From seeds once planted

So much has happened, so much experienced and processed. Life has a wonderful way of occurring regardless. I’m forever writing and rewriting this blog post and yet not publishing it. I have been in and out of heart and thought, everything keeps shifting, changing and I’m forever doing my level best to understand and have a sense of things. I have come to the conclusion that this is impossible and I would do best just being and letting be.

The name I use on social media ‘Being Stacie’ was never meant to be a thing, it only manifested due to an attempt to protect a level of privacy as I begun my psychotherapy practice and I have to give it its due it has been very helpful whilst needed. I have found though that very unintentionally people have taken notice, it is having a life of its own. I am told it is intriguing, like something is happening and people are keen to see. This feels somewhat of a surprise. However as I contemplate the name more deeply I think I understand. ‘Being’ is an active thing, not solid, not fixed or strictly defined. It is an ongoing evolution unfolding, an energy with the freedom to transform.

It hints at physis, the very nature of nature, as is.

‘Stacie’ existing…

The following is a beautiful poem I found on Pinterest hinting at one person’s sense of being.

I wonder what would happen if we all addressed ourselves as ‘being’? Being Emma, Being Claire, Being David… What would that mean for each of us, what story would begin unfolding? Would our stories change just in the act of recognising the ‘being-ness’ of ourselves?

Stacie Being

So what has happened in the time it has taken since my last post? I have partnered with local community organisations to open a Community Art Studio temporarily known as ‘The Space…’

The idea for ‘The Space…’ arose because there is raw talent out there and many people are not getting the opportunity to explore due to barriers (be they financial, social, mental or physical etc.)

For 19 years now I have been volunteering/working within a community development model and feel that the grass roots approach is the best way for people to feel they have an influence in the structure and elements of their lives. The hope is to support a creative path for people to find ways of expressing themselves. There was an identified need for a community space where people who otherwise wouldn’t get the opportunity could come together and grow using art materials.  I teamed up with Building Healthy Communities Dumfries and Lower Nithsdale to create the operational platform and from there with The Stove Network to deliver the Community Art Studio within their Creative Futures project. Together we hope to offer ‘a space’ for people to explore their own creativity and self expression in a very loose sense, i.e. NOT a guided art class.

It also feels important (thinking about my own art project and that sense of exploring being human and making sense of life) to have the space for people to just be themselves, make meaning, acknowledge vulnerability in a social environment where very very subtly things like stigma, value, worth, purpose can be gently recognised and nurtured, supporting overall well-being, self esteem and helping discovery/fulfilment of a pathway in each person’s life (or at the very least people have enough space for consistent steady relaxation in their world).

The idea for the structure of The Space comes from the Room 13 model (introduced to me by a lovely local artist Sarah Keanst whom has had experience working in this model), http://room13international.org/, although the project here is intended to be intergenerational. It is only in its very beginning stages and will organically take its own shape, what I hope for the future is that the community themselves chose how best to take the art studio forward choosing a longer term name and that the management of it becomes self directed.

As the artist in residence I carry out my own artwork and investigations and am on hand to help people explore their work with a curiosity, I will not be guiding or directing anyone.  I also offer opportunities for people to take part in some of my own artistic instillations (if they are interested).

It has been an amazing time working to pull this together and although it has only been open for a couple of months it has been deeply moving to chat with people and to see/ hear about their own creative journeys.

Learning lots, so far there has been a real mix of people, the roots are gently deepening.