Whole-Hearted or Half-Hearted. How do you approach life? Is your heart invested in what you do? Today's guest asks herself that on a regular basis, and makes choices based on the answer.

Beth Heather Macy has been living her life in a way that is directed by joy and what brings her fun. But fun isn't always what you think. Beth is an acknowledged right brain/left brain combination. Her career, both in the military and high tech, is decidedly left brain. Yet, she uses the strengths of that process of thinking, to manage her right brain's loves of art, painting, and nature. She feels that she's had an unplanned career that was her own personal path to her current "job" as the writer of the Moscow Nights series of spy thrillers. When I first met Beth, some years ago, she was an avid painter/artist, with paintings in progress all over her house, showing regularly. But life happens, and with Mosco Nights, Beth is starting on book four, and sees no sign of her story or her passion for writing, ending soon!

As we chat, Beth references the old adage, "Write what you know." I heard this back in high school, and it always felt unfair. I hadn't even started my life, what did I know? Beth, however, is drawing on a life filled with adventure and travel. She was involved in the military and later cybersecurity and is a Cold War Vet. She has lived and worked in Russia and started life as a child growing up among the oil paints and artwork of her mom and other relatives. She's also a fitness enthusiast, and a trainer, and has worked in social work, and as a teacher. But the one thing that is a constant in her life is creativity.

Our conversation runs the gamut, from strategizing the publication of her books to her process of what is essentially Swedish death cleaning, to finding joy with her dogs, sharing art exhibits with her sisters (The Macy Women Art Exhibits), working with editors, and recognizing what types of feedback are most conducive to her continued creation. Positive feedback provides a whole lot more inspiration than negative.

Beth's education included majors in both math and chemistry. She loves the order, structure, and cerebral involvement of both. Does that sound like someone who would end up spending their free time and much of retirement life painting and writing novels? But people's lives can surprise you. I think today's episode also includes a few surprises! May it also inspire you to pursue those creative paths you may be thinking of. A lifetime of tech and structure doesn't mean your free time and retirement have to stay within the lines!

Thanks for listening, and please subscribe for more from It's All Creative.

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