Parenting

My Mini Creative Retreat Update & This Week’s Creativity

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Happy Monday! I hope this is finding you well. We are having gorgeous weather today and I have been spending some time out in the garden. There is lots to do (isn’t there always) and I still have lots to plant out. Zinnia seeds, snapdragon plants I picked up and so much more.

I wanted to give you a little update about my mini creative retreat. I ended up having-in essence 3 days in the house all to myself something I haven’t had in close to 8 years maybe? Hubby took the little ones on an adventure looking at dinosaurs, snakes and owls. Then swimming in the pool and riding amusement park rides. It would seem our 3 year-old has quite the adventurous spirit when it comes to the rides so I am hopeful I will have another friend to ride the roller coasters with.

Everyone hit the road just around noon on Thursday and I spent the day at home. I did some of my free writing which was a practice I let fall away the past few months. It never ceases to amaze me how the practices I love the most and that replenish and fill me the most are the first things I let go of. Still it felt wonderful to be back with my daily writing journal and just letting the thoughts flow out. It was from this exercise that I decided I wanted to make myself a treasure box and I wanted to do it out of paper mache. Now I have never made a box using paper mache but it sounded like it could be a fun project. I did a little search to see if there were any tips and I found a wonderful video and a blog showing how to make exactly what I wanted to make. Sadly neither the channel nor the blog have been updated in 8 years or so but I still enjoyed looking around. There is something I am just loving about blogs again and I feel there is going to be more and more of them coming back in the purest of forms. Here’s hoping anyway.

So I made up my paper mache box and set it out to dry. Can I just say how much fun it was to do? I love getting messy and I find this kind of creativity so therapeutic. I also had do a minor repair on my paper mache project from Sarah Hand’s class that I mentioned last week. I had them both sitting on the kitchen table under the ceiling fan drying. I did quite a bit of art journalling too and really just relaxing and playing. At night I was looking for a movie to watch and found “Groundhog Day,” which I had actually never seen before. It was a nice light movie to end the day with.

On Friday I woke early (well early for me anyway) and video chatted with the family. The weather was gray and not overly inviting to work outside so I spent time prepping and sanding my paper mache pieces. I think the best part of this little retreat was just floating around and doing things as and when I wanted them. I took a little drive to the craft store and picked up some paints for gelli printing and a few other miscellaneous items for other projects. I enjoyed sushi for lunch and made quite a few gelli prints following on of Carla Sonheim’s classes I just signed up for. It was a lot of fun and I have some plans for these prints that I am looking forward to exploring.  I did manage some gardening and planted up some hanging baskets and a pot for the front porch that I am pretty proud of.

On Saturday I napped in the afternoon. I was tired and just needed a nap and thought, “why not nap?” The family came home around 8pm so the house was chaotic with luggage and laundry and things to be put away and stories to hear. Sunday was my son’s birthday and we celebrated at home just us. He asked for a treasure hunt to find his presents and pizza for dinner. I had picked up his cake on Saturday which was delicious. Unfortunately the family is dealing with colds now-seems to be a bit of a norm when they travel. Nothing serious just running noses and laying around. Most are already feeling better and on the mend but I think any plans for the rest of the vacation will be on hold.

I am grateful to be writing this blog post on our patio under the tent. The afternoon sun floods the garden and I am enjoying a cup of tea, 2 pieces of dark chocolate and writing to you.

I feel I learned a lot from my mini retreat. Namely how important time like this is for me, my mental health and my creativity. I am hoping to make these happen regularly and to also bring into each day some of the best parts of my retreat. Making my creative a priority is not only healing for me it’s a gift I have been given that needs to be nourished.

I hope you are having a nice start to your week. I would love to hear about your creative retreats if you take any and how you go about it. I prefer to do my retreats at home but I think the mobile minivan studio will be coming out again soon.

Wishing you a beautiful week!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Time to Myself….What to Do?

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I am sitting at my kitchen table. The ceiling fan is on creating a gorgeous breeze as the windows are open bringing spring indoors. Probably a few bugs as well since almost all of our windows are original to our 120 year-old house. Still, it’s my favorite time of year.

