Hello to all our wonderful  members & friends.

I do hope you’re finding the inner strength to come through this challenging time. There is so much in the world to feel outrage towards,  to feel anxious or depressed about. That we don’t all collapse into desolation & hopelessness says something about the human spirit; that capacity we all have for fortitude, hopefulness and heartfulness. I hope you can all take heart that this too will pass and if we can be open to the tide of ‘finer feelings’ flowing into our lives, we can be part of the healing, part of the way towards a better future.

Inside Out Community’s current project – of which all our programmes form a constituent part –  is called the Art of Wellbeing.  It is really a deepening of the work we’ve been doing over the past 17 years . Everyone who joins us at Inside Out is tacitly, if not explicitly, invited to explore how the process of making art, in a creative community, can work for them in enhancing personal well-being. I would take that a step further and say that what we’re really exploring is the Art of Living. We all desire to live with less suffering, less distress, more joy, peace and sense of fulfillment. We all have the potential to live beyond the prison of old patterns of thinking, feeling and doing that may hold us in anxious, depressed or confused states of mind.

The healing in art is about the unfolding of our extraordinary potential as human beings, as individuals – becoming more of who we truly are. The arts are not about creating aesthetic images (although they may delight the eye), nor are they about demonstrating an accomplished artistic skill (although they may show that), art is more about the discovery & expression of our true selves, our relationship to others and to the world of which we are part. Whether we are conscious of this process or not, it is going on in every  drawing, dance, song, sculpture, poem or story that we create. How wonderful that from our imagination, from our heart and spirit, such gifts to ourselves and others can arise.

We are all artists. A simple charcoal line on a page may tell us many truths about ourselves and our lives.

Never stop exploring!

warmest thoughts

Peter

Co Founder Inside Out  .

The image is of a Love in the Mist seed head that has been delighting my eye over the past two weeks. A gift from the garden.