What happens when life knocks down your dream house, and how do you find the beauty in unexpected constraints?

In this episode of Goodpain, we sit down with Taiwanese American community builder and podcast host Jess Lin (Cultureful). Born to unconventional parents who refused to give her a rigid roadmap, Jess learned early that "the legs are grown on your own body". From crawling under desks in high school with decision anxiety to pivoting from architecture to international development in Tanzania, Jess’s journey reveals the true nature of the creative process and creativity and self-discovery. When a severe chronic illness dismantled her career in global health, she re-discovered that everyone is a maker who can rebuild a meaningful life from scratch, honoring the compulsion to create even in the face of immense physical and emotional grief.

Inside This Episode

Jess unpacks her story of non-conformity, global field work, and chronic pain, illustrating how living creatively requires adapting to life's sharpest constraints:

 * The Unconventional Roadmap: Growing up in a progressive Taiwanese American household where her mother refused to dictate her choices, forcing Jess to confront her anxiety and take ownership of her own path
 * The Rebel Spirit & WashU: Choosing the Midwest over Ivy League expectations, and stepping out of suburban monocultures to pursue social justice through architecture, Montana straw-bale building, and Tanzania field projects
 * Biological Clocks and Trade-Offs: Navigating her 30s in Bangkok while traveling internationally, balancing the desire for rootedness with the urge to explore
 * The Lego Analogy & Chronic Pain: Facing a debilitating health crisis in 2020 that knocked down her 10-year "Lego dreamhouse," forcing her to grieve her old identity and build something new with pieces she had never looked at before
 * Desert Vision & Cultureful : How her architecture professor’s lesson—"the more constraints I give you, the more creative you have to be"—and the subtle colors of Joshua Tree inspired her to host Cultureful, archiving intimate, intergenerational stories to build a global village

Rather than offering generic advice on how to be more creative, Jess offers an inspiring look at artful living through radical adaptability. She demonstrates the creative courage needed to overcome creative block, rebuild your creative identity, and cultivate a resilient creative practice. By trusting her gut and making art out of messy human stories, Jess shares a transformative blueprint for finding your creative voice and elevating artistic expression as a form of deep empathy and connection.

Notable Quotes

> "The more constraints I give you, the more creative you have to be." — Jess Lin

> "It was like I had spent a decade building a Lego house... and someone came and knocked over my Legos. I had to use all these other pieces I had never looked at." — Jess Lin

> "All of this is for us to make ourselves... because we know the scripts are all man-made and arbitrary. We get to choose." — Jess Lin

JESS'S LINKS

Cultureful Podcast [https://pod.link/1714884799]

Goodpain Podcast S03E06: Making Beauty(ful) with Jess Lin of Cultureful Podcast | Candid Conversations. Underdog Wisdom.

What happens when your vision outpaces your skill, and how do you embrace the tension between impulse and craft?

In this episode of Goodpain, hosts Jeremy and Tyler tackle one of the most relatable hurdles every artist faces: "The Gap." They explore the uncomfortable space between having high taste and the actual reality of your current output. Moving past perfectionism, this episode is a deep dive into creativity and self-discovery, demonstrating that everyone is a maker navigating the tension between raw vision and technical execution. By honoring the compulsion to create, Jeremy and Tyler unpack why the struggle itself is an essential feature of artful living.

Inside This Episode

Through personal misadventures, home renovation disasters, and woodworking triumphs, Jeremy and Tyler dissect the psychological architecture of living creatively and closing the distance between impulse and technique:

 * The Juniper Topiary Misadventure: Tyler recounts a childhood attempt to sculpt mature juniper bushes like Edward Scissorhands—only for a single bold, uncalculated cut to unravel his entire narrative and reveal the stark reality of the skill gap
 * The Mysterious Ceiling Leak : Jeremy shares a multi-month saga of cutting exploratory holes in his walls to trace an elusive plumbing leak, highlighting how home projects mirror the unpredictable, non-linear nature of any creative process
 * The Hydraulic Car Jack Fix: Tyler tells the story of spending an entire sleepless night obsessing over a 3/16th-inch warp in custom built-in bookshelves, culminating in a high-stakes, 4:00 AM fix using a 2.5-ton car jack from his garage to pop the wood back into place
 * Why Picasso Changed Periods: A reflection on why master artists pivot when a medium becomes too predictable—proving that when mystery disappears, craft turns into a job, and true artistic expression demands seeking out the next struggle

