THE SYNCREATE PODCAST: EMPOWERING CREATIVITY
HOSTED BY MELINDA ROTHOUSE, PHD
WELCOME TO SYNCREATE, WHERE WE EXPLORE THE INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN CREATIVITY,
PSYCHOLOGY, AND SPIRITUALITY. OUR GOAL IS TO DEMYSTIFY THE CREATIVE PROCESS,
AND EXPAND THE BOUNDARIES OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CREATIVE.
SUBSCRIBE / FOLLOW US ON SPOTIFY, APPLE PODCASTS, YOUTUBE
OR WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS
HOSTED BY MELINDA ROTHOUSE, PHD
WELCOME TO SYNCREATE, WHERE WE EXPLORE THE INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN CREATIVITY,
PSYCHOLOGY, AND SPIRITUALITY. OUR GOAL IS TO DEMYSTIFY THE CREATIVE PROCESS,
AND EXPAND THE BOUNDARIES OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CREATIVE.
SUBSCRIBE / FOLLOW US ON SPOTIFY, APPLE PODCASTS, YOUTUBE
OR WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS
EPISODE 60: INTUITION & CREATIVITY
WITH INTUITIVE MEDIUM AND SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR STEVEN ROSS
listen to the audio podcast here:
WATCH THE FULL VIDEO VERSION HERE:
Steven Ross is the Co-Founder of Wisdom Pathways, co-host of The Way to Go podcast, and host of the Intuition Radio podcast. He is a gifted intuitive medium, ordained interspiritual minister, wellness facilitator and teacher of traditional yoga and meditation. With 20 years on the yogic path, he is a devotee of Paramhansa Yogananda. Steven holds a masters in divinity from All Paths Divinity School. Our conversation focuses on the connections between intuition and creativity and how we can each cultivate our innate intuitive faculties. Steven also gives Melinda a live reading during the episode so people can get a taste of his work and process.
For our Creativity Pro-Tip, Steven walks us through the process of tuning into our intuition and allowing our creativity to flow naturally.
Credits: The Syncreate podcast is created and hosted by Melinda Rothouse, and produced at Record ATX studios with in collaboration Michael Osborne and 14th Street Studios in Austin, Texas. Syncreate logo design by Dreux Carpenter.
If you enjoy this episode, you might also like our conversations in
Episode 10: Imagination & Creativity with Dr. Diana Rivera
Episode 34: Creativity and Transpersonal Psychology Part 1 with Marina Smirnova, PhD
Episode 42: Creativity & Depth Psychology with Jennifer Leigh Selig.
At Syncreate, we're here to support your creative endeavors. If you have an idea for a project or a new venture, and you’re not sure how to get it off the ground, please reach out to us. Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools, and coaching to help you bring your work to the world. You can find more information here on on our website, where you can also find all of our podcast episodes.
Find and connect with us on social media and YouTube under Syncreate, and we’re now on Patreon as well.
If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review!
For our Creativity Pro-Tip, Steven walks us through the process of tuning into our intuition and allowing our creativity to flow naturally.
Credits: The Syncreate podcast is created and hosted by Melinda Rothouse, and produced at Record ATX studios with in collaboration Michael Osborne and 14th Street Studios in Austin, Texas. Syncreate logo design by Dreux Carpenter.
If you enjoy this episode, you might also like our conversations in
Episode 10: Imagination & Creativity with Dr. Diana Rivera
Episode 34: Creativity and Transpersonal Psychology Part 1 with Marina Smirnova, PhD
Episode 42: Creativity & Depth Psychology with Jennifer Leigh Selig.
At Syncreate, we're here to support your creative endeavors. If you have an idea for a project or a new venture, and you’re not sure how to get it off the ground, please reach out to us. Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools, and coaching to help you bring your work to the world. You can find more information here on on our website, where you can also find all of our podcast episodes.
Find and connect with us on social media and YouTube under Syncreate, and we’re now on Patreon as well.
If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review!
EPISODE-SPECIFIC HYPERLINKS
Steven’s Website
The Way to Go Podcast
Intuition Radio Podcast
Wisdom Pathways Website
Dr. Joe Dispenza
Father Thomas Keating
The Way to Go Podcast
Intuition Radio Podcast
Wisdom Pathways Website
Dr. Joe Dispenza
Father Thomas Keating
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
Melinda: Welcome to Syncreate, a show where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology and spirituality. We believe everyone has the capacity to create. Our goal is to demystify the process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative. We talk with visionaries and changemakers and everyday creatives working in a wide range of fields and mediums, from the arts to science, technology and business.
We aim to illuminate the creative process, from imagination to innovation and everything in between. I'm Melinda Rothouse and I help individuals and organizations bring their creative dreams and visions to life. At Syncreate, we're here to support your creative endeavors. So if you have an idea for a project or new venture, but you're not quite sure how to get it off the ground, find us at syncreate.org.
Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools, and coaching to help you bring your work to the world.
So I'm so delighted to be here live in person with my dear friend Steven Ross. And we've known each other for quite a few years now in different contexts. But originally, you're from Scotland.
Steven: That’s correct. Scottish accent.
Melinda: Yes. And you have a wonderful story of how you arrived here in Austin. You were the founder of Eastside Yoga, a studio that you ran and taught at for many years, and you now work at the, Austin Miraval Resort, and you, in, partnership with our mutual friend Jenny Fairbank, have a kind of spiritual school.
Steven: Yes, direction. Spiritual direction.
Melinda: Spiritual direction. Okay, called Wisdom Pathways.So thank you for being here.
Steven: Thank you Melinda, I am honored and delighted and excited to be in here with you and share some of what I've experienced for your listeners, your audience.
Melinda: Yes. So I should say the kind of theme of our conversation today. You are an intuitive medium. And so you do readings for people kind of wanting to get clarity on their life path, life decision and ways forward. And I have experienced that myself, the gifts of your wisdom. And so I want to get into that. Also just want to mention we were on retreat together recently in Iceland which was amazing that you and Jenny were leading.
So it was great for me to be a participant and a wonderful kind of yoga and meditation retreat in the north of Iceland. So we got talking about like, let's do a show together. And you also are a podcaster, I will mention. You have Intuition Radio.
Steven: Yes. It’s my brand new project.
Melinda: Yes. You have a pilot episode out, which I really enjoyed. And, and you'll be doing readings kind of live on the show.
Steven: Yeah. The idea of Intuition Radio was that I loved old radio shows growing up. And someone would call in and they'd have a question. It's like about laundry or something, you know, like really basic stuff. You know, and the DJ would answer Good Steven here, from wherever.
And I just love that sort of theme and part of my mediumship, I love questions and it seems to work well, the intuitive process when the question is delivered which is something we could talk about. And so when, if people can audio record, you know like a voice memo and send to me, I read it live. It's the idea. And so like many readings for questions that the public can benefit from.
Melinda: Beautiful. And we'll go through kind of links and ways to find you at the end. You also have a podcast with, a friend and collaborator called The Way to Go.
Steven: Yes, yes. And we, for this one, we had the two of us engage in discussion of a new vision of spiritual living and how to bring the teaching to life and have conversations in the midst of the collective crisis that we're in.
Melinda: Yeah. And that one kind of started during the pandemic.
Steven: Yeah. It was literally a pandemic keep yourself sane project. You know, what we're going to do for our minds. And so it was like zoom to zoom, you know, in our bedrooms, just get through the lockdown. That's how it started.
Melinda: Well, and that's funny because my idea for this podcast started during the pandemic as well. I think there's a lot of creative ideas and projects that kind of incubated during that time.
Steven: Yeah, once you got free from the space, the noise of your work schedules, these kind of things, then you sit there, it's like, what you got within you. There's this bubbling energy of creativity.
Melinda: Yes. Beautiful. So I want to start out, maybe for those who aren't familiar or just for you specifically, like how would you define intuition and how do you experience it?
Steven: Yeah, first of all, the intuition is your inner knowing. It is in a way, a higher or expanded consciousness. And I always tell people, think of it as you have your small self, you and your mind, with your drama, your ego, all the things to do, regular little things with you. And then we also have access to a higher consciousness.
And this would be where you're tapping into the collective of sorts, and you're receiving signals a bit like an internet or a download. And that signals, I think, for some people, they come haphazardly. Some people have so much static that they can't hear what their signals are. And then for others, such as a medium like myself, maybe through a slight, you know, accident or two, you realize that you can connect, I'm going to use the old language of the modem.
You know, you can dial up in a way, and you can connect to that higher consciousness and pull it through at will in the moment. And by pulling it through, it's essentially Melinda an infinite intelligence with all possibilities in the present moment accessible. It’s really cool.
And I think about AI and what they're trying to do. And it's dawned on me that this sort of AI paradigm is really a just a reflection or like an undercurrent of a similar phenomena. One subconscious I would say, not to get too in the weeds too quickly, but one is like subconscious. Here's the info we have. But the intuition is a higher knowing that gives potential.
Melinda: Yeah, yeah. And I do want to emphasize is, you know, you talk quite a bit about your journey in the Intuition Radio pilot, which is a fascinating story. And, you know, there's so many other things to talk about today. I’ll leave people to kind of like discover that. But you've like, when we were talking leading up to this, you have described yourself as kind of a catalyst of change in your work with people. And you know, some people might find this a bit like woo woo or something, but I want to emphasize that, you know, you were an accountant.
