So today I had a whirlwind of visitors. They walked in the front door, started examining all of the various items in the house, visited the basement, played with the ukuleles and attempted a game of jacks. The short 15 minute visit was an obvious check-in on their part to make sure the Art Garage was still here for them.
I love the freedom and enthusiasm of children, and I love that the neighborhood kids feel so comfortable that they just flow freely and easily through my presence. I hope to elevate their experience this year by being able to tie it into the work at the Community House. One thing we need for sure over there are seat cushions. We had about 30 metal folding chairs donated to the house. They are great functional chairs, but they sure are hard on the tuckus. I have some great ideas on how to make seat cushions for the chairs and to have the kids decorate them with messages of hope. It will allow them to create and do good things, and think of others all in one go. It will also bring up the issues of addiction that are being addressed at the meetings at the house. Many of these kids have seen the effects of addiction first hand, and I know it will be meaningful for them to see that people have a place where they want to recover. I really hope to begin fully implementing the Virtues Project this year. So many things on the table, whew, and I am filled with nothing but gratitude at the chance to participate so fully and completely in contributing to a healthy neighborhood and community.
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Over the summer I spent some time working on a book project about being more creative in your life. I am a firm believer that creativity is a pathway to personal understanding and self-actualization as we start to bring more of who we are into the world and our work.
Not to mention the fact that creative work simply brings so much joy. The book got put on hold, but it morphed into a course. We will be hosting the course from April to June. It is free and open to anyone interested in living a more creative life, or boosting their creativity, or even discovering their creative side. It should also be a lot of fun. One element will be to give yourself a creative challenge. To engage in one or more creative activities each day. I started my own creative challenge at the start of the new year. I am writing one song, one poem and doing one drawing a day. This has been a eye-opening experience as I am finding some creative abilities I didn't know existed within me. I have been sent a couple references in the past two days to Seth Godin's work around creativity. He speaks here about making a living doing creative work.youtu.be/u7YZ84HTEDI And some more on doing creative work www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdUeq09cGJ0 My favorite writer on the subject is Elizabeth Gilbert. Check out her TED talk here. www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_your_elusive_creative_genius/up-next Her book is amazing as well. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. It has been a great month of creating and I hope you will join me for the course. www.consciousnessexplorations.com/courses.html Now go create something. |
Abigail LarrisonEducator, Scientist and Art Maker. The purpose of all life is to spread joy. What brings more joy than making art? Archives
November 2023
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