Creating Space

Paints, pens, stamps and stickers and stuff!

We had a blast at the Summer Loving workshop last Saturday.  A group of us gathered around a treasure chest of lovely stationery supplies to rediscover the art of play.

Creativity to me meant being good at drawing and painting but art lessons at school had felt like a form of torture. I really tried to make the marks on my paper resemble the bowl of fruit in front of me but it always felt utterly hopeless, especially when I saw how amazing the drawings by the people around me were.

The 'art scars' we pick up in childhood run very deep and do a great deal of damage to our spirit.   They can continue to hinder our ability to express our true nature and certainly undermine our confidence around creativity.  Creativity is actually an essential part of us, a vital expression of our authentic self and closely related to our relationship to passion, joy, power, sexuality and abundance!

Also, making time for creativity and doing something just for you is not only good for your health and well-being - its good for those who live with you! Research by relationship experts Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks found that just one hour of creative self-expression a week is enough to bring vital energy back into a relationship.

Over the last 18 months I have been doing a great deal of personal research into creative self-expression.  I started by learning to up-cycle furniture using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint .  Because the goal was to create a 'shabby chic' look the process was very forgiving, so mistakes were integral to the look!

I honestly feel that having permission to make mistakes let the creative genie out of the lamp.  It allowed me to overcome my fears and now I've thrown the lamp away now so the genie is free to explore.

One of the ways I get to enjoy my creative journey is through sharing.  I love learning new skills but nothing gives me more joy than to then share it with others.  Its like being infected with a really fun bug and giving it to your friends so that you can bunk off school together!  That's why I've developed the Creating Space workshops -  to create more space for play!

What can you do to let your genie out? Come and play!