My Creative Fairy Godmothers

Welcome to Week Two of the month-long Carnival of Creative Mothers to celebrate the launch of The Rainbow Way: Cultivating Creativity in the Midst of Motherhood
by Lucy H. Pearce. 

Today's topic is Creative Heroines. Do read to the end of this post for a full list of carnival participants. 

Join the Carnival and be in with a chance to win a free e-copy of The Rainbow Way!
December 4th: Creative Inheritance.
December 11th: The Creative Process.

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Do you remember in Sleeping Beauty when all the fairies gathered at the baby Aurora's bedside and each gave her a blessing? In the Disney film there were just three...

But in the traditional story there were twelve.

Well that is how I feel about my creative heroines - each is a fairy godmother and has given me a blessing which has shaped me into the woman I am today.

I still have to pinch myself to really believe that so many of them were involved in The Rainbow Way. However, they did not know, because they had uttered their blessings through the pages that they had written, that they were my fairy godmothers, until I told them! And, to turn the story round a little, I literally was Sleeping Beauty awakening from a long creative pause - because of the magic of this book, its process and contributors

Let me share my creative fairy godmothers and each of their blessings with you:

• Jennifer Louden taught me the importance of retreat. And strong self love... especially when pregnant.
• Leonie Dawson made me believe I could write a book NOW. Her mix of self-love, humour and soulful business advice turns all my lights on.
• Julie Daley showed me what being a sensual, connected, deep speaking woman can look like.
• Pam England opened up the world of birth so fully for me through art, and passed on the labyrinth seed to me.
• Indigo Bacal shared deep feminine beauty and connection.
• Lynn Andrews showed me that there was a maternal archetype that fitted me.
• Christiane Northrup helped me to become loving and proud of my incredible female body. And offered me the words that changed me forever.
• My mother gave me life and a childhood packed full of creativity.
• My aunts and real life fairy godmother all showed me how professional creativity and motherhood can be merged.
• Becky Jaine and Paula Cleary each light my darkness with their effervescence.
• Laura Angel and Tracy Evans hold space for me strongly as I find my way and love me completely. And live their own creative lives so deeply and truly.

And others who I share in the book with whom I have never connected...

• Sylvia Plath who first shared the raw language of madness with me when I was still a teen.
• Adrienne Rich who spoke the powerful, angry truth about motherhood in a way that no one before her had dared. 
• Louise Erdrich planted the seed of a writing shed in the woods, and being a serious writer mama.

And others who are not in any way connected to the book or motherhood but are women who inspire me constantly:

• Jeanette Winterson for speaking so honestly about women's love. For weaving such magic with language that I want to submerge myself in it forever and drown in her prose. And who is a living example of a deeply intelligent, free-thinking woman who speaks her truth with power.
• Louise L Hay for being a beacon - both as a self-made woman via self publishing, but also always being right every time I go to her list of affirmations that I totally don't agree with!!!
• Darina Allen who has been the most incredible mentor to me, first through our family connections, but now professionally - to work alongside her and learn from her is such an honour. She is enthusiasm and lived-values writ large.

So... I dare you... write up a list of your heroines, your own fairy godmothers and the blessings they have given you. How is your life richer for having them? How would you like to connect with them to share your gratitude? Perhaps you can write them a letter or an email. Send them a tweet. Or a prayer. Apply for a job with them. Create a collaborative project and invite them to join you...

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ORDER YOUR SIGNED COPY of  The Rainbow Way! and grab your free extras  (first 200 orders only!): - exclusive access to a private Facebook group for creative mothers - a vibrant greetings card and book-mark of one of the author's paintings. Kindle and paperback editions from Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Book Depository, Barnes and Noble or order it from your local bookshop!

• Carnival host and author of The Rainbow Way, Lucy at Dreaming Aloud celebrates her creative fairy godmothers, and gives thanks for the creative blessings that each has gifted her.
• And on her other site, The Happy Womb, Lucy expresses her sadness at a lack of real-life female mentors and Wise Women in her life so far.
• Becky at Soul Sunshine shares the creativity heroines-- her Saviors-- who reactivated her creative heart after a near-20-year-hiatus.
• Lucy Pierce from Soulskin Musings explores the ways in which three artists have inspired her to follow the inner wild of her own creative narrative and it's interface with the forces of nature and of Spirit.
• Kae at The Wilde Womb shares how she invokes her inner child when summoning creative juices. 
• Zoie at TouchstoneZ reflects on the women who have inspired her most. 
• Alex at The Art of Birth shares her Journey of a Creative Mama which is all about liberating the Feminine through Art.
• Laura at Authentic Parenting is grateful to those women who have inspired her.
• Who most inspires Georgie at Visual Toast? She'll tell you here!
• Please come to the dinner party, invites Nicki at Just Like Play, where we will celebrate Judy Chicago, art, womanhood, and the creative kitchen table.
• Becky at Raising Loveliness shares her creative heroines.
• Dawn Collins at The Barefoot Home honors three artistic mothers in the post:her strong willed Nona, her free spirited mother and the best solo artist ever... Mother Earth.
• Angela at Peach Coglo looks to her grandma and granny as her creative heroines when the creative going gets tough.
• Jennifer at Let Your Soul Shine wears odd socks proudly!
• Kelly at Knittingandthings shares how she turned her grief into helping others  
• Biromums remember their biggest creative heroines.
• Darcel at The Mahogany Way shares who inspires her.
• Aimée at Creativeflutters discusses which artists influence her in her creative journey. Find out how she nourishes herself as a creative mother, and finds the time to help other moms on their journeys.
• Creativity is something that's always meant the most to Jasmine at Brown Eyed Girl and she can't wait to take the journey in identifying herself and supporting other moms with it as well.
• KatyStuff has a mother who allowed her to make mud pies while she knit or embroidered near by.
• Ali Baker is a creative mama to twin girls who reignited her creative energy and sense of who she used to be by just doing it and creating whatever needs to be created in an imperfect way.