Connecting The Dots with The Renaissance People

Lisää Connecting The Dots with The Renaissance People

This is a podcast for and by Renaissance People (and people who want to cultivate a Renaissance mindset). Renaissance People are complex people with interests and expertise in a wide variety of realms. Referred to with many terms (including multi-passionate, generalists, multi-hyphenates, Jack/Jill-of-all-trades, versatilists, and boundary spanners), we reject the singular niche and embrace a bramble of knowledge, both deep and wide. We have an insatiable love of learning for the sake of learning. We deeply believe that serendipitous opportunities to apply or share that knowledge will arise. We plant seeds of concepts and cross-pollinate ideas everywhere we go because we never know where an idea might blossom or inspire someone else. We connect the dots and see commonality in unique ways others cannot because of our diverse experiences. In collaboration with invited guests, host Sara Kobilka (Renaissance Woman) will explore: - What it means to be a Renaissance Person in the modern world - How and where we can thrive - What inspires us We'll also flex our creative minds with fun challenges. Think of it as part captivating interview, part game show and part improv performance. This podcast is part of Sara's effort to build a Renaissance People Community which she invites listeners to join at renwomanconsulting.com/renaissance-people-community

Capture the Flow with Alycia Buenger, Multi-Passionate

It took three tries to schedule the recording of today’s episode of “Connecting the Dots with The Renaissance People” with multi-passionate Alycia Buenger [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyciabuenger/]. We are both moms of young children, educators and entrepreneurs. So, between childcare challenges and work commitments, we repeatedly had to push back our recording date. But we made it happen (otherwise you wouldn’t be seeing this). And giving ourselves the permission slip to reschedule the interview was one of our answers to the question Alycia regularly grapples with in her research and writing, How can we live, work, and be well in modern times (for ourselves and each other)? In this episode we talked about this required flexibility of caregiving and business ownership among MANY other topics listed below (in classic Renaissance People fashion). Take a listen and be sure to sign up [https://renwomanconsulting.myflodesk.com/community] for my newsletter for updates on upcoming podcast episodes and what’s happening in the Renaissance People Community. Promised Show Notes Materials (take a drink): * Sign up [https://renwomanconsulting.myflodesk.com/community] for newsletter for updates on my podcast and what’s happening in the Renaissance People Community. * Work with me to Find Your Golden Thread [https://renwomanconsulting.com/career-strategy-sessions/find-your-golden-thread-registration] and confidently tell your multi-passionate story. * Ep. 12: A Different Kind of Wonderful with Paula Croxson, Renaissance Woman [https://player.captivate.fm/episode/ed642d75-3cfa-4c6b-aea3-66bf17e09935] * Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66354.Flow] by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi * Sarah Shotts [https://sarahshotts.com/connect/] (they/them) is an artist-mother based in Arkansas * The Neuro Nest [https://open.spotify.com/show/7Ex78hiCfp2jpaWd6EBhW1] (previously called Kindle Curiosity) is Sarah's podcast about neurodivergence, motherhood, chronic illness, and creative work * A conversation with Sarah Shotts [https://open.spotify.com/episode/7CYfUo6litlCyunIsCOHSV] about creative capacity and inconsistent practice * Range: Why Generalists Thrive in a Specialized World [https://davidepstein.com/range/] by David Epstein * Ep. 9: A Mind for Memory with Brian Skellenger, Survivalist [https://player.captivate.fm/episode/e3ddc908-ba2e-4390-a159-11a8f64b5b75] * Magnet Theater [https://magnettheater.com/] in Manhattan, NYC. Performance schedule [https://magnettheater.com/ensembles/lil-spoon/] for Brian’s musical theater improv team, Lil’ Spoon. * Unravel Your Journey Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/6VkSws34GPq97LnjmLBxf1]: Alycia's year-long project with Kati Overmier [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kati-overmier-3489ba9b/] to "unravel" big ideas within day-to-day life * Ep. 1: Hello! I’m Sara Kobilka, Renaissance Woman [https://connecting-dots.captivate.fm/episode/sara-kobilka-renaissance-woman] * A Bit of Optimism with Simon Sinek, Episode 68: Embracing the Fall with Carla Hall [https://www.pandora.com/podcast/a-bit-of-optimism/embracing-the-fall-with-carla-hall/PE:1210851795], Apple Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/embracing-the-fall-with-carla-hall/id1515385282?i=1000594864540] | Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/episode/5K3Wm2xu0l2hg5YKTmXLGY] * The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness [https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/book] by Jonathan Haidt * The Tin Can [https://tincan.kids/?aic=6KXVXVS&utm_campaign=referralcandy_567b0f2429f6_114845&utm_source=referral&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_term=6KXVXVS&showEfop=true] phone * The Creatrix Spiral (as Alycia describes it [https://www.alyciabuenger.com/mission]) is renewable, expandable, and open to individual and collective interpretation of experience. It’s based upon varied spiritual teachings, including the Chakra System. The Creatrix Spiral is the foundation of her online studio [https://www.alyciabuenger.com/studio] and mentorship offerings. * There are so many resources to explain and consider the chakra system; Alycia's favorite from yoga teacher training is Eastern Body, Western Mind by Anodea Judith * Ep. 10: The Forever Revolution with Jenni Gritters, Multi-Passionate [https://player.captivate.fm/episode/2212cb1b-f034-414e-b2a2-30a4a1c4c115] * YouTube video on how to create an electromagnetic nail [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5MUtL_tSwE&t=1s] * Article on why not to use the term “Middle East” [https://www.lux-mag.com/lets-ditch-the-phrase-middle-east/] * Radiolab (not Invisibilia as said in the episode) podcast episode on the “discovery” of interstitium [https://radiolab.org/podcast/interstitium] * Buy Me a Coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/renaissancewoman] (actually an oat milk cappuccino that I will purchase at a locally-owned coffee shop while working) * Alycia’s website [https://www.alyciabuenger.com/] and Substack [https://alyciabuenger.substack.com/] Follow Alycia on Social Media: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyciabuenger/] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/alyciabuenger/] A few things Alycia and I discuss: 3:30 Alycia’s winding path 4:51 The interconnection between physical movement and creativity 5:51 Flow in creative people 8:13 Flexibility requirement of caregiving 9:59 Creating structures for flow 11:07 Inconvenient inspiration 16:58 Improv as flow state 21:34 Being a natural rebel 23:20 Inspiration in waves 25:59 Answer the dreaded question by providing of roadmap and starting point 30:13 Not taking advice in business 32:55 Building trust in your gut and handling failure 48:31 The Creatrix Spiral and the seven chakra system 53:59 “Western medicine” vs “Eastern medicine” 56:32 Fairtrade coffee and ecotourism Quotes from the episode: (Sara) Flow can be hard, especially when you are a parent of young children and you don't feel like you've got a lot of capacity just because you're being pulled in a thousand directions and you're just trying to keep these kids alive and fed and everything else that you're dealing with. But that ability to float along the river and let the kind of the, the path of the stream take you where you're gonna go. If you fight it, you're not gonna win. It's like a rip current. If you fight the rip current and try to swim back to shore, that's how people drown. It's when you swim parallel to the shore and get out of that like force that you can finally make your way back. (Alycia) I don't think we can always force flow. I think it's kind of relatively spontaneous, but we can kind of create structures around our work or our daily lives that would encourage flow and the flow state to kind of show up. And allow us to kind of capture it when it's there. (Alycia) I would ask questions. You know, like, where, when does inspiration strike? What are you doing in that period of time? What are you thinking about when that's happening? What are you doing before and after? And how does it feel to like not capture that idea? Does it come back to you? I have a lot of questions. And if we can answer some of those questions, I think you can kind of find your own path there, if that makes sense. (Sara) Yeah, it seems like kind of almost pattern recognition. When is this happening? What's the cadence of it? (Alycia) So I think part of the challenge that I have is that I'm like a natural rebel. So anytime I like see rules or I find rules, or I find that pattern and put it in place, I'm like, okay, now I'm gonna go do something else. 