In episode 19 of the Mindful Creator, I sit down with Andy Hayes, creative entrepreneur and founder of Plum Deluxe, to talk about what it takes to create moments that matter.
Started in 2007 with the goal of fostering a national conversation around mindfulness and self-care, Plum Deluxe is a website and online community dedicated to helping people create moments that matter.
In our discussion, Andy and I take a deeper look at the subjective nature of building a life of meaning and why it’s important to remain open to possibility on the creative journey.

Link Love
Phil Burnstein
Fizzle.co
Heather Strang
The Creative Habit – Twyla Tharp
In this Episode

* Andy takes us through his journey of self actualization as a creator/entrepreneur – starting with his experience making magazines and books by hand as a child to his long career in software and tech to the severe stress and health challenges that prompted him to make a change.
* What we can learn from loss: Brett and Andy talk about losing a parent and how you can reshape the space created in a time of grief to build something positive.
* The threads of life experience and how even the most unnoticeable things interconnect to influence what we do as creative people.
* Andy talks about his different perspectives on the creative journey from what he learned from his family as well as his previous career.
* Andy talks about his knack for seeing how all the pieces fit and how he’s leveraged this to help build Plum Deluxe.
* How Andy’s life and work experiences shaped his definition of intention and meaning.
* Learning how to stay calm and navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship.
* Why a lot of learning to live intentionally is about accepting and embracing what happens that you can’t control.
* Learning to be lovingly neutral (see also what Buddhists refer to as equanimity) and accept what is.
* Why our reaction to challenges has more impact on our success than almost any other factor.
* Andy drops a baseball analogy on this beast (boom).
* Andy talks about what a meaningful moment is to him and breaks down how the tiny moments in each day comprise what he defines as opportunities to lead a good life.
* Andy: “Living a good life, to me, means looking at how you spend your time.” (note, Andy is specific in mentioning that the how is not just about productivity)
* The process vs. the outcome of meaning: Embracing the small things that build up to a big moment.
* Andy gives his thoughts on the “lifestyle improvement/optimization” movement that has exploded over the last 3-4 years.
* Brett: “Is having meaning in your life always about change or is it about embracing what you have?”
* Following the model of self improvement that paints a bit too rosy of a picture on what it takes to lead a fulfilled life.
* Andy: “Let’s promote conversations that empower people to try these things and figure them out as opposed to dictating.”
* Brett: “I’ve come to the conclusion over recent months, but especially very profoundly in recent weeks, that a lot of people are full of shit.”
* Why helping the people we serve should be more about empowerment.
* Andy slays the emulation dragon: “I’m going to give everyone listening permission to choose the things that you want and leave everything else behind.”
* Why we need to get away from this dogmatic idea that living a life of intention or “chasing down the dream” is all or nothing.