The Myth of Happy Families - Why it Just Can't Work... and How You're Doing Just Fine

How's your day?

Chances are you're tired. Or beating yourself up at getting cross with a child. Or have just had to break up a fight. Or are hiding on the internet just to get five minutes peace.

Or perhaps you are feeling very chuffed because for the last half an hour everything has gone perfectly. You are, for the moment anyway, living the dream. You ARE the perfect parent.

Feeling Guilty Cos You're Not Doing Enough?

People ask me all the time - "what's next, Lucy?"

Knowing, me being me I'll have something up my sleeve.

"Have you started another book?"

Ummm, yes. I have 8, yes eight you read that right, currently downloading into my brain. Each with a separate folder on my computer, and random sheets of paper floating around my bedroom... and backpack... and journal pages, and quotes highlighted and book pages folded over (yes, me too, I HATE it when people do that, books are precious... but needs must, otherwise I'll never find them again! My kids always run off with my little stickies).

So eight books. Three e courses... or potentially four.

A website redesign.

And a number of top secret, mega exciting, dream come true projects which I will reveal all in due time.

This is not to mention finishing up my JUNO work (ah, breathing space!), doing the post-pub proof for The Rainbow Way, various book promotions, two blogs and my consulting work...

And three kids. One of whom rode a bike by herself yesterday. The other two are turning into bloggers in their own right!

And you know what... I'm feeling guilty cos I'm not doing enough.

Yes, you read that right too.

I'm feeling guilty cos I'm not doing enough.

Or at least that I'm not focusing on one thing. Perhaps that I haven't finished a book by breakfast time yesterday. I do some of one project, and give myself a hard time cos I should be working on something else. What a prize nutter.

And breathe.

Life in Technicolour

I remember many years ago I went to a counsellor.

I was sixteen and struggling with anxiety and the beginnings of bi polar.

She said to me something that I will never forget. For all the wrong reasons.

"Life is not black and white, Lucy," she said - "there are so many shades of grey in between."

Yes, I thought... and I am NOT a grey person, nor ever aspire to be one. In her mind grey was good - grey was reliable, normal, stable... to me grey was dull, boring, normal, lacking in life or authenticity.

No grey for me. I'd leave the rest of the world with their suits and office hours and grey lives.

I understood her point - but what she was pointing out was my bi polar perspective on life, as though I could, and more importantly, SHOULD rationalise it away.

But grey does not equal happy. Or fully alive. Or creative.

Life is not grey - she is every hue - she is all and nothing.

Every once in a while I would wrestle with her words again. Understanding her intention. Physically and emotionally disagreeing with grey.

Yesterday I was talking to some really special designer women from Dream Inspired Design. We were dreaming aloud together new visual stuff for Dreaming Aloud...

I was explaining my vision really clearly to them, and the layers of soul meaning behind it. When sharing how the new site (shhh! it's a secret, right ;)) would look (I am SO excited about it!!!!) I explained - I want lots of white space - clarity, a holding space to breathe, reflect and be held... and I want vibrancy - in the design and content. My current site has been bootstrapped. I have taken it as far as I can alone. So now I need the support and creativity of others to help me to more clearly express my vision. Clarity... and vibrancy. Space and technicolour, life and creativity.

They really got it - "you can't have one without the other," one said, "you need balance, to have the two in harmony. It sounds like you're wanting to have the site reflect where you are now."

Yes. This is what I am really embodying in my life. For years I thought I needed to control, apologise, calm down my technicolour - it was too weird and threatening for others - but trying to be grey that shut me down. So then I went for full on colour. Overcrowded, overwhelmed, too full. Which is unsustainable - so I'd crash and have my body impose the blank bits through illness and depression....

My new living mode... and blog design is full technicolour... held in calm space. And this is how I am living now - not damping down the colour - but allowing space for  it... and me to emerge... and to recharge. Yoga or meditation in the morning (previously things I have DONE many times, cos I SHOULD.) Breathing. Praying. Reflecting. Dreaming. Red tenting. Moving. Factoring in holidays, self care and connection as PART of my work, not instead of.