'Cause like I just naturally have to push back against even my own rules. It's a deeply annoying part of who I am. But I will say that as someone who has to do these things in order to make an income, I have to kind of hold onto the things that, help me feel balance. (Alycia) And I am worried a little bit about young people. Because I don't think we, as a society, give them enough space to try things that they're not good at or to completely suck at something for a long time. I always feel kind of inspired by artists or creatives who are like, I'm not a natural writer, but I really wanted to write a book, and I wrote a book eventually. You know, it took 20 years and I had to learn a lot. But I sucked at it before, and now I've done this thing. I find that deeply inspiring more so even than people who are natural born, whatever, and then they become that thing. (Alycia) I think it is really important to acknowledge the experience of building a creative practice that doesn't come naturally to you by allowing for failure, allowing your kids to suck at something that they find interesting. (Alycia) The structure, which I consider to be nourishment, taking care of the body, taking care of the mind, taking care of the heart is a spiral. It's like movement. And when we are nourishing ourselves and like regularly committing to that, flow isn't something you have to control or force, it just kind of happens. Follow me, Renaissance Woman Sara Kobilka, on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-kobilka/], where I put most of my social media energy, and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/RenWomanConsulting]. If you’re extra curious, check out Renaissance Woman Consulting [https://renwomanconsulting.com/] to learn more about some of the many types of work I do. And should you care to support the production of this podcast, I’d love it if you’d buy me an oat milk cappuccino, [https://buymeacoffee.com/renaissancewoman] my caffeinated beverage of choice. This podcast is hosted and edited by Sara Kobilka. Theme music is by Brian Skellenger [https://www.instagram.com/bskellenger/] Podcast distribution support provided by K.O. Myers of Particulate Media [https://www.particulatemedia.com/]

27. touko 2026 - 1 h 0 min

A Different Kind of Wonderful with Paula Croxson, Renaissance Woman

In this episode, I am joined by a fellow Renaissance Woman who has joined me in embracing that identity (you’ll learn why near the start of the show). The title of the episode is, “A Different Kind of Wonderful with Paula Croxson” but my alternative was “How Paula Came to Love Swimming in Chop”. That too will make sense later in the show. Paula has been near the top of my “dream guests” since I came up with this podcast idea so to say I’m excited is a bit of an understatement. She’s a science communicator, neuroscientist, musician and athlete among other things. The conversation was free flowing, filled with science, storytelling and metaphors galore! Promised Show Notes Materials (take a drink): * Sign up [https://renwomanconsulting.myflodesk.com/community] for updates on my podcast and what’s happening in the Renaissance People Community. * Work with me to Find Your Golden Thread [https://renwomanconsulting.com/career-strategy-sessions/find-your-golden-thread-registration] * Jethro Tull (jazz flutist) YouTube video of performance from 1976 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd6u3hQ9bkQ] * My LinkedIn Left Brain, Right Brain artificial choice rant [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7114927107343802371/] * Article from Business Insider [https://www.businessinsider.com/michelle-obama-becoming-memoir-worst-question-for-kids-2018-11] where Michelle Obama explains why she too is disgusted by the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” * The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat [https://www.oliversacks.com/oliver-sacks-books/the-man-who-mistook-his-wife-for-a-hat/] by Oliver Sacks * Oliver Sacks biographical information [https://www.oliversacks.com/about-oliver-sacks/] * Oliver Sacks’ TEDTalk, What Hallucinations Reveal about Our Minds [https://youtu.be/SgOTaXhbqPQ] * NeuWrite [https://www.neuwrite.org/] * A Brief History of the Resting State: the Washington University Perspective [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3342417/] by Abraham Z Snyder and Marcus E Raichle * Review of the split brain work [https://academic.oup.com/brain/article/140/7/2051/3892700] that Brenda Milner was part of (credit also to Mike Gazzaniga for this research) * Story Collider [https://www.storycollider.org/] * Paula’s 2013 Story Collider talk: When Your Grandmother Forgets Who You Are [https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2016/1/6/paula-croxson-when-your-grandmother-forgets-who-you-are?rq=croxson] * Ep. 9 A Mind for Memory with Brian Skellenger, Survivalist [https://player.captivate.fm/episode/e3ddc908-ba2e-4390-a159-11a8f64b5b75] * If