Creative Pep Talk Podcast – Episode 527

"Visual Journaling: Generate Ideas, Mindfulness and Creative Voice with Samantha Dion Baker"

Host: Andy J. Pizza
Guest: Samantha Dion Baker (Author/Illustrator, "Draw Your Day," "Draw Your Adventures")
Release Date: October 22, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the power of visual journaling as a method to transform daily life into creative inspiration, mindfulness, and the development of a unique creative voice. Andy J. Pizza talks with author and illustrator Samantha Dion Baker about how she rekindled her love for observational drawing, how creativity can nurture mental health (or cause harm if mismanaged), and embracing “unchosen adventures” as meaningful material for creative work. They dig into practical strategies for making creativity a consistent, low-pressure practice, and explore how to rediscover joy in the act of creating for its own sake.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Creativity and Mental Health: The Double-Edged Sword

[00:03]

• Andy highlights how creativity is often celebrated for its mental health benefits but warns it can also turn toxic if associated with pressure or identity issues:
  • "If you have lost the love of creating, today's episode I think will really help you." – Andy [00:03]
• The purpose of the episode is to help listeners rekindle a positive, joyful relationship with creativity.

2. Samantha’s Creative Journey: From Design to Visual Journaling

[06:14-09:11]

• Samantha shares her professional background in graphic design and how motherhood made her rethink creativity. Drawing became a portable, meaningful companion she could do while being present with her children.
• She stresses the "compounded benefits" of visual journaling:
  • Mindfulness and being present
  • Practice and skill growth
  • Keeping "a log of our lives":
  • "There's compounded benefits to it, to my practice, and that is just really being present, seeing and absorbing what's happening in the moment." – Samantha [08:07]

3. Rebuilding a Creative Habit: Start Small and Low-Stakes

[09:11–12:26]

• Andy and Samantha discuss the all-or-nothing mentality that often derails creative momentum.
  • Andy compares it to "dating creativity again" instead of jumping in 100%:
  • "It's like a relationship with an ex…let's get married. And you're like, hold on, Whoa. Just slow it down a little bit." – Andy [09:33]
• Samantha describes how her sketchbook practice started with playful design and handwriting before growing into more sustained drawing.

4. Childhood Roots and Artistic Insecurity

[12:57–15:49]

• Samantha grew up in an artistic family (grandmother sculptor, mother illustrator, sister artist) and always kept sketchbooks.
• She struggled with comparing herself to her sister, feeling she "wasn't the real drawer," and describes the difference between drawing realistically vs. from imagination.

5. Integrating Design Sensibility into Drawing

[17:39–21:56]

• Samantha’s years in graphic design shaped her visual journaling—composition, balance, and color became foundational.
• Andy notes this as a crucial insight: that a creative practice is more about developing an "eye for pictures" (taste) than raw skill.

6. Drawing as Storytelling: Choosing What to Remember

[23:12–31:19]

• Samantha acknowledges that her visual journal serves her "future self," capturing memories, sometimes with practical value, but mostly for personal growth and reflection.
• Andy points out her editorial eye in selecting what to capture, akin to "writing with pictures."
  • "You’re having this, like, empathy for future you…because you don’t often capture the obvious stuff." – Andy [25:14]

Notable Moment: The "Call Your Mom" Mural

[26:13–31:19]

• Samantha shares an emotional story: During a difficult transition (her son leaving college to live on his own), she found solace in drawing a stranger on a bus and a mural reading "Call your mom."
  • "Sometimes life just hands you these things. But if you’re not looking, you’ll miss them… It doesn’t matter how you draw it… the storytelling in these moments and savoring it and sitting with it." – Samantha [29:07]

7. Presence and the Everyday Adventure

[33:46–38:20]

• Andy and Samantha discuss the importance of not escaping reality through art, but "going deeper into it."
  • "Adventure is right here. It's here if you will look for it." – Andy [33:46]
• Samantha explains how drawing the mundane (waiting rooms, the DMV, shoes, hands) brings mindfulness and presence.

