Meet Nancy Hillis

We recently connected with Nancy Hillis and have shared our conversation below.

Nancy , so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

I keep my creativity alive through creative conversations and by exploring different modalities of creativity, including writing novels, writing non-fiction, performing music (cello), reading extensively in a range of topics including medical advances, conversations about science/art/math, conversations in psychotherapy, going to musical performances and art exhibits, and via physical activity (swimming and hiking).

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m an existential psychiatrist obsessed with creativity and how one’s psychology affects everything in one’s life, including one’s art. I’m the founder of The Artist’s Journey® and The Adjacent Possible® Courses and Workshops where I teach artists to trust themselves in order to express the elusive, deepest art they yearn to create. I guide artists to explore their own personal signature of mark making and brushstrokes with confidence and ease. My most recent foray into the adjacent possible is writing contemporary fiction. I’m currently finishing a novel set in the San Francisco Bay Area circa mid 1990s.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Cultivating curiosity, believing in yourself, and being open to the adjacent possible. My advice is to stay curious, read extensively in areas you’re not familiar with, and think for yourself— don’t let anything outside of yourself cause you to doubt yourself and your art (art critics, friends, acquaintances, teachers). You are the artist, the author, the composer of your life and work.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

My mother taught me self compassion and to believe in and trust myself. Trust is the foundation of all relationships, especially the relationship to oneself.

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