Steven: Yeah. Well, a former accountant of oil and gas in Houston, Texas. That's how I got to the states. And so now I'm working at a renowned wellness resort.
And I has myself in a strange position where I speak to highly successful people all day long. And they are hungry for intuitions. And they also usually have a lot of creativity and their own instincts, their gut instinct. And this goes all the way up to people who would be entrepreneurs, CEOs, people in media, TV, you name it.
It's quite something being in that world. And they all take it very seriously. And so there’s nothing woo woo to them. They're like, no, they want to validate their own instincts.
Melinda: And I think, you know, there's such a long history across cultures and civilizations of people in positions of leadership relying on advisors. You had the Oracle at Delphi. You have all these ancient systems of divination in different cultures.
Steven: I love them. There's one saint called Saint Joseph of Cupertino. You guys, you can look him up because he levitated, which is a whole other subject. But he was the eccentric kind, the mystic in that, you know, whatever it were, medieval times. And he was one of those ones, where all the royalty of Europe would travel across hundreds of miles to sit with them and give advice.
I'm not comparing myself to Saint Joseph. I'm not quite there yet. But they would do that. They would look for some sort of insight advice and they would get there. That was there was something different that he was giving them. And there's always been a hunger, I think, for people to get something that gives them an edge maybe.
And but it's that sort of like insight, but for an intuition to help you understand it, for an intuition to really be correct, it has to feel right to the person receiving it. I could say, I could talk all day long, but there's something in an intuition that seems to penetrate the mental wall and touch someone deeply. Even if they're not into this stuff. There's a kind of a knowing that's it's, know it by heart versus head.
Melinda: Right. And I've heard you speak about, you know, you'll receive these maybe images or messages or whatever. And then it's really up to the receiver, the person you're doing the reading for, it's to say like, well does this resonate? Does this land for me? Maybe sometimes it does. Maybe other times it doesn't.
But I think it's also important to emphasize that intuition, like creativity as part of the mantra of this show, we're all creative, we all have that capacity… We all have an intuitive capability, but we may or may not know how to access it.
Steven: Yes, that's always the big one as well. If I can give you a little philosophy for a moment, I want you all to imagine that we feel separate in our head disconnected from life, the universe, spirit, God, you name it. But actually there's a hidden mechanism, which people talk about, the energy field, the quantum field. I don't pretend to understand it, but there's something hidden that's interconnected, that binds us all together as one.
And when you understand that as spirit, essentially, or a consciousness or an energy, and we're accessing it, for me, it's important to come from that point that our creativity is derived in the unity of life. And I see that as being fundamental because once you know your purpose, you can define who you are. That's the bedrock of sorts, the riverbed, for the water to flow.
And I believe that creativity is not just about you, the person, but it's about what you deliver to the world. And you hear the call of the world that you receive, which can be not anything glamorous. It could just be something and keeps repeating in our mind and asking us, and I believe it's a telephone call, a download, that it's happening in that way.
Melinda: Yeah. Or we see a need and we feel a call to respond to it or address it. And you know, so many creatives speak about, you know, being a channel of sorts. But it's not just about them and their ego, right. But that they're receiving something.
Steven: On some level there’s a download. I love with inventor, there's a quote of Einstein and he says something along the lines of, ‘I can think of a problem all day long and not a damn thing happens. I can't solve it.’ Then he'll go for a walk and eat an apple. And the theory of relativity just comes to him. And I think this is a great way to think about consciousness.
It's downloading for a person. And then as a medium, there's something similar to an artist, I think because as a medium there's different types of mediumship. That word is quite confusing. And so as a medium, your mind, what you've learned, the skills you have, all the training you have, everything, that becomes your canvas and then whatever comes to you filtrates through the medium and they deliver it in their way. You see does that speak to you?
Melinda: Yeah definitely. So different intuitives, different mediums, might have different ways of communicating or even different ways of receiving.
Steven: Different ways of receiving, you can see it in audible and words and feelings. There's that one too. But as it comes through, it comes through what I have in my head. I have an obsession with spirituality, yogis and you know, karma and spiritual prince. It comes through very much that way.
Melinda: Yes. So on the one hand, you know, any type of healer or energy worker, we talk about the importance of being a clear vessel. Right. So that we're not imposing our own stuff, our own projections on the people we're working with. And yet at the same time, it sounds like you're saying, you know, and you practice yoga and meditation, which are ways of kind of clearing the mind and attaining higher wisdom that that's a resource that you can draw on.
Steven: You can essentially amplify the signal, and you can call it in more strongly. However, some people seem to be born with it and some less with. But it's like wattage and a light bulb my teacher used to say, and you can turn up your wattage through the practice. And also that the way, there's a practice and then there's the protocol, Melinda, a certain way you're going to hook on for the download and that's your personal protocol. That's the ritual you might have. Those kind of things. And so as the medium then, when it comes to you, when you connect to something meaningful, it seems to be an access point. And for me, it's connecting to another person and their need.
And, and my particular mediumship is how to direct them forward. The way forward. You see. But everyone's got their own way. Like what is your purpose? What do you deliver that fulfills life, adds to life in some way? And if you can get that in tune, I believe that's a lot of your frequency.
Melinda: Yeah. So we've talked about kind of this metaphor of like tuning the dial on the radio. And you use that in your podcast. Right. That sound of like, tuning the dial. Where's the static? Where's the signal. Clear.
Steven: Yeah. And then it's that way of the connection to other, to life, to something meaningful. If you care about the planet and then environmentalism, whatever it might be like, how do you get in tune with that frequency. And you can vibe off of that. And as you do, I believe the signal gets stronger. Then you have your creative filter, you see, to work together. So purpose and creativity to me are very entwined.
Melinda: Yes I love that. So when we were talking kind of leading up to this, you know, you also have used the metaphor of being kind of like a spiritual map reader, almost like a GPS system. Right. And also, one thing you mentioned that really piqued my interest in relation to the show specifically is that you mentioned, or posed a question, perhaps, is there a profile of successful creatives?
Steven: Yes. Wonderful. Well, I'll answer both of those points if I can. So my teachings and the the real center point of the whole way I do this is based on the idea of the truth shall set you free. And I realize that the Christian teaching of I am the way, the truth, and the life which can get easily confused. I actually realized, or I heard it from others, and I began to see it in my own work, that that in a way, is the how the spiritual creative principle comes forth. So let me explain that if I can.
First of all, most people are not aligned in their truth. This is very important. They might think they're not good enough, not worthy. They create energetic blocks of I can't do it. And you were told on some level, I remember being in elementary school, we call it primary school in Scotland, and being told that you'll never be musical.
You know, they would say stuff like that in 1981. You know, that's just what happened. And so in those ways now, those blocks are not, they create an inauthentic self-expression. Now think of your truth and being authentic to who you are, fears and all, like, I'm scared to do this and you're better off to say that than to say I can't do it.
But that is like a GPS, on the GPS, that's your location of where you are now. Do you see? It's your truth. Now imagine then you have your destination. And imagine then that that is what reveals your path. And so your destination is to create art, to write poetry or whatever it might be, to heal the world, whatever you want to do.
Now once we have that, that's your desire in you, couple things happen. Spirit, consciousness, life, reveals a pathway of how to get there that's in the shortest time, but if there's a mountain between you and the destination, you're going to have to circle back around the mountain to your past to get there. And then best of all, this, I get very excited telling people this, because this pathway, I believe, is an inherent principle.
Then that's, you have your location, you have your destination, you have your routes, okay, the GPS gives you, but virtual spirituality, the creative force gives you gas to get there. And I can't emphasize enough that when people have an idea and it's right and connected to the truth and they can see it, their face lights up.
There's a literal light comes through their energy body. And that vitality gives some energy out of nowhere, unlocks it. I think it comes from a chakra, unlocks it and gives them the gas to get to the destination. Well, I think it's very beautiful teaching.
Melinda: And I think it's also a testament to the power of intention and also imagination, which you've talked about in some of the podcast episodes I've heard of yours, that, you know, if we have a desire, or a creative intention. And then this idea, you know, which has become quite popular, you know, visualization, and seeing it in your mind's eye. Or maybe sensing it in other ways. I've learned that not everyone has the ability to visualize in their mind. But there are other ways of sensing.
Steven: Yeah. There is something, one of the famous teachers, Doctor Joe Dispenza, talks of a mind movie. And one of the things we see from some of the science around intent and neuroplasticity, which I know a little bit about. But when people fully embody the intent, so you can visualize it, use imagination and try, even that, don't imagine, you know, you get told that when back at the old days.
But use imagination and also the feeling of being that person. And this to me is the best part, because that's a chemical release. You can meditate on a feeling. So, if you were thinking about trying to become something creatively or create something for a project, how would you feel if that came to life instantly in the now?
You might feel uplifted, joyful, peaceful, empowered, etc. etc. You can embody that and meditate on it, visualize on it. And so you get all those faculties. Affirm it as well. And that links together. And I believe it takes intent like a seed and sprouts the seed. And I think again that's an energetic reality that speaks to you.
Melinda: I've mentioned this just in another recent episode, but there's a coach, Danielle Laporte, who, one of her big coaching questions is how do you own a feel? Rather than what do you want to do and what do you want to accomplish, but how do you want to feel? And I think that speaks to that somatic...
