Yesterday was International Women’s Day and I had the privilege of sharing creativity with some amazing women. My dear friend Carmen had this wonderful idea to share her upcoming Birthday celebration with women who have meant a lot to her over the past 20 years since coming to Simcoe County. Carmen is originally from Hong Kong and coming to a new country and a new city found her wanting to be part of a community for friendship and support. We know how important this network is to our well being and happiness and kudos to Carmen who has cultivated a lovely community for herself and her family to grow up within. Our gathering here at the studio yesterday was somewhat reminiscent of those “once upon a time” quilting bees! Coming together in-person to enjoy good company, a pot-luck feast and crafting is not as common as it once was!
Carmen wanted to provide a few hours where women could gather to lose themselves in something just for them, free from all of the many responsibilities they hold in their busy work and family lives. We painted our own pottery mugs, threw a pot on the wheel – for the first time for most!! – and painted canvases. As challenging as learning something new can be it seemed that they were all recharged and refreshed when they were saying their “see you later”s at the end of the afternoon.
“That was really fun!” “I really enjoyed that!” “I’d like to come back to do some more!”
A quote that really resonates with me right now is Banksy’s “If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.” In our modern-day lives we are pulled in so many directions and have so many expectations placed on us, especially as women. Something I’ve struggled with, and I’m sure I’m not alone, is giving myself the okay just to “be”. To take time to recharge so that I can be a better human being for myself and for those I love. To take more time to do the things that I love to do. Guilt should never factor into our very real need to explore and develop ourselves, outside of the many directions in which we are pulled.
Thank you Carmen for a lovely day to work with and share creativity with some pretty terrific women!
Let’s do it again soon!