This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life Podcast By Erica J. Schmidt cover art

This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life

This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life

By: Erica J. Schmidt
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Welcome to This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life! In this podcast, writer Erica J. Schmidt talks to people who may—or may not—have had the chance to transform their lives into spectacular TED talks. Cherished guests include Erica’s beloved grandmother, talented fringe performers, and more fascinating folks from across generations and communities. Discover new takes on creativity, morning routines, art, mental health, eating disorder recovery, perfectionism, and healing, plus a loving advice column segment in almost every episode. Oh, and sometimes there are tiny singsongs!

About the host: Erica J. Schmidt is a writer, translator, storyteller, and recovering gifted child living in Montréal. She is currently querying a novel about that time she fell in love with her eleventh therapist. To learn more, check out Erica’s generously personal essays at ericajschmidt.com/blog

Art Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
Episodes
  • In Loving Memory of Mary Adamson Owen

    In Loving Memory of Mary Adamson Owen
    Mar 20 2026

    For our first-ever encore episode, we have Mary Adamson Owen, otherwise known as the best grandma in the world. Grandma was my inaugural podcast guest and reason for starting This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life.

    After a long, strange, and beautiful life, Grandma died on November 14, 2025. She was 99. To honour her memory, I am reposting the extra special interview we did back in March of 2023. We recorded from her tiny room in long-term care, where she had just moved in. Unsurprisingly, she was an all-star guest. It is such a treasure to be able to listen to her voice and her stories now that she is “gone,” whatever that means.

    I have added an only slightly teary intro and some VIP footage at the end. Check out the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PQACTE_CduA

    To learn more about Mary’s life, you can read her obituaryor watch a wonderfully extensive interview series, created by the Crestwood history project, created when Grandma was 98!

    Bravo, Grandma! We miss you so much.

    Thank you everyone for listening.

    Love, Erica

    Instagram: @erica.j.schmidt

    Substack: ericajschmidt.substack.com

    Website: ericajschmidt.com

    The Donate Button. Thank you so much!

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    53 mins
  • As Good a Place as Any with Rebecca Păpucaru

    As Good a Place as Any with Rebecca Păpucaru
    Feb 5 2026
    Today we have a writer’s writer’s talk with the accomplished author and poet Rebecca Păpucaru. Rebecca has published an impressive variety of poetry and fiction, and she is someone who works very hard and long on her creative projects. Legend has it that some of her published poems and her recent novel have taken years (and even a decade or so) to make them what they are today. So,if you’re someone who’s been toiling on a project forever, if you feel like you’re stuck, or even if you haven’t started yet, this interview is bursting with hope, tips, and inspiration.Bio: Rebecca Păpucaru (also known as Rebecca Schwarz)Growing up in Montréal, Rebecca Păpucaru was always the English teacher’s pet. During her youth, she won second prize in an Archie comics’ writing contest. Her essay on how to change the world beat out hundreds of American and Canadian competitors. In 2018, her collection of poems, The Panic Room won the Canadian Jewish Literary Award for Poetry. Her novella Yentas won the Malahat Review’s 2020 Novella Prize. And her recent novel, As Good a Place as Any has met great acclaim, making all kinds of lists including the CBC’s selection for Best Canadian Fiction Book of 2025. As Good a Place as Any tells the story of 16-year-old Paulina, who is forced to flee Chile with her brother after the 1973 coup. They land in Toronto, and no spoilers but Paulina has a much better time than her brother Ernesto does, and we get to read about her unlikely quest for freedom as a queer woman and aspiring actress. It’s a historically relevant, emotionally compelling coming-of-age novel. You’ll love it as much as you’ll love this episode! Thank you, Rebecca for coming on the show. Follow Rebecca on Instagram: @rebeccapapucaruwriterRebecca’s author page on FacebookBook of Poetry: The Panic Room (Nightwood Editions)Novel: As Good a Place as Any (Guernica Editions)Erica on Instagram: @erica.j.schmidtErica on Substack (new!): @ericajschmidtErica's website: ericajschmidt.comFull shownotes: ericajschmidt.com/podcast/as-good-a-place-as-any-rebecca-papucaruIf you enjoyed this podcast, you may also enjoy:Montréal’s Favourite Anita Anand (Author, Translator, Peace Seeker):Apple Podcasts SpotifyTrue Stories to Save Your Life with Nisha Coleman:AppleSpotifyCuriosity with Michelle Syba (Author of End Times):AppleSpotifyRebecca Păpucaru on This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life (Timestamps)00:00:00 Theme Song, Intro + Rebecca Păpucaru’s bio00:03:50 Rebecca gushes about Erica’s squatty potty set-up in her bathroom. Erica: You want to give birth and take a dump in a squat.Rebecca and Erica talk ergonomic redemption and the importance of internal plumbing as you age.00:08:00 Rebecca was born Rebecca Schwarz but prefers her father’s family name Păpucaru, which he changed when he came to Canada. “If I’m honest, my decision to publish under that name is a certain internalized self-loathing. But on the other hand, I really like the sound of it.”00:12:05 Writer’s Block Trick: If you don’t have money for a writer’s course, just write an essay on your name.00:12:47 Rebecca Păpucaru’s creative origins and how she became a writer (Early journals, lots of reading, and winning the Archie comic writing contest)00:16:55 Theatre school at Dawson college and why Rebecca did not become an actor00:19:52 The call to read. University of TorontoRebecca is captivated by Sylvia Plath and decides she wants to write poems. Ends up studying English at U of T. She writes poem but they rarely submits them anywhere. Then her uncle dies when she is 38, and she vows to take the writing thing seriously. 00:27:31 What is most natural, writing poetry or fiction?00:31:05 The tension between commercial and literary fiction and the pressure to write something high-brow and cerebral. 00:32:03 Elevator pitch for As Good a Place as Any00:36:19 Did Rebecca do research to authentically and respectfully depict the experience of the queer Chilean woman? Rebecca describes her process and self-doubt, and the trip where she met her main character.00:42:37 A sign that you’re really stuck with your writing.00:43:29 Writing through shit in the dark and/or How to get into a flow state and get your characters to talk to you00:48:30 Rebecca Păpucaru’s Morning and Creative Routines00:53:31 Rebecca Păpucaru’s Spectacular TED talk00:54:59 More writing tips! How to write or not write and not hate yourself01:48:00 Rebecca Păpucaru’s Cleaning Routine01:03:40 How to read outside reading bubbles and Instagram lists. Reading tips and recs01:07:59 Wrap-up and where to find Rebecca online and buy her bookTo support this independent podcast, please consider purchasing a Lil and Bud dog greeting card at ericajschmidt.com/merch. You can also make a one-time donation here at The Donate Button.Feel free to get in touch for other sponsorship possibilities. My infinite thanks for all of this.More infinite thanks, as always, to ...
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • How to Be an Artist with Gretchen Andrew

