A short bonus episode showcasing a few standout moments from this week's guest interview with Sarah Ellen Masters ~

Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic

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Radim: Welcome to another episode of the Daring Creativity Podcast. I'm back to unpack some of the gems from this week's conversation, Pulled up those moments that deserve a second look and dig deeper into what makes them special. 

 This week I spoke to Sarah Ellen, master, a collage artist and founder of colay. She leads workshops that offered safe supportive spaces she never had when learning to live and work with dyslexia. In our conversation, Sarah explored why collage asked nothing of perfections, how her diary entries became her mourning visual pages, and why people are starving for hands-on connection in the screen saturated world.

The episode published a few days ago was titled Dare to Pick Up the Pieces, and it was one of those raw and honest conversation thatresonated with listeners far and white. If you haven't checked out a full episode yet, let me share with you these four standout moments.

Sarah: I don't think I actually also realized that

till later, how dyslexic I am, as a child. had a really tough time at school not fitting in and there was just not the curriculum or, opportunities to explore the different ways that I learn.

 In fact I was moved to schools because my parents realized I wasn't very happy and I think they were doing the best that they

could. So put me into a different school in order to

try and help change the way I learned. But actually, I don't think the facilities were in place in any schooling system.

 Yes. when I was early adolescence, I was put into a private school. And again, the schooling system just wasn't in place for me to the point where I wasn't only bullied by other kids, but I was told,

 In front of a class by the teacher that I was

stupid.

As I've mentioned in the intro, and if you have listened to Sarah's conversation, it was a very honest encounter of. What it was like to be, and what it might be still like to be going through the school system with dyslexia, 

 and this moment in her life landed hard because it didn't come from a peer. This comment came from a person whose job was to believe in her. A teacher holds enormous power over how a child understands their own worth.

And Sarah was given the worst possible verdict in the most public way imaginable. What makes it especially significant in the context of the conversation is that through line, it creates every piece of Sarah's story, the isolation, the shame, the out of body experiences, the lay discovery of high creativity.

It traces back to this moment. And yet here she is, a running workshop specially designed to make people feel capable and seen. That is not just resilience. that's a complete reversal of the damage turned into a mission.

Sarah: somebody had mentioned collage, which is really interesting because when I'd done my bachelor's, we'd had a term on collage and I, I had such a bias about it, I thought it was just kids play. I was like, this is nonsense. Like, why are we doing

this? and I had a very opinionated friend that was also on board with this

we're like, this is

just ridiculous that we've got a whole term doing this. So I had just thought it was

complete nonsense, but I think when I got to my master's level, I

wanted to question that bias because I was starting to realize that a lot

of the assumptions I had

about creativity were very wrong. So I decided

to explore collage for that reason, to understand why I thought it was invaluable,

The best origin stories often start with the thing the hero dismisses. Sarah didn't reluctantly warm to collage. She actively rolled her eyes at it. that 180 degree shift makes a conviction so much more credible now because she's earned it through genuine questioning rather than blind enthusiasm.

He also makes it a far better advocate for the medium When a workshop participant walks in skeptical, Sarah can honestly say, I was you. I thought this was a waste of time too. That shared starting point is incredibly disarming. it removes the pedestal levels, the room, and builds trust instantly.

her passion isn't inherited or assume it's the product of real intellectual challenge. She says herself and then makes every word she says about collage carry genuine weight.

Sarah: I wrote out diary entries for each month of the previous year. And then I would combine that into three words that summarize the diary entry. then I would find imagery. 

So it could be abstract or it could be literal, but basically I was just finding, and not even necessarily going out to do it, but I would find what I had to hand that matched these words.

And then I started creating collages out of that. And I was starting to feel a sense of being seen through my work and process on a probably very self-conscious level what I'd gone through. So that was the start of my practice. the more practice I got into and I was trying different things, I was trying, like creating collage just in black and white to start with just with one color and kind of finding my way in what helped ground 

me and get more focused,

 but the other thing I also think is really valuable is I went through a season of reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, and I couldn't get into that because it's very, again, like the practice of the morning pages is obviously all very text-based. So I kind of see my collage practice as a visual way of doing the morning pages. So I use collage. My collage practice has basically become a way of getting out what's inside with what's to hand, 

So I mentioned Julia Cameron's book The Artist Way. And if you're familiar with the book mentions mourning pages that are beloved by many. but let's be honest, they might not work for everyone, especially if you're dyslexic and words have always felt like the enemy.

What Sarah did here is quietly brilliant. She took an established creative framework and rewired it completely replacing language with image text, with texture, writing with Macon. That's not just the workaround, it's innovation.

It shows a deep intuitive understanding of what the practice is actually for. Externalizing the internal creating space between you and your thoughts and found a route there is that soothes her how mine actually works for anyone who's ever bounced off traditional journaling. this reframe is genuinely liberating.

It suggests that the method matters far less than the intention behind it.

Sarah: I think it's May Angelou. That said she learned from a really early age to have her own back. And I think that I am now reveling in getting in the reps because I can give myself a kudos just for showing up and just getting an extra rep in.

And the more reps you do you just marginally. Get a little bit closer to confidence every time, and that there's no ceiling to that. 

 today I get anxiety over sending a voice note and I've just come on a podcast.

 I hope this moment and this conversation travels even further than it has already. 'cause it's one of these episodes that I genuinely knew that when we finished it, it was so raw and honest and so relatable because. Yes, I, you know, I choose guests from all walks of life.

You, some of those that are known around the world, some of those who have had their 30, 40 year career, and they can eloquently speak about their careers. The episodes of travel. The Furst are the ones like this one with Sarah, because those stories feel so human and so relatable, and a lot of people actually see themselves.

They can actually hear their own echoes of their own story. 

 for anyone hearing to this quote can agree that this moment makes the episode real. It would be easy to package Sarah's story as a need arc. Shame to healing, to confidence, but this single line punctures any tidy narrative, she's not fixed.

She's not cured. She still feels anxious about the smallest acts of communication. And yet she showed up, she spoke to me for over an hour. She had some of the most vulnerable parts of her life. If an audience, she'll never  meet. That gap between the fear and the action is where all the courage lives.

 It's also the most practical thing anyone listening can take away. You don't wait to feel brave before you do the thing. You do the thing shaken, and that is the bravery. Thank you for joining me on this bonus episode. I can only encourage you to check out a full conversation with Sarah Ellen Masters.

It's one of those conversations that will stay around for a while and thank you. I'll see you on the next one.