Rather than providing a sterile checklist on how to be more creative, Jeremy and Tyler offer a raw, funny, and honest reflection on the creative courage required to stay in the uncomfortable middle[3][18]. Cultivating a resilient creative practice means learning to love the "thrashing in the gap," overcoming creative block, finding your creative voice, and discovering your true creative identity through the humbling, transformative journey of making art

Notable Quotes

> "A lot of the practice and craft technique building is about closing that gap." — Tyler

> "When things become easy and the mystery is minimized, it stops being art. There's something about the absence of struggle." — Jeremy

> "The gap is worth it because we are makers, because we want to express, and because we want to become those people who see the world differently." — Jeremy

LEARN MORE

 * The Goodpain Website [https://goodpainco.com]: Find transcripts, episode guides, and sign up for our weekly Kindling newsletter
 * Support Independent Audio: Subscribe and leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts [https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.co%2F4drnYz2] or Spotify [https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Fshow%2F4hZAOYVllPNQIokfwrWSSr%3Fsi%3Df5c28f3b86364ee6] to help others find our campfire

Goodpain Podcast S03E05: The Creativity Gap – A Process of Self-Discovery (or Being Discovered) | Candid Conversations. Underdog Wisdom.

What does it mean to lose your way, collapse under spiritual exhaustion, and find the quiet path back to yourself?

In Part 02 of this moving conversation on Goodpain, hosts Jeremy and Tyler continue their deep dive with entrepreneur, documentary filmmaker, and healer Tarek Mounib. Exploring the journey of creativity and self-discovery, Tarek shares how he moved from a childhood of hiding his curiosity to enduring a "dark night of the soul" when his religious effort collapsed. This episode reminds us that everyone is a maker of their own healing, driven by an innate compulsion to create meaning across life's unexpected detours.

Inside This Episode

Tarek unpacks his evolution from rigid perfectionism to a state of surrendered, artful living:

 * Unlearning Hiding & The Joy of Learning: How Tarek suppressed his childhood love of learning to survive grade school, and his journey toward reclaiming curiosity without fear
 * Compassion Fatigue vs. Genuine Fuel: Why burnout occurs when we act from obligation, and how authentic creativity and joy serve as an infinite reservoir of energy
 * The Parable of Solomon and the Ant: Reflecting on human effort versus cosmic grace—how pushing against life's immovable stones opens us up to vulnerability and compassion
 * Collapse, Atheism, and Symbolic Languages: Tarek opens up about failing his own standards as a young practicing Muslim, falling into atheism as a protective shield, and eventually rediscovering faith by recognizing religions as symbolic languages of the infinite
 * The Documentary Spark: How a sudden spark during a time of political polarization inspired him to take Trump supporters to Egypt, bridging divides through human connection
 * What is Home?: Defining "home" as the still point of complete internal safety where "everything is good".

Instead of a generic manual on how to be more creative, this dialogue demonstrates the creative courage required to face internal fears and break through creative block. By developing a grounded creative practice, we discover that making art, building connection, and pursuing artistic expression are essential for finding your creative voice. Ultimately, living creatively and reclaiming your creative identity is not about flawless execution, but about trusting your unique creative process on the journey of making your way back home

Notable Quotes

> "Compassion fatigue occurs if I'm doing it out of a sense of obligation... joy that creativity is the fuel." — Tarek Mounib

> "It wasn't the ant's effort that moved the stone, but it was the ant's effort that moved the stone... through grace." — Tarek Mounib

> "Home is going back to that place of innocence where everything is good." — Tarek Mounib

TAREK'S LINKS

Free Trip to Egypt Documentary [https://www.freetriptoegypt.com/] | Sowa Rigpa Ottawa [https://www.sowarigpa.ca/]

Goodpain Podcast S03E04: Tarek Mounib – Making a Way Back Home, Part 2 | Candid Conversations. Underdog Wisdom.

