Create-Today with Beth Buffington

Beth Buffington
  • 5.0 (13)
  • Arts
  • Updated Weekly

Whether you see yourself as a seasoned artist, or you’re just starting to dip your toes into creativity, this podcast is here to show you how YOUR creativity can benefit your mental health, personal growth, and even professional success. Cool, right? Think of me (Beth Buffington) as your companion on a creative journey to unlock the magic of creativity in your day-to-day. I’ll be here, sharing stories, chatting with other creatives in the know, sharing tips, and laughs as we explore the real-world perks of getting and staying creative. Tune in, and let's journey into the wonderful world of creativity together!

  1. 12h ago

    E143 - 7 cards to 7 people in 7 days…Make It a Party and Multiply the Goodness!

    This week we explore the creativity in sending greeting cards, and the unbelievable goodness they deliver to a chaotic world. Last week we learned about: “Thinking of You Week” (September 21–27, 2026) AND then…how to prepare for the challenge of: 7 cards to 7 people in 7 days. Don't miss Part 2 of this series. This week Beth shares a fabulously fun way to multiply the number of people in the world who will GET a card during Thinking of You Week. Here's the quick peek: Don't prepare alone. Gather your people, and make it a party! Join this conversation as we focus on the GOOD all the Thinking of You cards will shower on our world… You'll discover how you can ratchet up the goodness into a tidal wave of happiness… 🎉💌 The treasures inside this episode: • Why turning your card-writing prep into a Prep Party is a way to have fun AND increase the awareness of Thinking of You Week. • Why a solo good intention rarely finishes the job — and why a "prep party" with your family, friends, neighbors, or book club dramatically increases the odds all seven cards actually make it to the mailbox • Beth's 7 ways to turn your Thinking of You Week prep into an evening people will actually want an attend. From a stationery bar (think coffee bar, but for cards) to turning address-hunting into a group treasure hunt • How to create a party about matching up penpals with another letter-loving friend. And how this can a fun thematic way to support Thinking of You week. • A sobering finding from the U.S. Surgeon General's 2023 advisory on our loneliness epidemic, and why it makes this small gathering even more important! •The published research showing that one act of kindness ripples outward three degrees of separation, and roughly triples in size along the way • A fun thought experiment: what would actually happen if every household in America took on the 7 cards, 7 people, 7 days challenge in the very same week • Why Beth is spending this Saturday with her grandchildren to have a party that will include: cards, pens, and help to get each of her grands create their list of their 7 people. Your homework: Pick a night. Pick your people. Set out some cards, pens, and something delicious, and make getting ready for Thinking of You Week (September 21–27) a great reason to get together with people you love! 
Catch Part 1 – if you missed it! That's where the list-making details are explained and shared. Resources inside Create-Today! Grab your free Going FourWords™ Guide: https://www.bdi-create.today/fourwords Find creative fun inside the Going FourWords™ Clubhouse (as low as $1 your first month): www.bdi-create.today/going-fourwords-membership Subscribe to the Create-Today with Beth Buffington podcast for new conversations on creativity, connection, and Going FourWords™ with your creativity. 🎧 #ThinkingOfYouWeek #ThinkingOfYouWeekChallenge

    E143 - 7 cards to 7 people in 7 days…Make It a Party and Multiply the Goodness!

  2. Sep 3

    7 cards to 7 people in 7 days - will create happiness (especially for you!)

