Backgrounds as Openings & Conversation Starters
By placing something in the journals ready to work with we are creating opportunities and invitations to come back to. When I sit down to do a spread I usually flick through my journal to see which page I want to work on in that moment. I look at them, I run my hands over them, I feel into them, into myself, into my body.
I can't imagine I would ever have created this little detail if I wasn't just playing and if I wasn't following the threads that the playing creates and the listening reveals.
Journaling Questions:
What does holding space mean to you?
Do you regularly hold space for yourself?
What does/would that look like and feel like?
What would you need to lay down in order to hold space for yourself?
Consider the difference between gifting yourself time and gifting yourself space ?
How did you respond to the image above " Art practice as space holder"?
How is your art practice, your creative practice, a space holder for you?
What would it mean to create an art journal as a sacred container for you?
What would feel deeply nourishing to you?
Invitation:
Create a journal page that explores the idea of holding space. I chose to work with Bhuvaneshwari because she is a beautiful goddess of space holding and creative potential and seemed like the perfect blessing to open our circle with (you can explore her more below for those of you who are not familiar with her). You could chose to work with another goddess, such as Nemotone, or explore holding space in another way- hold space for your own wisdom, creativity and intuition in this process. Here's how things unfolded for me:
This is a painting I did of Bhuvaneshwari about a year ago, a different dialogue with her on a different day.
