Most of us learned as kids what was “real” and what wasn’t. We were taught how to behave, how to fit in, and where the limits of possibility lived. But what if those limits were never real to begin with?

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Deborah Ann Baker, a researcher, artist, and author whose work explores the intersection of neuroscience, creativity, consciousness, and childhood development. Through her books There Is No Such Thing as Purple Trees and Quantum Rebellion, Deborah makes a compelling case that we lose something essential when we disconnect from imagination, curiosity, and wonder; the very capacities that fuel healing, innovation, and deeper human intelligence.

We talk about:

• the moment a teacher shut down her creativity with one sentence

• why children are wired for multidimensional thinking

• how neuroplasticity allows adults to reclaim what they lost

• the bridge between science and spirituality

• why healing requires permission to be messy

• and what it means to remember what we forgot as we “grew up”

This episode is for anyone who senses there’s more to being human than productivity and perfection — and who is ready to reclaim the parts of themselves they once shut down to fit in.

03:40 — The purple tree story and the wound of conformity

07:15 — Childhood imagination as cognitive intelligence

11:50 — Neuroplasticity and why adults shut down curiosity

16:20 — Science and spirituality begin to converge

21:10 — Cancer, creativity, and the “black paint moment”

27:45 — Why messiness is required for innovation

31:30 — Quantum thinking and multidimensional reality

36:05 — How children teach us what we unlearn

41:20 — What Deborah hopes adults remember

✨Connect with Deborah Ann Baker:

Books: There Is No Such Thing as Purple Trees & Quantum Rebellion
Link Hub: https://linktr.ee/thepurpletrees

✨ Connect with Michele Simms:

Website: thebeautyinthemess.com
Instagram: @the.beauty.in.the.mess
LinkedIn: Michele Simms
Facebook Group: The Beauty in the Mess Podcast

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Ep. 134 There Is No Such Thing As Purple Trees with Deborah Ann Baker