I do love fall and winter equally but for very different reasons. I love the coziness, the hunkering down that comes with the chilling off of the weather. I love snuggling up with a cozy blanket and a warm drink. I love putting the storm windows down and retreating within. I love crisp walks in the cold, red noses and watching the snow fall.

And then I love the spring. As those same storm windows go up, screens come down and windows are open. I love the first time you can step outside without a coat and when the sun shines bright enough that you remember what it’s like to be hot again.

My days are usually simple and similar. I like to keep my schedule clear and move from one moment to the next enjoying what is presented in front of me. Or at least trying to. I admit that this does prove to be a challenge when you are part of a family, especially a family with little ones. My creative, introverted self has been seeking some retreat time. Solo time in the house where I can explore with a bit more depth (i.e. time) my creativity and really to just be. This month my husband is taking the kiddos for a little vacation and I will be on my own for 2 days.

My first thought was, “What am I going to do?”

There is pressure sometimes isn’t there? Pressure to make plans or to make things extraordinary. I have been looking for a little break like this for quite literally years and now that it is coming I feel a bit unsure. My brain initially was asking about my plans-telling me I have to make the most of this time and just do everything I want to do.

I listen, get caught up in it’s thinking for a minute before smiling and reminding the mind just who I am. How I hate plans, I don’t like big deals and I much prefer living fully within the little moments.

So my plan is to make no plans but to make lots of containers.

I was really introduced to the concept of energetic containers by Andrea Schroeder. The idea that, for an example, if your workspace is clean and ready to go it’s a container waiting for you to make art. You could really take this in lots of directions. If your car is cleaned and full of gas it’s a container for a road trip. So for me, I am not setting any lofty expectations for my mini-artistic retreat (other than naming it, “Michele’s Mini-Artistic Retreat”).

When I was first dipping my toes into homeschooling I read about how you can leave interesting things around the house for kids to discover. Books, toys, etc where you aren’t telling the kids they have to read this book then use these blocks to build a house but rather you are giving them access to these things that they could do with however they feel inspired to. They may use the books to build with and the blocks become characters.

That’s what I am going to do for myself. Leave lots of goodies and spaces ready for me to play in.

I was planning on taking part in a studio clean out that is happening over at Jennibellie’s Journal Workshops but that’s not happening until June and I really want to pretty up my space for my little retreat. No worries though, I am a really messy artist and pretty sure the creative corner will need another clear out come June 🙂

I am thinking I might have some audio books ready, podcasts ready, playlists ready and my work stations prepped and ready to go. My car will be clean in case I want to go for a drive and the house will be clean with candles at the ready and probably some incense.

I am going to create containers that I can pick and choose from as I wish, moving from moment to moment. I might not make anything creative. I might not read one book or plant one flower. I might take naps and binge watch other people making art and planting flowers.

And that’s ok.

I might make amazing pieces of art, record some podcasts and write some blog posts. I might fill the garden with flowers, go for walks in the woods and take fabulous photos of what I see. I might go on my own little adventure or finish my book.

And that’s ok.

I might come up with something completely different than anything I can think of right now.

And that’s ok.

I don’t want to add pressure to myself to cram into 2 days the dreams I hold. Instead, I am hoping to listen to myself-really listen to what I need without interruption. I want to give myself the grace to experience this different way of being without rules or expectations and to just float from moment to moment.

And maybe, just maybe, bring more of that back to the everyday.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

P.S.

I would love to hear what you would do with 2 days free to play and make art. Please comment below. I also am thinking of sharing my creative corner clean up with you so please let me know if that interests you.

Tired Creativity

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Making time for our creativity is something I think we can all struggle with. Often when we have the time we don’t have the energy and when we have the energy may be committed to other things such as job, family or just doing laundry.

