Photos top to bottom: Linda at the stand; yours truly at the stand; a close up of some the canvasses we were painting at the expo - we were encouraging people to tell their story; a close up of more canvas art and my spirit dolls!
Oh my, where do I start? The four days at the Conscious Living Expo were totally amazing! We met so many people, stallholders and the general public who were really taken with our belief that art and colour do indeed have the power to heal. A startling amount of people said they either had no creativity or that they had a creative block and could we help them remove it! Well the answer to the first part is EVERYONE is creative, and we can help you discover that, and the answer to the second part is also a resounding yes - if you have a creative block, come to us at Creative Seeds and we'll help you work through it. We spent so much time talking that my throat is now sore!
I need to give a special mention to Billy from the Pure Spirit Personal Development booth - he kept us grounded when we were away with the fairies in our arty realm, and his cheerful smile and hearty laugh kept us cheerful during the slow times. Thank you Billy! Also, Brigitte, a gorgeous woman who kept us company at times throughout the four days and joined me on the journey in the yurt! (More of that later!) She had a communal art installation - people were invited to make a friendship bracelet out of yarn to tie to a huge net to remind us all of community spirit; that we are all connected. Take a look at their websites when you have the chance, they are awesome people.
One of the highlights of the weekend for me personally was getting to meet Caiseal Mor in person. What an amazing man. I first read his first novel 'The Circle and the Cross' about 8 years ago and have always secretly wanted to meet him. Imagine how excited I was when I knew he would be at the expo. I was like a little kid when I bought his book and he signed it for me! His flute playing is out of this world, and at one point whilst I was watching him on stage I nearly fell into a faraway trance myself and had to shake myself awake. Absolutely spellbinding. Then I took part in his meditation workshop in his yurt with a small group of people. Caiseal was drumming whilst we all went on a meditative journey. I cannot tell you how absolutely amazing that experience was, but I am truly thankful for it. As I went back to our booth, Linda looked at me and said 'It looks as if you've had a healing' and she was absolutely right. I feel totally at peace with myself. Though we didn't need it, this weekend has been proof of our belief that we all have the power within ourselves to truly heal ourselves.
Caiseal Mor does a lot of work with parents and carers of autistic children as he is himself autistic. At one point a lovely lady walked past who told me she couldn't be creative because she is autistic. It was before I knew of Caiseal and his autism and I wish I had known because I would have told her to seek him out and see everything that he has created, despite the labels put on him throughout his life. Maybe she did find him, I do hope so. Caiseal Mor has written an autobiography on his life with autism if you would like to read it - 'A Blessing and a Curse' (see website for details).
I suppose I shouldn't leave out the news that we also won a prize for having the most creative stall at the Expo. Totally unexpected, but yes, we are very, very proud! We have been so stressed and anxious at times that we almost walked away and made excuses so that we wouldn't have to do it, but we hung on and finished the whole four days and enjoyed every moment of it. We had so much fun, laughing at the silly things we did each day, hugging people who wanted/needed a hug, sharing our passion for art, listening to people tell their stories. What a privilege indeed to share a moment in people's journey of life - thank you so much to everyone we came into contact with - you are all truly amazing!
