Reflection on Celebration: Finishing out a year of the Creativity Experiment

Over the past year, I've followed along with the Creativity Experiment. This was a fun and clarifying endeavor - I learned about my creative process, gave myself permission to experiment and also deviate as needed from the course 'assignments'. I tried to go into each month's topic with an open mind, follow the instructions given, and reflect on what that process was like for me. There was a framework to hold the learning, each lesson was gated behind a timed month from when you enrolled (which was sometimes frustrating), and the video extras were fun and helpful in their diversity of ideas. Of course there was a fee each month to keep a person invested in the process as well as a community bulletin board where participants could share projects and learning while the three leaders prompted engagement and inspiration.

I thought that this was earmarked as a year long course - and it has turned out to be a continued monthly subscription to content provided by the three leaders - Jean Wells, Valerie Wells and Kelly Sheets. I think each of these creative ladies are great and I've enjoyed meeting them. Jean's classes are amazing. 

What I'm not sure about is how this relatively expensive (29.99) on-going course moves between artistic content and self-help coaching. If you read my last two blog posts, you'll note that I wasn't all that engaged with the whole 'love thyself ' message. Those particular lessons felt too grounded in white women cultural norms of privilege. I'm sure that the audience for these classes are predominantly white older women - but the last thing we older white women need are more messages about how we need to nurture ourselves. That felt rather passé, to be honest. Anyone who has 30.00 a month for an online class on creativity is nurturing themselves. Are they hesitant to take risks? Are they dealing with internal dialogues that stop them from experimenting? Do they crave community and want to share their journeys into creativity? Yes - yes to all, most likely. And having small sections of personal inquiry and coaching is helpful - but it became too overt for me while the artistic content dropped. To be clear, the content perked back up again in the following weeks, but I needed to step back. I asked if I could pause my 'membership' and was told no. Okay.

And - I think this course was a great year long venture that should have been capped at 12 sessions. Its not easy coming up with new content every month and I found that at the year mark, I had enough to think about - along with enough motivation - to continue on my own way for awhile. What is also interesting is that I don't have access to those 12 lessons any longer-  which is okay, I guess - but feels a little off since I paid for the content. Ah well. Such is the world of online learning.

And so I've moved on. I know I'll circle back - especially to Jean's classes and books - but for now I have other teachers in mind and new projects to dive into. I'm grateful for the work that went into the Creative Experiment and the value that I got out of it. Thank you, ladies, for all you gave to this project.

(right) New work in progress... lily pads ... loving these beautiful fabrics...