Category: course creation

art, art appreciation, course creation, Creativity, inspiration, instinctive meditation, journaling, meditation, Personal growth

The Intangible Becomes Tangible….or Not.

Adele Satori
Image is a black and white photograph of a light coloured piece of crumpled paper on a black background

Time spent in creative practice doesn’t have to result in something tangible.

Not one word, brushstroke, note, pixel, movement or sound needs to exist.

How did reading that make you feel? Excited? Uncomfortable? An exclamation of wow, or how ridiculous?

Congratulations! You just did something creative! You received an external stimulus, processed it, and put things together that is an expression of all your experience in a way that is unique to you. A definition of creativity.

I teach a creativity and meditation class once a month. One of the cool things about that is that I either come up with a theme and explore it, to see how I might invite others in the creative practice portion of the class, or I mess around with one of the many ways I like to engage with the world, and see what comes up.

Something that arose for me this month is that there doesn’t have to be a tangible result during time spent in creative practice. I think that’s what holds some people back in exploring- the pressure to make something that’s visible to others… or something that has some perceived value. Comparing it to work that’s in a gallery/museum/stage/musical platform/book.

How would it be for you to instead take a walk with a theme, such as “what colour/shape/sound am I most noticing today?” Or sit somewhere and become immersed with the music of life flowing around you? Spend time in your creative space (even if it’s wherever you make a place in the moment) and explore your materials with your senses? Feel the textures of paper, metal, wood, or beads in your hand. The squish of garden dirt between your fingers. The weight of a musical instrument on your lap. Laying on the floor and feeling the subtle energy of breath and blood pulsing through your body. Watch the quality of light and shadow shift with the passing of time. Listen to music and follow the sound of one instrument. Enjoy it in the moment, and set it free.

All of this, to me, is both creative practice and meditation. I won’t have anything to show for it, but it’s tucked away in my mind and heart, and time has revealed that these things appear at some point later, when I’m in the flow of creating something in my outer world. And something I can revisit at any time I choose.

The picture at the beginning of this article was part of my most recent exploration. My theme in November started as light and dark, and expanded to exploring opposites. Earlier in the day I had taken some photos of the interior of a box grater, and had been thinking about light and shadow most of the day.

Image is a black and white photo of the interior of a box grater

I crumpled up part of a brown paper bag and set it on my table. I started to sketch it- white chalk on black paper, and became a little frustrated. Drawing has been problematic for me over the years, for so many reasons (an article in itself!), and I stopped.

Black and white photo of a close up of a crumpled paper bag.

Instead, I gave over to exploring with my senses only. At first crumpling and uncrumpling the paper. I listened to the sounds it made. I followed the folds with my eyes, enjoying the rhythms that appeared. I thought about how I would embody crumpling.. folding and unfolding.. light and dark. I put the paper in different light and noticed how it accentuated different crevices. Smelled that unique brown paper bag smell. When I felt I was done, and only then, I took out my phone and took some pictures. And only because I was inspired to do so. No obligation. No expectation.

Black and white photo of a crumpled paper bag set on its edge on a black background.
Black and white photo of a crumpled paper bag on a black background. The foreground is in focus, softening as the image goes back.

I then went on with my day. I loved the sensation that I’d done something pleasurable for awhile, for myself (even though it was initially in preparation for a class).

It’s important to remember that play and rest are integral parts of both creative practice and meditation. Often after an intense round of output, I can spend weeks of not creating any actual thing, but that doesn’t mean than I’m not engaged in creative practice. Rest is a great tool for creativity.

I invite you to play and not create something tangible at the end. Arrange some twigs in a pleasing manner. Stack stones. Make hand shadows. Allow the silliest sounds you’ve every heard come from you. Dance with the wind. Deeply listen to music. Follow the brushstrokes of a painting in a gallery with your eyes. Don’t document it.. simple play and enjoy some unbounded creativity. Do it for you!

course creation, creative block, creative practice, Creativity, goal setting, inspiration, journaling, Personal Development, Personal growth

Overwhelm Can Lead to Innovation

Adele Satori

I will admit- the past couple of weeks I’ve found myself becoming overwhelmed. Both by content, and the goings on in the world. It’s seemed like a priviledged extravagance. It seemed that everywhere I went there was someone promising “complete transformation in just eight weeks”, offering an app that held content much like I want to present. or making this or that spiritual claim. I used this bombardment of information and enticements as a template, and I’m discovering that’s just not me. I was not being true to my values, beliefs and integrity. Which made me laugh, because that’s one of the explorations I offer to people.

