Every creative practice begins with a choice: to start before you feel ready. In this episode, Annie uses the Fool to explore creative beginnings, tracing a path through tarot archetypes like Judgement, the Magician, and the Star to show how courage, craft, and hope work together, and why progress starts with simply showing up and writing.

Visit thepoetrylab.com to find the Show Notes for this episode. The Poetry Lab Podcast is produced by Danielle Mitchell, with special guest hosts Lori Walker, Leonora Simonovis, Ravina Wadhwani, and Annie Freshwater.

EPISODE GUIDE

Starting isn't about certainty. It's about choosing to move before you feel ready.

01:20 — The Energy of Beginning (The Fool)
Why new creative starts feel both magical and terrifying, and why that tension is part of the process.

03:30 — Stepping Into the Unknown (The Fool)
What it means to begin without guarantees and trust the path as it unfolds.

05:30 — Fear and Stagnation (The Fool Reversed)
How hesitation, over-preparing, and distraction keep you from starting at all.

07:00 — Movement Over Mastery (The Fool in Action)
A clear directive to stop waiting and start writing, even in small, imperfect ways.

08:45 — Answering the Creative Call (Judgment)
How beginning leads to deeper questions about purpose, voice, and what you are here to express.

10:30 — Turning Ideas Into Practice (The Magician)
Shaping inspiration into something real through craft, skill, and consistency.

11:45 — Writing Through Hope and Healing (The Star)
Why belief in your work and connection to meaning sustain the creative process.

13:30 — Catching the Spark (Ace of Wands)
How to act on creative impulses in real time and channel raw inspiration into action.

15:30 — From Idea to Completion (Ace of Pentacles)
Moving from inspiration into revision, structure, and the tangible work of finishing and submitting.

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In this personal episode, Leo reflects on her decision to leave a tenured academic career after nearly two decades of teaching. She explores the emotional and systemic challenges of academia, including burnout, institutional constraints, and questions of identity and creative freedom, while honoring the role poetry played in guiding her toward a more expansive, self-directed life.

Visit thepoetrylab.com to find the Show Notes for this episode. The Poetry Lab Podcast is produced by Danielle Mitchell, with special guest hosts Lori Walker, Leonora Simonovis, Ravina Wadhwani, and Annie Freshwater.

EPISODE GUIDE

What happens when the dream job no longer fits? This episode explores the courage it takes to leave and begin again.

01:20 — The Decision to Leave
After nearly two decades in academia, Leo names the moment she chose to walk away from tenure.

02:30 — The Reality Behind the Dream
What academia asks of you beyond teaching, including bureaucracy, gatekeeping, and silence.

04:10 — When Staying Becomes Survival
The emotional, physical, and mental toll of remaining in a system that no longer aligns.

05:20 — Why I Left
A clear and candid breakdown of the core reasons, from lack of growth to imbalance and emotional labor.

07:40 — You're Not Alone
Zooming out to the larger pattern of academics leaving and what that reveals.

09:15 — Life After Academia
What opens up on the other side: clarity, creative freedom, and teaching on your own terms.

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You don't need to find your voice. You need to trust it. This episode unpacks how doubt, comparison, and over-editing pull you away from your natural rhythm—and offers practical ways to reconnect with the voice that's already yours, messy, honest, and powerful.

Visit thepoetrylab.com to find the Show Notes for this episode. The Poetry Lab Podcast is produced by Danielle Mitchell, with special guest hosts Lori Walker, Leonora Simonovis, Ravina Wadhwani, and Annie Freshwater.

EPISODE GUIDE

What if the voice you're searching for is the one you've been editing out? This episode shows you how to return to it.

02:15 — The Myth of "Finding Your Voice"
Why the idea that your voice is hidden or missing might be the very thing holding you back.

04:00 — Your Voice Is Already Here
What voice actually is and how it shows up in your instincts, rhythms, and emotional imprint.

06:00 — How We Start Writing Away from Ourselves
How doubt and imitation creep in, pulling your voice further from what's already there.

09:15 — What Gets in the Way
Comparison, over-editing, feedback fear, and platform pressure that flatten your work.

10:30 — How to Build Trust with Your Voice
Practical ways in, including voice notes, writing letters, and letting messy drafts stand.

14:00 — What Happens When You Stop Forcing It
Writing becomes faster, more honest, and more connected when you stop performing.

16:00 — Finding Your Way Back (SOS Plan)
What to do when your voice feels distant, including grounding, small truths, and quiet re-entry.

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In the debut episode of her new Creative Tarot series, join host Annie Freshwater as she explores The Empress, tarot's archetype of creative fertility and abundance. Through personal reflection and insight, Annie reframes creativity as something organic and cyclical rather than forced, unpacks the deeper roots of creative block, and offers a guided meditation to help you reconnect with your body, replenish your inner resources, and invite inspiration back in.

Visit thepoetrylab.com to find the Show Notes for this episode. The Poetry Lab Podcast is produced by Danielle Mitchell, with special guest hosts Lori Walker, Leonora Simonovis, Ravina Wadhwani, and Annie Freshwater.

EPISODE GUIDE

What can The Empress teach you about your creativity? This episode shows you how to work with this tarot archetype to restore flow.

04:20 — The Empress and Creative Energy
A model of creativity that is intuitive, embodied, and never forced.

06:00 — Feeding The Empress Within
Why inspiration begins with the senses and how pleasure and beauty fuel your creative life.

07:00 — The Empress Does Not Force
Letting go of control and learning to nurture your work with care instead of pressure.

09:30 — The Empress Reversed: When Creativity Dries Up
Understanding creative blocks as lack, not failure, and what they reveal about your needs.

