Reflections on 2024
Trying new things, building community and looking forward.
I’m writing this with a beautiful ocean view of the Spencer Gulf being buffeted by sea winds whilst sitting at our campsite in Lincoln National Park, South Australia. It’s the last few days of a 2 week trip and it’s been a lot. We climbed sand dunes, explored the most amazing beaches, got our 4 wheel drive stuck in sand, had to make last minute changes to campsites, shouted about putting on sun cream, ate many oysters, kayaked, snorkeled and much more. There have been emotional ups and downs, but it has also been a really fun adventure of trying new things and exploring new places.
Reflecting back on the ups and downs of 2024, I feel the year has been similar; we have all been buffeted by the winds on external happenings in the world. There were parts of the year that felt exhausting and hard, but others that were filled with adventure and joy. I’m ever an optimist, so when looking back, I can see that even the hard parts lead to learning and growth, for which I am thankful.
TRYING NEW THINGS
Starting writing this Substack in March 2024 was a big step outside my comfort zone. I’m not a writer. I have always preferred communicating my ideas and feelings through images and making. Through pushing myself out of comfort, I have learnt so much.
Read about my reasons for beginning Creative Spaces and my relationship with writing in the articles below:
An Introduction
Let me start with a little about myself, if I had to describe myself in one word, it would be a MAKER.
As well as being an avid maker of things, I am also a mother of two, craft book author, workshop facilitator, community group organiser, homeschooling parent, aspiring artist, life long learner and chief mess maker over at my creative business MINI MAD THINGS.
I'm not good at writing
I’m not good at reading and writing. I feel like this has been my inner voice forever. But reflecting back, maybe it wasn’t forever. I remember a time when I loved writing. I wrote a story and felt proud.
BIG STEPS IN BUILDING COMMUNITY
One of the things I am most proud of in 2024 are the huge steps we have made in building our home education community space. In the past I would have shied away from launching into this kind of project which involves developing a close relationship with others. I am more comfortable going it alone. Although I have always struggled with forming close friendships and feeling dependent on others, I also recognise that going it alone all the time is not good for my mental health. I need others to thrive. And my children need friendships and a sense of belonging to a community.
Taking the steps to home educate, moving outside of the conventional structure of school, can at times, feel like flapping in the wind. Like you are out there all alone doing this different thing with nothing to anchor you and no support. I know that to make our home education life sustainable and for my children to thrive, I needed support and they needed community.
Read about the process of dreaming and building our home education community space in the articles below:
Creative Community Spaces #2
I’m passionate about building community groups and creative spaces, but I am far from being an expert. As I have mentioned before, I feel deeply unequipped in knowing how to be part of a community. The idea of being both reliant on and supporting others in an interconnected way is somewhere between uncomfortable and scary for me, but I’m finding my way and learning as I go.
Creative Community Spaces #3
Since I last wrote about our work towards creating a permanent home education community space, we have made huge progress. The space we are using, an old office and warehouse building owned by one of our friends, is now cleared and cleaned. In the last few weeks we have acquired furnishings (mostly up-cycled and free), set up many of the rooms ready for use and begun filling the space with games, books and art supplies. The work we have put into the building is giving it life, changing a dirty, unused space into a warm, inclusive and exciting place to be.
Creative Community Spaces #4
It has been 3 months since we began using our newly cleaned and refurbished home education community space and it’s wonderful in so many ways. It’s amazing what we can do when we come together for a common purpose; when we give freely our time and resources and just get shit done. The space, which was initially filled with junk and rat poo, is now filled with creativity and life.
LOOKING FORWARD
Now I’m drawn to my favourite pass time; dreaming and planning. It’s time to come up with the next project or adventure for 2025. I’m a person that thrives on moving forward, so even through the future can look pretty bleak at times, I’m excited for what we can build together this year for a better future for all.
WHATS NEXT FOR CREATIVE SPACES?
Over the last 9 months of writing and sharing ideas on Creative Spaces, I have formed a more cohesive idea of what I’m doing here. So, moving forward there will be a few small changes. I will be shifting my focus from sharing craft ideas (although there will still be lots of that), to writing about how we can use creative practices to build robust, grass roots communities. I will be sharing interviews with creatives, community organisers and agitators on how they are using creativity to support their local community. I hope you all stick around.
THE DETAILS...
For FREE SUBSCRIBERS, you will receive weekly articles rotating between the following topics:
Articles sharing an insight into our personal creative family life and the art projects we get up to at home, like these Tales From Our Table articles.
Articles sharing creative community projects, community building and workshops I’m involved with, including ideas for fun collaborative art projects.
Articles sharing interviews with creative people, organisers and agitators from around the world on how they are using creativity to support their local community.
For PAID SUBSCRIBERS (it’s just $6 per month), you will receive all of the above PLUS the following:
A minimum of 2 free printable activity sheets or colouring pages for you to download and use at home or in your community spaces.
Access to archived articles which include links to download all the past printable activity sheets I have shared.
My gratitude for supporting all the work I do in my community and all the creative ideas I share for free here.
Thank you all for supporting my work.
Eleanor X
Oh! I recognised that photo in a heartbeat, you were here! 😁☀️