“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up….” 

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up….” Pablo Picasso

How profound a statement?

And in connection, this week, WOW! It was FULL of creative tension, moments of bliss, awe and wonder and literally having no idea if it would be possible to pull off each phase of the adventure! 

Here is why … after you last heard from me, I landed in the UK to the train strikes… a whole experience in itself… but I managed to stay in innocence and just follow the obvious steps…

Since then I have; 

• Hired a van and drove to the most beautiful parts of Yorkshire to perform for 70+ children.
• Celebrated the life of a beautiful sunshine soul Vanessa McKnight on a beautiful landscape near Shipley.
• Got me and my set down to London where I drank mezcal on a rooftop, and lugged my ski bags full of the set to the Place (whilst not quite knowing if I can leave them there) for the project after this project…
• Adventured to Italy to reside in a castle on a mountaintop to make work… and sing! And more…

I tell you all this because today I want to talk about creativity, tension and innocence… Or as I have also heard it be referred to as… is-ness… awareness… awe and wonder… 

I honestly don’t think I could have held all of the tension of the tasks at hand for me this weekend were it not for being in innocence… what made it possible was staying in that state… not knowing the how… just focusing on the end result… and because each task felt so mammoth, all I could do was focus on one task at a time… but being in that state meant magic (and intuition) was around every corner and at each event on my journey! (If you want to experience it for yourself, you can buy my innocence meditation HERE)

My absolute favourite magic moment within this journey to JOY, was as I arrived at The Place, with two ski bags full of kit as heavy as a baby elephant. I had taken pauses every block to rest my weary arms (and shoulder), and right by the Place, on one of those pauses, I noticed a paper bag, somehow attached to two or three crisp packets floating up (dancing) high in the sky in the midst of the busy-ness of Kings Cross Road. I stayed watching for a good 5 minutes entranced by the beauty, and also the tension of what fate might unfold for this wonderful piece of art in the sky… and then, once it floated back down (to be eaten by traffic), I continued on my way to The Place and as I rounded the corner, I came upon THIS beautiful moment danced by Silas a BA3 student at The Place expressing themselves to the FULL!

Would I have noticed this on a normal day? Would you have noticed? Would your average Londoner? I credit my eyes seeing this magic too;

• Having had the weekend I had had…
• Having spent a lot of time alone with my eyes open (and great music) on the country roads of Yorkshire.
• The shows I was performing and the awareness supporting 70+ children to have a go on the silks brings
• Seeing so much nature.
• The celebration of Vanessa McKnight and her beautiful light and inspiration as a human.
• By doing the work: the Journal to JOY practice I use every morning allows me to drop into a state of innocence: being in no sense, so I can take in the world with awe and wonder.
• The need to stop every few minutes or so to rest with my heavy bags on such a busy street in London opened my eyes to SEE the world around me (for which I am so grateful!)

Innocence is a childlike state of being, but it is not to be underestimated… it is also the basis of our creative power, keeps us seeing new possibilities and is connected to the artist within all of us… and, to prove my point… as I witnessed these beautiful moments on the streets of Kings Cross, I also had two ideas for two new pieces of art…

So to come back to Pablo Picasso, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up….” 

How do you remain in that state of awe and wonder every day? How do you nurture your inner artist?