I use creativity to reimagine how things can be different.
My invitation is to use the creative process as a catalyst for change – not for creating art but for re-imagining how you might look, understand or experience the world around you – exploring how things could be different. All the time playing and exploring the pulse or movement between different ways of being, seeing and experiencing the world.
[ Past Event ]
Now and then I host the Creativity for change Challenge to explore Coming into balance.
The long and the short
I set this challenge for myself to ‘recombobulate’ after the summer months and I would love you to join me!
- The challenge is free.
- You can do this challenge your way – alone or with colleagues and friends.
- Each day there are prompts inspired by The work that reconnects – I won’t be chasing you for responses but they can be helpful.
- It doesn’t have to take up loads of time – you can spend as little as 10 minutes/day.
- Each week there is the option to join an online session with guided movement, time to creatively respond to the prompts and the chance to share. The payment for that is €10 – €20
- You can share your progress on social media with the hashtag (below) or in a Whatsapp group (that I can add you to).
- You don’t need loads of art materials but you might be inspired to use some along the way – use this time to explore!
- You can meet others taking the challenge or take some alone time with this.
- The prompts are invitations to engage your head hands and heart to explore: thinking in new ways, using your hands as a way of getting a different type of understanding, and embracing the intelligence of the heart to guide your imagination.
- You do not need to be a creative or a designer to participate – but I am in the process of changing my focus to hone in on that more specific demographic – so this may be the last ‘open’ Creativity for Change Challenge.
- If you want to find balance in yourself, your place in our rather chaotic world and how you embrace your Creative Power – join in!
Coming into balance
We are coming to the end of the summer here in the northern hemisphere and perhaps, like me, your routine was turned on its head over the last few months.
I am noticing a strong desire to find my balance and recalibrate – to hold the nourishment of the summer and find my bearings before the autumn and winter months. And also to find balance with changes happening in the greater world around me – rather than being reactionary or responding in fear, I want to find more creative power to respond with hope and a sense of possibility.
In considering this process of finding balance and the pulse of BEing and DOing – starting on Thursday 1st September [Past event] I am hosting a 21-day Creativity for Change Challenge
The Equinox (equal nights) is on the 22nd of September so the preceding weeks are a natural time in to bring our bodies, work and practices back into creative balance.
I love this idea of bringing ourselves into balance and letting our sense of possibility be at the core of it so I want to offer this to you to participate – to take small yet consistent moments of reflection and action each and every day.
For each of the 21 days, I will provide a prompt – a simple question or quote inspired by the work of Joanna Macy and the Work that reconnects, inviting you to engage your head, hands and heart in supporting your reflections and responses
Creativity, imagination and creativity for change
Balance is the movement or pulse between
commitment and freedom
datum and flow
resting and taking action
tuning in and burning out
BEing and DOing
listening and speaking
receiving and giving
breathing in and breathing out
To find our balance we can get creative – engaging our imagination – exploring like a tight rope walker – taking simple steps, trying things in new ways and always with a curious smile!
Creativity is something that we have but it is also a practice: we need to do it! It needs commitment, a rhythm of showing up and something to show up for.
What I’ve learned about myself and my creativity is that I work best when I have a framework and a structure to work within.
This Challenge offers a really simple framework of daily prompts and community support to get you moving!
With the security of a structure, we can release some more creative energy to explore and imagine with more freedom. This balance between the holding rhythm of a structure and the expansive quality of freedom gives us a safe container to create.
I use creativity to reimagine how things can be different. To move out of places of stuckness, I use movement and art to reimagine alternatives. I use the freedom of creative expression to challenge fixed ideas and give new ideas a ‘whirl’.
Sometimes these explorations – doodles, abstract paintings, feed into my writing other times into new projects, funding ideas, installations etc.
My invitation is to use different creative practices as a catalyst for change – not for creating art but for re-imagining how you might look, understand or experience the world around you.
I invite you to reimagine and explore how things could be different. All the time playing and exploring the pulse or movement between different ways of being, seeing etc.
[This is one of my all-time favourite images. Tricia Brown, a wonderful New York choreographer and visual artist would dance and use charcoal to make marks with her body. If you have space and can get your hands on some builders lining paper or a roll of brown paper and some big lumps of charcoal I can highly recommend giving this a try! Cleaning up after can be a bit tricky tho…]
Head
Each day there are prompts or quotes inspired by Joanna Macy’s – The spiral of the Work that Reconnects. This journey through the spiral can be taken on a personal level or as a way of engaging in your work or community.
My invitation here is to try to honour the sacred gift of your intuitive mind – i.e. letting your thoughts emerge from your body – eg. from movement, the experience of being out in nature, bringing more awareness to your senses.