    Send 7 Cards to 7 people in 7 Days: Surprising Science on Why It’ll Make you Happier Every now and then as you flip through your mail – junk, junk, a bill, a catalog... you'll find one...an envelope with a handwritten address. Stop for a moment and think about that little flare of joy that flutters in your heart. You know what I'm talking about.  That's what this episode is all about. 💌 The joy a rectangle of paper provides in the humble greeting card. And here's why. It's almost Thinking of You Week (September 21–27, 2026), and Beth is kicking off a two-part series on the creativity and the science behind sending a greeting card. This week, she explores why sending a card might be one of the simplest, research-backed happiness boosts available to you. And it's easy to concentrate on this month because September 21-27 is Thinking of You Week. In this episode, you'll discover: • The origin story behind Thinking of You Week. It started as a Lenten challenge from photographer Leonard Smith that grew into an international movement backed by the Greeting Card Association • This year's official challenge: seven cards to seven people in seven days (and why "vague intentions rarely turn into actions") • Surprising numbers behind why we are a card culture (even though we are so darn digital)•Americans buy an estimated 6.5 billion greeting cards a year• 7 in 10 card buyers call them "essential," not just nice-to-have • The UK neuroscience research showing a handwritten card lights up the brain differently than a text or email and provides roughly twice the happiness of a social post and three times that of an email • Why a University of Chicago study says you're wrong about how awkward your card will feel.• The science-backed twist: the person who sends the card often ends up happier than the person who receives it • A simple "Who's On Your List?" exercise to help you figure out exactly who needs a card from you this month (including why the person you're most hesitant to write to is probably the one who needs it most) • Beth's 7-step plan to actually pull off seven cards, seven people, seven days• Homework for this week: Make your list of seven people and find their addresses Part 2 is coming next week, and it's all about making the cards and other treasures about the humble greeting card. Discover more from Create Today (AND, get your free Going FourWords™ Guide): www.bdi-create.today Try the Going FourWords Clubhouse ($1 your first month):
www.bdi-create.today/going-fourwords-membership 🎧 Subscribe to the Create-Today podcast for the latest chat with about creativity, connection, and living well every week.  #ThinkingOfYouWeek #ThinkingOfYouWeekChallenge Timeline: 00:00 Why Cards Matter 03:08 Thinking of You Week 04:11 Origin and Challenge 06:33 Card Culture by Numbers 10:15 Sponsor Going Forwards Clubhouse 13:18 Science of Receiving Cards 16:32 Giving Feels Even Better 18:48 Pick Your Seven People 22:28 Seven Step Prep Plan 27:32 Final Takeaway and Next Episode

    7 cards to 7 people in 7 days - will create happiness (especially for you!)

  3. Aug 27

    E141 - It's Not Too Late to Get Creative Again with Guest Ilene Berns-Zare, PsyD and author

    You're Not Too Old (And It's Not Too Late) to Get Creative Again Psychologist Ilene Berns-Zare joins Beth to unpack the real secret to resilience, creativity, and thriving at midlife and beyond. 🌿 In this episode of Create Today, Beth talks with psychologist, life and leadership coach, and author Ilene Berns-Zare about what it actually takes to build resilience, reconnect with your creativity, and stop believing the story that it's “too late” to reinvent this next chapter. In this episode, you'll discover: • Why resilience isn't something you're born with• “Big C” creativity (the art you set out to make) and the everyday • “Little c” creativity you're already using without realizing it • How to reclaim your creativity at midlife, even if you've told yourself “I'm not creative” • How a single reframe – being told she was a “developmental writer” – that gave Ilene permission to finally write the book she'd been putting off for years • A simple morning gratitude-and-savoring practice that quietly builds real resilience over time • How to give yourself permission (and self-compassion) to prioritize creativity in a busy, chaotic season of life • Why the smallest step – even five minutes – counts as progress toward reinventing this chapter of your life About Ilene: Ilene Berns-Zare, PsyD, PCC, CEC is a psychologist, life and leadership coach, and author of You're Not Too Old and It's Not Too Late: Weekly Practices for Meaning, Mindfulness, and New Possibilities at Midlife and Beyond (MSI Press). She writes the “Flourish and Thrive” blog for Psychology Today and is adjunct faculty in Georgetown University's Transformational Leadership Program. How to contract Ilene Berns-Zare: Ilene's book & coaching:  ibzcoaching.com Ilene's Psychology Today blog: psychologytoday.com/us/blog/flourish-and-thrive Resources from Create Today: (Get your free Going FourWords™ Guide): www.bdi-create.today Subscribe to "Create-Today with Beth Buffington" for a new conversation on creativity, resilience, and living well every week. 🎧

    E141 - It's Not Too Late to Get Creative Again with Guest Ilene Berns-Zare, PsyD and author

  4. Aug 20

    E140 - Ghosting Your Creativity? Seven signs you need to know.