Steven: Somatic experience. I call it being and doing. And if you get that correct and you can be that person now, we create from source and you can, you know, clear out some thoughts a little bit through some meditation, yoga practice, music and then be first then go do. And that seems to be the combination we, I think we go that backwards in the West.
And so it's a beautiful way to create, to manifest and also to allow. Yeah. Once I get going I keep talking Melinda. But to create is to allow. And that's very, very important. You are receiving a signal, so it can transmit through you. So if you have block it's maybe it’s not time, but once something is there and present you allow it.
Melinda: Yeah. And it might take time to come forward. Right. And you were talking about, I listened to the most recent episode of that, your Way to Go podcast. And, you know, we're talking about the importance of taking time for retreat. And, you know, and community Right. But sometimes we have to step back, you know, in order to then later step forward.
Steven: Correct. I'm having a flashing thought too. I think it was some pop band like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and they were really in a creative block in one of their albums, this is years ago, and they had come up with the idea of getting bicycles. And if it's not the Chilis, forgive me, you guys, it’s some musician like that, and they end up like cycling around it, you know, where the studio was. And they needed that space, they needed movement in their body for it to come.
But yeah. Absolutely. And had the honor of reading for a few, I would say successful authors. And I realized with authors that when they have a book in them, it's, I realize it's they're pregnant with the book, you can relate to that? And I'm just a man. I know nothing about delivery of babies, but there is an allowing, there's a pushing, there's a laboring, and it's coming from the same chakra, by the way, the sacral chakra.
And it's the same kind of energy of trusting, allowing, birthing what's there. You can't predict the outcome. And if you try to, you interfere in a way. That's some of the specifics I see.
Melinda: Yeah, I love that. And again, you know, something doesn't get birthed and gestated overnight. It has a process.
Steven: Yeah. It's a natural process. And if you try to interfere and force that process, nature doesn't respond well. And there's a restriction. There's a tightening. Versus that allowing and that trusting and the sheer vulnerability of what's going to happen next. Even from a parenting point of view, like the child, you're wanting to be something, but you got to work with the one you've been, you know, that's been delivered.
Melinda: Right. And they have their own personality.
Steven: Yes, all of it. They are a creative project. Yeah. It's, par excellence. So now we have that like how does that process come? And I believe energetically it's a similar process. Similar archetype.
Melinda: Yeah. So I think that that birthing metaphor is a great segue to the, and I realize I asked you a complicated two part question, but, you know, is there, a profile of successful creatives that you've observed?
Steven: Yeah. Well, touching on the author and threading from there, I've noticed with authors that, imagine that your identity of self is more than just your body and your personal story. And imagine people carry, a little bit of collective story in them. And authors seem to have a lot of the time have had a challenge, sometimes a personal pain, a moment of a period of darkness, perhaps.
But they're able to hold in their heart center some of the collective story. It's flowing into them. So again, we have what's coming through us. But how can we identify with a greater story? Do you see it? And I think that seems to be part and parcel to these individuals.
Melinda: Yeah, I love that. I did an episode with Jennifer Selig [Episode 42], who's a writer, and she teaches memoir. And she, I'll put a callback in the show notes to her episode. But, you know, she talks about, as writers how it's important to connect our personal story, our personal wound, our personal experience to the collective. Right. And that's what makes it resonant.
Steven: Yeah. There was something about it, was it John Lennon, who was writing a song on the subway in New York or, you know, there is that way of like, he had to get with the people.
And be in it, and that gives you a clue again, energetically. How do we be in that story? And sit in that story. That's part of what they have. I will say there's a tremendous willpower. And there's no easy way to frame it. Like I wish I had more of that. You know, I’m a bit of a slacker sometimes, but there's a tremendous willpower. And think of will as your willingness and your enthusiasm for what you have. You see.
Melinda: Yeah. Which is so interesting because there's the allowing but then there's the willingness. Right. We have to know when to allow and when to move forward.
Steven: Yeah. And this is the yin and the yang. This is like a sailor. You push, do you hold, do you wait, it’s tricky. But there's a certain point then of yeah there's the allowing process which also trust is in there. Trust that what you have is meant to be heard, seen, delivered. That's very important. And then there's the taking that of the fire energy, which is now then the power to bring it forward.
And that's everything from discipline. But think of, to add energy to your discipline, to your willpower is enthusiasm, my teachers would say. Which is a joy in your will and willingly choose to engage. And these individuals all have that. And you have, really fascinating, almost unique in that and to some degree of their ability to trust themselves, that there's something big here.
Melinda: Yeah. And in several previous episodes we've talked about, you know that it's necessary to believe in yourself, believe in your abilities. You know that I am capable.
Steven: Yeah. Totally. And the inverse of that would be doubt. And so then it’s like how we are saddled with doubt and this is the most difficult one of all in the yoga philosophy. They talk about doubt as a spiritual sickness because it blocks you from that. So again, yeah, there's that calling to do it. There's a part of you that might say, you know what? I have a lot of doubts, insecurities, fears. They might be learned or, you know, assumed through culture. And that's someone you can work on. You can, you know, come seek me out.
And Jenny and others that we're doing in our projects or other people to help you, but you can seek out to clear that. When people do everything Melinda, they want like all the, what's the destiny going to be? But actually what they get 90% of the time is all pruning. It's like, how do you prune back and clear so your light can shine?
Melinda: Oh, that's so important. The poet David Whyte talks a lot about this idea of the via negativa. Which is, you know, what are we not doing in order to make space for what we need to be doing. What can we take away?
Steven: Yeah, I love Thomas Keating, father Thomas Keating. And this idea of the divine architect is in the negative. And we're bypassing the greatest healing opportunity and the greatest divine connection and spiritual moments of our life by ignoring the darkness.
Melinda: And it's so hard to cut out all the noise with the pace of our lives.
Steven: It's so hard to take time to do it, to take a half day off, to even think about it. But imagine that. Yeah, you want all the end result, but you've got the gift within you. It's coming through. But you've got a bunch of muck on your windshield. You got a bunch of vines growing over you. That's where the work is. That's what you can do today, tomorrow and the next year.
That reveals your light. And it's already there. But that work is incredibly important, Melinda. And I find the individuals who come who are successful, they've got a lot of darkness, which isn't bad, but it gives them a lot of grit for their pearl.
Melinda: And just sort of like content to work with.
Steven: Content to work with. Absolutely. And then there's something in that darkness and that force of will, that combination that it creates the pearl. Literally. And I've seen it again and again.
Melinda: Yeah. I so often speak and teach about, you know, how we can use our creativity to make meaning of our experiences, particularly the difficult ones, the traumas, and that we can use creativity for healing.
Steven: Absolutely. And I think the two are very much connected and they're very much expressions of that. And in a way, they're parallels. They're parallels. Without creativity, without even art and visual. How do you get inspired to heal, to go into those journeys, to see it, and even just to represent, like the divine, what it's trying to do, to tell us, the messaging, just straight forward messaging. That's very inspiring.
Melinda: Yes it is. And you sometimes speak about it in terms of the idea of calling. What is our calling and who's calling?
Steven: Yes. This is a Stevenism, I say quite a lot, you have done your research. [Laughter]. But yeah, if it's a call, who's calling. That call is coming from somewhere.
One of the simple ways, so this is both in the, again, positive, negative, the positiva, negativa. And the one hand the positive calling is an idea just keeps speaking to you. This just comes to me in the moment. An intuition will interrupt, that just came to me. So an intuition is a thought that keeps repeating and it tends to interrupt your habitual thought process.
Okay. And an idea just keeps calling. But. And you'll tend to say if only, if only there was this or you want that. On the negative side, it comes through complaining and my wife will tell you I'm quite good at complaining. And so in a negative sense, you know, can you look at the state of that riverbank covered in trash, you know, or whatever it might be and the negative that comes through?
And actually, that's your intuition too. People forget that part. And it's basically saying, hey, do you want to see a different version of that reality?
Melinda: And what could you do? Yeah.
Steven: Go and paint a mural, I used to have, my yoga studio was on East 11th, and they painted murals in the East Side and it’s just fantastic inspiration, you know.
And we turn that into something else and create a new reality. And that's your call to create. Again, to some regards in the neighborhood, because it had gone through its challenges and revitalization and segregation and everything else. But there's this, this hotbed of artists. You know this. And so it's that way of like, can we turn that. And that's intuition too. That's the call.
Melinda: Yeah. So I wonder, I'm feeling, maybe it's time to give people a little taste of this.
Steven: Yes, sure. My friend.
Melinda: And, you know, I'll be the guinea pig, since I'm here. So, yeah, I do have a question related to everything that we're talking about. And hopefully my question, you know, it's relevant for others.
Steven: Would you, I have a, remember I mentioned protocol? Would you be okay if I just centered and prayed a little bit just for a second. And then we'll answer the question. I say we because then my guides will speak. Okay. As we do this.
So for Melinda and I and for myself mostly, and maybe all of you too, let's take a deep breath together.
I pray now to Infinite Spirit and the creative Goddess of all possibility, to come forth and to speak clearly. I ask for the spirit guides to deliver the message that is to be said for those ears who can hear it today. Thank you all.
Alright, my friend, let's see what comes through, whenever you’re ready.
Melinda: Beautiful. So my question, I'm always kind of, I do many different things. I have many different creative outlets. And the question that's coming now and often is how can I use my creative gifts to be of most benefit?