Technicolour and white spaces.

She is right, life is not black and white. And never will it be grey for me.

This is living in full colour.

Creative Living with Jamie Ridler

So if you're wanting to know a bit more about the story behind The Rainbow Way and how YOU can cultivate creativity in the midst of motherhood, do check out my interview with the awesome Jamie Ridler of Jamie Ridler Studios.

 I've had a big fan-girl crush on her since I discovered her when we were both on Leonie's World's Biggest Summit - here's my talk on Honouring Your Crazy Woman - it was my first telesummit, and I have just started writing The Rainbow Way, whereas she was an established pro.

She's interviewed so many of my heroines including Jen Louden, Brene Brown, Julie Daley, Miranda Hersey of Studio Mothers, and a pair of creative authors who inspired my online book launch. So I was VERY honoured to be invited to speak with her.

And then I got really, really scared. And sick. And beyond freaked out. And postponed our interview.

And then at the beginning of our interview I told her how much of a knot I had my knickers in about it... and how she was so talented and super nice that I knew it'd be OK...

And I think it was.

I  daren't listen to it myself. The sound of my own voice recorded brings the anxiety flooding back. I hear every stumble and strangeness.

So will you listen to it, my love, and tell me what you get from it?

OOOO

If you haven't gotten yours yet, Amazon Kindle versions of my new book, The Rainbow Way: Cultivating Creativity in the Midst of Motherhood are STILL topping the Amazon charts!!! Kindle versions are currently 99p in the UK/ 99c in the US plus tax and apparently a ridiculous 87c in Australia JUST until the end of January.

The best price on paperbacks is from The Book Depository at 29% off and FREE worldwide postage.

Buy a copy. Tell your friends. Buy them a paperback copy. Leave a review!

#1 Best Seller on Amazon... Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow. Just wow.

You've been with me for the journey. From seedling idea. You KNOW how much this means to me! 

The Rainbow Way is currently #1 on Amazon.co.uk in 3 categories (Motherhood, Craft, Craft and Hobbies kindle)  and is #3 in self help behind The Secret and The Power of Now! I also have three top five places, including a number one spot, in the US Amazon Kindle store.

It is every writer’s dream, and it really does feel as good as I predicted! I am walking on air!

I have been thanking the muses and heavens all morning, that trusted me with this work.

My success is your success too, dear dreamers, dear creative mamas, dear soul friends and supporters.

Thank you for every act of encouragement when I was feeling scared. For everyone who contributed to the book itself. Or has bought a copy. Or left a comment. Or written a review. This one's for ALL of us!

It was so funny sitting up late into the night watching the rankings rise and rise knowing that not a single soul in the village knew what was going on.

I woke up this morning to an email from my old English teacher telling me to go check the rankings. It had hit #1 over night! I ran around the house screaming. But then it was life as normal – making packed lunches for my 3 kids and trying to find lost shoes before doing the school run!!

I am so excited to have knocked Super Nanny off her number 2 perch in the Motherhood section, replacing hard love with rainbows! And to have pushed The Artist’s Way out of the way too (for the time being!)  is beyond my wildest dreams!

Thank you for the part you have played in making this dream come true! I am so excited that my book is getting the opportunity to reach so many people! I have been humbled, honoured and tickled not just pink but rainbow colours with the amount of social media shares, lovely comments, and of course purchases. That so many mamas are getting their hands on the magic in the book that I was fortunate enough to have come through me brings me to tears.

Wow!

If you haven't gotten yours yet, Amazon Kindle versions of the book are currently 99p in the UK/ 99c in the US plus tax and apparently a ridiculous 87c in Australia JUST until the end of January – and the best price on paperbacks is from The Book Depository at 29% off and FREE worldwide postage.

Buy a copy. Tell your friends. Buy them a paperback copy. Leave a review!

Thank you!!!