    Have you been ghosting your creativity? If your sketchbook, camera, or craft table has gone quiet, this episode covers the real signs of creative burnout, the science behind why creativity keeps you steady, and how to start treating creative self-care like the vital sign it actually is. In this episode of Create Today, Beth Buffington unpacks creative fitness: the idea that a consistent creative practice belongs on your health checklist right alongside sleep, diet, and exercise. You'll hear the science behind why creativity lowers stress (a Netherlands study comparing gardening to reading before a stressful task), why creativity comes before happiness rather than the other way around (Dr. Tamlin Conner's two-week flourishing study), and why skipping creative play leaves your brain stuck in fog (attention restoration theory and “soft fascination”). Then Beth walks you through her Going FourWords™ framework, Revive, Realize, Refine, and Release, applied specifically to your creative vitality. That includes a super simple, two-minute creative reset you can do today and seven signs that you might be ghosting your own creativity without realizing it. Join the Going FourWords™ Clubhouse for just $1 for your first month, then $9/month, and get Beth's Best Books artsy book club, the Recipe Exchange, and an ongoing creative community challenge: https://www.bdi-create.today/going-fourwords-membership Subscribe for a new episode of Create Today every week, and if someone you love has been ghosting their creativity, send them this one. Maybe you work on it together. Time Stamp: 0:00 Have you been ghosting your creativity? 4:00 What creative fitness means (and why your body keeps score) 7:00 The science of creative burnout: gardening vs. cortisol 9:00 Why creativity brings happiness, not the other way around 10:00 Creative fog, explained: attention restoration theory 13:00 Revive: a two-minute creative reset 17:00 Realize: 7 signs you're ghosting your creativity 20:00 Inside the Going FourWords™ Clubhouse ($1 first month) 22:00 Refine: building your creative storehouse 25:00 Release: the Zeigarnik effect and letting go 27:00 Creativity is self-care, not a reward

    E140 - Ghosting Your Creativity? Seven signs you need to know.

  5. Aug 13

    E139 - How to Train for Life Using Your Creativity | Lisa Murphy, Vibrant Living Coach

    She's 60 and Hiking 133 Miles. Here's Her Secret. 
 What are you training for? Beth welcomes back one of her favorite recurring guests, Lisa Murphy, a Vibrant Living Coach (who helps women in their middle years, through perimenopause, menopause, and beyond) live more vibrantly and take on new adventures. This year Lisa is training for a big one: a nine day, 133 mile through-hike of the Isle of Anglesey coastal path in Wales, in celebration of her 60th birthday. Beth and Lisa use that goal as the starting point for a bigger conversation: what training really means once you take it outside the gym, why momentum beats motivation, and how creativity works as both a break and a reward when you are working toward something hard. They talk through: • Optimism bias• The running shoes method for building any new habit• Why core care, creative care, and community care can create a life that feels vibrant at any age. Discover how you can continue to work with Beth and Lisa by joining Sylva Sessions, an online wellness group that works with women to find more happiness and health by focusing on their Core Care, Creative Care and Community Care. Go to https://www.bdi-create.today/offers/TYb6qQtg/checkout and you can join in the next Sylva Sessions! Timestamp: 0:00 Welcome back and meet Lisa Murphy
1:00 What is a Vibrant Living Coach
2:00 Health and creativity: a hand in glove connection
3:00 Lisa's big goal: 133 miles across Wales for her 60th
4:00 What training actually means
5:00 Turning 60 and finding renewed purpose
7:00 Training is a recipe, not manifestation
8:00 Consistency beats intensity
9:00 The running shoes method for building any habit
11:00 Optimism bias, and why momentum beats motivation
12:00 Two ways Lisa brings creativity into her training
14:00 Finding creativity in an ordinary garden
16:00 Using data and rewards to push through a hard mile
17:00 Creativity as your break and your reward
19:00 Why strength training changes everything after 60
21:00 The one habit that helps you live longer
23:00 Starting slow and finding what works for you
25:00 Momentum, community, and celebrating tiny wins
28:00 Setting goals from a high vibration, not a low one
30:00 Quieting your inner critic
31:00 Do your best, and then go to bed
33:00 What Sylva Sessions really is
34:00 Why core care matters, even for artists
36:00 Your turn: what are you training for? Reach out to Lisa: Get your complimentary session: https://www.lisamurphyllc.com/ Join Beth & Lisa for Sylva Sessions Sylva Sessions is the creative wellness community Beth and Lisa co-host together, covering creative care, core care, and community care. Learn more or register at: https://www.bdi-create.today/offers/TYb6qQtg/checkout Email Beth and let’s chat:
beth@bdi-create.today The Create-Today Home Page:
https://www.bdi-create.today Subscribe for a new episode of Create-Today every week, and stay creative, my friend!

