This week we are so happy to welcome James McCrae, also known as @wordsarevibrations. James is a poet, writer, coach, teacher AND our favorite meme maker who left a corporate advertising career to make a living from his art.
Nina first met him in Topanga during COVID lockdown, singing kirtan in the canyons. Now he lives on a ranch in Texas, and we finally get to sit down and talk.
We talk about grief as a portal for poetry, leaving a job that doesn’t feed your soul and how he turned memes, humor and edgy topics into a creative business.
We go into AI and why it can’t replace human expression, or a hug. We talk about the political climate and a changing world. And we talk about regulating your nervous system, writing as a somatic practice and why the brain is overrated.
At the end James reads a poem, his instructions before visiting earth. It’s his addition to the manual that never arrived. Press play and stay for the poem.
Buy James book: Before Visiting Earth
Follow us:
Timestamps
00.00 Intro and welcome to James McCrae. How we met in Topanga during lockdown.
03.25 Grief as a potent portal and turning heartbreak into poetry.
04.44 Why he left LA for Austin. Quarantine, lockdown and why Texas of all places.
10.00 Leaving corporate advertising and NYC to make a living from his art.
10.40 Why it feels yucky to give all your energy to brands you don’t care about.
11.45 His first book, written while working full-time. Getting laid off and figuring out how to make money with his creativity.
13.40 Everyone has something to teach.
15.50 Humor as a way to say what you really want to say.
20.45 AI and art. How he uses it and how he doesn’t.
28.18 Can AI give us a really nice hug?
31.40 The 2030 agenda and a changing world.
38.40 Change is uncomfortable. Why disruption might be part of getting to a better place.
39.40 Writing as a somatic practice.
41.22 The brain is overrated.
45.30 How to make a living with your art.
55.00 James reads the instructions before visiting earth, his addition to the manual that never arrived.
01.00.38 Words are keys and magic spells.
01.05.15 Find your own voice. Don’t be so polished, let yourself be weird and real.
","author_name":"Sophia Kirgiopoulos & Nina Medicina"}