you want to become a better storyteller, I highly recommend the podcast The Story Letter with Micaela Blei [https://micaelablei.com/the-story-letter-podcast]. * Stellate Communications [https://www.stellatecomms.com/] * Ep. 8 Bringing Worlds Together Full Circle with Jess Rowell, Renaissance Woman [https://player.captivate.fm/episode/01ab0d1f-7fa2-4a95-a34d-7b0e58593704] discusses “find your audience’s why” to help answer “what do you do?” * Sign up for Brain Dump on May 1, 2026 [https://renwomanconsulting.com/2026/04/brain-dump-spring-cleaning-style] (or if you missed it, sign up for my Renaissance People newsletter [https://renwomanconsulting.myflodesk.com/community] to find future opportunities) * Paula’s greatest accomplishment post Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWxKvPhjf5e/] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/share/r/18ZP96TBaY/] * Cholla walking inspiration LinkedIn post [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sara-kobilka_where-can-you-reliably-find-moments-of-inspiration-ugcPost-7425176362786787328-6_hM] * Stellate Communications [https://www.stellatecomms.com/] Follow Paula on Social Media: Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/paula.croxson/] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-croxson/] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/paulacroxson/] | Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/paulacroxson.bsky.social] A few things Paula and I discuss: * Survey says…she’s a Renaissance Woman * The science vs musician choice * The history and misconceptions of “left brain vs right brain” * Renaissance Man, neuroscientists, and inspirational figure, Oliver Sacks * The athletic mindset + Renaissance People = Flow State * Research on the flow state (it’s not all woo woo) * What MRIs tell us (and don’t tell us) * Why the science is in the nuance and complicating the narrative * Paula’s major career pivot * Explaining yourself using communications 101, Know thy Audience * Values as a golden thread * How Paula stopped fighting the waves and began enjoying them * Improv Game * Rapidish Fire Questions * Life as an omnivert * Training our pets to do unusual things Quotes from the episode: (Paula) I think of boundary spanner maybe as a really useful professional term. But I feel like a Renaissance Person all the time, regardless of whether I'm behaving like a professional or not. (Paula) I feel like science and music was one of those choices that I had to make pretty early on, that I've spoken to so many people who ended up in science or as musicians who felt like they had to make that choice early on in order to define themself, to carve out what they were doing. When I say had to, I don't think anyone made me. I had a lot of really supportive people around me when I was figuring out what I wanted to be when I grew up. But I felt like it only made sense to be one or the other. And I actually stopped playing music for a really long time, while I was in graduate school. And so I sometimes forget that I'm a musician because I spent so much time creating this version of myself that was the scientist. (Sara) People sometimes have a job where they'll be a reporter and they'll be a meteorologist. So I decided, I'm gonna bring math and science back into my life. And quite a few people in the journalism program looked at me like I was absolutely nuts because I took chemistry. I took physics. I was taking calculus. And they're all like, "Why? What are you? What's wrong with you? What are you doing?" And I was like, no! I need this! This is part of me too. I can't lose that. I need to use my full brain and not "half of my brain" as the people like to talk about it. (Paula) That's how the left brain got a reputation for being the "logical", I'm using air quotes here, the "logical side of the brain". Because it rationalized. Because it got in there and it was chatty and explained away the movements of the right hemisphere, having no idea that the whole reason was because the right hemisphere of the brain had just seen a spoon and was responding to the question. So that's how that whole myth arose is because the left hemisphere of the brain talks a lot. However, that doesn't really make it more logical. (Paula) I had already been interested in the brain and how it worked. But that was one of the things that really drew me in, was reading that book. Little did I know at the time that Oliver Sacks was, himself, a real Renaissance Person! (Sara) Yeah! (Paula) He entered that part of his career, the medical part of his career, late in life and the writing and storytelling part even later in life. He was also a bodybuilder. He also swam in the open