12:00 — An Empty Cup Cannot Create
Burnout, overcommitment, and the emotional realities that stall your creative process.

14:00 — Returning to The Empress
A personal path back to writing through imperfection, patience, and self-trust.

16:00 — Inviting The Empress In
Shifting from control to invitation and tending your creativity with intention.

17:00 — Embodying The Empress (Guided Practice)
A meditation to reconnect with your body, release tension, and restore creative flow.

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Submitting a poetry manuscript can feel overwhelming, even when the work itself is finished. In this episode, Leo breaks down the key decisions involved in submitting your manuscript, shares strategies for staying organized, and offers thoughtful guidance on how to choose the right places to send your work.

Visit thepoetrylab.com to find the Show Notes for this episode. The Poetry Lab Podcast is produced by Danielle Mitchell, with special guest hosts Lori Walker, Leonora Simonovis, Ravina Wadhwani, and Annie Freshwater.

EPISODE GUIDE

Finishing a manuscript is one thing. Sending it out is another. This episode walks you through exactly how to do it well.

02:30 — Is Your Manuscript Ready?
How to know when your collection is truly finished and what signals to trust before submitting.

03:00 — Strengthening the Manuscript
Feedback, title, structure, and form—what to refine before sending your work out.

05:00 — Final Materials to Prepare
Notes, acknowledgments, and writing a clear, compelling blurb for your manuscript.

06:30 — Where and How to Submit
Contests, open reading periods, fees, and how to research the right presses for your work.

08:00 — Building Your Submission System
Tracking submissions, setting a budget, and organizing your process so you don't burn out.

09:30 — Submitting with Intention
Reading guidelines carefully, pacing your submissions, and staying consistent.

10:00 — Rejection and the Long Game
Why "no thank you" letters are part of the process and how to stay grounded through it.

10:40 — Let the Work Do Its Work
Resisting the urge to over-revise and trusting your manuscript once it's out in the world.

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Creative energy isn't meant to be constant. In this episode, Lori Walker explores how seasonal and internal energy shifts shape a writer's creative life, and how to work with those rhythms instead of forcing productivity.

Visit thepoetrylab.com to find the Show Notes for this episode. The Poetry Lab Podcast is produced by Danielle Mitchell, with special guest hosts Lori Walker, Leonora Simonovis, Ravina Wadhwani, and Annie Freshwater.

EPISODE GUIDE

Your energy moves in cycles, even if you've been taught to ignore them. Follow Lori as she steps out of productivity pressure.

02:30 — The Myth of Constant Productivity
Why hustle culture fails writers and what it ignores about creative cycles.

04:00 — Tuning Into Your Own Rhythm
How to recognize your personal creative patterns instead of following external timelines.

06:10 — Mapping Your Creative Cycles
Identifying your phases—beginning, high energy, waning, and rest—and what each one offers.

08:20 — Working With Your Energy (Not Against It)
Practical ways to align your writing practice with your current creative state.

10:00 — No Gimmicks, No Performance
Why you don't need to brand your creative cycles or turn them into content.

11:50 — You Are Not Behind
A grounding reminder: your rhythm is valid, your pace is real, and your work is still unfolding.

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What does it mean to fully step into a poem, on the page and on the stage? In this episode, we explore vulnerability and spoken word performance, the courage it takes to share your work, and how embodiment can deepen a poem's emotional impact.

Visit thepoetrylab.com to find the Show Notes for this episode. The Poetry Lab Podcast is produced by Danielle Mitchell, with special guest hosts Lori Walker, Leonora Simonovis, Ravina Wadhwani, and Annie Freshwater.

EPISODE GUIDE

The poem asks more of you than performance. This episode explores what it means to meet it there.

02:30 — Performance as Power
What it means to take the stage and center your voice in a world that rarely lets you.

04:20 — Where Vulnerability Lives in the Work
How embodiment and emotional truth make a poem land and stay with an audience.

05:30 — When Performance Takes Over
How fear, validation, and audience perception can distort the truth of the poem.

06:40 — The Line Between Vulnerability and Performance
Not retraumatizing yourself, but allowing yourself to testify from a place of truth.

07:40 — Stop Editing for the Audience
Why your work has to sit right with you before it can reach anyone else.

08:40 — A Practice in Vulnerability
A guided writing exercise to reconnect with the soul of your work.

10:00 — Tools for Creative Trust
How resources like The Artist's Way and Steal Like an Artist support deeper, more honest creation.

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Creative burnout and life burnout can look similar, but they need very different kinds of care. In this episode, Lori breaks down how to tell the difference, what questions to ask yourself, and how to give your mind and body the support they need. It's part reflection, part toolkit, and full of permission to rest.

Visit thepoetrylab.com to find the Show Notes for this episode. The Poetry Lab Podcast is produced by Danielle Mitchell, with special guest hosts Lori Walker, bridgette bianca, Leonora Simonovis and Ravina Wadhwani.

EPISODE GUIDE

Burnout isn't always what you think it is. This episode helps you identify whether you're creatively burned out or simply overwhelmed by life, and what to do next.

03:40 — Creative Burnout vs. Life Burnout
Why not all burnout is the same—and how misidentifying it keeps you stuck.

06:00 — What Creative Burnout Feels Like
When you've pushed too hard inside your creative practice and need reconnection, not discipline.

08:20 — What Life Burnout Looks Like
When exhaustion comes from outside your creative work—and writing isn't the problem.

10:40 — Choosing the Right Kind of Care
Creative burnout needs curiosity and space. Life burnout needs gentleness, triage, and rest.

12:00 — You Are Not Failing
A reframe for the guilt and self-blame that comes with losing momentum.

14:00 — Working With the Season You're In
How to respond to burnout with awareness instead of force—and give yourself what you actually need.

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