It’s been almost a year since you last heard from me. And what a year it’s been: a year where discovery, learning and re-invention took center stage.
Eleven months ago, I took a leap into Lisa Sonora’s 9-month visual journaling facilitator program that became a roller coaster ride through my own creative journey.
I remember a time when this path would have seemed impossible for me.
Official Graduate Creative Journey Facilitator Training 2015
I started out in life thinking I could never be an artist. Playing with paint and paper was for other people.
I wasn’t sure who those other people were but I was pretty sure they weren’t me.
But the desire to create was planted firmly in my heart. And it wouldn’t go away.
Even as I tried to fit myself into a normal life, pursuing a degree in communication, I lusted after those studio shots in magazines where one could barely catch a glimpse of the working surface for all the creative mess that lay on top.
And the tools!
Brushes and pens and markers, oh my!
Artist Studio
How I wanted to put myself smack in the middle of that very scenario. My heart races as I relive the memory.
What was it that separated me from my desires?
A wall of beliefs. I simply didn’t believe that life could be mine.
I slowly came to realize that desires live in our hearts for a reason.
Desires conjure up visions of what life could be like if only you’d listen. Yet so many of us deny or discount our desires.
What I personally discovered was that on some deep level, I didn’t feel I deserved to have what I wanted, to explore the world both behind and in front of my eyes through paint. Yes, for others. No, for me.
Until I saw a way through.
Spending time on the shores of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, I watched women sitting on the ground with their backstrap looms weaving fabric, one strand at a time.
An idea began to take form. This was something I could do.
On the way home from this trip, I had a dream in which an image appeared; a fully formed image of three figures each in their own panel. And I was the artist.
Gallery 57 Show ~ Great Spirit Triptych ~ ©Linda Hough 1987
When I got home, I took the one step that led me to where I am today. I signed up for a weaving class. I eventually went on to weave the dream image. (above)
Now, today, I have a designated workspace with tools ~ lovely tools~ and a new desire. My feelings about what I want to do are no longer stuck inside but are leading the way in this brand new phase of life.
The facilitator training provided me the time and space to plunge to the depths of my creative soul. I returned with a renewed commitment not only to my personal artwork but also to supporting others in discovering the magic of the creative process.
I’ve come to understand at an even deeper level the value and importance of being creative, not only by doing a certain activity but also in the making of a life.
That artist studio image above? It’s another dream come true: my very own messy workspace.