Creativity, Rest, and the Power of Not Knowing with Dr. Chanti Tacoronte Pérez
Episode 152 • 48 mins 39 secs
What if not knowing is a doorway?
In this episode, host Elizabeth Mintun sits down with Dr. Chanti Tacoronte Pérez, a creative guide, teacher, and depth-oriented artist whose work weaves together rest, image-making, myth, and embodied practice. She is the creator of The Ritual of Rest and the Bird Song Oracle Deck.
Dr. Chanti describes her work as a living collage; emergent, non-linear, and responsive to the moment. Together, she and Elizabeth explore how liminality, slowness, and ambiguity open space for deeper presence and transformation: why the doodling that once made her fail math class was actually an embodied way of learning, and what depth psychology calls the "transcendent function" that blossoms when we stay inside tension instead of rushing to resolve it. This conversation is for anyone who has mistaken their slowness for stupidity, who longs to create but fears not being good at it, or who wonders when the excitement of not knowing disappeared.
Key Takeaways
Not knowing can be a creative doorway. Some of the most transformative moments arise precisely because no one planned them.
Rest, dream states, and creativity meet in the liminal space. Drawing or writing upon waking can "translate" what we experience there.
Handwriting is an embodied learning practice. Research by Audrey van der Meer shows it produces widespread brain connectivity that typing does not.
Low-stakes experiments calm the demand for sharpness and let other parts of ourselves come free. Examples are drawing with crayons, drawing with the non-dominant hand, and closing your eyes while the pencil moves.
Resources
Study: "Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity" by Audrey van der Meer:
Dr. Chanti's Upcoming Offerings
Archetypes of Artistry — Summer Art Course: https://www.yantrawisdom.com/workshops/2026archetypes
Myths of Rest, Sleep and Dream — In person, Santa Fe: https://www.yantrawisdom.com/workshops/fallmyth
Making Monster — Fall Virtual Creative Container: https://www.yantrawisdom.com/workshops/monster
Find Dr. Chanti
Website: https://www.artesvida.com
Instagram: @art.es.vida
Connect with Elizabeth
Curious about 1:1 coaching? Learn more: https://www.thecalmingground.com/inner-compass
Email: [email protected]
Facebook & Instagram: @thecalmingground
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