Steven: Now, when you say I do, you mean small I, Melinda, or we?
Melinda: All of the above.
Steven: Okay, okay. I want to be clear. Okay. That might change through okay as well. So.
Melinda: Yes. I'm open to all of it.
Steven: Let's see. Beloved soul, we say to you, the truth shall set you free. This medium says it again and again and again. Be clear now in your instrumentation. Polish your tools, sharpen your tools, and polish your canvas.
We say to you again and again, the time is ripe for change. The bustling energy of the planet, the collective and humanity is a wonder to behold. And the energy potentials of many, many souls are struggling. Imagine people who are about to bloom and they can't quite get to fruition. There are millions ready to bring forth their creativity.
It will be a garden of possibility in the end. We see you as a divine instrument to bring forth the creative, to allow it to blossom in the hearts of many. And we believe you can do it. They're asking. They're saying to you, Melinda, you like, do you like to sing praises? Now you like to sing, don't you, my friend?
I know this already. Do you understand the idea? Singing the praises. Be a charioteer for those whose creativity is about to flourish. There are millions of souls ready to open. But they are stuck right now. Melinda, I want to be clear. I am seeing what looks like millions of almost flowers that haven't blossomed, and they're trying to open up.
You with me? And so they're saying now for you as an individual, be the instrument, the charioteer so they can flourish and they need all of their tools sharpened. I always say this to everyone but this is an interactive form of mediumship. What is your response my friend?
Melinda: My follow up question is, speaking of instruments and tools, is there a particular avenue?
Steven: It's there a particular avenue to do it?
Melinda: Yeah.
Steven: They're actually saying for you individually, your voice and they keep saying, singing praises. You can sing through it and channel it through your innate ability to tell stories. Does that feel right?
Melinda: Mmm.
Steven: So you have an innate ability to tell stories, to sing praises, to be the charioteer. I would almost look at ways then where people have some platform that allows them to create and to display what they create.
It's almost like a net or a network where their creativity can come through you. And it's millions of people. Does that seem too big?
Melinda: It's big. But they say dream big.
Steven: Dream big. You know, before a flower blossoms, it's kind of, it's a little bud. I see millions of buds trying to open, and they're all across the world.
Probably people listening to this too, with a bud feels closed. And now if you're a gardener, how would you tend to that, bud?
Melinda: Nurture it.
Steven: Nurture it. We now know if you talk nicely and sing to plants, they open. Yes, I believe that's correct on some levels. And also there's a tending to the soil. These are metaphors.
So there's a tending to the soil of the individual. That's where they get fertile. Where they know they can do it. Do you see? They can work on doubts. They can work on clearing off all the stuff I talked about. And then there's that point then of singing their praises. Do you see? Help them to see the potential in each person so their bud can pop and bloom, you see.
And I think there's a little bit of you individually here in the read, but also then the collective need. Because it's not, you can't hold that all yourself. I think there's many like you. You ready for this live, alright my friend?
And what seems to come next is you as your own catalyst, as a mentor of sorts. I'm going to call them Melinda Juniors. Yes? Budding entrepreneur spirits who also then can come through and it's almost like not quite a pyramid, but it's almost like there's lower, you know, people coming up who are doing your work in microcosms. See.
Melinda: Yes. No. Can I respond, please?
Steven: Yeah. My dear friend.
Melinda: Yeah. No, I love that because I'm always thinking about, you know, is there a change?
Is there some change in, you know, not a huge like left turn, but a course correction in terms of what I'm offering, how I communicate around that. And I'm starting to get some ideas. Yeah.
Steven: So in an intuitive read, you can test ideas if you want to. We can do the idea if you want to give me one? But I can't emphasize enough. I am seeing about a million little buds who can't open. They're closed, but they're trying to open. This is a visual, a metaphor for you. And I see them like a smorgasbord. Is that even right word? It's like it's all over the place on the hillside and they can't quite open.
And they need someone to come by to sing their praises. And also you and others, you might train and mentor where you can be a leader. Do you see and allow others to do the work? You're a catalyst for change, and they can open up others. I believe there are many creative gardeners, you might know. who would open up others and many waiting to be so.
Do you see? There's another tier. And I believe they could be trained, encouraged, mentored, guided. And then from there we can let those flowers bloom.
Melinda: Beautiful I love that.
Steven: Yeah. You can ask a question if you like. I'm your guest, so whatever you want me to do.
Melinda: This is great. Yeah. So, you know, one of the things that I do is sort of coaching and consulting around leadership and creativity. But some of the ideas that are coming up is, you know, in Syncreate, we're doing a coaching group in 2025 to help people kind of bring their ideas forward.
Steven: Can we look at coaching first of all? Because I'm seeing, you now, at the table and you seem to have your head down working very hard at it. Are you pulling your hair out? I don't know what that means. But it's like you're hard to it. There's a need for you to speak publicly. And anything you can get your hands on, conferences, you know, South by Southwest.
I don't know, things like that. To speak publicly. How does that feel?
Melinda: No, that's right on. I actually spoke at Creative Morning's Austin last Friday. And yeah, it felt like, yeah, more of this.
Steven: Yes. More of this to come out and expand your vision. Even the vision seems small in the throat chakra.
Melinda: Okay. Yeah.
Steven: I think you're going global, my friend.
Melinda: Okay.
Steven: I love how you just take that in, like, no problem, whatsoever. And that way as well. But I think there's a need to speak. It's a little bit like missionary work, but you're not converting people. But I think it needs to go out.
Melinda: It's getting the message out. Using your voice to get the message out.
Steven: Yeah. I would like to see you going on tour and going to different places. And this stop in, kind of like, a book tour, or a CD tour, you know, back in the day. But you go on tour and you speak at whatever place you can get your hands on and allow that to happen.
And that awakens those minds. And then from there, some flowers open. How can we open the creativity across this world? I'm going to say Earth Mother is very eager for this, for these flowers to blossom. It's long overdue. I think it was supposed to start in the ‘60s, and it all just got shut down over the decades, post ‘60s.
That's what seems to be coming through. So there's, I'm being told Earth mother is very eager for the flowers to blossom on her, on her being on her body.
Melinda: And I think given all of the challenges that we're facing in the world today, it's vital that people embrace their creativity.
Steven: Yes. I want you to imagine for each of you creatives out there, you do not do it in isolation in your head. You do it in conjunction with another, I'm going to call another level of reality, another realm. I call it the astral realm. But there are many, many beings who want to create through you. They're trying to play their tunes through you, they're trying to paint through you, and so on and so on. And it's incredibly important to understand that you've got a spiritual guide, helper, conductor who will play through you, and I take that very expansively that statement.
But please don't forget that, for all the creatives who are listening and watching to this.
Melinda: Yeah, beautiful. Thank you so much, Steven.
Steven: You’re welcome.
Melinda: Appreciate it.
Steven: Never a dull moment when you're a medium.
Melinda: No, you never know what’s going to happen. I was like okay, well this could go interestingly. But thank you.
Steven: You're most welcome. It's a joy to do and Intuition Radio is my little fun project, where record a 10, 20 30 second voice memo. And you can send it in. And then from there, I'll just read them like, like an old radio show. You know, and answer the question. You know, ‘Hey, I'm Melinda from Austin. Can you tell me…?’ You know, that's kind of like my dreams.
Melinda: Yeah. It's great, it's great. So. And I want to get to how people can reach you in just a moment. But I usually like to end with what I call a Creativity Pro Tip, which is something that people can, you know, take from our conversation and kind of run with and maybe practice on their own.
So I think today what's arising for me is, how could people begin to, cultivate their own intuition?
Steven: Yes, yes. Let me just see what comes to me. Think of the idea of movement, and creativity as water and flow. Flow state’s a very common word these days. Forced flow state’s not good, but we want a natural flow state.
And so there's some idea of movement, sitting still rather than like meditation itself. But I mean, just like sitting there, not your friend if you're stuck, movement needs to come. And the ability to see outside the habitual subconscious walls, which is code for, get out of the house, move, be in new spaces. I'm very passionate about pilgrimage. Maybe Jenny and I'll talk about that in more depth than that when we come see you again.
But pilgrimage is a journey beyond the familiar to a sacred encounter. So you can find that by just going to a hillside. Or if you're troubled from stuff from childhood, go back to that hometown. There's a need to see a new horizon, something expansive is helpful so your heart can connect to the wider world.
And then from there in that movement, you are essentially going to get the engine going in some ways, or a more appropriate metaphor might be that the spring can bubble. So see that as an energetic recipe and a spiritual recipe to get this moving. So some flow. And then there's, the other word it comes to me is haphazard.
Don't be afraid of haphazard creativity where you put it out there and you're scrunched headfirst in the waste bin. Don't worry about that. Haphazard. This is a hose pipe and the hose has blocked or the faucet has turned off. When that horse is turned on, it's going to be erratic. And so see it as an energetic flow. And then lastly is your aliveness.
Once it's flowing, you'll feel alive and expansive, abundant. You'll want to share it with people. You want to show them your new baby. It's just natural, so you'll know you're on the right track.
Melinda: Creativity is connected to our life force.
Steven: I agree 100%, and I prayed earlier on, you might have heard me say the goddess of creativity. And in Hindu Saraswati, if that interests you. But, and but essentially imagine that life force of nature that's flowing through you. And we are her children. And how that flows through us. And again, Earth Mother wants those little buds to pop, to open. So it's all the, you've got many, many resources to draw from.