    E139 - How to Train for Life Using Your Creativity | Lisa Murphy, Vibrant Living Coach

  6. Aug 6

    E138 - What are you afraid to let go of? Let's explore your creativity

    How to increase happiness with a Creative Process that really WORKS! In this episode of Create-Today, you will explore struggles like unfinished projects and creative burnout – and how having a successful creative process helps you bypass these roadblocks. This episode digs deep into Beth’s structured framework: Going FourWords™. This is Beth's own creative process that can also help revitalize your energy and creativity. Join Beth as she discusses the four key phases of Going FourWords™: Revive, Realize, Refine, and Release These four simple words offer a roadmap to transform ideas into tangible masterpieces. In this episode you'll explore the last and very important word “Release” and you will learn how to enhance your productivity, improve the quality of your work, reduce stress, and foster greater innovation. Then… go to www.bdi-create.today and sign up for the “Going FourWords™ Clubhouse! This is the space where you can continue to navigate your creative wellness in each of the four phases – to take you to your great masterpiece! Offerings at BDI Create.Today For only  $1 - Try out the “Going FourWords” Membership 
(think of it as a Clubhouse for Creatives!)
https://www.bdi-create.today/going-fourwords-membership The Create-Today Home Page:
https://www.bdi-create.today Time Stamp: 00:00 Introduction to the Creative Process 02:15 The Importance of a Structured Creative Process 04:19 Overview of the Four Phases 05:24 Phase 1: Revive 06:34 Phase 2: Realize 07:55 Phase 3: Refine 10:20 Phase 4: Release 11:56 Benefits of a Creative Process 12:50 Close and Takeaways

    E138 - What are you afraid to let go of? Let's explore your creativity

  7. Jul 30

    E137 - Neuroscience and Creative Play - The power of creating with your hands

    Your Hands Can Fix Brain Fog Ever notice how you feel wired AND tired after a scrolling binge? That foggy, restless feeling has a name, and this episode is about the science-backed fix hiding in your own two hands. In this episode of Create Today, Beth Buffington breaks down why tactile creativity like, painting rocks, crocheting, kneading dough, coloring, and more, calms your nervous system faster than almost anything else you can do. You'll learn about:• The hand-brain connection first mapped by neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield• Why repetitive motion works like active meditation• Why a finished craft feels so different from an endless scroll. • The research on cortisol, dopamine, and oxytocin, • Seven simple ways to bring creative play into your day in as little as five minutes. (No talent and no required.) If digital fog, brain fog, or doomscrolling have been running your days, this episode gives you a real, research-backed alternatives you can start today. Join the Going FourWords™ Clubhouse, $1 for your first month, then $9 a month: https://www.bdi-create.today/going-fourwords-membershipInside the Clubhouse you'll get Beth's Best Books Book Club, the Recipe Exchange, and ongoing creative challenges with quarterly prizes. Learn about more offerings at Create-Today: www.bdi-create.today Mentioned in This Episode Rock painting markers: Click HereAir Dry Clay: Click Here Follow Beth on: Instagram: @b.b.buffington_celebratetoday Facebook: BDIcreatetoday LinkedIn: bbbuffington Pinterest: bdiboss Timestamps 0:00 The digital fog we all know 4:00 Your hands: a remote control for your nervous system 6:00 The science of creative play: the hand-brain connection 11:00 Why repetitive motion works like active meditation 15:00 The effort-driven reward circuit: dopamine vs. oxytocin 18:00 7 ways to play with your hands today 24:00 A word from our sponsor: the Going FourWords™ Clubhouse 27:00 What will you create today? #CreativePlay #HandBrainConnection #StressReliefHobbies #CreateToday

