore from LukazaVisit Lukaza's websiteFollow Lukaza on InstagramSubscribe to ROOTS WEBS NETS BRANCHES BULLETIN BOARDS

This week's episode of Common Shapes is about the fact (yes, it's a fact) that your art is of service, no matter what you create.I also share my four containers for connecting with the why behind your work. And I offer many, many ideas for how to market your art in creative, fun, meaningful ways.Listen in to learn—Why all art is of serviceHow to figure out who your art is forMy favorite creative marketing practicesPractices for visioning our work in the worldA spell for hitting sendAfter you listen, go get my free Creative Ideation Portal, and join me in sharing your work with the world!LinksGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayJoin Flexible Office, my digital co-working spaceTake my Newsletter classSam Slupski's I LOVE TO FAILFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

Today's episode of Common Shapes is about why I love newsletters and why you (yes, you) should have one.Together we'll explore the marketing side and the creative side of newsletters. I'll also share—My journey starting my newsletterHow to choose your email service providerThe newsletter tech I recommendWhat to put in your newsletterExamples from my favorite newslettersHow to decide if your newsletter should be paid or freeAfter you listen, go get my free Creative Ideation Portal, and get ready to hit send on your first (or next) newsletter today.LinksGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayJoin Flexible Office, my digital co-working spaceTake my Newsletter classUse the code MARLEEGRACE to get 50% off your first year of FlodeskNewsletters I mentioned in this episode: Fariha Roisin's Substack How to Cure a Ghost, Liz Migliorelli's Sister Spinster newsletter, Kevin Morby's SubstackOff the Grid episode, “To Substack or Not to Substack”Find all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

Today's episode of Common Shapes is about creating creative containers for our work and convening the spiritual committees that help us make and share our art.Tune in to hear me share—The many shapes my work has takenHow I select and gather my spiritual committee for each creative projectWhy you need an email listAll kinds of containers your work can takeThe importance of being in community with other artistsThen grab my free Creative Ideation Portal and start gathering your committee and outlining your first project today.LinksGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayJoin Flexible Office, my digital co-working spaceTake my Newsletter classTeachers I shared: Bear Hebert of Marketing for Weirdos & Amelia Hruby of Off the GridFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

Welcome to Common Shapes! This week's episode is about the art of beginning AKA the moment just before the sunrise of our projects when anything and everything is possible.Tune in to hear me share—Stories of my many creative beginningsMy favorite visioning processReflections on imposter syndromeThe magic of starting smallThen grab my free Creative Ideation Portal and start dreaming up your own beginnings today.LinksGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondaySign up for my class, The Art of BeginningTake my Newsletter classFind all these links & more at codycookparrott.com/commonshapes

Welcome to Common Shapes, a podcast about practices, systems and rituals for creative life.It's hosted by me, Cody Cook-Parrott.And on this show, I talk about crafting business ecosystems that are in alignment with our values, marketing as a creative practice, and crossing the bridge between artist and small business owner.Tune in to the first four episodes for my Creative Ideation Portal guide, and then stay tuned for conversations with artists, writers and thinkers I'm grateful to be in community with.Whether you're dreaming up a book, a newsletter, a thoughtful text to a friend, an online class, a podcast, a collection of beautiful paintings in an art gallery, a membership site, a dog walking service, or anything else — Common Shapes is here to support you on your path to creation and to service. Subscribe to join us.LinksGet the Creative Ideation PortalSign up for my weekly newsletter, Monday MondayJoin Flexible Office, my digital co-working spaceFind all these links & more at marleegrace.space/commonshapes