Between finishing up some trainings, looking for a “regular” job to support me on my journey, coming up with course materials and trying to figure out platforms and methods of delivery, and .. and… and… whew. I kinda shut down.

This created a fantastic opportunity! Overwhelm can indicate that a person or group is out of alignment with core tenets and values, or headed a direction that’s not right for the project at hand. It’s a cue to step back, evaluate and recalibrate. Concepts might be vaild overall, but not for the current situation.

In my personal situation, it came to that I was trying to cram too much into one package. AND yay! Many packages! Sometimes it’s necessary to do some sorting out and see what’s noise, and what’s music.

I can’t promise, nor do I want to, a formulaic transformation miracle. I’m more a hands-on kind of person, so I’m beginning to think offering self-paced learning is not what I want to offer. There’s something about in person shared experience that lights me up. I want to take “just enough” time in developing things that when the world sees it, people will think “Yeah! That’s the stuff!”

I believe my music, words, and energy come through me not from me, and I never want to lose sight of that. I witnessed too many people I’ve admired on their journeys begin to believe their own hype and become characatures of themselves.

I believe in the science behind the healing properties of meditation, sound, and energy, and that there are many ways to achieve a state of relaxed awareness. That this is accessible to everyone, and much as there are people more receptive to talents with words, or music, or painting, there are people who are more open to being channels for energy.

That some of the practices I’m exploring use symbols and tools that don’t quite jive for me, and that’s OK.

What I can, and deeply desire to offer:
* A safe and sacred space for people to find their way to relaxed awareness. This can
be through conversation, meditation, sound experiences and creative practice.
* That in this state, people can discover what makes life meaningful to them, and a
few life purposes to lead a satisfied life.
* Contemplative excercises, including some fun creative practices, that have worked
for me in making these discoveries, and maybe they will work for you, too.

I invite you to begin by thinking of a time you felt fully yourself, being and doing something you completely got lost in. Commit to doing this activity twice a day, for twenty minutes. Write, walk, make or listen to music, participate in your community in an uplifiting way. It can be anything that aligns with your values and longings.

If any of this sounds interesting to you, let’s chat! We can explore together a way for you or your team to develop a personalized course. Become more effective and satisfied with your life. I can be reached at craftingthespirit1@gmail.com

course creation, Creativity, goal setting, inspiration, journaling, passion, Personal Development, Personal growth

Stepping Back to Step Up

Adele Satori
This is kinda how my brain feels right now.

I’d fully intended on launching an online course next month. I still could, but I would be doing a plug and play. I want you all to have a much more vibrant, fun, deep experience than that. In order to do that, I need to step back a bit and map things out. Sometimes stepping back to allow things to marinate and show the way is the best choice.

This week I realized that:
1. I have multiple learning curves happening- embodying content, developing the courses, and learning the delivery platforms.

2. There’s a lot of “noise” out there right now. I want to rise above it, not be part of it

3. I have multiple courses bouncing around.. Yay! And also overwhelming.

4 This experience in itself is a rich topic for exploration with others (add it to the course list, haha!)

5. Part of my mission is to make experiences accessible, relatable, and not of privilege, which so many of these kinds of classes have been.

And probably more.

I can hardly wait to share and explore with people. The fusion of what I’m learning, mixed with my own flavour is so exciting to me.

At least one course WILL happen this year.

In the mean time, I am committed to holding space on the Saturday Group Guided Instinctive Meditation Zoom, creating podcasts, music, and blog posts.

I’m also available for individual and group classes for pay. Inquiries to info@craftingthespirit.com.

****************************************************************************************I don’t know who created this awesome image, but it sure is accurate!