Quick, grab The Rainbow Way for just pennies

I know many mamas are stuck for cash right now. I get emails telling me how much they want to read my new book, but it's just not affordable for them at the moment... I wish I could give every creative mama who contacts me a copy - as I KNOW how much transformation it's bringing to the women who have read it already.  Well, this is as good as I can do, and very nearly free!

The Rainbow Way is currently just 99p/ 99c from Amazon on Kindle... so grab your copy fast, and read it at your leisure, as this offer only lasts until the end of January. Grab it here Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com and regional Amazons around the world. And tell your friends!

If you have just got a new Kindle/ i Pad/ tablet/ android phone and are looking for great new books to feed it with, then snap it up at this incredible price... and please do leave me a review on Amazon when you've read it! (And if you don't have one, you should be able to download the Kindle app onto your laptop or desktop computer and read it on that!)

Not into e-books? Well the cheapest place to get a paperback copy right now is from The Book Depository - they have it at 29% off - so £11.32 and FREE world wide postage. There are also copies for a similar price (when you include postage) from Amazon marketplace in the UK.

Want to know what readers are saying about it.... then let me share some of the incredible reviews with you ...(PS If you've read it and haven't reviewed it yet, I be really honoured it you took a couple of minutes to leave a review on Amazon!)

I particularly LOVE this one from a very wonderful sounding husband...

"I ordered this book for my wife, since having our children her creativity has been stifled as she has devoted her time to being a mother. This book has re-energised her and re-ignited her creative spark, there is a twinkle back in her eye it is wonderful to see. A great buy."

         seamps, Amazon review 

"It is an amazing book with huge potential to change your life. It has dramatically altered by perception of myself as a mother ... The Rainbow Way is an exceptional experience to read and follow. I highly recommend it."

         Amanda, UK Amazon review

"I started your book last night, and I had a hard time putting it down.
I'm feeling a spark I haven't known in years bubbling to the surface- a drive that I buried. It's a feeling of recognition and relief that others feel this way, too.
It's fantastic! Thank you."

Julie, USA, by email

"Wow, I got my copy of the book today and I'm so excited! It's so chunky and looks jam-packed full of amazing stuff! This is the first book I've read of yours Lucy and I've now read the first chapter and I think I'm in love with it already... I can't wait to read more!"
Catherine, UK, by email 

"I’m so f***ing glad Lucy wrote this book. I know that she wrote it because she was told to. I know it was dictated from the heavens. I know it because I can feel it when I read her words.

When I got it, I consumed it whole within two days. I just couldn’t stop reading it. It felt like such a balm to my soul. I wish I’d had it at the beginning. I’m so glad it’s here now.

Recommended for: Mothers. Every single one of them. Seriously. I mean it.

Leonie Dawson, Australia 

Also till the end of the month you can listen to my interview on Look and Feel Great for Mothers on Cultivating Creativity in the Midst of Motherhood - just sign up for free. And check out the interview with me on Jamie Ridler next week.

Eternal Summer of the Creative Mind

Welcome to the final week 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 which has been Amazon.co.uk's Hottest New Release in Motherhood for the past week!

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

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"What advice do you have for people wanting to be creative?"

I have been asked this in interviews twice in the past fortnight. (I know can you believe, I give interviews now! I'm SO much more used to being the interviewer!)

And the question always silences me.

As if because I wrote a whole flipping book on creativity, I had a magic wand up my sleeve, and with a wave of it, and a carefully crafted sentence which I can trot out at will, I can magic your creativity to life.

We are all longing for an eternal summer of the creative mind. For a magic switch to turn on instant tropical summer. And when asked about creativity, most people focus on the height of summer.

But creativity is a cyclical process. It has its seasons. The emergence of the first buds of inspiration as the thaw of the bitter winter of nothingness begins. The unfurling tender leaves as a project emerges. And then the summer, glorious summer when ideas stream from us like honey, and the butterflies gather round and all the world is alive with colour. And then the autumn, wonderful autumn of gathering in the harvest. Which is where I am now, seeing the fruits of my labors ripe and full, and people sinking their teeth in and the juices running down their chins.

But then winter comes once more. Sometimes desolate and bitter, unasked for. But most times simply a time of quiet, rest, retreat, repose, where we can allow the magic of gestation to happen.

I am enjoying this autumn, and am, if truth be told, bone-tired from this birthing, it is the biggest thing I have ever done and I am now looking forward to the gentle rest of mid-winter and seeing what magic may emerge from it.

***STOP PRESS***

• The Rainbow Way is surpassing my dreams - I have had foreign rights inquiries for two major languages which would bring it to over a billion extra readers in the world!
•  It is featured on the front cover of The Mother magazine.
• It has been featured in Leonie Dawson's Top 20 books of 2013 - she says:

"I’m so fucking glad Lucy wrote this book. I know that she wrote it because she was told to. I know it was dictated from the heavens. I know it because I can feel it when I read her words. 

When I got it, I consumed it whole within two days. I just couldn’t stop reading it. It felt like such a balm to my soul. I wish I’d had it at the beginning. I’m so glad it’s here now.
Recommended for: Mothers. Every single one of them. Seriously. I mean it."

**********

ORDER YOUR SIGNED COPY of 

The Rainbow Way direct from the author and receive:

• 10% off - use code TRW10
• 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 from your local bookshop.

• Carnival host and author of The Rainbow Way, Lucy at Dreaming Aloud looks at the common lies we tell ourselves about creativity in The Eternal Summer of the Creative Mind.
• Caitriona at Wholesome Ireland - from start to new beginnings.
• Hannah M. Davis writes about Unleashing Your Authentic Voice. So many of us would love to write a life-changing book. How do you get over the blocks and barriers that hold you back? 
• Sylda from Mind the Baby compares her creative process to a maelstrom of weather warnings.
• In "As an Artist", Lucy Pierce at Soulskin Musings offers a poem about how the creative process beckons her through many of the archetypes of womanhood.
• Jackie Stewart at Flowerspirit.co.uk talks about how creativity is opening up a space for the unknown to reveal itself to you in 'Creativity Flourishes in the Sacred Unknown'.
• Alex at Art of Birth shares some practical tips on how you can unlock your creative goddess within!
• Nicki at justlikeplay shares a love letter to her muse.
• Marija Smits has a conversation with her muse and reflects on the difficulties of catching and creating from the Goddess of Inspiration.
• Zoie at TouchstoneZ reflects on her creative process.
• Licia Berry, Illumined Arts "Creativity and Healing are Ideal Partners". The creation of visual, musical, or expressive arts is the quickest, most effective and painless way to heal.
• Kirstin at Listening to the Squeak - My creative process and how to break creative blocks.
• Ali Baker talks about connecting with the call of the wolf when she cries to us to do so means giving our time and permission to honour the creative process within all of us.
• Mary at The Turquoise Paintbrush reflects on her creative process.
• KatyStuff thinks that projects need time to mature, that is why she is a fabric and craft hoarder. 
• Aimée at Creativeflutters goes into her creative process and looks at what makes things tick or flop in "Spontaneous She - How to Keep Your Muse at Work".
• Kae at The Wilde Womb muses about her common creative blocks as a parent and how she systematically breaks through them.
• Angela at Peach Coglo tries to get comfortable with her own creative process. 
• Biromums write about their creative processes.
• Dawn at The Barefoot Home believes the creative process can't be taught it has to come organically and at its own pace.
• Tara at Aquamarine Art began uncovering her lost inner artist over 5 years ago and shares her experiences and inspirations in "From Spark to Bonfire: The Evolution of A Creative Process."
• Darcel at The Mahogany Way examines her own creative process.
• Sharron at Adventures on the mindful path writes and creates in between (and sometimes while) chasing two little boys and a puppy.  
• Laura at Authentic Parenting reflects on her creative process.
• Georgie at Visual Toast explores what the creative process looks like for her.

My Creative Inheritance

Welcome to Week Three 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 Inheritance. 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! Next week is our final week!
December 11th: The Creative Process.

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Many parents work themselves to the bone for years to be able to "leave something" for their children. I have been fortunate to have received my inheritance whilst I was still young, and without the loss of my parents.

