Whim worship
pies, painting, and process
Welcome to Gentle Musings, a publication about reconnecting with yourself, experiencing life as a creative practice, and living out loud. Gentle Musings is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support this work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
My long and slow embrace of leisure as a practice has been more sustaining than unnerving lately. Leisure used to be mostly unnerving. It’s a stark contrast to well-practiced vigilance and hurrying—attending to this, attending to that, checking on this, checking on that. There’s anger at the world. There’s fear. And when it comes down to it, I worship whim!
I’ve found myself just staring out the window and at the lights and shadows on the walls more, and not out of disconnection but out of a willingness to notice. On Saturday, I baked a pie to use some seven grain flour that’s been hanging around the pantry for too long.
I felt unhurried and unbothered, just me and the pie.
On Sunday, we had our first Sunday night movie night at our new place (ritualized leisure!). Punch-Drunk Love was chosen at random, and it was astounding. Every minute was engrossing and beautiful… it climbed right to the top of movies I adore. Have you seen it before??
I’ve been thinking about process lately, no surprise. While my research is all about creative process, and it’s the main thing I support private clients with, I tend to be very private about my own process. I crave sharing my process in-process, and in the same breath, I often crave sharing nothing at all.
Behind me stands an easel—an unexpected gift from a friend. Next to the easel, old paintings that I don’t really want to keep but I can’t get myself to throw away. I’m contemplating stretching fresh canvases and beginning to paint again after years away from the practice. Feeling both daunted and content about beginning again, my mind can’t make sense of it.
Since a cornerstone of my work is supporting others in building a bridge back to themselves via creativity (not always making something, but creative thinking and expressing and ways of being utterly themselves), part of me really wants to share this process of rekindling my friendship to painting. And just as soon as I say that, I want it to be only for me! I think about D. W. Winnicott’s words:
It is a joy to be hidden and a disaster not to be found.
Sharing your creativity is allowing others to see something essential about you, no wonder there’s yearning and ambivalence.
In case you’ve also been craving the cave of solitude and sharing yourself honestly and imperfectly in-process, here is something that I’m going to experiment with that might be helpful to you too:
I’m going to practice documenting the process of returning to painting (filming, photographing, writing) for myself. A private archive of sorts. Once I hit a point in the process where the desire to share emerges as a dominant feeling, then I’ll follow suit and share my process in whatever form is dictated by the process. We’ll see!
Last week, I shared something private with a dear client: my systems for organizing various types of writing.
This got me reflecting on something that would have saved me lots of self-judgy thoughts:
Finding the right-fit homes for your writing takes time and continual experimentation. Building supportive systems is part of making a writing practice that feels true to you.
If you feel stuck with your desire to write or work on projects, maybe its become too precious or distant, consider the containers! I'm convinced that different projects and ideas want different writing homes... and that's a beautiful thing.
My sharing spurred a realization: this container of writing has been wanting to evolve. When I first moved my newsletter onto Substack, I transferred the name of my newsletter. It was simple: Regarding Dew Letters, the dispatches from my creative research studio Regarding Dew. As I nurtured the newsletter, I kept feeling the contrast between the high consideration I put into the substance and the ambiguity of the form. Knowing how strange Regarding Dew sounds to some people when they first hear it, I can only imagine what it’s like to stumble upon Regarding Dew Letters… ‘does she write about thermodynamics or gardens… or??’
I made the leap and renamed this publication Gentle Musings. What an exhale!
What else does this change? We’ll see! I’m keeping my ear to the ground and staying nimble in listening to what it wants to be. Thank you for being here for the process.
XO
Maggy
STUDIO THINGS
Summer journal prompts for your leisurely pleasure:
Letting myself feel over the moon.
Yesterday, I held rare Sunday sessions with private clients in honor of the new moon. These women are thoughtful, funny, honest, and always with the most creative hearts and minds... each brilliant and wise in their own ways. Witnessing their processes is a high privilege.
At the start of each month (or moonth), I offer something called Root to Blossom: a month-long co-creative process of self-inquiry, gentle practices, and bold next steps to honor your deepest self.
For some people this looks like taking a break from social media, picking up an abandoned project, settling in after a move, or just treating themselves to a month of intentionality and care.
The whole process includes receiving custom handmade affirmation cards in the mail based on whatever the month is dedicated to, which means that my week will be filled with creating beautiful decks of cards to send by snail mail! 💌
October through December still have some spots—here’s the link if you want to learn more and step into the process together:
The Harvesting Guide cover also got a makeover recently…
This fall, I’m hosting a two-part workshop all about the practice of harvesting your journals/notes app/scrap papers for well-earned wisdom. It’s called Cultivating Clarity and I would LOVE to see you there. Each participant receives The Harvesting Guide digital zine.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15TH
7:00PM - 8:30PM EST
The Harvesting Guide Walk-through
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17TH
11:00AM - 12:30PM EST
Co-Harvesting Session
Subscriber discount: use SUB-THANKS for 15% off your registration.
And every registration comes with an invitation for a friend for free <3
Already have the guide but want to attend the workshop? Email me!