Creativity, community, and joy
Giggling with Delight measures 12”x16” on gallery-wrapped canvas and comes wired and ready to hang in your home or office.
Recently, my colleague Alison French of Alto Solutions LLC and I co-facilitated our "Own Your Journey: Reclaim Your Joy" workshop online. We start with sharing a simple tool to reframe a tough time, then move into sharing examples of a Joy Practice, and we close with a playful and collaborative method to create a Joy Practice.
We had an amazing group of people join us at this recent session. The workshop is interactive and there is a fun mix of working independently, sharing with the group, and working in smaller groups. At the end of each section, we take time to talk about what opened up in the activities.
At the close, one participant shared that what stood out was the link between joy, community, and creativity. That insight has stayed with me in the days since the workshop. There is joy to be found in creativity and there is joy to be found in community.
What happens when you combine creativity and community to find joy?
I started thinking about all the ways in which we come together to be creative in community--running groups, cooking classes, knitting circles, drumming circles, sketching groups, hiking groups, silent reading gatherings, bookclubs, art classes, plein air painting sessions, scrapbooking clubs, board gaming groups, play test design sessions, journaling clubs, dog agility classes, classic car meet ups, and so much more. There are so many ways to find joy by sharing creative experiences with others, whether they are family, friends, neighbors, or people we don't yet call friends.
Joy Practice: Be creative in community
Here in the U.S., we are on the cusp of our Thanksgiving holiday. I love Thanksgiving for being a day of gratitude and gathering with (hopefully) loved ones to break bread, watch sportsball, and eat too much pie. How about trying something different this year and bring creativity to your community? As you gather with your family, friends, or neighbors, take some time to make or do something together! Collaborate on a big dinner. Or bake together--maybe a cookie swap? Perhaps paint or collage greeting cards for each other? Or swap scrapbook supplies? Or play a new board game (see below for some ideas)? Perhaps paint rocks together and take them on a hike or neighborhood walk and leave as gifts for future hikers, faeries, or gnomes to find! How would you like to be creative together?
PS - My board game recommendations: Just One, Scout, Wilmot's Warehouse, Rebel Princess, and Long Shot are fun, easy-to-learn board games that work in groups. Note: links take you to Game Nerdz or our local game store here in Seattle, Blue Highway Games, but these games can be found in lots of places.
PPS - What else happens when you are creative in community? Giggling with Delight, of course! I would love to send you some Joy so I'm offering this playful work for $375, including shipping (normally it's $575). If you'd like to add it to your home or office, please reply email me and we'll go from there!
