Explore every episode of the podcast Altar to the Muse

Tom Csatari is a New York City-based session guitarist, composer, and environmentalist who leads the New York Times-featured “free folk-jazz” collective Uncivilized. In this interview, recorded in June of 2021, Josh and Tom talk about music, the environment, creativity, brain tumors, and what is next for Uncivilized Tom.

You know that moment when you start a project? The exciting time when the idea is fresh and new, but then it starts to loose its shine? You might even say to yourself “This sucks, why did I ever think this could be any good?” As the project continues to be difficult “This Sucks turns into I Suck”.

All of us have heard the voice of the Inner Critic and in this episode, Angie and Josh dive deep into those murky waters and discuss how to deal with the Inner Critic and turn it into an Inner Mentor.

Creative work is just that, work. It may be fun and soul filling but behind the scenes of every “talented” artist is hours and hours of practice honing their craft. As a culture we are attracted to the shiny finished product, the glorious outcome, and very little attention is given to the daily grind of being an artist. We call this “The Long Slog.”

The concept of 10,000 hours is a benchmark for reaching “mastery” of a skill. We see that as barely scratching the surface. This is the runway for the “The Long Slog.” In many cases those hours happen while an artist is still in high school or college and then comes the real work of being an artist.

In this episode, Angie and Josh, discuss “The Long Slog” and how setting your priorities for your life and creative endeavors will help set you up for fulfillment.

“Dan and Faith are an award-winning, New England-based husband and wife singer-songwriter duo who describe their music as dream-inspired folk. Daniel Senie (guitar, banjo, harmonica, vocals) and Faith Senie (mandolin, bass, ukulele, dulcimer, vocals) tap into dreams and everyday life in crafting their original songs.”

Josh and I love how they weave together stories of place, connection, and belonging in their folk inspired compositions. Learn about how we met (it involved vegan muffins and a market!) and how they found music again after many years. Listen to Dan and Faith explain how they have embraced being musicians while juggling professional careers and a marriage.

You know when you first meet someone and something inside tells you “wow, I must learn more about this person", well that’s Desiree Mwalimu-Banks.

Angie met Desiree in a peer review group while a student at Goddard College. Every time Desiree shared with the group, she offered true gems of insight. Desiree is an artist, a priestess, and a wisdom teacher who lives in NYC and has Indian and African ancestry.

Inside this interview with Desiree, she shares inspiration in her art practice, the sacred transformative powers of water, the energetic quality of bees, and her upcoming installation project.

Angie and Josh discuss a recent study on creativity and how it relates to stress reduction and vagal tone. If you have never heard of vagal tone and want to know how it can help you with stress reduction and creativity, you will want to listen to this episode.

Josh and Angie discuss what they love about making creativity their calling and career, and how they navigate the limitations. Josh shares a story from Dave Grohl of the Foofighters and explains how sometimes you have to fall in love with your work all over again.

Angie and Josh's discussion fueled by the doom and gloom of the news as presented by NYT and other media outlets and how the arts stories always take a back seat, usually after the donate button. This is a symptom of a society that devalues the arts and cuts them from school programs and limits the expression of the arts to competitions.

Angie and Josh talk about their current projects. Writing a book, releasing an album, creating courses, making wall hangings and the never ending project that is their house!

Angie and Josh have been married for over 20 years and together as a couple for 30 years. The secret to our relationship is founded on the our individual relationships to our creative selves.

The same foundational principles are needed in any relationships: nourishment, time, space, listening, commitment, forgiveness, and choice.

How does your relationship with yourself inform all the relationships in your life?

What if we are not attached to the outcomes of our creativity? What if we treat what we create as a gift, an offering, and expect nothing in return? Angie and Josh discuss.

Is it possible to teach someone how to be creative? What happened to your own creativity during your early school days? How can educators use the right words and actions to inspire students to be more creative? Angie and Josh discuss the role of the teacher in the creative process through their personal experience, and share 3 key ways that teachers can encourage creativity: 1—by holding a space of encouragement; 2—being generous about expectations; and 3—helping students to find their own voice and vision within the practice.

Angie and Josh discuss why they think creativity and creative thinking are necessary for adapting to challenging situations.

Angie and Josh elaborate on why they think creativity is innate, and that creativity is your birthright. Learn more about how the world pulses with creativity.

When we learn to get comfortable with our imperfections and we embrace making mistakes, then failure becomes a part of the creative process. Angie and Josh discuss how they embrace failure and why you should too.

Is there a gatekeeper to the sacred rules of creativity? Who decides the rules and why should there be any rules to this process?

How comfortable are you with vulnerability?

How long do you wait before you begin that new idea?

How long do you wait before you reveal your special project to the world?

Is it better to get it all splendidly perfect?

Here’s the truth… perfection is a myth. In this episode, we explain why…

How do you deal with a lack of inspiration? Are there techniques that help?

What do you do when you get stuck and the ideas just don’t flow?

Angie and Josh share their experiences and stories about getting distracted by doughnuts, children, and dogs, and how to keep the momentum even when the inspiration doesn’t knock at the door.

Meet your hosts Angie and Josh.