250: I Wrote a Book!
- Diana Varma
- May 5
- 4 min read
Welcome to episode 250 of Talk Paper Scissors!
For whatever reason, 250 feels like a big milestone. I started this podcast 5 1/2 years ago with no expectations about where it might lead… I certainly wasn’t thinking about the 250th episode in those initial days. I tend to meander from one project to the next when something new and shiny catches my eye (which, for the record, I don’t necessarily think is a bad thing). So in many ways, making it to episode 250 is a pretty big surprise to me.
I vividly remember a phone conversation with a very good friend of mine during the pandemic and I’m certain I was fewer than 50 episodes in at that point. She asked me how long I could see continuing podcasting before my interest waned, and without hesitation, I remember saying that I could see myself doing this for far into the foreseeable future because I loved the process and the people and all of the creative possibilities that could happen within this format. It was like a whole bunch of little projects – a whole bunch of shiny objects – each capturing and sustaining my interest in this podcasting medium. And I think that is what, ultimately, this podcast has become; a container to hold a collection of projects, conversations, stories, tangents, and experiments that I so deeply value. I am grateful for this medium to have held space for projects that have helped me learn and have allowed me to grow and better understand myself and the world around me.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again that even if no one listened, I would still make these episodes. But if you are here and if you are listening, I want to say thank you. We’re a small mighty community of like-minded creative people, and I appreciate you being here to revel in the geekery of it all: getting creative with creatives about all things creative.
Through numerous conversations, self reflection, time and in a professional therapeutic relationship, I’ve learned what’s possible when we separate our work from our worth, uncoupling our often deeply-entangled self-esteem from easily discoverable metrics that are standing in for measurements of our true value, instead of doing the hard work of redefining success on our own terms. If you’ve been listening for any length the time, you’ll also know that I love multiplicity and not needing to choose one binary option over another. Therefore I deeply believe the former to be true AND I think it’s important to celebrate the little victories along the way. Therefore I want to share with you a few key metrics that I’m particularly proud of and excited by at this point in my journey.
Total number of episodes: 250
Number of different guests: Approximately 170
Number of episodes that feature students and student work: 31
Lifetime downloads: 40,000
Most Listened to Episode: 004: Gutenberg
Number of countries we are listeners have downloaded at least one episode: 144 (with 40% of all time downloads in Canada, 28% in the US and then the UK, Spain, Australia, Germany, France and India next)
And in celebrating these small victories, I have another one to share… I’ve written a book!
I’ve been chatting with lots of authors, both independently and traditionally published recently because a) I genuinely love hearing their stories and what their books are all about, and b) to learn more about the world of publishing from the author’s perspective.
There will be lots more information soon, but the release date is September 28, 2025 and the book is called Brave Creative Human: Reframe imposter syndrome, embrace failure, and be unapologetically you. It’s the culmination and continuation of my work in the last number of years, exploring creative confidence, and topics surrounding perfectionism, failure, experimentation, self compassion and more. Brave Creative Human is a collection of personal stories woven together in a typographically experimental book that aims to feel like a companion and confidant that can be right there with you as you bravely explore new creative territories. It’s a resource you can read from cover to cover or dip in whenever and wherever it feels right. I encourage readers to write on it, scribble in it, fold and mark pages… nothing would be a higher compliment.
Here’s the description on the back cover:
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You are a brave creative human.
Period.
The world needs your ideas—your creative energy and unique perspective—because only you can make them a reality.
You have immense value right here, right now. Not someday when you learn a new language, earn a degree, paint a masterpiece, or write a chart-topping song—but today, exactly as you are.
Creative confidence isn’t about changing who you are—it’s about shifting your perspective so that you’re not the one holding yourself back. Through a collection of thought-provoking stories and personal anecdotes brimming with optimism, creativity educator Diana Varma explores how you can discover your creative confidence right now, exactly as you are.
Let this be a reminder: You are brilliantly bold, wonderfully weird, and perfectly imperfect.
You are a brave creative human.
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Much like the Talk Paper Scissors podcast where I would still create episodes if no one listened, I would still have written this book if it had no audience. I believe there is an audience; I believe YOU are that audience and I sincerely hope you read it. I hope the words bring you a sense of belonging, calmness, enoughness, as we all continue learning how to be brave creative humans living bigger lives than simplified, superficial, individualistic metrics of ‘success’ provide. Publishing a book feels vulnerable and exciting, and I’m genuinely proud of the person I’m becoming through creative acts like this one.
As part of the launch in September, I’ll be releasing some special podcast episodes tied to themes of the book, asking previous Talk Paper Scissors guests living their brave creative human lives their thoughts on failure, perfectionism and what it means to ‘colour outside of the lines’ through a creative life.
So here’s to the celebrating the small successes that turn out to be not so little with time and consistency.
Here’s to all of you, brave creative humans, and to whatever exploration maybe next on the horizon.
Stay tuned…
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Music:
Just Havin’ a Beatbox - John Bartmann licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License
Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle
