Sheila Darcey’s Sketch By Sketch changed my life. So, we’re talking about the book, and how the daily sketch practice she’s developed for herself and thousands of others helps us process emotions when words fall short.

And before you back away with “I can’t even draw a stick figure” (like I did), hold on. This isn’t about drawing or creating art, it’s about connecting with your unconscious wisdom to create marks of free expression that precede and transcend language.

Sheila starts her story with the fear of flying that became her doorway to sketching, not just as an artistic pursuit, but as a somatic tool. This daily practice became an effective way to get out of her head and into her body, process trauma, and build a sense of safety that other methods hadn’t provided.

Having grown up in an environment distorted by addiction and fear, Sheila recalls how creativity helped expand her emotional vocabulary, and reconnect with parts of herself she had abandoned. We talk about childhood survival, and how many of us disconnect from our bodies simply to cope. Leaning into curiosity and creativity help dissolve the judgment that gets in the way of compassion.

We cover why sketching with a pen not a pencil helps us beat back perfectionism and performance, and leap into the unknown. Through sketching, we can transmute shame and other oppressive emotions into feelings that strengthen possibility.

Sheila invites us to reframe boredom, rest, stillness, imagination, and innovation, and consider our generational and energetic imprints. Healing is not about fixing ourselves, but about relating to ourselves differently.

Sheila’s key point: Creativity is not a luxury but a necessity.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS

Creativity expands our emotional lexicon.

Creativity helps us connect to the parts of ourselves we’ve ignored or abandoned.

Part of the creative process is leaping into the unknown and inviting co-creation.

Sketching can be a therapeutic practice to identify and process thoughts and emotions.

Sketching can be a daily embodiment practice like meditation or yoga.

Sketching is fast and loose—you don’t have to get attached.

“Letting go” is not an act of releasing, but accepting what has been there.

Sketches are modern-day hieroglyphics—marks that transcend language.

ABOUT SHEILA

Founder of SketchPoetic®, and author of Sketch By Sketch, artist Sheila Darcey teaches a transformational sketching practice that enables people to access emotional healing through intuitive expression.

Sheila created the Living Canvas Foundation™, a nonprofit supporting healing, connection, and social impact through creativity. She serves as its executive director.

Through her art, workshops, community-based art initiatives, and innovative use of technology, Sheila creates spaces where people can access their creativity as a pathway to connect with emotions and gain personal insight.

Her work bridges art, wellness, and consciousness, tapping into personal and collective storytelling, and is rooted in the belief that every life is a dynamic canvas.

CONNECT WITH SHEILA

Sketch Poetic®: https://www.sketchpoetic.com/

Living Canvas Foundation™: https://livingcanvasfoundation.org/

Sketch By Sketch Book: https://www.amazon.com/Sketch-Creative-Emotional-Transformation-SketchPoetic/dp/1250773873/

Substack: https://sheiladarcey.substack.com/

Instagram:

In unstable times like these, it’s easy to harden, retreat, or get swept up in fear and shouting. Instead of being part of destructive narratives, find clarity and perspective in stories—in books, poetry, theater, film, TV, music, and your own life.

I reflect on my childhood and the values my parents instilled—curiosity, compassion, asking questions, and imagining life through someone else’s eyes. My mom and dad encouraged storytelling as a way to explore challenging ideas without needing certainty or agreement. In adulthood, stories help me hold confusion and overwhelm, understand my experience and those of others, and connect with what matters most.

Inviting us into lives we haven’t lived and perspectives we don’t yet understand, stories invite us to practice empathy toward understanding. Connecting with characters and situations soften our certainty, and remind us of our shared humanity.

In this episode, I share recent experiences that have done that for me. From a Jacob Collier concert that turned thousands of strangers into willing collaborators, to shows like Schitt’s Creek and Heated Rivalry that remind us of our capacity to connect with people who are not like us.

Be invested in the diversity of stories, including your own. Stay curious and risk talking with people who think differently, even if it provokes their hostility. Hear them out. Dare to be wrong. Allow yourself to be surprised, not by their views, but their willingness to have a civil conversation. Storytelling can soften your edges, and those of others.

Someone has to make the first move. Decide—It Has To Be Me.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS

Stories invite empathy and understanding without force or persuasion.

Stories help us hold complexity without shutting down.

Curiosity keeps us connected. It changes our minds and perspectives.

Listening is an act of resistance to outrage.

Share your stories and take in the stories of those who think differently.

Be kind as a quiet form of courage.

You can learn from someone without agreeing with them.

We build community through shared humanity, not shared opinions.

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube:

It’s the Year of the Horse. Are you going to be a rocking horse, going back and forth and staying in the same place? Or a champion—sharp and focused, determined to win the race?

Easier said than done. In this episode, I share how I had decided to shut the podcast down, because I felt like an imposter, that I’d been too ambitious, and bitten off more than I could chew!

I recall tools shared by our guests to combat fear and overwhelm, and which ones worked for me. In the end, I realized we don’t always need to spend time and money correcting course. Often, it just takes the right person saying the right thing at the right time to shift your perspective.

What got me back in the game was trusting myself to do my own triage, and choosing the strategies that felt right. Two mantras I embraced help me enjoy the work, not just obsess about the result.

Just because you don’t know how it’s going to happen, doesn’t mean it’s not possible.

Spoiler: Self-doubt and self-belief are both needed to create anything of value.

If you’re waiting for the perfect time to go after your It Has To Be Me, you’ll be waiting forever.

TESS’S TAKEAWAYS

It’s a puzzle, not a problem. If you want to, you can figure it out.

Don’t be overwhelmed or depleted by your “to do” list—be energized by it.

When faced with an overwhelming task, imagine the feeling of having done it.

Worrying is like a rocking horse. It has motion, but gets you nowhere.

There are a finite amount of yes’s and an infinite amount of no’s. Choose them wisely.

A compassionate no is a gift for you and the other person.

Stay in the race. Most people give up right before they cross the finish line.

Give your imperfect offering. The right people can handle it. The wrong people never will.

MEET TESS MASTERS:

Tess Masters is an actor, presenter, health coach, cook, and author of The Blender Girl, The Blender Girl Smoothies, and The Perfect Blend, published by Penguin Random House. She is also the creator of the Skinny60® health programs.

Health tips and recipes by Tess have been featured in the LA Times, Washington Post, InStyle, Prevention, Shape, Glamour, Real Simple, Yoga Journal, Yahoo Health, Hallmark Channel, The Today Show, and many others.

Tess’s magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and down-to-earth approach have made her a go-to personality for people of all dietary stripes who share her conviction that healthy living can be easy and fun. Get delicious recipes at TheBlenderGirl.com.

CONNECT WITH TESS:

Website: https://tessmasters.com/

Podcast: https://ithastobeme.com/

Health Programs: https://www.skinny60.com/

Delicious Recipes: https://www.theblendergirl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblendergirl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblendergirl/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theblendergirl

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessmasters/

Thanks for listening!...