Welcome to the Gathering Pod, the audio version of my weekly gathering room broadcast. I'm Martha Beck.

So today's topic is one fear at a time, and it comes out of my continuing study of anxiety,

especially in my brain research. I do love to do some brain research. And I have read and read and read and read about

anxiety. And new things keep popping into my mind. And here was one. I am watching a show about pottery.

It's very exciting. How many of you have watched the Great British Bakeoff?

Bake show? Baking show, it's called here. I love that great baking show. Have you watched it? If you

haven't, you must. It's a bunch of people baking in a room and then two judges come in and taste what

they make and look at it and criticize it and then they give awards. Anyway, it's been so

successful that it spawned a number of other shows. And the show I am watching is called the Great

Pottery Throwdown. And it's about potters that go into a room with wheels and clay and whatnot. And they're

given these challenges and they have to make pots

or make sculptures or do whatever. And then the judges come in. And it's especially delightful

because one of the judges, I think I've said this before because I love it so much, he's this big

guy named Keith and he's hulking from years of throwing massive pots on wheels. And he's very adorable. And the thing

that is most adorable about him is that if he sees a pot that really looks good to him, he cannot stop

crying. I love him. Everyone loves him. Everybody wants to make Keith cry. But that is not my point.

My point is that I'm studying fear and creativity.

And one of the very solid research findings is that you can't be fearful and creative at the same time.

The moment you try to push people to be creative, their creativity dives.

They can't do a thing.

Even if, like if you say, okay, make up a limerick or

I'll kill your mother, they obviously are going to freeze, right? But even if you say to

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