Contemplative Creatives Journey – The Winter Season

Two Views Mandala ©2021 Bo Mackison

WINTER SEASON OF THE ONLINE WORKSHOP
FOR WOMEN THAT EXPLORES – AND CELEBRATES –
THE EXTRAORDINARY IN THE ORDINARY

If the words contemplative and creative have sweet juiciness for you and you’re interested in a different sort of online workshop, read on:

There is no set curriculum but plenty of opportunities to explore, play, create, muse, share, enjoy. There are no expectations or catching up, but lots of serendipity and infinite possibilities. There are no formal objectives, but an always-available way to engage and interact with your world through art, nature, and the written word.

I combine my roles as curator of life experiences, writer, artist, Certified Kaizen-Muse creativity coach, and Certified Miksang (contemplative) photography instructor to offer you a meaningful and fulfilling online workshop with a well-established active community of fellow journeyers.

CCJ has been a soft landing space for me. One in which I explore beauty while learning so much about art & in the process, myself. Bo consistently introduces us to concepts, artists, and exercises that foster creativity.

~ Liz Amaya-Fernandez

Contemplative Creative Manifesto © 2019 Bo Mackison

In community and individually, we explore these themes:

word * vision * place

WORD

This practice focuses on how to connect — to the world, community, and self — using words. We’ll play with words, explore words, and connect nature and place using words. We’ll write poetry – tile poetry, collaborative poetry, and collage poetry using found words and pictures. You don’t need to call yourself a writer to enjoy these practices, but anyone who has an established writing practice will doubly delight in them.

VISION

We’ll create mandalas, individually and collectively.

A Variety of Winter Welcome Mandalas ©2021 Bo Mackison

What does a mandala practice look like? It can be:

  • a time-out practice from the often-too-busy world
  • an art practice that is grounding and meditative, satisfies the senses, and soothes the mind and spirit.
  • a practice that can be done easily with minimal financial investment.
  • a journal practice and/or a pocket practice, one that can be tucked into tiny pockets of your day – for calming, creating, and connecting with self
  • less about art and more about meditative or personal discovery (though art sometimes happens!)

We’ll explore the practice of Miksang Contemplative Photography, focusing on color, pattern, and texture. We’ll also explore winter’s qualities — its passions, moods, style, and symbols — as part of the Miksang practice. (All types of cameras and skill levels are perfect for this practice.)

A Miksang Photography Mosaic created by CCJ Autumn ©2021 Bo Mackison

PLACE:

Throughout the changing days of Winter, we’ll continue our weekly observational practice of backyard phenology – the study of nature’s calendar. It’s an ever-present, in-the-present survey of the cycles of plants and animals in your natural world that is accessible to all.

A Weekly Snapshot of Winter’s Progression ©2018 Bo Mackison

There are also deep-dive explorations into the practices of artists and poets. In past seasons we’ve been inspired by folks like Carmen Herrera, Bisa Butler, Corita Kent, Andy Goldsworthy. (If you don’t recognize the names of all these creative folks, you might enjoy researching them. I promise you’ll be inspired. And if their creative work beckons to you, you’ll love the Artist Explorations coming in Winter CCJ.)

Bo Mackison’s seasonal CCJ offerings are both balm and spark for the creative soul. Come play and discover what inspires you to make: poetry, photography, collage, mandalas, stories and observations, the lives of artists! You’ll find a no-pressure, quietly supportive community that welcomes whatever you choose to share.

~ Pascale Parinda

Together we’ll explore themes and creative practices that inspire and encourage, elicit wonder and awe, uplift your spirit and feed your soul.

This is a practice that:

  • gently weaves itself throughout your day
  • illuminates the extraordinary in the ordinary, celebrates the uncommon in the common
  • offers ways of interacting with “place” that highlight the wonder of and connection with nature, no matter where you live, work, and play.

We begin on New Year’s Day, January 1st, 2022, and we journey together until the eve of the Spring Equinox, March 19th, 2022.

New participants are welcome to join CCJ during the Winter Season. The first weeks of our practice will include an introduction to collaborative poetry writing, how to create a mandala practice, the basics of Miksang (contemplative) photography, and an introduction to the practice of phenology (weekly nature observation).

If you’re searching for sanctuary, a place to recharge so you can show up re-energized for the demands of living in today’s world, this might be the workshop community that offers what you most need and desire.

Whether you have a fully equipped art studio or a box of simple supplies you store in a closet, you’ll find new ways to create. Hints on how to see/ create in new ways will offer you unlimited possibilities for exploration, and all practices are easily incorporated into your everyday routine.

What I love about CCJ is that it’s familiar but new, every season. Sometimes I’m all in with the week’s subjects and explorations, sometimes life calls me away and that’s fine. Over the seasons it has grown to live inside me with gentle noticing, relishing, photographing, and doodling the truth of my life and has become a gentle touchstone throughout.

