Creative Courage
The Art Of Staying Centered In Challenging Times
May 17, 2025 in the Creative Juices Art Online Studio
Just about everyone I know is feeling a great deal of uncertainty these days, what Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron calls “the groundlessness of being”. And that sense of insecurity has largely been sparked by the most recent turmoil and ongoing upheavals of outer world events.
Groundlessness is the profound awareness of how everything is rapidly changing and in ways that are often deeply disturbing. This awareness makes it difficult to rest and relax and to feel any sense of security and belonging. We don’t RECOGNIZE the world anymore and often can’t find our place in it. Many familiar structures in our personal, professional and political lives are crumbling to pieces and breaking apart with nothing to replace them.
It can be confusing, isolating and even shameful to be feeling so deeply affected by everything that’s happening on the political, social and environmental fronts.
What We Need…
We need some serious help on the psychological, emotional and spiritual levels to process these feelings and to develop tools for integrating the impact of these massive changes that are affecting us in our day to day lives. And one of the best and most effective ways I know of dealing with this much rapid and disconcerting change is to meet it head on through the creative process.
I also know how empowering it is to make art while being in community. How deeply healing it is to engage in ceremony and ritual as part of a sacred creative circle. And how wonderfully effective re-committing to our creative practices can be in bringing us back home to our essential sense of well-being and grounding us in the core of our essential nature, our compassionate and resourceful brilliance and our profound inner intelligence on all levels.
So we’ve created this one day event that we’re calling Creative Courage: The Art Of Staying Centered In Challenging Times. During this workshop you will be invited and encouraged into a process of self exploration and self expression using the magic of creativity to turn some of your feelings of anguish and anxiety for our world into art, using the creative modalities of movement, writing, ritual and painting in a creative circle of solidarity and love.
In times like these we need an extra MEGA dose of emotional support. We need to feel like we’re not alone. And we need a place where we can be creatively bold in expressing the true depth of our emotional intensity and reconnect with our revolutionary artistic spirit, no-holds barred.
Which is why Tim and I are offering this workshop. We want to let people know that this is a time and a place where you can express EVERYTHING that is going on for you right now.
Date
May 17, 2025
10am – 5pm pdt
Location
Creative Juices Online Studio
Cost
$150
Nothing is taboo, weird, forbidden or too much.
This workshop is an opportunity for you to be in an inspired creative community. To be seen and heard and held while you take the risks needed to process your emotional truth in a sacred circle of healing… including your more difficult and uncomfortable feelings of grief, rage, anxiety, overwhelm, fear, despair and pain… and to allow them to evolve into compassion, fierceness and even joy through the predictable miracle of creative expression.
It’s designed to remind you again and again how creativity can heal these wounded places in your body, heart and psyche through transforming your current sense of overwhelm and helplessness, as well as any ancient, ancestral lineage of disempowerment that may be weighing you down, into wild hearted creative power.
We’re inviting you to come and join us and to give yourself the space and time to hear and really listen to the soul genius of your heart and intuition, allowing them to give you the sacred guidance you need to keep you grounded, nourished and emotionally regulated during these incredibly difficult times.
And to find the courage that has always been there to reconnect you with and trust in your authentic creative wisdom.
Our intention for this day is that we will co-create a safe and BRAVE space in which to speak and be heard, to be seen and witnessed, to create from the truth of our hearts and to reconnect with the natural abundance of our joy, freedom and resilience. And to not only reaffirm our visions for the future but be supported in our actions in creating a healthy and healed world of caring, justice, liberation, equality and love we all want to live in.
Supplies For The Journey
This workshop will be highly experiential and we will be doing a lot of different creative exercises designed to help you access your creative courage.
First of all, absolutely NO art experience, skill or training is required to take this class. Beginners are totally welcome. We will be using the creative process as a way to access and strengthen our relationship to intuition. The focus will be on the creative process and NOT the creative product. And the intention is for you to explore, experiment and have fun.
So please make sure you have on hand a notebook and something to write with. An art journal or large pad of unlined paper and a surface like a table or easel where you can paint or draw. Your favorite visual art making supplies which can include paint of any kind ( acrylic, tempera, oils or watercolor) brushes if you’re using paint, collage, oil or chalk pastels, colored pens or pencils, colored art markers, or anything else your creative heart desires. And a space where you can move your body freely, because we will be doing some expressive somatic exercises which includes gestures, breathing, sound and dance to help you connect more deeply with yourself on a non-verbal level.
We also recommend that you limit outside distractions and create as much privacy for yourself as possible, letting the people in your household know that you’re setting aside this time for yourself.
Using Zoom
Creative Courage online is being hosted on the Zoom video conferencing platform. A few hours before the event we will send you an email with a link to our very own private online virtual studio.
You do not need to create a Zoom account to participate as the Zoom viewer will be downloaded to your computer when you click on the link. If you want to access our session from a phone or tablet device then you will need to download a free app. You can find help instructions and download links here:
We only have a limited time to be together… so it’s essential that we start on time. So please make sure that you are all set up in your personal creative space with your paints, brushes, paper or canvas and are ready to launch into your creative process when the class is scheduled to begin.
See you soon…
From our Wild Heart To Yours,
Chris Zydel & Tim Lajoie
Details
Cost: $150
Location: Online (You will receive a link to join the call a few hours before the start of class)
Date: May 17, 2025 from 10am to 5pm.
Cancellation Policy
The tuition fee is non-refundable and non-transferable, so please shop mindfully. Credit or refunds will not be given for missed sessions. We also do not offer refunds for technical issues, limitations of your computer, devices, or internet connection so please be sure to check the minimum requirements before registering.