I have often found myself in this cycle of needing, really needing to spend time with my art. I long to sit in my creative corner and paint or collage and to just get lost in the art of creating. More often than not the only time I have to do this is at the end of the day and the end of the day finds me tired. And usually it’s more than tired it’s the drain that comes with taking care of others all day with little focused energy on yourself. Or perhaps it’s the drain of spending your days focused on work that isn’t your passion-or worse-work that you really dislike doing.

It’s always surprising to me how often I put off that which I know I love most. The practices that make me smile or even better sigh with pure, unadulterated joy, are the ones that I put off the most and my creativity is no exception.

I do however pay attention. I take note of the habits and thoughts that run around in my brain. I try my best to be conscious of the choices I am making in each moment and it’s the times when I engage with my creativity that I noticed something you may have also experienced.

Creativity fuels me.

Creativity heals me.

Creativity releases the toxins, the sadness, the pain and it refills me with joy, truth and love.

It takes mere moments of me putting some color on a simple journal page for me to feel the calibration starting to happen. My energy raises, my mood lightens and I am rewarded by a feeling of rejuvenation I would not have thought possible a mere 5 minutes earlier.

I’ve spent my whole adult life trying to make time for my creativity when in reality I wanted to find time when I was at my best, fully awake and ready to go. I wanted hours upon hours of creative time. I wanted my creative time to be as long as-if not longer-than the time I spent at the day job.

Here’s what I have discovered about the beauty of creativity.

It’s there to heal us creatives. It is what keeps us moving through life, what keeps us reaching for the unconventional, the new, the non-mainstream. Creativity, unlike the day job, doesn’t demand from us our best. Instead it is like a loving grandmother, arms outstretched providing us with a safe place to rest. A place where we can dump all the hard and the taxing and leave with all that is bright, inspiring and real.

Instead of seeking ways to make time for my creativity, I challenge myself to just sit down at my workspace even if it’s with a cup of tea, feeling exhausted and completely lacking in inspiration. I might pick up a favorite material (current my Tempera paint sticks are my most favorite-so much fun for adding layers to a journal) and a simple composition notebook and just put some color on some paper. I am not seeking to make a masterpiece-or even to make anything at all. Instead I simply want to be with my creativity. To sit together, connect and just be. I start with a goal of 5 minutes. 5 minutes I sit there and doodle, scribble, paint or glue scraps to paper.

Almost every time I feel the energy flow in. I start to sit up straighter, smile maybe a bit and before I know it I am creating where just minutes before I was too exhausted to make myself some toast.

Creativity is a magical gift. It is there for you and you only need to knock on its door to feel the rewards. A Creative practice isn’t something that needs to be big or thought out-it is after all practice. You simply visit with it each day-and on the days when you want to skip it remind yourself that it’s then you need it most. It is the moments when you are lost, tired, sad, scared, frustrated that you need your creativity.

And it is always there for you.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

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Quisque auctor nisi ut tortor eleifend, et interdum elit aliquet. Sed et gravida neque. Donec sed metus ipsum. Nunc vitae sem dui. Proin facilisis accumsan metus. Proin aliquam rutrum sem, scelerisque iaculis ligula semper ac. Suspendisse potenti. Nunc eu sapien ut urna malesuada fringilla sed vel massa. Curabitur bibendum volutpat imperdiet. Proin eu dolor placerat, sodales odio sed, mollis nibh. Suspendisse potenti. Quisque viverra scelerisque est, a faucibus tellus aliquam dictum. Maecenas malesuada, lacus ac venenatis sodales, mi metus laoreet urna, eget pharetra neque arcu a tellus. Morbi congue lorem et quam rutrum, non dapibus ex sodales. Praesent venenatis lectus quis elit rhoncus, sit amet congue nulla mattis. Vestibulum mi nibh, accumsan lobortis diam a, accumsan scelerisque sem.

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Nullam eget augue interdum, eleifend ligula et, sollicitudin lorem. Etiam quis diam ut ante fermentum dictum. Mauris et justo efficitur, eleifend sem sed, aliquam massa. Vestibulum lacinia at augue ut aliquam. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Fusce aliquet turpis id dui tempus, eget vulputate orci venenatis. Nam ligula sapien, condimentum eu vehicula blandit, tristique at tellus. Etiam felis sem, tristique lacinia elementum nec, fermentum ut turpis.