~ Liz Crain, ceramicist

WHEN:

The WINTER journey is 11 weeks long. New Year’s Day, January 1st, 2022 through the eve of Spring Equinox, March 19th, 2022.

HOW:

We gather together in a private group on Facebook. All content is shared on our private group page. You’re encouraged to share your discoveries and experiences in the private group, however, and whenever you choose.

This guided and easily accessible process allows you to engage in the practice in whatever way is best for you.

Downloadable PDF booklets of each theme are also provided for your personal use.

THE COST:

I offer you my knowledge, my skills, my presence, my enthusiasm, and my ongoing daily contemplative practices. The cost for the Winter journey and our active sharing community remains at the all-inclusive price of $99.00.

TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE:

Registration is open until January 15th, 2022.

Register here through PayPal. Thank you.

~~~~~~

BO MACKISON is an artist, poet, photographer, certified Kaisen-Muse creativity coach, Nalanda Miksang photography instructor, hands-on workshop presenter, and a woman who has spent her entire adult life surviving/thriving with the help of the creative practices she now shares. She is the founder of Contemplative Creatives Journey, an Online Seasonal Workshop. Bo has been offering creative and contemplative programs for women since 2014. She’s been told her workshops have changed people’s lives for the better; personally, she knows this to be true.

Contemplative Creatives Journey – Autumn 2019

ANNOUNCING THE AUTUMN SEASON OF THE CREATIVITY WORKSHOP THAT EXPLORES  – AND CELEBRATES – THE EXTRAORDINARY IN THE ORDINARY

This gently guided journey with Bo has infused my existing practices with renewed energy. Her exquisite leadership is informed by experience, training and soulful instinct. I consider her a modem mystic. ~ Mary Anne em Radmacher

If the words contemplative and creative have a sweet juiciness for you and you’re interested in a different sort of online workshop, read on.

  • Instead of schedules, I offer serendipity.
  • Instead of a planned curriculum, I offer surprises.
  • Instead of expectations, I offer possibilities.
  • Instead of formal objectives, I offer an always-available way to engage and interact with your world through art, nature and the written word in the company of a kind and supportive online community.
Contemplative Creative Practices – A Mandala ©2017 Bo Mackison

I combine my roles as curator of life experience, writer, artist, Certified Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach, and Certified Miksang (Contemplative) Photography instructor to offer you a meaningful and fulfilling workshop.

In community and individually, we explore:

word * vision * place

WORD

We’ll play with words, explore words, and connect with nature and place using words. We’ll write poetry – tile poetry, collaborative poetry, and poetry art using found words and pictures. You don’t need to consider yourself a writer to enjoy these practices, but anyone with an established writing practice will surely delight in them.

VISION

Mandala making will include the practice of using colored pencils on black paper while exploring Autumn’s deeper palette of colors.

The photography component will focus on Miksang (contemplative) photography practices. This season’s practice will focus on our interactions with the ordinary and personal world. We’ll also explore Autumn’s unique qualities — its passions, moods, styles, symbols — as part of our Miksang practice. (All types of cameras and skill levels are appropriate.)

Example of Miksang Photography Collage ©2018 Bo Mackison

PLACE:

As AUTUMN approaches and the days shorten in the northern hemisphere, we’ll enjoy the practice of backyard phenology – the study of nature’s calendar, an ever-present, in-the-present survey of the cycles of plants and animals in your natural world.

An Example of a Phenology Practice ©2017 Bo Mackison

Bo has created a safe and sacred space for creativity to flourish, respite to abide, and healing to occur – no matter what is happening in our internal or external worlds. The vulnerable and honest sharing of her own creative practices has invited me more deeply into my own. I cannot recommend this offering or her heart on others’ behalf highly enough. ~ Ronna Detrick

MY AUTUMN OFFER:

Together we will explore themes and creative practices that inspire and encourage, elicit wonder and awe, uplift your spirit and feed your soul. This is not a practice that requires you to set aside a certain amount of time each day (unless that is your desire.) Instead, it is:

  • a set of practices that gently weaves itself throughout your day
  • practices that illuminate the extraordinary in the ordinary, celebrate the uncommon in the common
  • ways of interacting with “place” that highlight the wonders of and your connection with nature, no matter where you live, work and play

We begin September 15th, 2019 as autumn approaches and we’ll journey together until December 15th, 2019.

Together we will walk on a journey of increased awareness of the miracles and beauty of the ordinary, and a renewed awareness of the cycles of autumn as we move from the light of summer towards winter’s darkness. During this time we will explore dozens of creative and contemplative practices that will enhance your every day.

There is a strong community and collaborative aspect in the group, but it is always an invitation and opportunity, never a requirement.

Flight of the Autumn Leaves © 2017 Bo Mackison

Bo Mackison is an insightful, talented and inspirational art, photography and writing creativity coach and teacher. Bo’s wide range of artistic knowledge along with her life experiences makes her the artist and writer’s trusted advisor. I highly recommend Bo as a mentor, teacher, trainer and speaker. ~ Jeanette Richardson Herring, Author and Artist

QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU CLARIFY:  

Are you searching for a place of sanctuary, a place to recharge your inner battery so you can show up bright and energized for the demands of living in today’s world?

Would you benefit from a creative practice that can be done in free moments? What if instead of checking social media whenever a spare moment arises, you chose to check in with yourself instead?  Would you benefit from a contemplative practice that focuses on a stronger connection with yourself and with the present?

Do you thrive with to do lists? Do you do your best, most creative work on a schedule while meeting deadlines? If your answer is yes, then this workshop will likely be a different sort of experience. Are you ready for this kind of change? Then come along and explore the creative and contemplative life with spaciousness and spontaneity.

Do you have the right kind of supplies? You create with the simplest of supplies, things you likely already own or can obtain at minimal cost.

  • Paper of any sort, i.e. sketchbooks, a journal, ephemera. Black paper will be used for mandala making.
  • Any sort of mark-making media you already have, i.e. pens, pencils, markers, pastels, paints.
  • A camera of your choice (Cell phone camera is fine.)
  • Mixed media supplies such as old magazines, household ephemera, a glue stick.

Whether you have a fully equipped art room or a box of simple supplies you store in a closet, you’ll find new ways to create. Surprises and nudges will get your creative juices flowing. Hints on how to see or create in new ways will offer you unlimited possibilities for exploration and are easily incorporated into your everyday routine.

WHEN:

The Autumn journey is 14 weeks long.  September 15, 2019 through December 15, 2019.

HOW:

Private community on Facebook. Everything is delivered to a closed Facebook group page and may show up anytime. Surprise and serendipity! You are encouraged to share your discoveries and experiences in the private group however and whenever you choose.

This guided and easily accessible process allows you to engage in the practice wherever and whenever you choose.

THE COST:

I offer you my knowledge, my skills, my presence and my enthusiasm. The cost for the 14 week journey and an active sharing community is $99.00.

TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE:

Registration is now CLOSED. The winter session will begin December 15th, 2019.

Click here to register through PayPal 

