Creative Companionship Circle
What it is and how to join
Hello and welcome!
I started the Creative Companionship Circle in January. I have loved writing a short weekly email and preparing a 40-min weekly CCC Live on zoom. I need a deadline to get things done AND I enjoy writing about creativity and the best part? Facilitating classes. I love our weekly CCC Live. I have been practicing pilates for almost twenty years and rather than taking my cues from teaching writing or english or other things I’ve tried that don't feel right for me, I’m taking my inspiration from movement classes.
Creative Companionship Circle is not just for artists or aspiring artists but for anyone who wants to think creatively. This is not a course but a chance to try some creative exercises with no pressure to share. Current subscribers include someone who is a Consultant Psychiatrist, someone who is a Baker and Church Community Organiser and someone who is a Communications Officer and Pilates Instructor.
We begin each CCC Live with a quotation that I have been pondering and then I offer three very simple 5-minute exercises designed to stretch and encourage our creative muscles (I don’t do these beforehand myself and so I join in too). We finish by sharing a bit about what we have thought about and then with a poem or blessing. The idea is not to finish anything, but to feed and nourish the creative brain or the inner artist. To pay attention to her or him and give them freedom to move. Further, taking time to create is an act of resistance and freedom from the empire that is always trying to take us in.
Here’s a clip from one of our CCC Lives. It’s funny watching yourself back when you aren’t performing but simply being yourself.
If you would like to join or try a zoom class and read a review, read on!
I would love it if you wanted to join us,
Deb x
Creative Companionship Circle Details:
The Basic Monthly Plan is £5 a month and you will receive:
Wednesday’s Word: a weekly creative encouragement here on the Substack app or straight to your email inbox.
or
The CCC Live Monthly Plan is £20 a month and you will receive:
All the above PLUS a weekly 30-40 min circle on zoom. This will include a short intro from me followed by three exercise options which you can choose from or work through followed by a short opportunity to share/discuss and a final word from me.
More confidence for your creative brain. Thinking creatively is a practise like Pilates or any kind of exercise - we need it to keep our muscles flexible and strong. This is your practice to do what you want with!
We start up again this week with first email going out on Wed 23rd and first CCC Live on Thurs 24th at 8.30pm on zoom.
Click the yellow button to sign up by email (the substack app is a bit limited with what it allows me to do). I will then send you payment details so you can pay per month or in 3-month blocks.
£5 a month or
£20 a month (CCC Live Member).
Here is a review 👇
It has been a little retreat every week that has helped unburden my busy brain and helped me see things differently. Deb is a wonderful gentle host leading us through 3 x 5 minute creative exercises, anything from writing a short poem, to laying underneath the desk or poking your head out of the window. I have never regretted this time deliberately seeing the world differently in the company of others determined to do the same. It has been a tonic and genuinely refreshed my creative problem solving skills as well as being a playful way to spend half an hour. I wonder how things might be different had I not had this weekly refresh. I lot more tense and serious I imagine.
Angie, CCC Live member
and a sample session to give you a taste 👇