They have given me a creative inheritance richer than money could buy.

Let me tell you a little about the keys of my creative childhood - the dusty smell of clay and hot parrafin wax in my father's pottery, the golden orbs of Pat Scott's paintings suspended on the rough white walls of the house my father designed and built, my grandmother's button box which I would sift my fingers through, a mother who can sew just about anything, and baked beautifully plaited harvest loaves. And the solace of books which could transport me away from bickering parents and noisy siblings and the terror of not knowing what to say, into other worlds, and bring ideas like butterflies to alight in my mind direct from the minds of others I might never meet though my soul was cut from the same cloth as theirs.

Let me tell you about living in houses whose walls were lined with the most interesting range of books a girl's mind could imagine - art, tantra, spirituality, literature, humour, grammar, gardening, cookery... all accessible. Of houses filled with interesting objects brought back from exotic global travel, objet d'arts, of craft being a part of everyday life - the bowls, glasses, tables and chairs  that we used everyday all handmade, treasured, but never precious.

Let me tell you about my family and their friends who earned a living doing what they loved, who started successful businesses and ventures creating beautiful things: pottery, glass, wood work, furnishings, portraits, food... People who lived lives according to their own rules, in homes designed to their own tastes - some wealthy, some not, but all living their lives on their own creative terms, as best they could.

This is what I hope we are passing on to our children in our turn. This creative legacy which I was so fortunate to have inherited: beauty, possibility; hard work doing what you love; courage; inspiration; the desire to contribute to a more beautiful world. Of being so immersed in creativity that it is as natural and essential as breathing to make something, appreciate something, plan and build and vision and create, in whatever medium or field calls their heart at that moment.

And they are. Already they are.

Building models, painting, drawing, singing, dancing, dreaming, designing, writing books, playing music every day as naturally as breathing. Making ad re-making the world in their own images. Writing and re-writing their own life stories.

My dearest wish for them is that they carry it on into adulthood with them. My job as a creative mother is to inspire, equip and stand guard so that the arbiters of boring life will not take a jot of it away from them.

**********

25% off ALL Lucy's books, 4th Dec only. Use code RAINBOW25.

ORDER YOUR SIGNED COPY of 

The Rainbow Way direct from the author and receive:

• 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 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.
• In 'From Trash To Treasure: Christmas Decoration' Laura from Authentic Parenting shares fond memories crafting with her mom and a little project her mom did recently. 
• Lucy Pierce from Soulskin Musings celebrates the rich creative inheritance of her mother's poetic soul and artful ways. 
• Is thinking differently a curse or a gift? Zoie at TouchstoneZ susses out whether her family legacy might hinder or encourage creativity.
• Pippa at Story of Mum says she is: "Thanking my mum for the gift of dance. I am not a dancer, but her love for dance showed me how to connect to my creative core."
• Dawn Collins at TheBarefootHome Dawn thinks we're all born with a creative inheritance from the mother we all share…Mother Nature.
• Licia Berry at Illumined Arts reflects on the creative inheritance passed on by our ancestral lineage, discovered through sexuality and the Sacred Feminine within, and her own amazing recovery.
• Alex at The Art of Birth explores the nature of creativity. 
• Handcrafts are prayers, that's what Corina from PatchScrap learned from grandmother.
• Jennifer at Let Your Soul Shine retraces her creative inheritance from her childhood and all the way back to the 19^th Century.  
• Kirstin at Listening to the Squeak says "I have always known my creative inheritance and it is so very important for my children to know theirs."
• Creative Inheritance is a Beautiful Thing, says Aimee at Creativeflutters and discusses where her creativity comes from and what influences in her family have helped her on her artistic journey. 
• Georgie at Visual Toast shares her creative inheritance.
• Esther at Nurture Workshop expresses the gift of a creative mind and the doors that are waiting to be opened for those who are willing to explore.
• Whitney Freya at Creatively Fit is inspired by the sacred spark within each of us, a spark that transcends time and is infinitely creative.
• Denise at It Begins with a Verse  looks back at her family's creative inheritance.
• Lys at Stars and Spirals looks at the creative inheritance as described by the astrological chart, drawing on her personal journey into motherhood and reawakened creativity.
• Biromums wrote poems about their creative inheritance.
• Kae at The Wilde Womb reflects on the various artists within her family and how it has shaped her identity and what impression she wishes to leave her own children. 
• Marit's Paper World shares her creative inheritance.
• Lucy at Capture by Lucy  reflects on her experiences of creativity.
• Knitting blankets and the inner landscape--my mother's life's work, writes Nicki from Just Like Play. 
• Something Sacred - Sadhbh at Where Wishes Come From writes about how the creativity of the women in her family has influenced her.
• Mamma Bloom at Breathe and Bloom writes about her creative inheritance.
• Mama is Inspired shares how she loved to make holiday ornaments as a child, and now is continuing that tradition with her own child.
• 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. 
• KatyStuff hopes inheritance is a long way off, but, when the day comes her woodworker father has already said he is comforted by knowing his work is in so many homes.
• Jasmine at Brown Eyed Girl realizes that the creativity she craves for so deeply may actually be something that runs deeper than just her imagination.
• Darcel at The Mahogany Way shares her creative journey.
• Rising on the Road shares her experiences at Finding Life in a Death.