What happens when we reach the end of ourselves and surrender to the Great Mystery?

In this episode of Goodpain, hosts Tyler is joined by Indigenous psychotherapist, educator, and survivor Patricia June Vickers, PhD. Born into the Eagle tribe in Kitkatla with ancestral ties to the Heiltsuk and Haida nations, Patricia shares her journey of unlearning institutional church conditioning, moving past the shadow of residential school trauma, and discovering a creative process rooted in creativity and self-discovery. Moving away from rigid dogma, she illustrates how everyone is a maker of their own path when guided by the sacred lifecycle of ancestral law (Ayaawx). Through her story, Patricia explores how honoring our innate compulsion to create brings us to surrender deep personal wounds to be reclaimed as sacred.

Inside This Episode

Patricia & Tyler hold a conversation about stepping into the "great unknown," unpacking how living creatively requires surrendering the need for complete control:

 * Unlearning (Releasing & Forgiving) Church Conditioning: Patricia reflects on growing up in the Anglican church as an Indigenous woman, navigating the oppressive "false truths" of institutional religion and learning to step outside rigid theological structures.
 * The Deception of Control & The Garden: How the primal human struggle stems from the deception that we can dominate knowledge and control our destiny, rather than accepting the uncertainty of the Great Mystery.
 * Neurobiology, Seeking Systems, and Trauma: Drawing on Jaak Panksepp's seeking systems and Frank Corrigan's Deep Brain Reorienting, Patricia explains how trauma locks us into despair, and how we can reorient our attention toward love and truth.
 * Moments of Complete Collapse & Surrender: Facing sub-zero cold in an RV when her furnace failed, Patricia shares how coming to the end of oneself opens the door to genuine transformation without a rigid formula.
 * Forgiveness as Daily Practice: Why true forgiveness is not forgetting or pardoning abuse, but releasing the toxic desire to punish oneself or others, turning daily choices toward healing.

Rather than giving a prescriptive checklist on how to be more creative, Patricia offers an invitation into artful living, demonstrating the creative courage required to navigate deep grief and overcome creative block. By anchoring our daily creative practice in breath, presence, and ancestral connection, we discover that making art and expressing truth is ultimately a journey of finding your creative voice and embracing artistic expression as a form of sacred ceremony.

Notable Quotes

"Forgiveness is no longer the need to punish the other person, or to punish myself... It's accepting that I can't change what was done." — Patricia Vickers

"That state of collapse is really me coming to the end of me." — Patricia Vickers

"All I have to do is just slightly turn my head, delight in truth and love." — Patricia Vickers

PATRICIA'S LINKS

Raven's Call Canada [https://www.ravenscallcanada.com/] | Dr. Vicker's Website [https://www.patriciajunevickers.com/]

Goodpain Podcast S03E03: Dr. Patricia June Vickers – Making a Way Back Home, Part 1 | Candid Conversations. Underdog Wisdom

What happens when the systems designed to support your dream end up crushing your spirit?

In this episode of Goodpain, hosts Jeremy and Tyler sit down with media veteran, educator, and artist TK Dutes. For fifteen years, TK lived a split life, enduring exhausting 16-hour nursing shifts in pediatric home care to survive while chasing the magical "show highs" of hosting independent hip-hop showcases and WBAI community radio. When she transitioned into professional podcasting, she discovered that the "podcast industrial complex" was replicating the same exclusionary corporate structures she sought to escape. This is a story of creativity and self-discovery, charting a path from systemic burnout to personal repair, proving that everyone is a maker and reclaiming the compulsion to create on your own terms.

