Create, Create, Create

...it's what your soul needs

Yesterday I held my first 1:1 art session and I was extremely anxious about it. Sometimes we can stop ourselves from doing things because we allow fear to dominate. But I’m getting older and wiser and I know now that all will generally be fine…and it was more than fine. It was such a magical session.

When I discovered how powerful painting was, and continues to be, for my own health and healing I knew I had to pass this on. Initially I started with monthly group workshops which I called Art Play and these attracted some repeat bookings from women each month. Then about a month ago I just felt I needed to pause these and reflect on how I wanted to move forward. I’m now thinking it might be a mix of small groups, but with the focus shifting to 1:1 sessions. But I’m fully embracing Winter’s energy to mull this over and to let the way forward evolve organically, rather than try to force it.

BUT I must say the 1:1 session felt so rewarding. I’ve learnt over time that my role is minimal in each session…when people are given the permission to just be themselves and guided to simply play with the paints, it’s amazing what happens. So many of us are held back by fears of needing to be perfect, overthinking & over-analysing…and if something doesn’t have a clear-cut outcome or purpose (like furthering our career) then we simply won’t do it.

We forget:

• beauty lies in imperfections.

• simply moving paint across the page is nourishing in itself.

• creating a wiggly line can be exciting.

• mixing a colour is fun.

• simply just doing something for the sake of it has it’s own rewards.

I am the first to admit I am not a trained artist but I have acquired my style by painting consistently. It’s the way we learn. We learn through making mistakes. We learn by seeing what colours look good together…by actually putting them together! There are also incidental life lessons from painting…about the necessity to pause & reflect. Not everything has to be finished as quickly as possible. We can do a chunk and leave it. To return to on another day, with a fresh head & fresh ideas. We can make mistakes and seek solutions to change things. We can practice living in the moment…not always trying to be somewhere else. Learn to be present with ourselves. Skills that are so NECESSARY for navigating every day life.

So the moral of this story is find a way to incorporate creativity in your life. Your soul needs it. It doesn’t have to be painting….just find your own thing! You won’t regret it.

The young lady who joined me yesterday was keen to come back…so a nice way to end this little story.

Create, create, create. Please x