take the stage: my next creative push

Take the Stage: My Next Creative Push

I was ready for 40. I saw it coming, and instead of a crisis, it brought clarity.

That wasn’t by accident. It took a ton of hard, hard work — work that I started at 35. Back then, I took a hard look at my life and knew I didn’t want to hit 40 in the same place I was then: feeling stuck, carrying weight (physically and mentally), and not actively making things. I didn’t want to just let life happen to me—I wanted to be in it, creating, moving forward.

So, I put in the work. And when 40 rolled around last November, I wasn’t panicking. I was ready to step into Act 2.

But before I could, life threw one last storm my way.

The Last Year: Motion, Loss, and Reset

Since putting Creative People Podcast on hiatus, my life has been in constant motion — literally.

The summer was a whirlwind - I performed in two plays (Dimitri Goes to Hollywood with Agapi Productions Inc. and Little Heaven with Penny & Pound), and at the same time, my family got caught in a “renoviction loophole” that forced us out of our home. On top of that, I also had to **move out of my downtown studio**—a space that had become my creative headquarters.

Losing that space was hard. Losing it and my family’s home at the same time was nearly devastating.

By the time fall hit, I was exhausted. I knew I needed to regroup, so I let myself slow down. I spent the season recovering, recalibrating, and teaching myself guitar. Guitar became this thing that had no deadlines, no expectations—just me, learning something new. And that felt good.

Now, with the dust settled, it’s time to step back up. From now until the end of May, I’m in creative sprint mode. The focus is clear: get things out into the world.

The Big 5: What’s Moving Right Now

🎤 **1. Creative People Podcast – Season 5 Kicks Off in February

The podcast is back. After the break, I’m returning to the mic with a new perspective and a fresh approach.

First episode? **Episode 120: *Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself***—a reflection on the journey so far and what’s next. My goal this season is to keep things fresh, lean into deeper conversations, and see where this thing can go. I’ve begun lining up guests and I can’t wait to approach creativity with fresh eyes.

📖 **2. The Backsliders Club – A New Podcast Begins

This one is personal.

Since releasing Backslider in 2023, the response has been overwhelmingly personal and comforting. I’ve had deep, real conversations with people who resonated with it—people who felt seen, who reached out, who shared their own stories. Those connections made me realize there’s more to explore here!

The Backsliders Club is a space for real conversations about faith, doubt, and reinvention. The first episode, “Allow Me to Introduce Myself“, pulls from the Backslider zine, setting the stage for what’s to come.

After it’s live, I’ll start booking guests and building the show. It’s time.

Little Heaven - produced by Penny & Pound

🎭 **3. Curiouser – A Chance to Play on Stage in May

Theatre is back on my plate, and this time, it’s all about play.

Curiouser is an ambitious original musical about “Lewis Carroll and the world of Wonderland”, and I’m part of the huge cast bringing it to life. It’s going to be wild, weird, and fun—exactly the kind of creative energy I want to tap into right now.

The show runs **May 22–25 at the Guelph Little Theatre** with Penny & Pound, and rehearsals start this week.

Dylan Simpson testing film equipment

🦌 **4. DEER – A Return to Film, Shooting in Early March

DEER marks my return to film!

It’s a project from the “In The Car” series with Dylan Simpson — his concept, his lead, and I was there to help write, develop, and support over FaceTime. We bounced ideas back and forth, and I wrote a draft or two as we refined the story.

The film follows two hitmen at a crossroads, and I’ll be playing one of them while also co-directing and producing.

The script is locked. The shoot is set. We’re making this thing!

👹 **5. Demon Hunter Preview Issue – A Bold Narrative Horror Zine

This one has been waiting for its moment.

The Demon Hunter Preview Issue is going to be a bold, horror-driven narrative zine, giving people their first real look at this world I’ve been developing. It’s going to blend story, world-building, and atmosphere in a way that pulls people in.

I’m still locking in the format, but this story is finally coming out into the world!

Take the Stage: The First Push of Act 2

So that’s the game plan. January through May = a creative sprint.

I’m not thinking past May yet—right now, it’s about momentum. About getting things moving and putting them out there.

It’s time to take the stage.

**Follow Along**

If you want to stay in the loop, check out:

🎤 *Creative People Podcast* – Season 5 starts soon.

📖 *The Backsliders Club* – First episode drops in February.

👀 Keep an eye out for *DEER* and *Demon Hunter*.

What are you stepping up to this year? Let’s talk.

- Ryan Leacock

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Ryan Leacock is a designer, writer and actor who's worked in a variety of creative fields and expressions.  He's written short films, commercials, blogs and has just published his second collection of original writings.  Ryan has designed apps. websites and hundreds of signs at his 9-5. 

Ryan is about to start his 5th year hosting the Creative People Podcast, which he self-produces a few times a month. 

He currently lives in Kitchener, Ontario with his wife, 4 kids, 1 dog and 2 cats.

why i wrote THE FIRE INSIDE

Back when I was in the fold, everything good was given to God as credit.

Life, inspiration, and intuition were gifts from God. These amazing things were the Holy Spirit alive inside us, speaking to us, and guiding us.