Melinda: Beautiful. Thank you so much.
Steven: You're welcome my friend.
Melinda: So I know there's, you have, you know, several different, websites.
Steven: Yeah, I’m trying to condense all this.
Melinda: How can people, what's the best way for people to find you?
Steven: Yeah, there's two ways to find me, folks. The first is the website stevenrossintuitive.com, and that is a place to schedule a reading and to connect to the podcasts.
The Way to Go podcast is me and my dear friend Matthew Choate. And he's South African, I'm Scottish, it's two great accents, and we have discussions about spirituality, the crisis we're in and how to live. It's a fantastic platform. And then Intuition Radio, as we mentioned, is that place for a read. And I want to, I've gained so much, Melinda, from thousands of readings.
That I realize that I'm learning intricacies of spiritual teaching, philosophy, as I'm doing it. So I want to take some of that and unpack it for the public, because I'm learning every time I do a reading. Earth Mother and flowers blossom, I never heard that for my whole life. So things like that can be unpacked, you know.
So that's stevenrossintuitive.com, and then the other website that's about to be launched is wisdompathways.life. And we're going to try to have that one sync up with Syncreate, a good panel. And Jenny Fairbank and myself do mediumship, spiritual direction, spiritual healing. And we use yogic teachings and to bring forth solutions. And toolkits and immersions to work through life and it's big points.
Melinda: And you're building a whole community. And yeah. So we'll have the two of you on another episode to talk more about that.
Steven: That's fantastic. And there's spiritual seekers everywhere. And do they have the tools to really meet this, understand it and what to do with it practically.
Melinda: And how to integrate it.
Steven: How to integrate it, which isn't, it takes time. So yeah.
Melinda: Thank you so much Steven
Steven: You're most welcome. I enjoyed myself.
Melinda: Me too. Okay. Thanks again to Steven Ross for being with us today. Find and connect with us at syncreate.org. We're also on all the major podcast platforms as well as YouTube and social media under Syncreate. We're on Patreon as well. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review.
And we're recording today at Record ATX Studios in Austin, Texas live with Steven Ross. And the show is produced in collaboration with Mike Osborne at 14th Street Studios in Austin. Thanks so much for being with us, and see you next time.
We aim to illuminate the creative process, from imagination to innovation and everything in between. I'm Melinda Rothouse and I help individuals and organizations bring their creative dreams and visions to life. At Syncreate, we're here to support your creative endeavors. So if you have an idea for a project or new venture, but you're not quite sure how to get it off the ground, find us at syncreate.org.
Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools, and coaching to help you bring your work to the world.
So I'm so delighted to be here live in person with my dear friend Steven Ross. And we've known each other for quite a few years now in different contexts. But originally, you're from Scotland.
Steven: That’s correct. Scottish accent.
Melinda: Yes. And you have a wonderful story of how you arrived here in Austin. You were the founder of Eastside Yoga, a studio that you ran and taught at for many years, and you now work at the, Austin Miraval Resort, and you, in, partnership with our mutual friend Jenny Fairbank, have a kind of spiritual school.
Steven: Yes, direction. Spiritual direction.
Melinda: Spiritual direction. Okay, called Wisdom Pathways.So thank you for being here.
Steven: Thank you Melinda, I am honored and delighted and excited to be in here with you and share some of what I've experienced for your listeners, your audience.
Melinda: Yes. So I should say the kind of theme of our conversation today. You are an intuitive medium. And so you do readings for people kind of wanting to get clarity on their life path, life decision and ways forward. And I have experienced that myself, the gifts of your wisdom. And so I want to get into that. Also just want to mention we were on retreat together recently in Iceland which was amazing that you and Jenny were leading.
So it was great for me to be a participant and a wonderful kind of yoga and meditation retreat in the north of Iceland. So we got talking about like, let's do a show together. And you also are a podcaster, I will mention. You have Intuition Radio.
Steven: Yes. It’s my brand new project.
Melinda: Yes. You have a pilot episode out, which I really enjoyed. And, and you'll be doing readings kind of live on the show.
Steven: Yeah. The idea of Intuition Radio was that I loved old radio shows growing up. And someone would call in and they'd have a question. It's like about laundry or something, you know, like really basic stuff. You know, and the DJ would answer Good Steven here, from wherever.
And I just love that sort of theme and part of my mediumship, I love questions and it seems to work well, the intuitive process when the question is delivered which is something we could talk about. And so when, if people can audio record, you know like a voice memo and send to me, I read it live. It's the idea. And so like many readings for questions that the public can benefit from.
Melinda: Beautiful. And we'll go through kind of links and ways to find you at the end. You also have a podcast with, a friend and collaborator called The Way to Go.
Steven: Yes, yes. And we, for this one, we had the two of us engage in discussion of a new vision of spiritual living and how to bring the teaching to life and have conversations in the midst of the collective crisis that we're in.
Melinda: Yeah. And that one kind of started during the pandemic.
Steven: Yeah. It was literally a pandemic keep yourself sane project. You know, what we're going to do for our minds. And so it was like zoom to zoom, you know, in our bedrooms, just get through the lockdown. That's how it started.
Melinda: Well, and that's funny because my idea for this podcast started during the pandemic as well. I think there's a lot of creative ideas and projects that kind of incubated during that time.
Steven: Yeah, once you got free from the space, the noise of your work schedules, these kind of things, then you sit there, it's like, what you got within you. There's this bubbling energy of creativity.
Melinda: Yes. Beautiful. So I want to start out, maybe for those who aren't familiar or just for you specifically, like how would you define intuition and how do you experience it?
Steven: Yeah, first of all, the intuition is your inner knowing. It is in a way, a higher or expanded consciousness. And I always tell people, think of it as you have your small self, you and your mind, with your drama, your ego, all the things to do, regular little things with you. And then we also have access to a higher consciousness.
And this would be where you're tapping into the collective of sorts, and you're receiving signals a bit like an internet or a download. And that signals, I think, for some people, they come haphazardly. Some people have so much static that they can't hear what their signals are. And then for others, such as a medium like myself, maybe through a slight, you know, accident or two, you realize that you can connect, I'm going to use the old language of the modem.
You know, you can dial up in a way, and you can connect to that higher consciousness and pull it through at will in the moment. And by pulling it through, it's essentially Melinda an infinite intelligence with all possibilities in the present moment accessible. It’s really cool.
And I think about AI and what they're trying to do. And it's dawned on me that this sort of AI paradigm is really a just a reflection or like an undercurrent of a similar phenomena. One subconscious I would say, not to get too in the weeds too quickly, but one is like subconscious. Here's the info we have. But the intuition is a higher knowing that gives potential.
Melinda: Yeah, yeah. And I do want to emphasize is, you know, you talk quite a bit about your journey in the Intuition Radio pilot, which is a fascinating story. And, you know, there's so many other things to talk about today. I’ll leave people to kind of like discover that. But you've like, when we were talking leading up to this, you have described yourself as kind of a catalyst of change in your work with people. And you know, some people might find this a bit like woo woo or something, but I want to emphasize that, you know, you were an accountant.
Steven: Yeah. Well, a former accountant of oil and gas in Houston, Texas. That's how I got to the states. And so now I'm working at a renowned wellness resort.
And I has myself in a strange position where I speak to highly successful people all day long. And they are hungry for intuitions. And they also usually have a lot of creativity and their own instincts, their gut instinct. And this goes all the way up to people who would be entrepreneurs, CEOs, people in media, TV, you name it.
It's quite something being in that world. And they all take it very seriously. And so there’s nothing woo woo to them. They're like, no, they want to validate their own instincts.
Melinda: And I think, you know, there's such a long history across cultures and civilizations of people in positions of leadership relying on advisors. You had the Oracle at Delphi. You have all these ancient systems of divination in different cultures.
Steven: I love them. There's one saint called Saint Joseph of Cupertino. You guys, you can look him up because he levitated, which is a whole other subject. But he was the eccentric kind, the mystic in that, you know, whatever it were, medieval times. And he was one of those ones, where all the royalty of Europe would travel across hundreds of miles to sit with them and give advice.
I'm not comparing myself to Saint Joseph. I'm not quite there yet. But they would do that. They would look for some sort of insight advice and they would get there. That was there was something different that he was giving them. And there's always been a hunger, I think, for people to get something that gives them an edge maybe.
And but it's that sort of like insight, but for an intuition to help you understand it, for an intuition to really be correct, it has to feel right to the person receiving it. I could say, I could talk all day long, but there's something in an intuition that seems to penetrate the mental wall and touch someone deeply. Even if they're not into this stuff. There's a kind of a knowing that's it's, know it by heart versus head.
Melinda: Right. And I've heard you speak about, you know, you'll receive these maybe images or messages or whatever. And then it's really up to the receiver, the person you're doing the reading for, it's to say like, well does this resonate? Does this land for me? Maybe sometimes it does. Maybe other times it doesn't.
But I think it's also important to emphasize that intuition, like creativity as part of the mantra of this show, we're all creative, we all have that capacity… We all have an intuitive capability, but we may or may not know how to access it.
Steven: Yes, that's always the big one as well. If I can give you a little philosophy for a moment, I want you all to imagine that we feel separate in our head disconnected from life, the universe, spirit, God, you name it. But actually there's a hidden mechanism, which people talk about, the energy field, the quantum field. I don't pretend to understand it, but there's something hidden that's interconnected, that binds us all together as one.
And when you understand that as spirit, essentially, or a consciousness or an energy, and we're accessing it, for me, it's important to come from that point that our creativity is derived in the unity of life. And I see that as being fundamental because once you know your purpose, you can define who you are. That's the bedrock of sorts, the riverbed, for the water to flow.
And I believe that creativity is not just about you, the person, but it's about what you deliver to the world. And you hear the call of the world that you receive, which can be not anything glamorous. It could just be something and keeps repeating in our mind and asking us, and I believe it's a telephone call, a download, that it's happening in that way.
Melinda: Yeah. Or we see a need and we feel a call to respond to it or address it. And you know, so many creatives speak about, you know, being a channel of sorts. But it's not just about them and their ego, right. But that they're receiving something.
Steven: On some level there’s a download. I love with inventor, there's a quote of Einstein and he says something along the lines of, ‘I can think of a problem all day long and not a damn thing happens. I can't solve it.’ Then he'll go for a walk and eat an apple. And the theory of relativity just comes to him. And I think this is a great way to think about consciousness.
It's downloading for a person. And then as a medium, there's something similar to an artist, I think because as a medium there's different types of mediumship. That word is quite confusing. And so as a medium, your mind, what you've learned, the skills you have, all the training you have, everything, that becomes your canvas and then whatever comes to you filtrates through the medium and they deliver it in their way. You see does that speak to you?
Melinda: Yeah definitely. So different intuitives, different mediums, might have different ways of communicating or even different ways of receiving.
Steven: Different ways of receiving, you can see it in audible and words and feelings. There's that one too. But as it comes through, it comes through what I have in my head. I have an obsession with spirituality, yogis and you know, karma and spiritual prince. It comes through very much that way.
Melinda: Yes. So on the one hand, you know, any type of healer or energy worker, we talk about the importance of being a clear vessel. Right. So that we're not imposing our own stuff, our own projections on the people we're working with. And yet at the same time, it sounds like you're saying, you know, and you practice yoga and meditation, which are ways of kind of clearing the mind and attaining higher wisdom that that's a resource that you can draw on.
Steven: You can essentially amplify the signal, and you can call it in more strongly. However, some people seem to be born with it and some less with. But it's like wattage and a light bulb my teacher used to say, and you can turn up your wattage through the practice. And also that the way, there's a practice and then there's the protocol, Melinda, a certain way you're going to hook on for the download and that's your personal protocol. That's the ritual you might have. Those kind of things. And so as the medium then, when it comes to you, when you connect to something meaningful, it seems to be an access point. And for me, it's connecting to another person and their need.
And, and my particular mediumship is how to direct them forward. The way forward. You see. But everyone's got their own way. Like what is your purpose? What do you deliver that fulfills life, adds to life in some way? And if you can get that in tune, I believe that's a lot of your frequency.
Melinda: Yeah. So we've talked about kind of this metaphor of like tuning the dial on the radio. And you use that in your podcast. Right. That sound of like, tuning the dial. Where's the static? Where's the signal. Clear.
Steven: Yeah. And then it's that way of the connection to other, to life, to something meaningful. If you care about the planet and then environmentalism, whatever it might be like, how do you get in tune with that frequency. And you can vibe off of that. And as you do, I believe the signal gets stronger. Then you have your creative filter, you see, to work together. So purpose and creativity to me are very entwined.
Melinda: Yes I love that. So when we were talking kind of leading up to this, you know, you also have used the metaphor of being kind of like a spiritual map reader, almost like a GPS system. Right. And also, one thing you mentioned that really piqued my interest in relation to the show specifically is that you mentioned, or posed a question, perhaps, is there a profile of successful creatives?
Steven: Yes. Wonderful. Well, I'll answer both of those points if I can. So my teachings and the the real center point of the whole way I do this is based on the idea of the truth shall set you free. And I realize that the Christian teaching of I am the way, the truth, and the life which can get easily confused. I actually realized, or I heard it from others, and I began to see it in my own work, that that in a way, is the how the spiritual creative principle comes forth. So let me explain that if I can.
First of all, most people are not aligned in their truth. This is very important. They might think they're not good enough, not worthy. They create energetic blocks of I can't do it. And you were told on some level, I remember being in elementary school, we call it primary school in Scotland, and being told that you'll never be musical.
You know, they would say stuff like that in 1981. You know, that's just what happened. And so in those ways now, those blocks are not, they create an inauthentic self-expression. Now think of your truth and being authentic to who you are, fears and all, like, I'm scared to do this and you're better off to say that than to say I can't do it.
But that is like a GPS, on the GPS, that's your location of where you are now. Do you see? It's your truth. Now imagine then you have your destination. And imagine then that that is what reveals your path. And so your destination is to create art, to write poetry or whatever it might be, to heal the world, whatever you want to do.
Now once we have that, that's your desire in you, couple things happen. Spirit, consciousness, life, reveals a pathway of how to get there that's in the shortest time, but if there's a mountain between you and the destination, you're going to have to circle back around the mountain to your past to get there. And then best of all, this, I get very excited telling people this, because this pathway, I believe, is an inherent principle.
Then that's, you have your location, you have your destination, you have your routes, okay, the GPS gives you, but virtual spirituality, the creative force gives you gas to get there. And I can't emphasize enough that when people have an idea and it's right and connected to the truth and they can see it, their face lights up.
There's a literal light comes through their energy body. And that vitality gives some energy out of nowhere, unlocks it. I think it comes from a chakra, unlocks it and gives them the gas to get to the destination. Well, I think it's very beautiful teaching.
Melinda: And I think it's also a testament to the power of intention and also imagination, which you've talked about in some of the podcast episodes I've heard of yours, that, you know, if we have a desire, or a creative intention. And then this idea, you know, which has become quite popular, you know, visualization, and seeing it in your mind's eye. Or maybe sensing it in other ways. I've learned that not everyone has the ability to visualize in their mind. But there are other ways of sensing.
Steven: Yeah. There is something, one of the famous teachers, Doctor Joe Dispenza, talks of a mind movie. And one of the things we see from some of the science around intent and neuroplasticity, which I know a little bit about. But when people fully embody the intent, so you can visualize it, use imagination and try, even that, don't imagine, you know, you get told that when back at the old days.
But use imagination and also the feeling of being that person. And this to me is the best part, because that's a chemical release. You can meditate on a feeling. So, if you were thinking about trying to become something creatively or create something for a project, how would you feel if that came to life instantly in the now?
You might feel uplifted, joyful, peaceful, empowered, etc. etc. You can embody that and meditate on it, visualize on it. And so you get all those faculties. Affirm it as well. And that links together. And I believe it takes intent like a seed and sprouts the seed. And I think again that's an energetic reality that speaks to you.
Melinda: I've mentioned this just in another recent episode, but there's a coach, Danielle Laporte, who, one of her big coaching questions is how do you own a feel? Rather than what do you want to do and what do you want to accomplish, but how do you want to feel? And I think that speaks to that somatic...
Steven: Somatic experience. I call it being and doing. And if you get that correct and you can be that person now, we create from source and you can, you know, clear out some thoughts a little bit through some meditation, yoga practice, music and then be first then go do. And that seems to be the combination we, I think we go that backwards in the West.
And so it's a beautiful way to create, to manifest and also to allow. Yeah. Once I get going I keep talking Melinda. But to create is to allow. And that's very, very important. You are receiving a signal, so it can transmit through you. So if you have block it's maybe it’s not time, but once something is there and present you allow it.
Melinda: Yeah. And it might take time to come forward. Right. And you were talking about, I listened to the most recent episode of that, your Way to Go podcast. And, you know, we're talking about the importance of taking time for retreat. And, you know, and community Right. But sometimes we have to step back, you know, in order to then later step forward.
Steven: Correct. I'm having a flashing thought too. I think it was some pop band like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and they were really in a creative block in one of their albums, this is years ago, and they had come up with the idea of getting bicycles. And if it's not the Chilis, forgive me, you guys, it’s some musician like that, and they end up like cycling around it, you know, where the studio was. And they needed that space, they needed movement in their body for it to come.
But yeah. Absolutely. And had the honor of reading for a few, I would say successful authors. And I realized with authors that when they have a book in them, it's, I realize it's they're pregnant with the book, you can relate to that? And I'm just a man. I know nothing about delivery of babies, but there is an allowing, there's a pushing, there's a laboring, and it's coming from the same chakra, by the way, the sacral chakra.
And it's the same kind of energy of trusting, allowing, birthing what's there. You can't predict the outcome. And if you try to, you interfere in a way. That's some of the specifics I see.
Melinda: Yeah, I love that. And again, you know, something doesn't get birthed and gestated overnight. It has a process.
Steven: Yeah. It's a natural process. And if you try to interfere and force that process, nature doesn't respond well. And there's a restriction. There's a tightening. Versus that allowing and that trusting and the sheer vulnerability of what's going to happen next. Even from a parenting point of view, like the child, you're wanting to be something, but you got to work with the one you've been, you know, that's been delivered.
Melinda: Right. And they have their own personality.
Steven: Yes, all of it. They are a creative project. Yeah. It's, par excellence. So now we have that like how does that process come? And I believe energetically it's a similar process. Similar archetype.
