So finally a new blog post! during the last six months on this ride with my fellows in the creative industries, I have swung by my blog and website thinking yep must update that, redo this. All with no result as reading the headline of my last one just felt like mockery, an emerging practitioner stopped in my tracks along with many of my cohort both last year and this year’s graduates struggling to figure out how to survive.
Truth is I didn’t learn a new language, become the fittest in my life, or indeed learn how to bake sourdough bread. I crashed as becoming a member of the excluded group opened up old wounds and anxiety became my everyday companion leaving me incapable of creative thinking or creation. Luckily for me, I have a very generous amazing therapist who continued to see me virtually and not letting me pay, she raised the red flag. I was not in a good place, lets just say that.
Walking became my thing, heading out every morning at around 7 am and just walking, no destination no plan. I began to discover parts of my local Salford that in 20 odd years of living here I had no idea were there, the secret meadow and my thinking oak brought peace and solace, this and some of the most incredible zooms given and hosted by amazing people began to have a healing effect on my mind and creativity and to being brave.
I began to apply for arising opportunities and was lucky to be accepted on one that was and is ultimately the trigger to opening Tracey up to her creativity once more and a path now on for reinvention, the term action learning was new to me and my fellow members of our superset meeting every two weeks until November, we are both exploring and learning who to facilitate our own though the rather brilliant The Hub co-organized by another amazing crisis group The Creative Industries Federation. It is true talking does help and can lead to action, I became braver and applied for a Creative England initiative ‘Ideate Manchester’ with StoryFutures Academy and was accepted onto a two-day intensive Bootcamp in new emerging digital technologies VR/MR/AR WOW! a head and heart-opening two weeks with my oculus headset discovering some of the most beautiful and creative works.
With this and my renewed interest in all things visual I made a little movie in my thinking tree a little share of my passion for Shinrin Yoko the Japanese method of relieving stress by tree bathing, just sit observe and open all your senses to space and sounds that these majestic alive places give us.
And now? working on a project and my first ever Arts Council application, a tad daunting but the people I am meeting and discussing the possibilities of HOYO (more next time ) is making every creative muscle in my body tingle. So why right this today? it is World Mental Health Day and it is ok to not be ok and also not, if you struggle at any time there are people and places out there. Pick up the phone, as this continues the fatigue is real and the mind is an organ like all our others and at times needs to be looked after.
A big shout out to the team of the MIF who stepped in instantly with initially daily drop in’s for artists and freelancers, giving space to just talk, check-in and now a new community of attendees and collaborations have sprung forth. Now weekly you can find details and massive amounts of resources on their website.
So more from Tracey version 4 soon, be gentle, be safe.
Here are some links to some of the best resources for us creative theatre folk and my little film
https://www.creativeindustriesfederation.com