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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Mauris eget semper nulla, luctus venenatis sem. Pellentesque at dui ac sem maximus porttitor. Aliquam convallis, sem eu porttitor dictum, lectus eros posuere dolor, id sagittis est nisl vitae mauris. Duis sed nulla eget magna euismod sollicitudin. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Ut eget lectus commodo, convallis erat sit amet, mollis sem. Maecenas malesuada eleifend dolor, at ultrices enim laoreet iaculis. In massa justo, imperdiet ut feugiat eget, efficitur non enim. Nam rhoncus non erat id luctus. Ut accumsan libero vel hendrerit vestibulum. Donec porttitor bibendum nisl in aliquam. Mauris sit amet sollicitudin augue. Suspendisse sodales hendrerit magna a vulputate. Sed at quam elementum, gravida libero in, auctor odio. Ut sit amet libero porttitor, faucibus dui a, lacinia nisl. Donec in efficitur risus.

Morbi ultricies nulla et risus vestibulum, vel pharetra lectus tincidunt. Nullam a ipsum in lectus interdum congue iaculis fringilla lacus. Duis non semper sem. Nullam nisl massa, mollis in egestas a, malesuada id nisi. Suspendisse placerat tempus magna sed posuere. Ut ligula sem, sagittis a laoreet quis, fermentum quis lectus. Aenean malesuada sit amet nisi eget feugiat. In et risus ut sem ullamcorper ornare. Sed rhoncus, tellus in tincidunt semper, erat libero pretium eros, quis feugiat felis risus vitae ante. Nullam tempus dignissim quam, a viverra ligula. Integer euismod diam sit amet quam tincidunt, in vulputate nibh aliquam. Phasellus ac elit facilisis, malesuada quam sed, gravida sapien. Ut id libero venenatis, dignissim sapien quis, lacinia mi. Integer euismod urna mauris, non euismod nisl blandit a. Aenean nulla est, commodo sed odio sit amet, consequat tristique nibh. In hac habitasse platea dictumst.

Quisque auctor nisi ut tortor eleifend, et interdum elit aliquet. Sed et gravida neque. Donec sed metus ipsum. Nunc vitae sem dui. Proin facilisis accumsan metus. Proin aliquam rutrum sem, scelerisque iaculis ligula semper ac. Suspendisse potenti. Nunc eu sapien ut urna malesuada fringilla sed vel massa. Curabitur bibendum volutpat imperdiet. Proin eu dolor placerat, sodales odio sed, mollis nibh. Suspendisse potenti. Quisque viverra scelerisque est, a faucibus tellus aliquam dictum. Maecenas malesuada, lacus ac venenatis sodales, mi metus laoreet urna, eget pharetra neque arcu a tellus. Morbi congue lorem et quam rutrum, non dapibus ex sodales. Praesent venenatis lectus quis elit rhoncus, sit amet congue nulla mattis. Vestibulum mi nibh, accumsan lobortis diam a, accumsan scelerisque sem.

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Aenean elementum mi id dolor commodo porta. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Fusce pretium velit tempus felis maximus consectetur. Sed mollis id erat sit amet placerat. Ut in molestie massa. Aliquam sit amet nibh sem. Cras et lorem vitae nulla molestie scelerisque. Proin a lorem justo. Nullam ac egestas enim, ut semper lorem.

Nullam eget augue interdum, eleifend ligula et, sollicitudin lorem. Etiam quis diam ut ante fermentum dictum. Mauris et justo efficitur, eleifend sem sed, aliquam massa. Vestibulum lacinia at augue ut aliquam. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Fusce aliquet turpis id dui tempus, eget vulputate orci venenatis. Nam ligula sapien, condimentum eu vehicula blandit, tristique at tellus. Etiam felis sem, tristique lacinia elementum nec, fermentum ut turpis.