30 Days of gratitude--Day 28

From left to right: Kathleen, Elena, Christine, Laura, Edmo, and Erika

This is my art focus group. These are some of the coolest, smartest, funniest, nicest, most creative people you could ever meet.  I am so grateful to know each and every one of them.  
For almost a year now we've been meeting on Monday mornings at 9 a.m., usually at Cherrywood coffee house, to discuss creative issues from making to marketing.  Sometimes we talk about how to get "unstuck,"  how to be gentle with ourselves, how to ask for help, how to develop the creative habit, and how keep going when discouraged.  Sometimes we talk about inspirations, processes, and resources.  Sometimes we talk about the stuff in our lives that's really hard : family, illness, money, and relationships.  Sometimes we cry, frequently we laugh, but we always celebrate one another's successes, no matter how small.  Disappointments, rejections, and failures all become a part of the learning process and are treated as such--just keep exploring and playing and making.   Eventually all of it becomes manifest in the work.