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A podcast about creativity as the path from surviving to thriving. Real, authentic, and unfiltered conversations surrounding the creative act—daily practices, small moments, and bold leaps that cultivate a better life.
For those of us who've mastered survival but are ready to do more than just get by. Hosted by Jon Murphy, PMHNP-BC—exploring how embracing creativity in ways both small and large becomes the bridge from enduring to flourishing.
Disclaimer:
This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice or treatment. The views expressed are my own, drawn from clinical experience and personal perspective. If you're in crisis, please seek support from a licensed professional or emergency services.
Welcome back to Survivor Notes.
This is Jonathan Murphy,
psychiatric nurse practitioner.
Coming back for another episode
of Survivor Notes on the Compass
Point Institute podcast Network.
I was just thinking a lot about Survivor
Notes Compass Point Institute, this
collaboration I have myself and James
Kennedy, psychiatric nurse practitioner.
There's two of us.
And we're educating.
We're trying to get our content
out there, spread our message.
We've learned a lot and we think we
have interesting things to contribute.
We have a voice, we're gonna use
them, and we have something to say.
And I've been building that out, the sort
of, uh, ecosystem, if you will, and it
takes a while and it's all very rewarding
at the end of the day, so everything, it
started on paper and it really, at first
on paper, that's where the project lived.
There was no ai.
AI was after the fact.
James and I met, we said.
What should we do?
I said, we should brainstorm.
Do a brain dump, theory dump, getting our
ideas out, and then maybe AI can help.
That's when it came up and
that's when I discovered it.
So I went to the flip phone
in and the reason I did that is
'cause my ADHD couldn't handle it.
I was just started as a nurse
practitioner, in the ADHD clinic there.
There, because I was comfortable with ADHD
'cause I had been on the medicine and had
like kind of this weird mindset about it.
I went into the job and suddenly I
realized, whoa, I have ADHD really bad.
'cause I was in a psych unit before, and
now this was one-on-one low stimulation,
so I had to take care of it, and
then I had to be on top of things.
I was like, my brain had to grow so anyone
with ADHD out there, you can strengthen
your mind, you can strengthen your body.
It's a simple process of repetition.
At the end of the day, how do you know?
I'll tell you, advertising and marketing,
where do you learn about psychology?
This is one of the benefits I have in
teaching because I've looked not just
in the field of general psychology,
but also group psychology.
So you have the psychology of advertising.
The thing is about psychology.
Every industry studies it.
So the psychology of advertising
and propaganda, if you will.
How do you know what you know what
are the habits that you can have?
There are things that we can do that
can grow our mind, but at any rate,
when I look at the other shows at
the Network toxic Family Systems,
real Talk, think Compass Point
Institute, podcasts are flagship pod.
But the tent pole has really
become the YouTube channel
at Compass Point Institute.
But it's been great because I've always
wanted to make videos and it's been a
wonderful opportunity for to let go of the
perfectionist and what I'll say, I have
not used a passive algorithm since 2019
and I've slipped into it here and there.
But, creating is so much better.
And these tools are great if you're
you're gonna get stuck in a loop.
Well, you, if you just posted
something that you worked really
hard on, you can get stuck in
that loop, and that's tough, but
at least you made something.
It's so much better than a doom scroll.
It's like I made nothing in the
world's ending, so I have boundaries.
That's the only reason I'm
able to create all this stuff.
I'm not doing what most people
are, which is scrolling.
Because I could tell my
brain was falling out.
Jon Murphy, PMHNP: Started
my day with a flip phone.
Get started.
Wake up, get my clothes on, go to work.
The start of my day with the smartphone
was, wake up, go to the bathroom.
Knock knock my wife.
Honey, you still in there?
Oh, just lost in it.
So we have to know our own limitations.
Creativity.
It's not a fundamental need, but
some of us really, for me and for
others, we really needed, at the
times we didn't have anything else.
We had the ability to make something
the, despite ourselves, in spite of
ourselves, we made something and that was
better than what we were going through.
And that's what I love about creativity.
But somehow we make it
unnecessarily complicated.
Sitting with songwriting January,
2025 right now just culminated
the end of a sort of arc 2025
songwriting, initiating creativity.
But I had been perfectionistic,
and I realize now I'd be
creative, but I'd make it painful.
And really the secret to creativity
is being in the habit of initiating
that creative process and being
open to see where it goes.
So when I thought about this podcast.
The last remnant of a sort of aesthetic
that bridged the paper to the internet.
I started my Substack, which
is at my Focus Path blog, focus
Path Insights, it's called now.
It started as line by line because that's
the only thing that made sense writing.
But then once I had all the
other platforms sort of branded.
Then I looked back and I needed more
synergy, but Survivor notes hung
in there because I love creativity.
It's a different conversation.
It's a different conversation entirely.
Many people have mental health issues
and creativity is a wonderful way to
heal and treat whatever's going on.
And I have Ms.
Multiple sclerosis since 2023,
and I'm actually, if I look at.
What the depiction is of that.
I think I have it pretty good.
I'm pretty fortunate I caught it
pretty early ' 'cause of my nurse
brain, but nonetheless when I'm
creative, I don't have fatigue.
It's crazy.
So here I am talking to you now and I, I'm
not in bad tired, I had the songwriting
was just the thing I couldn't do.
But then once I started,
I just couldn't stop.
. I started a new song every day.
Went all the way to March.
It changed my brain.
James, my, my good friend and buddy.
Fellow alum of three schools,
Duxbury High School, university of
Massachusetts, Boston and Boston College.
We knew it was inevitable.
When he graduated, a couple
years after me with his master's,
we went to undergrad together.
Nursing.
I knew right then and there.
He was a smart dude.
Much smarter than I was and.
I just knew I went to Boston College,
it's like Hogwarts and I called him
up, I'm like, dude, you gotta be here.
And the rest is history.
He started a group practice in the
south shore of Massachusetts and
uh, I'm just really impressed with
what he is done, what he's built.
And, uh, once he said,
Hey, you wanna work?
I was like, eh, I'm more of a solo guy.
But that's okay.
' cause the time is now.
Then it hit me though.
So we've turned creativity into this
performance, this thing that has
to justify itself before it exists.
What if creativity isn't
meant to be painful?
What if it is actually
supposed to be joyful?
Even if that sounds naive, especially
if you've been carrying around
wounds about your creative worth.
Maybe hear me out.
We were kids.
We didn't ask permission
to draw or make up stories
or build pillow forts.
We just did it not because we
thought it would be good, because
the doing itself felt alive.
That's what I'm gonna talk about
here, through creativity that comes
from curiosity rather than pressure.
The projects we start, not
because they'll change the world,
but ' cause they'll change us.
Sappy as it may be.
And I've learned this.
Perfect moment, perfect
plan, perfect skill level.
we're practicing, not
creating rather than creating.
So in the spirit of creating.
It's just starting.
That's what I'm doing with this episode.
This is my messy, imperfect check
in, and I hope I can spread the bug
to you or talk to other creatives.
I think this is a great space
and have a chat with folks.
If you're out there listening,
please feel free to reach out at.
info@compasspointinstitute.com
and would love to set something up.
Let's hear your pitch.
I think it only makes sense seeing as I
conduct psychiatric interviews every day.
I think the interview podcast format
might suit quite well, especially if
we're being creative in the process.
So once again, this is Jonathan
Murphy, psychiatric nurse practitioner.
You can check out my book Cheat
Codes, how I hacked my ADHD Brain,
It's an ebook.
Amazon Kindle Unlimited.
So thank you.
Keep surviving, but more
importantly, just keep creating.
Then create some more
Compass Point Institute.