The following is an edited transcript from a live podcast conversation with writer Joon Oluchi Lee and jeweler Tracy Steepy. We talk about the moments when the body interrupts the creative flow—when menopause scrambles your sense of self or an asthma attack forces a reckoning with what conventional medicine misses.
We explore how creativity isn’t something you can always force through discipline alone; it requires a body that’s willing to meet you there.
Roddy Schrock: This is a live conversation from the launch of my homeopathic service, Ultradilute. I’m here with Joon Lee, a writer and my partner, and Tracy Steepy, a jeweler and good friend. We’re talking about the symbiosis between creativity and health. Joon, I’ll let you start.
Joon Lee: Tracy and I have talked about our creative processes for years, but never in the context of health. So, how would you define health? What does it mean to you?
Tracy Steepy: You have to be really intentional about putting energy toward health, otherwise it’s like whack-a-mole. I can’t have everything in balance. For me, it’s about being protective of my time, having good boundaries, and not spending energy on things I’m not interested in. On the good days, you feel present and generative. It’s bigger than you—it’s how you’re showing up to things.
Joon Lee: For me, health is when I can forget about my body entirely. When I’m writing and I forget I have to eat or that I have asthma. I’m just doing stuff. That’s healthy.
Tracy Steepy: I don’t think you can only be healthy when you’re creative. You can make good work when you’re suffering. But having a practice—a verb, a discipline—is what schedules the inspiration. It’s not romantic; it’s the things you do.
Joon Lee: Our world doesn’t really support creativity as a way of being. It’s seen as a luxury or fluff. How do you find the resources to keep creativity central?
Tracy Steepy: You have to give yourself permission to leave and bring something back. My practice is as a jeweler, but right now I’m flipping apartments. I’m not going to beat myself up about it. The creativity is transferable. You have to be involved in what feeds you.
Roddy Schrock: Where have you experienced a health problem blocking your creativity?
Joon Lee: I had a severe asthma attack out of the blue. I went to the doctor, and he just prescribed an inhaler without asking what was causing it. That’s when I saw my first homeopath. I realized I was taking a leap of faith with the conventional doctor, so why not with homeopathy? If it flattens the symptom without chemical interference, that’s good.
Roddy Schrock: That’s what attracted me to homeopathy—treating the symptoms by trying to remove the cause. If Tracy came to me and said, “I can’t make this necklace, I’m blocked,” a homeopathic intake would explore what that feels like in her body and mind to find the totality of the issue.
Tracy Steepy: Having done that intake, the biggest marker for me was my dreams. They changed dramatically. I knew something was happening subconsciously. It’s like a meditation practice; you can’t always prove it, but you have your markers.
Roddy Schrock: Homeopathy sees the mind and body as deeply intertwined. When one gets unblocked, the other often moves too.
This is an edited excerpt from my full conversation with Joon Lee and Tracy Steepy. To hear the complete discussion, including audience Q&A with the President of the North American Society of Homeopaths, listen to the full episode and subscribe to the podcast at the link below.
👉 Listen and Subscribe to the Podcast Here: https://pod.link/1575277583
This interview is part of my ongoing series on creative health: practical conversations at the intersection of art, attention, and care. My aim is simple: to help ambitious, creative people find health so they can think, make, and share without burning out.
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