Creativity & Connection

Hello, my friends! I hit the ground running this summer, well, hit the ground anyway. I was tripped by a very large - very sweet - puppy on a playdate and soon found myself staring at the sky with a concussion. This was the first week of June and after a day in urgent care, and a week in bed, I felt well enough to say I was "okay". Eight weeks later, I can tell when I get stressed by the slightest headache. Did you know when we think really hard and our computer minds process on overdrive, they are actually working out like a muscle? I've been operating at some level of adrenaline, lack of sleep, and high stress as a mom - interrupted by beautiful moments and blissful epiphanies, of course - for nearly 10 years and never thought about how much my brain was actually working for me to manage my life to do and be all the things.

My head now literally physically hurts if I use it too much for analytical thinking and not enough for meditative & creative pursuits. While I'm the type of person who loves being super engaged in life, it can lead me to burnout and self-isolation when I forget to schedule time in for me to be frivolous, play, and pressure-free (including self-pressure from what I think I should be doing every time I sit down to paint or spend hours drawing flowers)...It's easy to put creative pursuits aside for the greater good of getting dinner on the table, cleaning house, and the myriad responsibilities we have.

The thing is, I'm finally realizing I've been doing things backward. If I wake up and plan my day around my responsibilities, leaving the fun stuff until after they're done - the fun stuff is never the priority and I end each day without feeling nourished or really feeling like the best version of me. As someone who takes care of people and has a business, there is always something more to do, and when I don't include myself as one of those people I'm taking care of, I become ineffective and out of touch, so focused on "getting things done" that I miss out on the point of it all. So, what is the point of all the things I do? What do I want to feel at the end of the day?

I want to feel free, creative, intentional, loved, and engaged. I'm a big believer in manifesting what we want in life and putting our intentions and energy toward this everyday. We are always getting back what we're putting out there.

For years, I limited myself in different ways. I simply didn't understand that what I wanted for myself really, really mattered. I nearly always catered to my family's needs, or my job, or this idea of what I should be doing in life. One the major steps I took to come back to myself was to start taking small risks. I forgot that risks are worth it, whether we succeed or not, because we answered a simple, sometimes quiet, inner call and we begin to trust ourselves again. When I read the book The Artist's Way, I was able to organize these little challenges for myself alongside Julia Cameron's guidance. It helped me get past the fear of being fully creative and expressive.

Last spring, I started small online groups for reading The Artist's Way. We met weekly online and worked through 12 weeks of creative process and inner understanding with the book. The transformation of many in the group was exciting and connecting with others on the same journey was so giving!

Creativity is a muscle and if it goes unnoticed for too long, it begins to atrophy. It can feel selfish, foolish, stupid, silly, and embarrassing as we try to create after years of ignoring this part of ourselves. But do it anyway. It's not wasteful to create without being "good". There is no group of people who are "artsy" and only they can live in that space. No. It's in all of us. And it could heal us in ways we aren't capable of comprehending until we begin. We - western society as a whole - has largely lost the feeling of what it is to heal as the day goes by, mending and making. Like breathing, we process emotion through movement, expression, reflection, and connection. After a busy summer break, I'll soon be starting another Artist's Way Circle with 12 weeks of online meetups, creative prompts, and creative community.

If you're interested in joining a group to work through The Artist's Way, join the waitlist here!