When one makes something and puts the idea out into the world, it is such a wonderful gift when it is received and seen in the way that I meant for it. It is even more exciting to me when it is received in many more ways than I had ever imagined.
I created an on-line community for women who, like me, had had experiences that led them to the knowing that they wanted to have more creativity in their life.
Perhaps they had been caregiving (or still were), perhaps they had had a health challenge, a loss, are still coming out of covid times feeling disconnected, feeling lonely, and/or made a transition in life and these experiences had led them to want to make some time for themselves and explore creativity. Perhaps it is to inform their creative practice or to start one ( maybe again) with a fresh set of eyes.
What has happened is that I have gotten to know some absolutely wonderful, generous, thoughtful learners who bring their kindness and curiosity to every conversation.
What started out as a way for me to share something with the world– the idea of living a creative life- has in turn given me such an amazing gift…that of an on-line community where I can feel a lovely sense of connection. And in these months, I have gotten to witness a sense of connection both between the wonderful GEMs and also as they connect in creativity with confidence.
I have now seen for myself the thrill and delight that women feel as they discover new creative interests, have accomplishments and make connections.
Connection to our creativity, to one another and most importantly to ourselves leads us to a life of meaning and impact and feeds us as we do our work in the world, paid or volunteer.
In the last year, I have also led numerous creative workshops, taken courses myself, and continued to study the larger notion of what creativity can be and how it can lead to the all important need we all share- to be seen and experience connection.
At first I wasn’t confident to share about GEMs because I wasn’t sure that it was really helpful.
Now I know that it definitely is.
I can also see infinite possibilities for ways to continue deepening connections and having fun in GEMs.
Is it the same experience for each person? Absolutely not.
Everyone is living her own life in our own life stage. Some women have more time to participate one month and not the next.
Some women come to the monthly zoom calls and some cannot or choose not to – either way— they have all let me know how valuable the invitations, prompts and projects we make are to them. They have shared with me how they have taken our simple making project to new heights and sometimes sharing the results with friends.
What I am really saying is that it is a personal journey unique to each woman.
As it should be.
I will always be grateful to the Founding Members for helping me to test and put words to something that I wanted to share.
I can now say with confidence in myself and a custom website built by my family that GEMs is very valuable.
In my research most programs like this are $50 per month.
GEMs is currently 23.95 ( $5.99 per week for 4 weeks in a month)
If you are interested in becoming a GEM, then here is the link
The doors will close on Sunday at 7pm pacific time.
If you have questions, please email me at Hello@Lise-Lotte.ca