~~~~~

BO MACKISON is an artist, poet, photographer, Certified Kaisen-Muse Creativity Coach, Nalanda Miksang Photography Instructor, hands-on workshop presenter, and a woman who has spent her entire adult life surviving/thriving with the help of the creative practices she now shares with others. Bo has been offering creative and contemplative programs for women since 2014. She’s been told her workshops have changed people’s lives for the better. She believes this to be true.

A Stitch, In Time – A Mandala and a Practice

A Stitch, In Time © 2016 Bo Mackison

A Stitch, In Time © 2016 Bo Mackison

A Stitch, in Time

There are moments in time when it is just too noisy, too busy, too much.

What is the single thing (the stitch) I can do to bring quiet and ease to my life? Right now, without delay.

Some things I do when I need to step into a place of ease:

  • First, the breathing. Steady. Slow. When I feel in control of nothing, I remember I am always in control of my breath.
  • Look. What do I see that is pleasing, comforting. My lounging hound? The orchid I was given as a surprise “I love you” gift? The view outside my window – the backyard maple with a halo of yellow-orange? The sky, deep blue and infinite? What do I see that offers me a moment of ease?
  • Listen. No, really listen. Close your eyes and listen. What do you hear? The murmur of street traffic? Children laughing? Background television? Birdsong? Take a moment to listen to the sounds that surround you. How does this make you feel? If this is a positive experience, pay attention. If this provokes a negative response, pay attention. You hear these sounds even when you are not consciously aware of such. How might you make your environment more sound-friendly? How might you invite more ease?
  • Touch. Something we do not often think about is how touch can affect us. It is a powerful tool, too often neglected. Are you sitting comfortably? Are the clothes you are wearing body-friendly? No binding or rough spots? Touch is also a comfort I can add with minimal effort. Sometimes I finger mala beads. Or hold a special talisman — a ceramic heart from a dear friend — in my hand while I work. Or I rest my feet in the furry coat of Gracie the Wonder Dog — this makes us both incredibly happy. How can you add the gift of touch to this moment?

In a world that often feels over-whelming and loud, how can I find ease and comfort in the tiny space I inhabit? How can I make my environment friendly and conducive to my work? It does not have to be complicated or time-consuming. Just an awareness, a pause, may be enough to invite ease and calm into your day.