Melinda: Yeah. So I think that that birthing metaphor is a great segue to the, and I realize I asked you a complicated two part question, but, you know, is there, a profile of successful creatives that you've observed?
Steven: Yeah. Well, touching on the author and threading from there, I've noticed with authors that, imagine that your identity of self is more than just your body and your personal story. And imagine people carry, a little bit of collective story in them. And authors seem to have a lot of the time have had a challenge, sometimes a personal pain, a moment of a period of darkness, perhaps.
But they're able to hold in their heart center some of the collective story. It's flowing into them. So again, we have what's coming through us. But how can we identify with a greater story? Do you see it? And I think that seems to be part and parcel to these individuals.
Melinda: Yeah, I love that. I did an episode with Jennifer Selig [Episode 42], who's a writer, and she teaches memoir. And she, I'll put a callback in the show notes to her episode. But, you know, she talks about, as writers how it's important to connect our personal story, our personal wound, our personal experience to the collective. Right. And that's what makes it resonant.
Steven: Yeah. There was something about it, was it John Lennon, who was writing a song on the subway in New York or, you know, there is that way of like, he had to get with the people.
And be in it, and that gives you a clue again, energetically. How do we be in that story? And sit in that story. That's part of what they have. I will say there's a tremendous willpower. And there's no easy way to frame it. Like I wish I had more of that. You know, I’m a bit of a slacker sometimes, but there's a tremendous willpower. And think of will as your willingness and your enthusiasm for what you have. You see.
Melinda: Yeah. Which is so interesting because there's the allowing but then there's the willingness. Right. We have to know when to allow and when to move forward.
Steven: Yeah. And this is the yin and the yang. This is like a sailor. You push, do you hold, do you wait, it’s tricky. But there's a certain point then of yeah there's the allowing process which also trust is in there. Trust that what you have is meant to be heard, seen, delivered. That's very important. And then there's the taking that of the fire energy, which is now then the power to bring it forward.
And that's everything from discipline. But think of, to add energy to your discipline, to your willpower is enthusiasm, my teachers would say. Which is a joy in your will and willingly choose to engage. And these individuals all have that. And you have, really fascinating, almost unique in that and to some degree of their ability to trust themselves, that there's something big here.
Melinda: Yeah. And in several previous episodes we've talked about, you know that it's necessary to believe in yourself, believe in your abilities. You know that I am capable.
Steven: Yeah. Totally. And the inverse of that would be doubt. And so then it’s like how we are saddled with doubt and this is the most difficult one of all in the yoga philosophy. They talk about doubt as a spiritual sickness because it blocks you from that. So again, yeah, there's that calling to do it. There's a part of you that might say, you know what? I have a lot of doubts, insecurities, fears. They might be learned or, you know, assumed through culture. And that's someone you can work on. You can, you know, come seek me out.
And Jenny and others that we're doing in our projects or other people to help you, but you can seek out to clear that. When people do everything Melinda, they want like all the, what's the destiny going to be? But actually what they get 90% of the time is all pruning. It's like, how do you prune back and clear so your light can shine?
Melinda: Oh, that's so important. The poet David Whyte talks a lot about this idea of the via negativa. Which is, you know, what are we not doing in order to make space for what we need to be doing. What can we take away?
Steven: Yeah, I love Thomas Keating, father Thomas Keating. And this idea of the divine architect is in the negative. And we're bypassing the greatest healing opportunity and the greatest divine connection and spiritual moments of our life by ignoring the darkness.
Melinda: And it's so hard to cut out all the noise with the pace of our lives.
Steven: It's so hard to take time to do it, to take a half day off, to even think about it. But imagine that. Yeah, you want all the end result, but you've got the gift within you. It's coming through. But you've got a bunch of muck on your windshield. You got a bunch of vines growing over you. That's where the work is. That's what you can do today, tomorrow and the next year.
That reveals your light. And it's already there. But that work is incredibly important, Melinda. And I find the individuals who come who are successful, they've got a lot of darkness, which isn't bad, but it gives them a lot of grit for their pearl.
Melinda: And just sort of like content to work with.
Steven: Content to work with. Absolutely. And then there's something in that darkness and that force of will, that combination that it creates the pearl. Literally. And I've seen it again and again.
Melinda: Yeah. I so often speak and teach about, you know, how we can use our creativity to make meaning of our experiences, particularly the difficult ones, the traumas, and that we can use creativity for healing.
Steven: Absolutely. And I think the two are very much connected and they're very much expressions of that. And in a way, they're parallels. They're parallels. Without creativity, without even art and visual. How do you get inspired to heal, to go into those journeys, to see it, and even just to represent, like the divine, what it's trying to do, to tell us, the messaging, just straight forward messaging. That's very inspiring.
Melinda: Yes it is. And you sometimes speak about it in terms of the idea of calling. What is our calling and who's calling?
Steven: Yes. This is a Stevenism, I say quite a lot, you have done your research. [Laughter]. But yeah, if it's a call, who's calling. That call is coming from somewhere.
One of the simple ways, so this is both in the, again, positive, negative, the positiva, negativa. And the one hand the positive calling is an idea just keeps speaking to you. This just comes to me in the moment. An intuition will interrupt, that just came to me. So an intuition is a thought that keeps repeating and it tends to interrupt your habitual thought process.
Okay. And an idea just keeps calling. But. And you'll tend to say if only, if only there was this or you want that. On the negative side, it comes through complaining and my wife will tell you I'm quite good at complaining. And so in a negative sense, you know, can you look at the state of that riverbank covered in trash, you know, or whatever it might be and the negative that comes through?
And actually, that's your intuition too. People forget that part. And it's basically saying, hey, do you want to see a different version of that reality?
Melinda: And what could you do? Yeah.
Steven: Go and paint a mural, I used to have, my yoga studio was on East 11th, and they painted murals in the East Side and it’s just fantastic inspiration, you know.
And we turn that into something else and create a new reality. And that's your call to create. Again, to some regards in the neighborhood, because it had gone through its challenges and revitalization and segregation and everything else. But there's this, this hotbed of artists. You know this. And so it's that way of like, can we turn that. And that's intuition too. That's the call.
Melinda: Yeah. So I wonder, I'm feeling, maybe it's time to give people a little taste of this.
Steven: Yes, sure. My friend.
Melinda: And, you know, I'll be the guinea pig, since I'm here. So, yeah, I do have a question related to everything that we're talking about. And hopefully my question, you know, it's relevant for others.
Steven: Would you, I have a, remember I mentioned protocol? Would you be okay if I just centered and prayed a little bit just for a second. And then we'll answer the question. I say we because then my guides will speak. Okay. As we do this.
So for Melinda and I and for myself mostly, and maybe all of you too, let's take a deep breath together.
I pray now to Infinite Spirit and the creative Goddess of all possibility, to come forth and to speak clearly. I ask for the spirit guides to deliver the message that is to be said for those ears who can hear it today. Thank you all.
Alright, my friend, let's see what comes through, whenever you’re ready.
Melinda: Beautiful. So my question, I'm always kind of, I do many different things. I have many different creative outlets. And the question that's coming now and often is how can I use my creative gifts to be of most benefit?
Steven: Now, when you say I do, you mean small I, Melinda, or we?
Melinda: All of the above.
Steven: Okay, okay. I want to be clear. Okay. That might change through okay as well. So.
Melinda: Yes. I'm open to all of it.
Steven: Let's see. Beloved soul, we say to you, the truth shall set you free. This medium says it again and again and again. Be clear now in your instrumentation. Polish your tools, sharpen your tools, and polish your canvas.
We say to you again and again, the time is ripe for change. The bustling energy of the planet, the collective and humanity is a wonder to behold. And the energy potentials of many, many souls are struggling. Imagine people who are about to bloom and they can't quite get to fruition. There are millions ready to bring forth their creativity.
It will be a garden of possibility in the end. We see you as a divine instrument to bring forth the creative, to allow it to blossom in the hearts of many. And we believe you can do it. They're asking. They're saying to you, Melinda, you like, do you like to sing praises? Now you like to sing, don't you, my friend?
I know this already. Do you understand the idea? Singing the praises. Be a charioteer for those whose creativity is about to flourish. There are millions of souls ready to open. But they are stuck right now. Melinda, I want to be clear. I am seeing what looks like millions of almost flowers that haven't blossomed, and they're trying to open up.
You with me? And so they're saying now for you as an individual, be the instrument, the charioteer so they can flourish and they need all of their tools sharpened. I always say this to everyone but this is an interactive form of mediumship. What is your response my friend?
Melinda: My follow up question is, speaking of instruments and tools, is there a particular avenue?
Steven: It's there a particular avenue to do it?
Melinda: Yeah.
Steven: They're actually saying for you individually, your voice and they keep saying, singing praises. You can sing through it and channel it through your innate ability to tell stories. Does that feel right?
Melinda: Mmm.
Steven: So you have an innate ability to tell stories, to sing praises, to be the charioteer. I would almost look at ways then where people have some platform that allows them to create and to display what they create.
It's almost like a net or a network where their creativity can come through you. And it's millions of people. Does that seem too big?
Melinda: It's big. But they say dream big.
Steven: Dream big. You know, before a flower blossoms, it's kind of, it's a little bud. I see millions of buds trying to open, and they're all across the world.
Probably people listening to this too, with a bud feels closed. And now if you're a gardener, how would you tend to that, bud?
