Gathering Ourselves: A Creativity Circle to Deepen Connection and Compassion
Friends, join us for a creativity circle where we'll use poetry, listening and creative play to create, write and share our way into a more generous, deeper connection with ourselves.
We'll be meeting once a month from June to November from 12 to 3 pm CDT on Fridays.
The group is limited to 22 spots and we offer three pricing options for our international audience. Please choose the option that works best for you. Payments are charged for 6 months.
If registration is full, contact us to join the waiting list. You may also join the waiting list if you'd like to join at another time or if you're interested in a group that meets at a different time of day (for example, if you live in Asia or Oceania.)
Explore Your Fears by Eddy Sara, used with his kind permission.
"May I listen with the ears of my heart to the other voices of myself speaking?" - from Bill Plotkin and Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
We can have so many complex feelings about ourselves, with the many parts or selves we harbor inside. Sometimes we dislike parts of ourselves. Sometimes we fear them.
And sometimes we want to get to know them. Sometimes we yearn to connect with our inner world, and are curious about getting to know the rich terrain that lives inside.
But sometimes we feel weary from doing healing work, or aren't able to face ourselves directly. And sometimes we need support - the listening balm of another soul.
This is where play can help. As Mr. Rogers once said, play gives us 'a safe distance as we work on what’s close to our hearts.'
Gathering Ourselves is a creativity circle to connect more deeply with ourselves. Each month we'll explore a soulful theme to help us nurture a more generous, deeper, and restorative relationship with ourselves and others.
We'll use prompts, poems, and our own creative expression - whether it's collage, journaling, writing, journal pages, drawing or more - to connect with what's arising in us and to reconnect with our wholeness.
We'll couple our exploration with group sharing - a safe, sacred space where we can share, listen to ourselves, and listen to each other.
Poetry, creative expression and listening share a common bond of compassion, presence, and a willingness to be with what's here. When we bring these practices together - and when we practice them in a group, in a safe, sacred space - we experience a deeper, richer alchemy that opens doors to the heart and soul.
We're fed and nourished by each other, and learn from each other's wisdom.
What might our many selves have to share with us? How might they want to meet us? How might we want to meet them? Together, we'll explore this rich mystery.
This is a collage Karly made to welcome her exiles, the shunned parts of herself
How the group works
“Play allows us a safe distance as we work on what’s close to our hearts.” - Mr. Rogers
Each month we'll explore a theme - like Befriending Grief, Softening Perfectionism, or Coming Alongside Ourselves - to deepen inner and outer connection.
We'll gather on zoom to explore these themes with poetry, prompts, and creative expression - collage, journaling, writing, drawing or some other artistic way - whichever speaks to you.
We'll split our time between centering exercises, creative play, exploring process, and sharing and listening. Our gatherings are playful and warm, filled with kindness and generous listening, and reassurance that 'you can only do it right.'
In our sharing, we practice listening to each other without offering advice, help, evaluation, or fixing. We trust each person's wisdom and yearn to be an open space for each other, where our selves can unfold.
While you may create a journal, writing, or other art, the focus is the journey, not creating a product, performing, or meeting a standard. Sacred spaces – places where we approach ourselves and each other with sincerity, curiosity and reverence – become the gentle light that helps our buds to bloom.
These monthly gatherings are opportunities to authentically connect with yourself and other "Soul Divers" through presence, journaling, poetry, collage, creative expression. By listening to ourselves and each other, we hope to become more vibrant, compassionate, tender, and courageous.
Webinars are from 10 am to 1 pm Pacific/11 am-1 pm Mountain/12 to 3 pm Central/1 to 4 pm Eastern and are recorded if you can’t make it.
Here are the dates for our gatherings:
- Friday, June 6th
- Friday, June 11th
- Friday, August 8th
- Friday, September 12th
- Friday, October 17th
- Friday, November 14th
Gathering Ourselves is a 6 month commitment and is a closed group with 22 spots. You choose from the three payment options below. Payments are charged for 6 months.
A Love Story by Jeanie Greensfelder
Gather your selves:
critical and kind,
scared and brave,
thoughtless and hurt.
Mistakes and failures
meet accomplishments.
Like loss and love,
they are a package.
Embrace it all.
Such a coming together
is what we came for.
The Prayer by Magdalena Korzeniewska, used with her kind permission.
A place to let go of the urge 'to fix'
When we're in the midst of a struggle or when we experience the pain of life it's easy to collapse into self criticism or overdoing, striving to 'fix the self.' These attempts to 'work on ourselves' are exhausting. Often, we try so hard to 'fix ourselves' because we think it's the only way to eradicate our pain or to ease the anxiety of our shame.