Remember. One stitch at a time!

 

Spinning Off Kilter – A Mandala

Spinning Off Kilter © 2016 Bo Mackison

Spinning Off Kilter © 2016 Bo Mackison

Kilter. A variation of the English word kelter, originating in the 1600s, which means order or alignment.

Off kilter. Out of balance or alignment.

Spinning off kilter, along for a wild ride. There is chaos in the out-of-balance and there is harmony, too.

 

Life is a Verb Camp 2014 – *Camp*anionship at its Finest

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Morning is Dancing © 2014 Bo Mackison

I had the great honor and privilege to attend Patti Digh’s Life is a Verb Camp 2014 last week. There, a hundred wonderful people gathered for the second annual camp near Asheville, North Carolina.

We danced by the lake at the sun rose over the tree line and the fog hovered upon Lake Kanuga, crying and laughing and hugging and offering deep support and love.We struggled though yoga moves before coffee(!!!) and breakfast while the kindest of kind instructors gently, so gently, encouraged.

We sang, some of us off key but with great exuberance, as a group of 100 vivacious, expressive, loving campers sang songs ranging from In My Wildest Dreams to Stars to Amazing Grace. The musicians were out of this world.

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Camp Kanuga, Home of Patti Digh’s Life is a Verb Camp 2014 © 2014 Bo Mackison

I slept in a Kanuga Cabin built in 1909 and on the National Register of Historic Places (for architectural history geeks like me who love that sort of detail).

Cabin 13, by the way, was one of the luckiest cabins with the kindest of cabin mates and social hour visitors, my way of thinking! Love you guys!

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Rocking Chairs Provided © 2014 Bo Mackison

I rocked on the porch with other happy campers as we took in the view of the autumn trees and the lake beyond, and felt so alive in the midst of campanionship and nature’s beauty.

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Geography of Loss Workshop – Found Poetry ©2014 Bo Mackison

I attended a pre-camp workshop presented By Patti Digh and Kim Joris on The Geography of Loss, based on Patti’s book by the same name. Oh what a day that was as a camp warm-up experience…self-awareness, discovery, opening to our stories, creating and sharing with the kindest of communities.

Tears and hugs and compassion, oh my!

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You Can Sit Here With Us © 2014 Bo Mackison

I listened to the key note presentations of two of my poet heroes, Amy Shihab Nye and Ellen Bass. And decided I could call myself a poet again!

I was mesmerized by the stories of fellow campers during the morning Focus Sessions – and I even told my own story in a presentation on bullying called You Can Sit Here With Us. 

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Tandem Typewriter Poets – Maya Stein and Amy Tingle © 2014 Bo Mackison

I attended Creative Spark workshops, one on Creating my Own Adventure (by the above creative beings), another on Being Stabby (felt making) by Deb Reynolds.

I also presented my own workshop on Desert Wisdom and the Gifts of the Desert – what a thrill for this introvert.  I pushed my anxiety aside and so loved sitting in our circle and connecting with each other through our precious gifts of self!  (Though I find it almost impossible to comprehend that I did not remember to take a single photograph during either of my workshops. I’ll just have to hold them tightly in my memory — easily done!)

I had a poem composed for me by the talented typewriter poet duo of Maya Stein and Amy Tingle. (Such wise, wise poems, delivered on the spot, nine lines on an index card.) I now cherish my two poem cards. Amazing! Thank you, Maya and Amy.

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Camp Badges, Camp Memories © 2014 Bo Mackison

We collected camp badges for doing things like showing up (which can be amazingly hard), speaking out, being ourselves, making strong offers (another way of showing up, big time), for claiming our birthright as poets.

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Patti Digh, Offering Hugs and Hope and Happiness and Humor © 2014 Bo Mackison

Of course, Camp is a Verb would not exist if it were not for Patti Digh, who had a dream, and worked incredibly to make it come true. Every time Patti appeared on stage she offered… Hugs. Hope. Happiness. Honesty. Honor. Humor. Love. Love. Love.

Patti Digh – camp director, friend, confidante, mama, organizer, creative, courageous, promoter of social justice, and human being extra-ordinaire. Patti and her troupe of volunteers turned Camp Kanuga into the brilliant Camp is a Verb 2014 with magic, synchronicity, and damn hard work.

Oh the Autumn Colors © 2014 Bo Macksion

Oh the Autumn Colors © 2014 Bo Mackison

And now only weeks away (so excited!) Life is a Verb 2016 returns to Camp Kanuga on the weekend of November 3 through 6. I highly recommend you check out the camp website if you are even the tiniest bit curious. It will be a life-changing weekend!

Community. Courage. Creativity. Wouldn’t it be fine if you were there?