Why Chica Took a Pause
While Overheard at Chica’s Café continues as a monthly podcast, the blog has been quiet since July 30, 2025. This is why Chica took a pause.
This pause wasn’t about absence or disengagement, but about navigating creative burnout in entertainment and choosing where creative energy could be held responsibly.
This editor’s note marks the return of the written reflections that accompany the café conversations — shaped by lived experience, recalibration, and renewed clarity.
Why a Creative Pause in Entertainment Was Necessary
There’s a kind of silence that isn’t absence — it’s prioritization.
Since July 30, 2025, the blog portion of Overheard at Chica’s Café has been paused. The podcast itself continued — conversations were still happening, stories still unfolding. What shifted was the bandwidth for writing alongside speaking.
Blogging requires a different kind of presence. It asks for stillness, editing, and sustained reflection. When life compresses time and energy, something has to give — and for a while, that something was the blog.
This pause wasn’t about disengagement. It was about choosing where creative energy could be held responsibly.
Creative Pause in Entertainment Isn’t Always Loud
Creative burnout in entertainment doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes it shows up quietly — as fatigue, as reduced clarity, as the need to conserve creative output rather than expand it.
Many creatives continue working while reassessing how much they can offer in each format. Speaking may feel accessible while writing feels demanding. Recording may feel grounding while drafting feels heavy.
That doesn’t signal failure. It signals self-awareness.
Why Writing Requires a Different Kind of Energy
Podcasting allows for real-time conversation — tone, breath, humor, pauses. Blogging requires a slower excavation. It asks you to organize thoughts, make them coherent, and offer them without the warmth of voice.
During periods of personal change, it’s common for creators to stay connected through one medium while stepping back from another. That choice isn’t avoidance — it’s stewardship.
The café didn’t close. One door simply rested.
Returning to the Blog With Clarity
This return isn’t about “catching up” or compensating for time away. It’s about re-entering the written space with intention.
The blog remains a place for:
- Entertainment industry reflection
- Honest conversations about creative sustainability
- Discouragement, humor, and recalibration
- The human stories that shape artistic lives
Not performance. Not productivity theater. Just clarity.
What Comes Next for the Café Blog
Going forward, blog posts will appear alongside the ongoing monthly podcast — not as obligation, but as accompaniment. Writing will return when it adds value, not pressure.
If you’ve stepped back from one part of your creative work while continuing another, you’re not inconsistent. You’re responding to reality.
Pull up a chair.
The blog is back — steady, intentional, and grounded.
In this month’s episode, I’m joined by Steve Walker, a theatrical talent agent. We talk about what it takes to be a successful actor, from preparing for auditions, marketing oneself and honing one’s skills. Listen in as Steve gives us a crash course on the responsibilities of an agent and the things actors should focus on.
Denise Sanchez is the guest for January on Overheard at Chica’s Café. We met when I played her mom on the TV Show, Bosch Legacy. It was a great experience. Denise is fun and we talk about her career and self-care. We share our acting experiences, laugh and enjoy our conversation. Check out this entertaining episode.