Stepping Into New Shoes

At the start of the year I decided to try a new venture in my attempt to move some of my business online and also get a little more social media savvy. I'd attended some free co-working supportive sessions with a wonderful woman in America, Tara Mohr, and wanted to pass on the same support to lonely, isolated creatives in East Anglia. So I came up with the idea of The Ministry Of Imagination having a planning house for freelance creatives to meet and work side-by-side online.

The copy read as follows..."The Planning House is a place to go where you can feel valued, connect with others and support each other. This is a space to do your creative planning and find the head- space to reinvent, explore and adapt your craft and working methods or just get that work done that you haven’t found time to do. This is a chance for you to nourish yourself and find inspiration from others. We are travelling companions, helping each other stay on the trail. Connection is our Medicine."

I was offering a chance for people to connect with other creatives, work on their own work side by side, do a few short exercises to unlock creativity and help people gain a sense of connection:

The first session brought in a small number of curious artists and I started the session reading something that I had written especially for it;

"We gather up these strands, broken from the web of life and tie them back together with the ribbons of our connection, interlaced, interwoven, bonded back together again. Something beautiful emerges as the patterns of the web reform and frost and droplets of morning dew can once again hang like pearls from along its tiny washing line. The web grows strong and connects us. We start to bounce along the strands like miniature trapeze artists who spring into the air gaining the courage and strength to jump higher and finally take that leap of faith into the unknown."

And so the first Planning House was born. People's reaction was more than I could have wished for.

“The Planning House was such a lovely session.I loved the physical exercises and the creative guided meditation too. It made me feel much more relaxed and it was brilliant to be able to offload. You have such a nice style Hilary.” Jenny Pedley

“I think The Planning House is a strong approach, which should provide all kinds of benefits to participants who don’t come with defined expectations of some fixed outcome. Networking is something I’ve always been hopeless at, but in this context with a casual/relaxed atmosphere one can choose one’s level of engagement which hopefully will encourage everyone to take part.”Chris Jackson

While I am still struggling to gather numbers to the monthly sessions and a long way off from my ambition of connecting creative people all over the world I still have a vision of an artist in Alaska meeting at the planning house with an artist in Sri Lanka and connection and collaborations across the globe being made. It may take time but I'm happy with a slow burn these days - something age and wisdom have taught me.

There is however a slight twist to this tale. Out of these early sessions something unexpected my way came. I have been invited to host a series of science/artist get togethers for a new burgeoning project, Edible East, I've done my first one and quite enjoyed it. Stepping into these new shoes is interesting, especially as It was not something I was seeking or ever expected to come out of this new venture. The Planning House has given me a new string to my bow and that is welcome news for a Viola player!

The Planning House working space for creatives where surprising connections are made and unexpected outcomes emerge.