The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert Intro Rewind: Suleika Jaouad (Extended)
Aug 23, 2025
Suleika Jaouad, bestselling author of "Between Two Kingdoms" and "The Book of Alchemy," shares her inspiring journey battling cancer. She emphasizes the importance of staying connected to creativity and flipping conventional advice on its head. The conversation dives into the transformative power of journaling and how it aids self-reflection during tough times. Suleika encourages embracing life with childlike wonder, advocating for a curious mindset while confronting life's uncertainties. Her resilience shines through as she turns challenges into beautiful expressions.
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Creativity As Transformative Alchemy
- Creative alchemy means transforming hardship into meaning through creative expression.
- Suleika Jaouad frames creativity as a transmutative practice that makes difficulty generative.
A Teacher's Reaction Shut Down Public Writing
- Suleika recounts being humiliated in eighth grade after writing a novella and being sent to the school psychologist.
- That experience shut down her public creative sharing for years though she continued private journaling.
Cultivate A Daily Journaling Practice
- Do cultivate a daily creative practice like journaling because it requires no special tools and reconnects you to yourself.
- Suleika says journaling lets you show up honestly and write your way back to yourself.