Inside This Episode

Through an incredibly candid conversation, TK Dutes unpacks her journey through the heavy machinery of healthcare and media, sharing how she reclaimed her creative identity when both systems failed her:

 * The Early Search for Validation: From extreme magazine collage walls to editing her high school paper, TK reflects on her early creative process and the challenge of finding your creative voice per the rules of a medium
 * The Splitting of Self: How she balanced exhausting clinical nursing shifts with weekend community radio, navigating the profound gap between a corporate healthcare machine and the immediate dopamine of live performance
 * Replicating Legacy Media: The heartbreaking realization that the professional podcast boom chose to replicate toxic corporate structures, and the pain of witnessing peer creators conform to those same systems
 * Smashing Resin & Finding Autonomy: How a physical accident - stepping on a curing resin plate - became a breakthrough in her creative practice. By picking up a hammer and smashing her work on purpose, TK bypassed her creative block and learned that breaking things is where the magic lives
 * Becoming an Interceptor: Today, TK uses her hard-won wisdom to act as a human "noise gate" for young creators. She shares her strategy for living creatively without selling your soul, helping others build the creative courage needed to protect their spark

Instead of a generic guide on how to be more creative, this conversation offers a raw look at the power of creativity to keep our spirit alive, exploring the depth of artistic expression and the courage required to walk away from systems that demand your soul. It’s an exploration of artful living built on genuine community care and the liberating act of making art for yourself

Notable Quotes

"You got to learn how to do the thing so that you can break the thing and...make it your own." — TK Dutes

"The art came from taking my mind off trying to fix something that at the moment is unfixable." — TK Dutes

"I don't want to do too much in your journey. I just want to just boop you a little bit so you know you're boopable and it'll be okay." — TK Dutes

TK's LINKS

TK's Online Portfolio [https://www.tastykeish.com/] | TK's Podcast: The Secret Life of TK Dutes [https://pod.link/1796520216] | TK's Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/c/SecretLifeofTK]

Learn More, Connect, & Listen

Goodpain Website [https://www.goodpainco.com/]



Goodpain S03E02: TK Dutes – Making. Breaking. Remaking. | Candid Conversations. Underdog Wisdom.

Why do humans paint on cave walls, wear jewelry, and build things that serve no survival purpose?

In the season three premiere of Goodpain, hosts Jeremy and Tyler kick off their new season, "The Artful Life: A Season About Making". Moving past the academic gatekeeping of who gets to be called an "artist," they explore the idea that everyone is a maker. The act of making art isn't restricted to traditional canvases; rather, it is an inescapable compulsion to create as a form of artistic expression that has defined humanity since the dawn of prehistoric cave paintings. This episode is an invitation into artful living, exploring what it looks like when we treat our ordinary days as raw material.

Inside This Episode

Jeremy and Tyler dive deep into the messy relationship between structure, rules, and rebellion. Through a mix of childhood memories, professional detours, and personal philosophies, they unpack the creative process and the emotional architecture of living creatively.

 * The "Imitation Dance" and Finding Your Voice: How trying on the styles of others is a crucial step in navigating creative block and finding your creative voice. Copying the masters helps build technical chops before you can step out and carve your unique creative identity.
 * The Battle Against Conformity: Tyler shares his own history of rebellion against rigid boundaries, from throwing an "alien with a bazooka" into a high school negative-space art assignment to getting a massive battleship tattoo mid-way through his MBA as a "middle finger" to the stifling expectations of corporate culture.
 * Form, Function, and Provocation: Jeremy reflects on his time in a dusty, non-OSHA-approved college wood shop, learning why he values physical form over conceptual or political agendas. He explains how he uses playful, provocative titles to disrupt the viewer’s perspective, forcing them to unpack the work rather than getting it right away.
 * The Primal Spark: Pointing to ancient cave dwellings and history, they argue that creativity is not a luxury or a modern evolution—it is a core human survival mechanic for processing the experiences that words fail to capture.

Rather than offering a generic tutorial on how to be more creative, Jeremy and Tyler hold a conversation about the creative courage required to break the rules, make a mess, and align your outer work with your inner truth. Cultivating a dedicated creative practice is ultimately a lifelong journey of creativity and self-discovery.

LEARN MORE

The Goodpain Website: Find full episodes, resources, and sign up for our weekly Kindling newsletter at goodpainco.com [https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=http%3A%2F%2Fgoodpainco.com]

CONNECT

Subscribe and Review: Love the episode? Subscribe and leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts [https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.co%2F4drnYz2] or Spotify [https://www.google.com/url?sa=E&q=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Fshow%2F4hZAOYVllPNQIokfwrWSSr%3Fsi%3Df5c28f3b86364ee6] to help others find our campfire

Goodpain S03E01: The Compulsion to Create | Candid Conversations. Underdog Wisdom.

Goodpain Unplugged is a raw, unedited conversation that pulls the curtain back on the conversations we have in preparation for our seasons. Tiffany is the victim this time, as Tyler corners her to talk about what it means to "Geek Out" and why it points at the heart of Goodpain Season 3.

About This Episode 

Welcome to a candid conversation about what it truly means to be "geeking out". In this episode of Goodpain Unplugged, we dive deep into the magnetic power of passion and why it connects us on such a profound level. Have you ever noticed how someone lighting up about their favorite obscure topic is instantly captivating? This episode is a pure life talk about that exact spark.

We explore how unabashedly loving something—without worrying about turning it into a side hustle or justifying it to the world—fuels our personal growth and supports our mental health. From using art and metaphor when words fail us, to the fun of creative expression through childhood imagination and improv, this episode will inspire you to embrace the things that make you come alive.

Timestamps (Note: Times are approximate placeholders for your audio editor)

 * [00:00] Introduction: What does it really mean to geek out?
 * [02:15] The Connection Meter: What The Sims teaches us about the risks of relationship building.
 * [05:30] The Halo Effect: Lessons from La La Land on loving a passion just because you love the person.
 * [09:00] When Words Fail: Why we reach for art, sound, and metaphors to express our inner worlds.
 * [14:20] Pure Joy: The beauty of loving something just for the joy of it, not for money.
 * [19:45] Blowing Up Boundaries: How The Office and Leroy Jenkins show us the creative tension of rules and chaos.
 * [24:30] Cultivating Worlds: From Dungeons & Dragons to gardening and science.

Notable Quotes

 * "What do we do when the medium itself of talking to one another is insufficient to actually convey what is happening inside of me?"
 * "There's a part of this person they've refused to put at the service of what works... they're going to get paid doing it. And that tells us so much more about each other."

Resources Mentioned

 * The Sims (Video Game)
 * La La Land (Movie)
 * The Shining (Movie reference to room 237)
 * The Office (TV Show - Michael Scott's Improv)
 * Leroy Jenkins [https://youtu.be/Pz6vl0ZjOL8?si=FDFPxZDDo3eu5aWP](Viral Video)
 * Project Hail Mary (Book)

Listen, Rate & Subscribe! If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast app! Share this episode with a friend you love geeking out with, and follow us on social media for more exclusive content.

Goodpain Unplugged: Candid Conversation. Underdog Wisdom. –  Unedited Conversation about Geeking Out

Every human life is a work in progress – literally. We are all making something: our days, our relationships, our stories, our selves. Season 3 of Goodpain asks what happens when we stop treating our lives as things that happen to us and start treating them as things we are actively making. Through conversations with makers of every kind – celebrated and unknown, professional and purely passionate – we explore what it means to live Artfully. It is a season about what Art, Creative Expression, and Making reveal about being human: what it costs to develop the fluency to say the thing inside, what it means to risk putting it on the table, and what it asks of us to receive someone else’s offering not as consumers but as witnesses.

Season 3 does not treat Art as a category requiring membership. Its subject is the compulsion to express – the interior pressure that builds until something has to come out, and the fact that what comes out is not a translation of experience but a continuation of it. Language is one medium. Art, craft, and making are what happen when language hits its ceiling.

Goodpain: Candid Conversation. Underdog Wisdom: Season 03 Trailer – The Artful Life: A Season About Making

In this episode, we take a final sprint around the track that is Season 2. Jeremy and Tyler share their brief reflections on the topic of Mature & Immature Masculinity, how it served the candid conversation for the last four months, and how it surprised them in their own personal growth. With two seasons – two dots of data – Goodpain now has a trend line, and the co-hosts consider how Goodpain is developing a clearer perspective on its role, with each season represented a "genre" of the human condition, a perspective on dancing with life challenges. 