    E137 - Neuroscience and Creative Play - The power of creating with your hands

  8. Jul 23

    E136 - What You Need From Your Creativity. Guest, Ezra Vancil, Singer & Songwriter

    Artists Have to Live It Before They Can Create It Creativity is not just something you make. For Ezra Vancil, Creativity has been the saving grace that gets him through the hard parts of life, and the gift that keeps handing him back his own confidence. Ezra is a Texas based singer, songwriter, poet, and author whose career spans more than three decades. He is a Kerrville New Folk finalist, a New Song Competition winner, and a South by Southwest showcased artist, and his music has been featured on VH1 and the BBC. These days he lives in an East Texas forest, performs alongside his daughter Cozi, and writes music centered on redemption, resilience, faith, and the pursuit of wholeness over fame. In this conversation, Ezra and Beth talk about what happens when a record deal falls apart and there’s no plan B, why confidence and creativity build on each other in a loop, how decades of scattered attempts eventually turn into something meaningful, and why Ezra’s goal with his creative work is to write his life’s experiences and stories to help others endure the hard parts of life a little easier. If you’ve ever needed your creativity to carry you through something hard, this conversation is for you. Chapters  0:00 Meet Ezra Vancil2:00 Life in the East Texas woods, and why silence fuels the work5:00 Dropped from his label at 21, and why nothing creative goes to waste9:00 Decades spent learning poetry. Learn the rules, then throw them out.13:00 Why “do whatever you want” is a creative's worst nightmare14:00 His unstructured morning practice, and quieting the comparison spiral18:00 The bird analogy. Art as digested truth, given back to the people who need it.23:00 The pressed flower story. Waiting years to get a piece of art back.27:00 Redeeming the past through music, and healing his family through Morning and Midnight31:00 Getting sober, hiring a coach, and rebuilding confidence on stage34:00 Fear as a compass. It always points the wrong way.39:00 “The answer is in the work,” and beating gear acquisition syndrome43:00 Where to find Ezra's music, poetry, and Morning and Midnight Find Ezra Vancil and his musicWebsite: https://ezravancil.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ezravancil/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/53DBJZYKrYOYUGz0co8XLQApple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/ezra-vancil/412473491 Find Create Today Website: https://www.bdi-create.today Join the Going FourWords™ Membership: https://www.bdi-create.today/going-fourwords-membership Create Today Membership: https://www.bdi-create.today/membership_coaching Sylva Sessions: https://www.bdi-create.today/sylva Instagram: @b.b.buffington_celebratetoday   Facebook: BDIcreatetoday   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbbuffington/   Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/BDICreateToday/

    E136 - What You Need From Your Creativity. Guest, Ezra Vancil, Singer & Songwriter
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

Whether you see yourself as a seasoned artist, or you’re just starting to dip your toes into creativity, this podcast is here to show you how YOUR creativity can benefit your mental health, personal growth, and even professional success. Cool, right? Think of me (Beth Buffington) as your companion on a creative journey to unlock the magic of creativity in your day-to-day. I’ll be here, sharing stories, chatting with other creatives in the know, sharing tips, and laughs as we explore the real-world perks of getting and staying creative. Tune in, and let's journey into the wonderful world of creativity together!

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