The Alchemist's Way Podcast

Welcome to Experiment No. 3. A heart-to-heart, artist to artist conversation with my dear friend, Avery Florence.Avery is a wonderfully gifted singer-songwriter and soft-soul artist with an equally angelic and gritty, soothing and soulful voice that I instantly fell in love with the first time I heard her sing.She is also a passionate activist and gifted creative arts therapist. She shares her magic across a range of spaces, from concerts to workshops, from festival stages to more intimate studio settings. Above all, she is a truly inspiring and soulful human. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know her and collaborate with her over the last year and I’m always left with an appreciation for her open curiosity and humble approach to art and life, to the big questions as much as the minute details that go into making something special.In this raw, honest and playful conversation, we explore one of the central challenges faced by all artists and creatives, especially in this digital age. How do we remove any and all self-interference to allow our expression to move freely? How do we show up in the different spaces where we share our heart and our art as authentically as possible? How do we hold on to our Joy and continue to create a sense of freedom and permission for ourselves to share more of who we really are? We also shared in the beautiful ritual of enjoying a chocolate chip cookie, before Avery treated us to a sneak listen of her newly written, absolutely stunning song that opens with the line “I’ve been terrified to begin…”. I invite you to get cozy, grab a cuppa your favourite beverage and a chocolate chip cookie if you’re into that sort of thing, and join us for this deep dive conversation into the artist’s quest for freedom. Much love, Chris Key Themes We Touched On:* The “Hitting Record” effect. * Staying natural vs performance (esp. on social media)* Tension in sharing different versions of ourselves (silly vs serious; raw vs polished)* Freedom as one of the ultimate intentions in our creative expression* Reframing fear and nervous energy as fuel * Taking creative risks without overwhelming the system* Owning our unique niche & integrating multiple identities (artist, healer, facilitator)* The importance of finishing and releasing work* Choosing joy and play as a creative compass* Raw vs. polished expression in art* Trust, vulnerability, and the courage to beginBONUS: Here’s a little clip of me & Avery singing together captured at our first ever jam and collab session. This is still one of my fave musical moments we’ve shared and I feel it truly encompasses so much of that joy, permission and freedom we spoke of. Get full access to The Alchemist's Way at thealchemistsway.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Experiment no. 2.In this transmission, I intentionally leaned into slowing down to create a greater sense of permission and safety for myself to go deeper and see what would come through in the absence of a false sense of urgency or performance.In that spaciousness, something truly magical and powerful happened…I followed the thread of what was most alive in me, moment to moment, and dots connected in a way I couldn’t have predicted or scripted. A clear theme and arc of transformation emerged and revealed itself in real time.What began as a reflection on how Justin Bieber's Grammy and Coachella appearances stirred something in me, opened up into a deeper, rich exploration of authenticity, faith, connecting to the younger parts of ourselves, and what it means to feel safe enough to tell the truth.The conversation touches on slowness, inner child healing, creative safety, and a more personal share about my own relationship with God and Jesus, which I have not always felt comfortable to speak about publicly. At the heart of the conversation is a simple question: what becomes possible when we create enough safety for the most innocent parts of ourselves to be seen, heard, and expressed?I would love to hear what this stirs in you and if you have been navigating any of these themes on your own journey.Thank you for being here. I'm grateful to be walking the path together. Much love, Chris Get full access to The Alchemist's Way at thealchemistsway.substack.com/subscribe

Well, I did it. I took a risk. I HIT “Record”, and let it fly. My intention was simple… to do an experiment and to have fun. What would it be like if I had my own P@dc*st or Talk Show? (I’m not ready to say that P-word yet, even though I did say it in the video.)What would it be like to give myself permission to show up and express in a way that has been on my heart for some time but that I haven’t really leaned into? The truth is, I’ve got a lot to say.And as I’ve shared recently… in my stubborn pursuit of one specific vision of my artistry and my career as a musician, I’ve muted some of my other gifts and not given them the attention and airtime they deserve. The result is that I have felt stifled, not fully satisfied and worst of all, not fully SEEN and HEARD. Which makes sense… How could I feel completely fulfilled and honoured for who I am when I’m not honouring ALL OF ME? When I’m not really seeing and hearing myself?! So… in the spirit of taking risks, I’ll take it one step further and share that the vision on my heart is bigger than me. It definitely goes beyond me just talking solo, being silly and enjoying the sound of my own voice, although that actually does feel like a good place to start. For a long time, I’ve received countless nudges and soul whispers that have gotten louder and LOUDER and LOUDERRRR to curate a series of conversations where I can have meaningful, soulful, deep dive, heart-to-heart chats with some of the beautifully inspiring humans, artists, thought leaders, change makers and shiny souls I have the privilege of knowing.Conversations about artistry and the creative hero’s journey. Explorations of the different ways we can tap into the alchemy that allows us to turn our greatest challenges and the pain of the human experience into beauty, power and purpose. A space where vulnerability, authenticity, truth and less commonly talked about themes such as grief, faith, and prayer are welcome and approached with curiosity and reverence. That’s ultimately where I could see this going but first things first, this is about me reclaiming my creative sovereignty and taking my power back. It’s about me doing the revolutionary act of giving myself FULL PERMISSION to create FOR ME, for the pure JOY of it. It’s about making something honest and detaching from the constant consideration of outcomes, audience, algorithms or anything that would threaten the authenticity, realness and purity of what I’m sharing.Because when it comes down to it, I’ve come to realize that that’s the only way I can go forward in integrity and in a way that is going to be sustainable for me, energetically, spiritually, and holistically. And today, this is what felt alive for me. So here we are… Experiment # 1. And I’ll be honest, it feels good and I had a lot of fun making this.How could I not?I ate a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie and slurped my peppermint tea on camera to kick things off. That feels badass and liberating just writing about it! I also shared some of that cookie goodness with my unofficial co-host and legendary furry best bud, Reggie, who blessed me with the perfect cameo before peace’ing out. And then just like that, I gave myself some space to speak honestly about a range of things that are present for me in this moment. I shared about the first seed that was planted for this P-thing I’m exploring by my incredibly inspiring friend Blu of Earth during a Gene Keys session we did five years ago. Blu has her own wildly successful podcast called Deja Blu, that grew exponentially from the most humble beginnings. In our session, we discovered that she and I have both been on a journey of losing our hearing, and that we also both have a very unique and rare Gene Key in common, Gene Key 43, which explores the initiation of deafness.From there, I took a moment to go on a long overdue rant about AI, sparked in part by my first in depth encounter with ChatGPT today. I shared about the beautiful and catalytic process I was guided through by my homie, Darius Bashar, that really landed the realization for me that I’m genuinely creating for ME first, which was further encouragement to take this leap and just do the damn thing for the sheer fun of it with zero attachment to how it turns out and without needing to be perfect, polished or even postable! This was a transcript of my spoken answer to Darius’ question, “Who are you creating for, really?” The best part is that ChatGPT, in reflecting on the answer said: “That is probably the most honest answer you could give.” 😮Touché, GPT. Maybe you’re not all bad after all. That was the last little nudge I needed.And so, just like that, I found myself at the mic, camera on and rolling with no idea what was gonna come out. Taking a tiny step in the direction of actualizing a big vision I’ve had for a long time because I couldn’t stand NOT doing it any longer. I made something for ME and had fun doing it. And now, I’m sharing it with you in the spirit of setting it free and letting my expression flow forth from this new place. I hope we get to share a chocolate chip cookie together in person sometime soon.Much love, Chris Ps. Here’s a sneak peek of my latest batch! Get full access to The Alchemist's Way at thealchemistsway.substack.com/subscribe