The episode concludes with a trailer for Season 3, which will be released in late-July/early-August and is titled The Artful Life: A season About  Making

Goodpain: Candid Conversation. Underdog Wisdom. –  End of Season Wrap & Preview of Season 03 (S02E21)

This just ain't working for us...and it does not have to be this way.

About This Episode

Can we be strong enough to name what is broken without demanding everyone speak our language?. In this deep dive interview, Tyler sits down with Relando to explore how power shapes the very terms of our engagement—from who gets to be heard to who gets to claim they are being "rational". They discuss the "canary in the coal mine"—the word "just"—and how it is often used as a defensive mechanism to waive away accountability for systemic harm.

Through the power of storytelling, Relando shares his own origin story running through Detroit, witnessing firsthand how landscapes and resources change across racialized borders. He highlights how intentional "design decisions," such as redlining and the GI Bill, have created disparities that reverberate across generations. This conversation invites us into a collective maturation where we stop hiding behind good intentions and find the courage to mourn what has been lost—not only for the oppressed but for the humanity we sacrificed within ourselves to uphold dehumanizing systems.

These topics are pointed and may spark internal resistance. Invite your objections to come along for the ride. Do not let them close your ears to the message. You are strong enough to lead with your humanity. We must name what is broken to find collective hope. Let’s engage these difficult questions together. 

About Relando

Relando Thompkins-Jones is a macro social worker, social justice  educator, strategist, and storyteller who uses media and education to  advance equity and social justice within people, organizations, and  communities. For more than a decade, he has worked across higher  education, nonprofit, public, and private sectors, planning and  implementing experiential activities and projects that advance  diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice.

He is also the  Founder & Director of Narrative Strategy and Learning Ecosystem at  Social Justice Origin Stories, a multimedia storytelling project that  explores the personal experiences, defining moments, and influences that  inspire people and organizations to pursue social justice. Through  conversations with activists, educators, organizers, scholars, and  everyday changemakers, the project seeks to reduce isolation among  justice-seekers, preserve community wisdom, and help listeners discover  their own place in the work.

The phrase "If we can change how we  think, we can change what we do" is central to Relando's approach, and  he finds fulfillment in engaging with others using the liberatory power  of storytelling, education, and authentic human connection to co-create  the conditions for collective thriving.

Website: Social Justice Origin Stories [https://socialjusticeoriginstories.com/]| YouTube Channel [https://www.youtube.com/@SocialJusticeOriginStories] | Audio Podlink [https://pod.link/aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWRpYS56ZW5jYXN0LmZtL3NvY2lhbC1qdXN0aWNlLW9yaWdpbi1zdG9yaWVzL3Jzcw]

Media Mentions

Becoming the People Podcast Episode: Grief is the Medicine [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/revisit-grief-is-the-medicine-with-malkia-devich-cyril/id1519965068?i=1000768714604]

Danger of the Single Story TED Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie [https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare]

The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/564989/the-sum-of-us-by-heather-mcghee/]



Goodpain Podcast: Relando Thompkins-Jones, "This Just Ain't Working for Us", Social Justice Origin Stories | Candid Conversation. Underdog Wisdom (S02E20)

Goodpain Podcast is an invitation to reclaim the space for honest, candid conversations about our struggles, about not knowing, about the wisdom found simply in enduring.. Like the ancient tribes, gat

Goodpain Podcast · Zencastr

Goodpain Podcast

Goodpain Podcast is an invitation to reclaim the space for honest, candid conversations about our struggles, about not knowing, about the wisdom found simply in enduring.. Like the ancient tribes, gathering around a fire to share hard-won wisdom, we'll talk about life's true intensities: the raw realities of parenting, the relentless demands of careers, the shattering impact of tragedy, the quiet burden of pain, and the unexpected moments of joy that flicker in between. Because whether your struggle was a sudden storm or a slow erosion, your story is meaningful. 