Your Pain Is Killing a Future You Never Knew You Had with Justin McRoberts and Scott Erickson

What if the most healing thing you can do in a season of pain isn't to fix it, process it, or even talk about it — but to make something? Jamie and Blake are joined by two of their favorite people — artist Scott Erickson and musician, poet, and coach Justin McRoberts — for a conversation that goes places none of them planned. These four have been in each other's orbit for a while now, and it shows. What starts as a question about art and the low seasons of life quickly becomes one of the most honest, unexpected, and quietly stunning conversations this show has hosted. Scott offers a definition of pain that stops the room: most pain is the death of future memories — the slow grief of realizing that the life you quietly expected to have isn't coming. Jamie opens up about being in a low himself right now, triggered by story work around eight years of abuse he's never fully shared, and what it's costing him to look at the mountain of those stories. Justin reframes the entire practice of making things — not as self-expression, but as a way to have a conversation with the parts of yourself you don't yet know how to talk to directly. And Scott, who spent a season this spring genuinely questioning whether he wanted to keep being an artist, closes the episode by inviting Jamie to throw himself the high school party he never got to have. Bring a casserole to the wake. You'll understand by the end. KEY TAKEAWAYS Why the practice of making something matters more than what you make Scott's definition of pain as the death of future memories — and why processing it enlarges you How art functions as an intermediary — a way to have a conversation with yourself about who you are and who you thought you'd be Why evil has an agenda and good asks a question, and what that means for what you create in uncertain times What "faith freely chosen" looks like when the world feels like it's falling apart How to give hospitality to the wounded parts of yourself through ritual, creativity, and community Why your artwork — whatever form it takes — is the casserole you bring to the shared wake CHAPTERS (00:00) Cold open: make a casserole and show up to the shared wake (02:00) Reuniting Scott and Justin — and why Jamie wanted both of them at the same time (04:00) Jamie names where he's at: a low season, triggered by story work (05:00) How the practice of art frees you to actually feel your feelings (07:00) Scott on the vocation crisis he had this spring — and how he found his way back (10:00) The Sad Avengers: building your team of artists, creatives, and truth-tellers (11:00) Evil has an agenda. Goodness asks a question. What are you going to make? (14:00) Phil Stutz, True and False Magic, and faith freely chosen in the face of uncertainty (19:00) Why the practice matters more than the product — and who you become while you're making it (22:00) Art as the casserole you bring to the cultural wake we're all attending (24:00) Pain as the death of future memories — Scott's definition that stops everything (27:00) Making playlists as liturgical practice — singing your way through the low (33:00) Jamie opens up about eight years of abuse and the deaths of future memories inside it (36:00) Art as an intermediary: having a conversation with the parts of yourself you can't talk to directly (41:00) Scott's invitation: throw yourself the party you never got to have (47:00) Landing the plane: be hospitable toward yourself LINKS & RESOURCES Three Percent Website: https://threepercentco.com/ Join The Basement (private community + reflection guides): https://threepercentco.com/membership Scott Erickson's Website + upcoming shows: https://www.scottericksonart.com/ Justin McRoberts' Website: https://www.justinmcroberts.com/ In The Low — book by Scott Erickson & Justin McRoberts: https://www.justinmcroberts.com/in-the-low Phil Stutz, True and False Magic (referenced by Scott): https://www.amazon.com/True-False-Magic-Phil-Stutz/dp/ Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara (referenced by Scott): https://www.unreasonablehospitality.com/ KEYWORDS Three Percent Podcast, Scott Erickson, Justin McRoberts, In The Low, art and grief, creativity, pain, depression, low seasons, faith, making things, holistic masculinity, trauma, hospitality, men's mental health, death of future memories, Phil Stutz, community, healing, spiritual practice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices