
Ep.116 - Breaking the Rules (and Lowering the Stakes)
From Well Being by Heatvision
February 6, 2026 · 55 min · Episode 116
About this episode
The episode discusses breaking creative rules and the impact of perfectionism on mental health.
January finally let go of our ankles, and Well Being is back on the other side of the longest month known to humankind. This week’s Sparks of Inspiration are absolutely stacked: Kel somehow watches five movies in one week, we talk Sinners, Weapons, One Battle After Another, Superman (2025), and why modern stabilization might be robbing car chases of their soul. Andy revisits Schitt’s Creek and gets hyped for the Super Bowl halftime show, while Theo dives headfirst into Dungeon Crawler Carl, a book series that feels like Running Man meets Hitchhiker’s Guide with max chaos energy. From there, we roll straight into the mental health portion, pulling from Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act: A Way of Being to unpack one of the book’s biggest chapters: Rules. The rules we’re taught. The rules we inherit. The ones we don’t even realize we’re following. We talk perfectionism, lowering the stakes, creative pressure, and how unconscious rules can quietly suffocate joy, collaboration, and experimentation. We reflect on breaking out of rigid structures, rediscovering play, and why sometimes the best move is to throw away the old playbook—without losing the skills you earned along the way…
People in this episode
Hosts: Kel, Andy, Theo
Topics covered
- mental health
- creativity
- breaking rules
- perfectionism
- collaboration
- experimentation
- play
Keywords
- mental health
- creativity
- rules
- perfectionism
- collaboration
- experimentation
- play
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Schitt’s Creek, Dungeon Crawler Carl, The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Running Man, Hitchhiker’s Guide, Sinners, Weapons, One Battle After Another, Superman (2025)
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- Ep. 124 - Inspiration, Imperfection & America’s Pee-Pee · May 11, 2026 · 40 min
- Ep. 123 - Beginner’s Mind & Broken Algorithms · April 19, 2026 · 48 min
- Ep. 122 - Garage Gods & Goblin Hosts · April 10, 2026 · 50 min
- Ep. 121 - Heatwaves, Hunches, and the Art of Actually Listening · April 7, 2026 · 53 min
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