water. He had all of these facets to himself that were not just what he did for a living. I think I probably was drawn to that as much as the stories and the fascination of the brain, even though I wasn't really aware of it at the time. (Paula) I started off by joining a group called NeuWrite that was a science writing group that brought together scientists, writers, people in theater, meet people from the media, you know, to collaborate. My goal was just to write better science papers so that I could get published in my, like, niche journals, but like fancier niche journals that would get me, like tenure and promotion and funding. But I was around these people and I liked these people and I was drawn to them. And I found myself learning a lot from them in a way that I didn't learn from my colleagues who were in the same niches as me doing the same things, thinking very deeply about MRI and whether this analysis technique worked. And they were wonderful too. But this was a different kind of wonderful. (Paula) Then I got it. I got that it didn't need to be special or different. What made it relatable to people was that it wasn't special or different, that it was similar to their story, that they weren't by themself. That they could relate to it. That I put into words something that they were struggling with. And it was so devastating for me in the best possible way. Like all of that affectation that I had had that I just needed to be this like very, very talented special niche researcher doing my thing in my, in my little vacuum just fell away. And I realized that I was a human being, doing a human endeavor that could help other human beings. (Paula) Figure out who you're talking to. And in a one-on-one situation, you have the ability to do that. And then connect with them about something. So that might mean that I end up telling somebody that I'm a musician or that I'm a scientist, when that isn't like my main day job thing that I do. But that's one of the joys of being somebody who does many things, right? Is that you have many points of contact in many, many ways to connect with folks. (Paula) I knew who I was for so long through the lens of being a scientist and a researcher, and I had my entire career mapped out. You know, I knew who I was gonna be and where I was gonna be when I was in my nineties if I made it that far and hadn't worked myself into the ground, which was a real possibility. I knew that I was gonna be some kind of emeritus professor roaming the halls of some university, you know. Writing a book, amassing my life's work. I knew exactly how I was gonna be, and I blew all of that up when I changed careers at the old age of 38, and stepped into a field that I had no formal education in. (Sara) When the pandemic hit, for example, if you'd been in the lab and had all these people scheduled to come in for their MRIs and then the lab had been shut down, like that would've completely ruined those plans or thrown them out or, required things to change. Versus now you're kind of floating on the river and following the current, as opposed to, "I'm just gonna force this, I'm going north no matter what, I'm going north.” You now are kind of like letting the flow of the river, to go back to flow, kind of guide you. And then you're adjusting. And if you get in an eddy, you're gonna do a little spinning around for a bit and then you'll keep going. (Sara) We always grew up thinking that a career and a steady job and knowing what singular "I'm gonna be when I grow up" is going to give me more certainty. But actually being in this freedom to follow the things, the opportunities that arise, the serendipity that comes forth, is almost more reliable. Because you have yourself. You'll always have yourself. You'll always have your values that can't be taken away from you just because you lose a job or you can't access an MRI machine. Follow me, Renaissance Woman Sara Kobilka, on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-kobilka/], where I put most of my social media energy, and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/RenWomanConsulting]. If you’re extra curious, check out Renaissance Woman Consulting [https://renwomanconsulting.com/] to learn more about some of the many types of work I do. And should you care to support the production of this podcast, I’d love it if you’d buy me an oat milk cappuccino [https://buymeacoffee.com/renaissancewoman], my caffeinated beverage of choice. This podcast is hosted and edited by Sara Kobilka. Theme music is by Brian Skellenger [https://www.instagram.com/bskellenger/] Podcast distribution support provided by K.O. Myers of Particulate Media [https://www.particulatemedia.com/]

29. huhti 2026 - 1 h 5 min