Feb. 27, 2023, 12:03 p.m.
The shapes of our offerings
Building ecosystems for creativity and ease between projects
Monday Monday
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YOU WILL NEVER RUN OUT OF SHAPES
YOU WILL ALWAYS FIND NEW WAYS TO ARRANGE THEM
SHAPE SHIFTING IS YOUR DESTINY
Today’s newsletter is a continuation of The shapes of creative containers : Protecting our gratitude, attention, and practice
One of the most important parts of my life is the ecosystem of creativity I have built into my life. Everything is a part of the research and the note taking. Each thread weaves from one container to the next. Nothing exists in a void. The way I teach quilt class informs my writing, the way I write informs the classes I teach, the classes I teach lead me to the books I write, and the web continues.
Whether it is a recession, your personal boredom with your projects, fear around money scarcity, or the crushing weight of having to promote and market your work - I truly believe that by creating a clear ecosystem for how your projects interact will completely change your life.
It has for me
This past week I had a true crisis of faith that was met with the strength of a resourced nervous system and my creative containers. I always have my newsletter, I always have my sewing machine, I always have the trail to walk on across the street. Something that a year ago I would have thought would have drowned me forever never once put me under water. I stayed afloat, attended to my work and my hobbies, fed my dog, showered, kept up on communication, and never wavered in my connection to god.
It is in the moments of not knowing what I am being called to learn that I am grateful for the net of people, projects, places, and mystery that keep me in the flow of trust. It is the shape of my daily life that allows me the freedom of self, untethered to any one path. Not every experience needs to be put in the basket of “turn this into a beautiful piece of writing for the people”, but everything goes in the basket of - perhaps there is more to this than meets the eye.
In between paragraphs I am taping all of the interior doors to paint them the color Dusty Trail. House projects have become my guiding light. The patience they require is the same patience it is taking me to finish a new book proposal, to manage my expectations of connection, to find where the nail goes in the wall - for which the patience of a saint is required.
In my never ending quest to “figure out” how to not always be working I come back to Sister Corita Kent’s Rule Number Seven : THE ONLY RULE IS WORK. I have been thinking a lot about rules lately, ones I give myself, ones that provide inspiration through constraint, rules put on us by the world.
It is all part of my work, even the rest, even the play, even the wonder of how did we get here and how long do we stay? And yet the work is detached from the capitalist idea of work, the work as my deepest devotion to attention and pushing against the edges of what confines me.
THE SHAPES OF OUR OFFERINGS
A three week class for building ecosystems for creativity and ease between projects
Saturdays live on zoom: March 18, March 25, April 1 at 9am PT / 12pm ET Class is 2 hours long
Plus coworking: Fri 3/24 9am PT / 12pm ET for 90 min Wed 3/31 9am PT / 12pm ET for 90 min
As Winter turns to Spring I would love for you to join me in the sacred creativity freaky zoom container for a class where together we will build our ecosystems of delight and practice with ease and togetherness!
With guest teachers Amelia Hruby and Jamila Reddy, this class is going to unleash all your greatest ideas, navigate how some of them can be income generating, release other ideas from capitalist structures, and tap into your artistic potential. Your work is of utmost importance and the world needs it - and we will all be better off if you are resting in the true fact that the work will continue to emerge, and you have many places to put it
📨WEEK ONE: INVENTING OUR SHAPES
📨 WEEK TW0 : MARKETING AS A CREATIVE PRACTICE
📨 WEEK THREE : PIVOTING WITH EASE
Scholarships for BIPOC students, payment plans for everyone, and closed captions on all videos and recordings : every class is recorded and yours forever
I waited to be ready for the full album listen and now that I am ready all that I listen to is the new Sza album and I cry at every song
I thought maybe I didn’t need to paint the bottom of the cabinets but turns out in every zoom call they were the focal point of pain so I finished that yesterday and now the kitchen feels even MORE beautiful
I loved watching the recording of Black at Work: Engaging Youth through Textiles and Artmaking at the International Quilt Museum
Ok I haven’t watched it yet but Fire of Love is on my list this week!
I am listening to Rick Rubin’s book The Creative Act just like and every one else told me to and they did for a reason because IT IS SO GOOD
I read Melody Beattie’s Make Miracles in Forty Days last week and have been amping up my daily gratitude lists with all the shit I never include because I deem it “bad” and wow - the miracles are already emerging!
The YES YES podcast returns!
Twenty Things part of her newsletter is my favorite
Just the most beautiful writing from Anna Fusco on secure attachment and mom stuff sent me through the spiral of all feelings that needed to be felt, whose art covers my home, and whose writing makes me want to write - thank you forever Anna <3
This beautiful series of ceramic sculptures for sale by Tamara Santibañez
THE NET WILL CATCH YOU
THE WEB IS WOVEN FOR YOU
A portion of February’s paid subscriptions goes towards the Dancing through Prison Walls Fundraising Campaign : also stay tuned for special edition prints to raise even more funds
⌇⋰ Website
⌇⋰ Email : info@marleegrace.space
or respond to this email, I love to hear your thoughts
⌇⋰ PO Box 252 Cedar, MI 49621