But this doesn't work - it can feel like pouring water onto concrete, wondering why it doesn't soak into the soil and lead to new blooms. While there's a time and place for inner work, overdoing leaves us feeling frustrated, depleted and anxious.
Rather than more inner work, our souls may be crying out for exploration, imagination, and psychological rest. One of the most beautiful and tender ways we can give ourselves this holding is through self compassion and creativity.
Self compassion helps us meet the edges of our suffering with softness and strength. And creativity gives us a safe, neutral place where all our emotions, feelings, experiences, and yearnings can come out.
Gathering Ourselves was created with these ideas in mind - to create a holding space for your creativity, for your story, and a holding space for the compassion that will arise to meet it (and in fact, that already does.)
We think of this process akin to 'soul book making,' creating a psalter of the heart. And while the group is creative, you do not have to be an artist or think of yourself as creative to join - just a willingness to show up and play.
About us, your guides
Karly Randolph Pitman
I'm delighted to be offering Gathering Ourselves with my friend Tamara. I'm a Soul Diver who loves to explore the depths - especially in community, with kindred spirits.
I'm a poet, writer, teacher, mother, seeker, craftswoman and facilitator. Illness, depression, and a complex relationship with food are some of the 'guests' who've cracked me open into self compassion, self acceptance and wholeness.
Writing, embroidery, mending, and collage are my favorite ways to create. My poetry practice helps me see with different eyes, awaken to wonder, and connect more deeply with the living world. The deeper meaning of mending - that none of us are waste - speaks to me. And I'm amazed by what arises in a collage, how an image becomes a doorway.
I live in Austin, Texas where I love to go for long walks, bike to my local library, make anything with my hands, lay on the earth, and marvel at the garden. I look forward to having you with us!
Karly Randolph Pitman
Tamara Strijack
I am a mother, an educator, a counsellor, a consultant, a collaborator and a creative.
On any given day, you might find me facilitating, matchmaking, equipping or creating. One of my greatest joys is coming alongside others on their journey — whether it be finding outlets for emotional expression, or finding one’s way as a parent, teacher or helping professional. My own personal playgrounds are found in writing with fountain pens, giving voice to inner experience through collage and meandering through the woods.
I am an advocate for playful gatherings and for connection in the natural world, as well as a collector of salts, a curator of pauses and a friend of Folklife magazine, where I take their motto “slow the folk down” very seriously.
I am so looking forward to this opportunity to collaborate with my friend Karly in this playful and soulful exploration we are calling Gathering Ourselves.
Tamara Strijack
Frequently Asked Questions
Is writing or artistic experience required? What if I'm not creative or a writer?
No writing or artistic experience is required! This group is open to everyone, whether you think of yourself as creative, an artist, a writer, or not.
We're not here to perform or critique, or even to create something 'good,' but to explore our relationship with our selves and to open to our experience, seeing what wants to come through.
This offering is for people with a sincere desire to explore, share, create from the heart, and listen from the soul, and who want to connect with others. The only requirement is a willingness to show up and offer your presence to the group.
What should I bring to the gatherings?
Bring a candle to light with the group, your art and writing supplies, those things that help you feel comfortable (water or tea, a cozy chair or blanket), and a device that connects securely to the internet. It's also helpful to settle into a quiet space where you can feel well nourished and present.
Will there be breaks or time off screen?
Yes, there will be two periods of creative play during our gathering where you can write and create, be off screen, take a restroom break, eat a meal, or stretch and move.
I feel shy about sharing. Do I have to share?
Sharing is always an invitation, not a demand. If you feel a spark of interest, and also feel shy, please come. If you want to come, we want you there.
What if I can't make it to a gathering? Will they be recorded?
Life happens and we understand! And due to the sensitive nature of our gatherings, we won't be recording by default. We will record by request if something comes up and you know you'll miss a session.
Can I cancel?
Yes, you may cancel up to Friday, May 23rd. Please contact us by email to cancel your registration and request a refund.
Do I pay if I miss a month?
Kindly note that your tuition is charged each month for 6 months, whether or not you attend live that particular month. You can ask us to record the gathering if you know you'll miss.
What if I want to drop out of the group?
This is a participatory group, and your presence matters. Signing up for the group means you're committed to and responsible for your six monthly payments.
I tried to sign up but it's sold out. Is there a waiting list?
Yes! If you're interested in joining, please contact us to join the waiting list. We'll reach out if a spot opens up. Love, Karly and Tamara