    How to Be an Artist with Gretchen Andrew
    Dec 18 2025
    “An artist is someone who is celebrated for being themselves. A professional artist is someone who is paid for being themselves.”“It takes as much creativity to make it work as it does to make the work.”—Gretchen AndrewGretchen Andrew is a viral painter, hacker, and creator of the award-winning FaceTune Portraits, a series of oil paintings that “reveal the hidden scars of social media filters.”Two years after college, Gretchen quit her so-called “dream job” at Google and set out on a performative experiment to become an artist. It was a wild success! Most recently, two paintings from Gretchen’s Facetune Portrait series have been put forth for permanent acquisition at the Whitney. These provocative portraits criticize how AI and plastic surgery are homogenizing and dictating our collective beauty standards. The world needs this series and it was a joy to talk to Gretchen about creativity, algorithms, morning routines, robots, Botox, and how to become an artist. Follow Gretchen on Instagram @gretchenandrewGretchen Andrew’s website: gretchenandrew.comErica on Instagram: @erica.j.schmidtErica on Substack (new!): @ericajschmidtErica's website: ericajschmidt.com Full shownotes: ericajschmidt.com/podcast/artist-gretchen-andrewGretchen Andrew on This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life00:00:00 Intro: Gretchen on today’s unreasonable beauty standards00:01:44 Theme song plus Gretchen’s bio and riveting banter on Botox00:06:04 Gretchen gets a running scholarship at Boston College. Landed a job at Google, which she quit after two years to illegally move into her art studio. How did this happen and how did it go?00:09:39 Using the Internet as a force for good. Trying to make it as an artist in San Francisco00:16:30 Gretchen’s take on the term “self-taught.” How she acquired the technical skills she needed without getting an MFA. How she found mentors like Billy Childs00:21:00 Gretchen’s artistic origins. Did she draw as a child? Why art now? Gretchen’s dream of becoming part of the art world. Making your life one beautiful piece of art. 00:23:57 Promoting yourself as an artist. “It takes as much creativity to make it work as it does to make the work.” Networking, snail-mail thank you cards. Making it fun.00:29:52 Using SEO to hack the search term “Next American president” with her vision boards during the 2020 election. How to make the Internet “a global subconscious manifestation machine.”00:36:23 Gretchen’s morning routine. It involves setting an intention in front of the mirror at 4:55 a.m. She records herself and listens to the recording throughout the day. Seems like it is working?00:40:21 Robotics and Gretchen’s Facetune Portraits. More on our society’s impossible beauty standards, the effects of AI filters, the cost of Botox, fillers and other interventions. 00:40:34 Specifics about the mechanics of Gretchen’s robots. Check out Erica’ smash-hit YouTube channel for footage!00:51:41 How the Facetune project has affected Gretchen personally in terms of how she processes appearance expectations for women. More on Botox, haha, and does EMDR therapy make you prettier?01:04:42 Gretchen Andrew’s creative routine. It can vary by week, month, or even two-to-five year period. And she has stop watches to keep track of it all. 01:13:08 Gretchen Andrew’s cleaning routine. Her house is spotless! And she hits Inbox Zero every afternoon. What a surprise.01:15:37 Gretchen Andrew’s spectacular TED talk. Listen to the end for the title and topic!01:16:25 Wrap-up and closing theme song. Sing or dance along. Thank you so much, Gretchen. What a blast and an honour. If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like: How to Be a Writer with Kyle Stevenson, Making It Fun with Mary Owen, and Moments of Joy with Al Lafrance.To support this independent podcast, please consider purchasing a Lil and Bud dog greeting card at ericajschmidt.com/merch. You can also make a one-time donation here at The Donate Button. Feel free to get in touch for other sponsorship possibilities. My infinite thanks for all of this.More infinite thanks, as always, to Taes Leavitt (darling big sister, Big Heart Journey), Sherwin Tjia (technical and creative advisor, Sherwin’s Quirky Events, Episode 22) and my dearly departed aunt Eileen Gun, whose generous gift helped to fund my new podcast equipment. Stay tuned for more episodes extra soon. Don’t forget to follow This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life on your favourite podcast platform. And if you enjoyed the episode, I would be immensely grateful if you could share it with a friend and/or leave a kind and enthusiastic rating and review.
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