Melinda: Nurture it.
Steven: Nurture it. We now know if you talk nicely and sing to plants, they open. Yes, I believe that's correct on some levels. And also there's a tending to the soil. These are metaphors.
So there's a tending to the soil of the individual. That's where they get fertile. Where they know they can do it. Do you see? They can work on doubts. They can work on clearing off all the stuff I talked about. And then there's that point then of singing their praises. Do you see? Help them to see the potential in each person so their bud can pop and bloom, you see.
And I think there's a little bit of you individually here in the read, but also then the collective need. Because it's not, you can't hold that all yourself. I think there's many like you. You ready for this live, alright my friend?
And what seems to come next is you as your own catalyst, as a mentor of sorts. I'm going to call them Melinda Juniors. Yes? Budding entrepreneur spirits who also then can come through and it's almost like not quite a pyramid, but it's almost like there's lower, you know, people coming up who are doing your work in microcosms. See.
Melinda: Yes. No. Can I respond, please?
Steven: Yeah. My dear friend.
Melinda: Yeah. No, I love that because I'm always thinking about, you know, is there a change?
Is there some change in, you know, not a huge like left turn, but a course correction in terms of what I'm offering, how I communicate around that. And I'm starting to get some ideas. Yeah.
Steven: So in an intuitive read, you can test ideas if you want to. We can do the idea if you want to give me one? But I can't emphasize enough. I am seeing about a million little buds who can't open. They're closed, but they're trying to open. This is a visual, a metaphor for you. And I see them like a smorgasbord. Is that even right word? It's like it's all over the place on the hillside and they can't quite open.
And they need someone to come by to sing their praises. And also you and others, you might train and mentor where you can be a leader. Do you see and allow others to do the work? You're a catalyst for change, and they can open up others. I believe there are many creative gardeners, you might know. who would open up others and many waiting to be so.
Do you see? There's another tier. And I believe they could be trained, encouraged, mentored, guided. And then from there we can let those flowers bloom.
Melinda: Beautiful I love that.
Steven: Yeah. You can ask a question if you like. I'm your guest, so whatever you want me to do.
Melinda: This is great. Yeah. So, you know, one of the things that I do is sort of coaching and consulting around leadership and creativity. But some of the ideas that are coming up is, you know, in Syncreate, we're doing a coaching group in 2025 to help people kind of bring their ideas forward.
Steven: Can we look at coaching first of all? Because I'm seeing, you now, at the table and you seem to have your head down working very hard at it. Are you pulling your hair out? I don't know what that means. But it's like you're hard to it. There's a need for you to speak publicly. And anything you can get your hands on, conferences, you know, South by Southwest.
I don't know, things like that. To speak publicly. How does that feel?
Melinda: No, that's right on. I actually spoke at Creative Morning's Austin last Friday. And yeah, it felt like, yeah, more of this.
Steven: Yes. More of this to come out and expand your vision. Even the vision seems small in the throat chakra.
Melinda: Okay. Yeah.
Steven: I think you're going global, my friend.
Melinda: Okay.
Steven: I love how you just take that in, like, no problem, whatsoever. And that way as well. But I think there's a need to speak. It's a little bit like missionary work, but you're not converting people. But I think it needs to go out.
Melinda: It's getting the message out. Using your voice to get the message out.
Steven: Yeah. I would like to see you going on tour and going to different places. And this stop in, kind of like, a book tour, or a CD tour, you know, back in the day. But you go on tour and you speak at whatever place you can get your hands on and allow that to happen.
And that awakens those minds. And then from there, some flowers open. How can we open the creativity across this world? I'm going to say Earth Mother is very eager for this, for these flowers to blossom. It's long overdue. I think it was supposed to start in the ‘60s, and it all just got shut down over the decades, post ‘60s.
That's what seems to be coming through. So there's, I'm being told Earth mother is very eager for the flowers to blossom on her, on her being on her body.
Melinda: And I think given all of the challenges that we're facing in the world today, it's vital that people embrace their creativity.
Steven: Yes. I want you to imagine for each of you creatives out there, you do not do it in isolation in your head. You do it in conjunction with another, I'm going to call another level of reality, another realm. I call it the astral realm. But there are many, many beings who want to create through you. They're trying to play their tunes through you, they're trying to paint through you, and so on and so on. And it's incredibly important to understand that you've got a spiritual guide, helper, conductor who will play through you, and I take that very expansively that statement.
But please don't forget that, for all the creatives who are listening and watching to this.
Melinda: Yeah, beautiful. Thank you so much, Steven.
Steven: You’re welcome.
Melinda: Appreciate it.
Steven: Never a dull moment when you're a medium.
Melinda: No, you never know what’s going to happen. I was like okay, well this could go interestingly. But thank you.
Steven: You're most welcome. It's a joy to do and Intuition Radio is my little fun project, where record a 10, 20 30 second voice memo. And you can send it in. And then from there, I'll just read them like, like an old radio show. You know, and answer the question. You know, ‘Hey, I'm Melinda from Austin. Can you tell me…?’ You know, that's kind of like my dreams.
Melinda: Yeah. It's great, it's great. So. And I want to get to how people can reach you in just a moment. But I usually like to end with what I call a Creativity Pro Tip, which is something that people can, you know, take from our conversation and kind of run with and maybe practice on their own.
So I think today what's arising for me is, how could people begin to, cultivate their own intuition?
Steven: Yes, yes. Let me just see what comes to me. Think of the idea of movement, and creativity as water and flow. Flow state’s a very common word these days. Forced flow state’s not good, but we want a natural flow state.
And so there's some idea of movement, sitting still rather than like meditation itself. But I mean, just like sitting there, not your friend if you're stuck, movement needs to come. And the ability to see outside the habitual subconscious walls, which is code for, get out of the house, move, be in new spaces. I'm very passionate about pilgrimage. Maybe Jenny and I'll talk about that in more depth than that when we come see you again.
But pilgrimage is a journey beyond the familiar to a sacred encounter. So you can find that by just going to a hillside. Or if you're troubled from stuff from childhood, go back to that hometown. There's a need to see a new horizon, something expansive is helpful so your heart can connect to the wider world.
And then from there in that movement, you are essentially going to get the engine going in some ways, or a more appropriate metaphor might be that the spring can bubble. So see that as an energetic recipe and a spiritual recipe to get this moving. So some flow. And then there's, the other word it comes to me is haphazard.
Don't be afraid of haphazard creativity where you put it out there and you're scrunched headfirst in the waste bin. Don't worry about that. Haphazard. This is a hose pipe and the hose has blocked or the faucet has turned off. When that horse is turned on, it's going to be erratic. And so see it as an energetic flow. And then lastly is your aliveness.
Once it's flowing, you'll feel alive and expansive, abundant. You'll want to share it with people. You want to show them your new baby. It's just natural, so you'll know you're on the right track.
Melinda: Creativity is connected to our life force.
Steven: I agree 100%, and I prayed earlier on, you might have heard me say the goddess of creativity. And in Hindu Saraswati, if that interests you. But, and but essentially imagine that life force of nature that's flowing through you. And we are her children. And how that flows through us. And again, Earth Mother wants those little buds to pop, to open. So it's all the, you've got many, many resources to draw from.
Melinda: Beautiful. Thank you so much.
Steven: You're welcome my friend.
Melinda: So I know there's, you have, you know, several different, websites.
Steven: Yeah, I’m trying to condense all this.
Melinda: How can people, what's the best way for people to find you?
Steven: Yeah, there's two ways to find me, folks. The first is the website stevenrossintuitive.com, and that is a place to schedule a reading and to connect to the podcasts.
The Way to Go podcast is me and my dear friend Matthew Choate. And he's South African, I'm Scottish, it's two great accents, and we have discussions about spirituality, the crisis we're in and how to live. It's a fantastic platform. And then Intuition Radio, as we mentioned, is that place for a read. And I want to, I've gained so much, Melinda, from thousands of readings.
That I realize that I'm learning intricacies of spiritual teaching, philosophy, as I'm doing it. So I want to take some of that and unpack it for the public, because I'm learning every time I do a reading. Earth Mother and flowers blossom, I never heard that for my whole life. So things like that can be unpacked, you know.
So that's stevenrossintuitive.com, and then the other website that's about to be launched is wisdompathways.life. And we're going to try to have that one sync up with Syncreate, a good panel. And Jenny Fairbank and myself do mediumship, spiritual direction, spiritual healing. And we use yogic teachings and to bring forth solutions. And toolkits and immersions to work through life and it's big points.
Melinda: And you're building a whole community. And yeah. So we'll have the two of you on another episode to talk more about that.
Steven: That's fantastic. And there's spiritual seekers everywhere. And do they have the tools to really meet this, understand it and what to do with it practically.
Melinda: And how to integrate it.
Steven: How to integrate it, which isn't, it takes time. So yeah.
Melinda: Thank you so much Steven
Steven: You're most welcome. I enjoyed myself.
Melinda: Me too. Okay. Thanks again to Steven Ross for being with us today. Find and connect with us at syncreate.org. We're also on all the major podcast platforms as well as YouTube and social media under Syncreate. We're on Patreon as well. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review.
And we're recording today at Record ATX Studios in Austin, Texas live with Steven Ross. And the show is produced in collaboration with Mike Osborne at 14th Street Studios in Austin. Thanks so much for being with us, and see you next time.