Why am I so passionate about Travel Sketching?
During our last Quintessential France Creative Journey in April 2019, I asked our participants this question: ""why is it that people who spend time sketching go about the rest of their day making different decisions and hence begin to transform their life?"

And this is what a couple of the very wise women came back to me with - written straight from their personal experience: 

Artwork by Annelinde Tempelman

When we look around us, and the state of our planet, it seems like most people have an inflated sense of self. But actually, the reverse is true. It is because we don’t feel worthy, we feel the need to push ourselves forward, to project our voice that carries our opinions, beliefs, wants and needs. Because we don’t feel like we are enough, we have learned to speak too much, to try too hard, to give or even to take too much.

​So what does a person with a healthy sense of self-esteem look like? And if that were us, how would we move through the world? In one word: softly. Softly not because we are timid but softly because there is no reason to push, because we meet the world seamlessly, effortlessly and most importantly, graciously.

​Beauty is an innate value for us humans, that is, we are driven to it, or driven by it. Many of us seek it, whether we do so consciously or intuitively. We are even prepared to travel the world to find it. It can be a subtle search in Nature, or for a design concept, or it could be a compulsion with how we look and we hunt and gather products to adorn ourselves. Either way, basking in what we individually consider alluring is nourishing for our soul for beauty is an essential value in the ‘art’ of life. We cannot separate our desire to feel beautiful in our body from our desire to create a beautiful life. But in order to stay true to its meaning, let’s explore what is beauty really?

Our happiest moments are when we have been able to lose ourselves in an activity that has allowed us to share something from within us - be it telling or writing a story, painting a picture, composing a song, taking a photo, baking a cake, playing with children or making a website. Yet in our busy lives, consciously carving out the space to pursue these requires that we have taken the time to ask ourselves what is really important in light of all the diversions that life bombards us with, some of which may even be valid for our ‘self-care’, but are they actually aligned with our soul is the question to explore...

So much healing is needed in our world....
If you or anyone you know is looking for support in creating change or navigating life's complexities and pressures, chances are a good therapist can help. But who sets the standard for this relationship? How do you know who to choose to work with, who to expose your vulnerabilities to? And how will this undertaking affect and develop you?

Our collective consciousness is evolving fast. The psychology models of 50 years ago where people needed to talk to connect the dots is no longer relevant. Today, most people understand their story, they need to be shown how to re-write it. ​

We are designed to seek out our deepest longing: that is to uncover the essence of who we are and to express ‘that’ in our relationships with others, and with the world at large. 

We each, in our own capacity, long to make our unique contribution to the creation of this world by conceiving, inventing, ultimately, creating something using our inner gifts and the culmination of our life’s learnings. Then, we can go in peace.

Our creativity is activated when there is something we would like to accomplish with intention; be it a new project for work or play, be it a new way to do the house cleaning or managing your finances, or a new way to dance in our relationships, or even to initiate change for the next chapter in our lives. It is an essential daily exercised ‘power’ that we all need to learn to master in order to live consciously. And if we want to do art of some kind, even more so. Yet, this Creative Force in those that have mastered it, is revered because it has magic, it is a force beyond the mind, beyond our control, we cannot simply will it to do what we want it to do. In fact, quite the opposite - we almost need to bow to it, to work with it as it leads the way, to play by its rules, not ours… in other words, we need to surrender to it and to its outcome too. And to surrender to it, we need to understand how to dance with it. Even the most successful artist, musician or entrepreneur has had to work on their creative process, they have carved out time for it, poured effort into it, nurtured their craft. We can all do the same and let ourselves even enjoy the journey. Read on for some tips…

"Dearest Fear: Creativity and I are about to go on a road trip together. I understand you'll be joining us, because you always do. I acknowledge that you believe you have an important job to do in my life,  and that you take your job seriously. Apparently your job is to induce complete panic whenever I am about to do anything interesting - and, may I say, you are superb at your job. So by all means,  keep doing your job, if you feel you must. But I will also be doing my job, on this road trip, which is to work hard and stay focused. And Creativity will be doing its job, which is to remain stimulating and inspiring. There's plenty of room in this vehicle for all of us, so make yourself at home, but understand this: Creativity and I are the only ones who will be making any decisions along the way. I recognise and respect that you are part of this family, and so I will never exclude you from our activities, but still - your suggestions will never be followed. You're allowed to have a seat, and you're allowed to have a voice, but you're not allowed to have a vote. You're not allowed to touch the road maps; you're not allowed to suggest detours; you're not allowed to fiddle with the temperature. Dude, you're not even allowed to touch the radio. But above all else, my dear old familiar friend, you are absolutely forbidden to drive".

 - Elizabeth Gilbert, in Big Magic; Creative Living Beyond Fear

Tame your fear by developing a creative habit.... want to know how to start? Join Natalia on her Quintessential France Creative Journey - a whole 10 days of beauty, inspiration and laughter, travelling with encouraging like-minded company... April 13 - 22, 2019, for further details, click here.

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