Hands
You are invited to consider the daily prompts and respond to them in a creative way. Let this be a way of processing, understanding and expressing your response.
My invitation is not to get caught up in creating art – but to use your hands as a way of temporarily bypassing ‘thinking’ and instead exploring trusting in the intelligence of your body. This can be e.g. stream-of-consciousness writing, movement, or a visual medium.
Heart
Responding to the prompts can bring up a range of emotions – there is a beautiful richness to be found in allowing your heart to open and be honoured in a creative way.
This can be directly through your own words and making skills or can be through the images and words of others.
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.” Albert Einstein
Come together
Of course, you could do this alone, but I’d love you to join me, as there is power and joy in coming together.
- By committing to showing up each day we create an atmosphere of accountability
- We can set the best of intentions but if you are anything like me you know that it’s all too easy to say you will start, tomorrow…
- By joining you have a structure that you can lean into – you don’t need to create it.
- It is a source of inspiration and an opportunity to put new ideas into movement and expression in your own work.
- You will be getting a taster or a reminder of the power of Joanna Macy’s – the Work that Reconnects and Active Hope.
- Momentum – showing up even for 5 minutes per day can help you sow the seeds for new creative habits.
- Inspiration through sharing in a community where you can reimagine your schedules, routines, work and practices.
- The challenge is a way of flexing your creative muscles – daily ‘exercise’ can lead to surprising results after 21 days.
How it works
The challenge is free.
It is no longer possible to join this challenge – but if you would like to hear about future challenges you can sign up to the Beautiful Earth Notes for updates and details of my work.
I will send you your daily prompts by email.
Join me every day from Thursday 1st September.
Share on social media with the Hashtag – #21daycreativityforchangechallenge – a post, a reflection, a comment on my post or a picture of you taking action.
If you are not on social media there will be a Whatsapp group that you can join where you can also post and share. Let me know if you want to be added to that group.
A note on sharing
It can feel really vulnerable to share online or in a group but I really encourage you to find a way to share that might be just a little bit outside of your comfort zone. The old comfort zone can do with a little workout from time to time!
If you are finding it hard to maintain a daily rhythm or would just love to meet, move and share with others challenge participants and get some support -there will be a (paid) 90-minute online session each Wednesday evening (details below). Note – these are booked separately.
Online sessions
It can be tricky to maintain momentum in a challenge like this so I am offering an optional online community session each week to provide space and structure to support you.
These sessions are a combination of simple invitations to bring more awareness into your body through movement with music and free space to allow you to creatively explore and experiment.
They provide the opportunity to engage your body, through some simple movement, time to address and respond to the daily prompts (in a co-working space) and the opportunity to share with one another.
In the sessions, you can expect
30 mins of movement (Movement Medicine)
45 mins for self-guided creative exploration
15 mins for closing with some movement and the option to share.
Wednesday evenings 7:30 – 9:00pm GMT / 8:30 – 10pm CET. Find your local time here
Payment for each online session is on a sliding scale between €10 – €20 You can use Paypal or Bank transfer (contact me for details)
To register for the evening sessions click here or on the link below.
Dance and movement have always been my way into my creativity. The body is the key!
Share
I will be sharing the journey on Instagram and Facebook, with pictures and updates about my progress, using the hashtag #21daycreativityforchangechallenge.
And I will share in the Beautiful Earth Notes each week how that journey is going – including challenges and insights. You can sign up for the Beautiful Earth Notes mailing list here.
I would love to see this challenge support change in your organisation, in your community and in your life, so you can Invite your work colleagues or friends to join you.
Whatever you do, so that we can see each other’s progress, don’t forget to use the hashtag
#21daycreativityforchangechallenge
Are you in?
By joining the online sessions you agree to the following
- To keep your camera on during the session: you don’t need to be in front of the screen all the time but it is important to maintain a connection. If you are having problems with Internet access then you can have your camera turned off during the ‘open space’ session – please let me know if this is the case.
- Join the session a few mins before it starts so you can check your connection and have everything you need and so we can all start together and on time. Please stay for the duration of the class. Your presence in the group is important
- This is not a closed group and new people may join from week to week.
- You are willing and able to take full responsibility for your own physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health during the session and afterwards.
- Sessions include Movement Medicine which is an activity that involves physical movement. You are fit and well and able to move and ensure you have an area to move in which you have checked is safe.
- Listen to your own body. Move at your own pace, if something hurts, pay attention and take care of yourself.
- You understand that this session may bring emotions to the surface.
- When you register I will add you to my email list. You can unsubscribe anytime. I agree to only use your contact details for my events.
If you can’t join the challenge on these dates you can stay in touch with me on social media or via my articles on Medium – links below, or you can sign up for the Beautiful Earth Notes mailing list here.