But even back then, even at my most indoctrinated, I would still wonder - "Yeah, but non-Christians have these gifts as well."

After I made Backslider, I knew that The Fire Inside was next.

I wanted to ask the big questions that all of us ask:

Why are we here?

Why is there life inside of me?

As a creative person, I have a built-in need to make - where does that come from?

Why do we all share this same fire?

The Fire Inside is the "spiritual sequel" to Backslider. If that last zine was about looking back, The Fire Inside is about looking around with fresh eyes. It is about the Fire we all share - especially those of us who decide to live a creative life.

Because in the end, I still believe that the Fire is a gift from God - it's a gift given to all of us.

There are a couple pieces in the zine that have been inside of me for years - these are the core elements that everything else gathered around.

One of the ways my creativity works, is like this - there are "Idea Planets" floating in space of my mind and with time, some of them pull other ideas into their gravitational pull - growing and becoming projects.

These two ideas formed the whole zine.

AS FAR AS WE KNOW

It's becoming more and more likely that there are aliens out in the universe somewhere. But as of right now, as far as we know we are the only beings in all the universes that write, that sing, that express ourselves through art. We may be alone, in all of this space, doing our little works.

So while your poetry or painting may be 1 of millions in the world - our work is singular in the universe. I think that's a beautiful thing to be part of.

SNAILS

I haven't liked most of the places that I've worked, and I don't do well with mornings. But one morning, dragging myself to a place I didn't want to be - I saw something holy and primal.

The sun was out and the morning was crisp. 100's of tiny snails were awake and inspired to greet the day. These small snails covered the wall of a place I hated, each had a little spark of the life that is inside of me - and I found that beautiful.

I stood there and appreciated the life before me - enjoying the brief delay before heading into the much loathed workplace.

These were the core building blocks for The Fire Inside. The cornerstones of everything I wanted to express in the zine.

I don't want to spend all of my time talking or writing about what I've lived through - for me The Fire Inside complements Backslider because it completes the yin-yang energy. That's why I made it.

If you'd like to read it or Backslider - both can be purchased over on my esty.

- Ryan Leacock

Follow me on Instagram

Ryan Leacock is a designer, writer and actor who's worked in a variety of creative fields and expressions.  He's written short films, commercials, blogs and has just published his second collection of original writings.  Ryan has designed apps. websites and hundreds of signs at his 9-5. 

Ryan has nearly finished his 4th year hosting the Creative People Podcast, which he self-produces a few times a month. 

He currently lives in Kitchener, Ontario with his wife, 4 kids, 1 dog and 2 cats.

_what_is_backslider__?

WHAT IS A “BACKSLIDER”?

Backslider is a term used by Evangelical Christians for people who have left the church, or had fallen away.

One day it hit me, that’s what I would have called myself back in my Church days. It was a sobering realization. The old me, would refer to the new me as a Backslider.

I knew people who had left the church, I remember how I thought about them, how I judged them and felt sorry for them. I remember how once they were gone, no one really talked to them anymore. They were no longer one of the “Us” they had become one of the “Them”

And now that was me.

WHY IS THE ZINE CALLED “BACKSLIDER”?

Leaving was a challenging, confusing and lonely time for me. I wanted to make something to honour my time growing up in Church, as well as my leaving. “The Backslider Project” was an open tab on the desktop of my mind for a handful of years. An idea that I didn’t know what to do with.

At the same time, I had also been looking for an opportunity to do my version of a zine. So when I realized the two ideas should be combined into one project. Everything just started to click.

WHY A ZINE?

Nothing feels like holding physical media in your hands. I love the feeling of opening a new record and looking through the lyrics and the art. I wanted to make something that felt the same as that. A zine is an affordable way to make that.

Another great thing about a zine is that it can be anything.

I had never written publicly in the way that I do in this project. I felt hesitant and insecure to share my voice in that way, but when I combined those written pieces with this theme and style of design… it just clicked. The zine became a way for me to expand my style of writing, while using skills I felt stronger in. Backslider wrapped all that together and was the perfect container for it.

ZINES ARE ROCK and ROLL

When Jack and Meg White made a White Stripes record, I’ve read that they went into the studio with “nothing” prepared and would jam out the record in the weeks that it took to make it. That’s rock and roll.

A zine is made with that same intention and spirt. It’s an approach that’s of the moment. It takes all your talent/skill/previous experience and wraps it in the thing you cranked out in a handful of weeks. That was my approach and my hopes for Backslider.

IS THE ZINE “ANTI-CHRISTIAN”?

The zine is about some of my experiences growing up in Christianity, why I left, and what that has been like for me. Your involvement with Christianity may have been healthy and helpful in your life. That’s great, I’m happy for you.

As a whole, that was not my experience and I had a bunch of unresolved feelings about it that needed to be worked through. Some of it was good, and parts of it may be true… but as a whole it left me broken and confused.

Backslider is my expression of that experience: 33 years of Christianity, what that was like and why I left… designed, written and jammed out in a few weeks.

I’m thankful for my time, and feel at peace about why I left.
I’m ready to move on. I just had to make something about it first.

Thanks for reading.

You can buy your copy of the Backslider Zine here

- Ryan Leacock

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