8. Developing Creative Voice: Follow What Draws You In

[38:20–42:54]

• Samantha urges artists to notice what they’re naturally drawn to and trust that instinct.
  • "That's where so much of your voice comes from—just letting yourself be magnetized to the things that are drawing you in and then trusting that." – Andy [42:16]

9. The "Unchosen Adventure" and Using Creativity as Coping

[43:28–47:34]

• The concept of the "unchosen adventure": Using creativity to engage with life’s less desirable moments (chores, appointments, even adversity).
  • Samantha suggests making a creative project out of repeated, unwanted experiences (e.g., sketching at every doctor’s visit):
  • "Maybe there’s a way of actually getting yourself somewhat excited about that because you have a creative project in mind… it doesn’t matter almost what it is." – Samantha [43:46]
• Andy connects this to Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey: most creative inspiration comes from reluctant journeys.
  • "Some of those difficulties, those roadblocks, end up being the creative fodder for our best work." – Andy [50:39]

10. Balancing Comfort and Challenge in Creative Practice

[47:34–49:46]

• Samantha likens her drawing habit to meditation, helping her regulate anxiety and stay present.
  • "You want to do what's comfortable and easy for you 75% of the time, but then push it… The challenge should not be the whole practice." – Samantha [49:14]
• Andy references "flow" science: ideally, creative work sits around 70% skill and 30% stretch.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• "If you have lost the love of creating, today's episode I think will really help you." – Andy J. Pizza [00:03]
• "It's literally doodling through experiences. And then I realized one day that I was like, drawing our day. And that's where the draw your day came." – Samantha Dion Baker [11:56]
• "Sometimes life just hands you these things. But if you’re not looking, you’ll miss them." – Samantha Dion Baker [29:07]
• "Adventure is right here. It's here if you will look for it." – Andy J. Pizza [33:46]
• "There are so many ways of breathing excitement into, like, the most mundane situation." – Samantha Dion Baker [45:36]
• "You want to do what's comfortable and easy for you 75% of the time, but then push it… The challenge should not be the whole practice." – Samantha Dion Baker [49:14]
• "Some of those difficulties, those roadblocks, end up being the creative fodder for our best work." – Andy J. Pizza [50:39]

Important Timestamps

• [00:03] – Andy’s introduction: Creativity, mental health, and relationship to creative practice.
• [06:14] – Samantha’s transition from design to drawing as daily practice.
• [09:11] – The pitfalls of “all or nothing” approaches to creativity.
• [12:57] – Samantha’s childhood art roots, insecurities, and family background.
• [17:39] – How design background shapes her sketchbook pages.
• [21:56] – Observational drawing as storytelling and self-discovery.
• [26:13] – "Call Your Mom" mural story: Capturing meaning beyond the obvious.
• [33:46] – Drawing as presence: Finding adventure in the everyday.
• [38:20] – Trusting your creative instincts and developing voice.
• [43:28] – Embracing "unchosen adventure": Drawing life’s challenges.
• [47:34] – Creativity as meditation and anxiety regulation.
• [49:14] – Comfort/challenge balance: The 70/30 rule.

Creative Call to Adventure (Actionable Takeaway)

[50:50]

• Embrace the “Unchosen Adventure.”
  Bring your sketchbook or journal to an event or obligation you’re “dreading” (e.g., waiting rooms, chores, boring meetings).
  Use the act of creative observation as a way to both process the experience and generate new ideas.
• Guiding Principle: Find one thing, no matter how mundane, to record. Over time, these observations become a unique window into your life and a soothing, centering practice.

Where to Find Samantha Dion Baker

• Books: "Draw Your Adventures," "Draw Your Day" – available wherever books are sold.
• Substack: Draw youw World
• Instagram: @sdionbakerdesign

Closing Thoughts

This episode beautifully illustrates the power of creative practice to turn life—especially its unchosen, everyday moments—into rich, mindful story fodder. Both Andy and Samantha model how creative discipline, built on kindness, small steps, and deep presence, can transform how we experience and remember our days.

“It doesn’t matter how you draw…it’s about the storytelling in these moments and savoring it and sitting with it.” – Samantha Dion Baker [29:07]

Further Listening

Check out more episodes of Creative Pep Talk at creativepeptalk.com.
Follow Andy J. Pizza: andyjpizza.com

This summary skips all advertisements and non-content chatter. All timestamps refer to the episode’s main conversation.