What are we seeking when we seek a creative life? with Paulette Perhach

In this episode of The Mettā Interview, host Anne V Mühlethaler welcomes Paulette Perhach, a New York Times contributor, writing coach, and creator of the Writer's Mission Control Center software. Author of "Welcome to the Writer's Life" and two viral essays read by millions, Paulette brings her unique blend of humor, vulnerability, and business acumen to help writers build sustainable creative practices.

Paulette traces her writing journey from declaring her ambition at a bus stop at age 10 (where her best friend immediately warned her how hard it would be) to discovering Excel as "the brain I wasn't born with" during college. She reveals how her generalized anxiety disorder intertwined with undiagnosed ADHD shaped her path, leading her to meditation in her early twenties and eventually to creating A Very Important Meeting during COVID—a daily meditation-and-writing community that continues seven days a week.

Paulette also shares with Anne the nearing completion of her novel – a decade-long journey of writing and rewriting, along with the third iteration of her Writer's Mission Control Center software. As a late-diagnosed ADHD writer, she shares how creating structures and processes has become central to both her own practice and her teaching philosophy.

In exploring their central question, "What are we seeking when we seek a creative life?", Paulette explores a pivotal moment when business friends suggested she could make more money. She revisits other meaningful stories from her past, exploring how examples of freedom like spending a day in the sun, power up her desire not only for a creative life but one with flexibility. One made for enjoyment, not just work. 

Paulette touches on her father's death when she was a teenager, a revelatory moment under South American moonlit sky, and her ongoing dance between caring about Instagram likes and seeking profound human connection. Paulette explains her recent embrace of performance — from her viral "Trauma Kitchen" skit to upcoming nunchuck comedy —  as something that represents her decision to remove artistic molds and let creativity flow wherever it wants.

A conversation that brilliantly captures the tension between artistic calling and economic reality, offering both practical wisdom and philosophical depth for anyone navigating the creative life, all that delivered with honesty and humour.

Happy listening!

Website: https://PaulettePerhach.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulettejperhach/
Powerhouse Writers: https://www.powerhousewriters.com/
Welcome to the Writer's Life newsletter: welcometothewriterslife.com
Writer's Mission Control Center software: https://www.writersmissioncontrolcenter.com/

Paulette's Work:

Book: "Welcome to the Writer's Life" (Sasquatch Books/Penguin Random House)
Viral essay: "A Story of a Fuck Off Fund" (anthologized in "The Future is Feminist")
Regular contributor: The New York Times, Vox, Elle, The Washington Post, Slate
The Trauma Kitchen skit on Paulette’s Instagram

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