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. 

Nurturing a Family Culture of Creativity

Welcome to Week One 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 Nurturing a Culture of Creativity at Home. Do read to the end of the 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!
November 27th: Creative Heroines.
December 4th: Creative Inheritance.
December 11th: The Creative Process.

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One of the best bits of having children around is having the “excuse” and the materials on hand to be creative almost all the time! And what is more, we have companions who do not know the rules, who have imagination and energy by the bucket-load.

We have the chance for a second bite of the cherry of childhood. Being a parent gives us so many wonderful opportunities every day to connect with our own creativity again. It allows us to explore a huge variety of art forms that in the adult world we are cut off from because we are not “good enough” to indulge in them, which make the human spirit soar: singing, dancing, storytelling, improvisation, clowning, painting, sculpting, collage, playing percussion, dressing up, puppet shows, model making…the list is endless!

Our role as parents cultivating creativity, as I see it, is four-fold:

• First to provide a rich environment – not necessarily of expensive paints and costumes, but basic materials.
• Second, to step back and see how they intuitively choose to use them and join them in this.
• Third, to share ways that we know to use these materials, and share our skills with them.
• And fourth to model our own creative process to them – both by letting them see “behind the scenes” in our creative lives, to share how our creative process works, and allow them to see us fully absorbed in it.

Creating together is not just about today’s painting or model, but about setting the tone and feeling for your child’s experience of creativity for the rest of their lives. When we can see it as a privilege to engage creatively with our children, our time together becomes richer and more rewarding for us and them.

Nurturing a culture of creativity allows your child to regularly experience autotelic experiences (those which enable a flow state). Csikszentmihaly’s research into flow states found that: "early childhood influences are also very likely factors in determining whether a person will or will not easily experience flow."

So in creating a culture of creativity, not only are you passing on valuable skills, confidence in their own creative ideas and abilities, but you are helping to wire their brains to more easily experience optimal experiences for the rest of their lives.

A culture of creativity honors and requires:

• Space for silence to bloom: for concentrated work, and contemplation.
• Space for sharing our voices, visions, experiences and dreams.
• Appreciation and enjoyment of the process, not judgment of works in progress.
• Courage and respect for trying new things. Being allowed to like them…or not.
• A need for responsibility.
• A time for mess!
• A respect of basic safety guidelines and rules.
• Prioritizing fun.
• Support for developing abilities.
• The understanding that creativity has an intrinsic value, beyond its extrinsic practical worth.
• Self-reliance.
• Dreams, possibility and the fully-fledged imagination.
• Celebration – of big festivals and small mysteries, and knowing how to mourn the losses and failures too.

When we choose to nurture a culture of creativity, we commit to giving our children the support and appreciation necessary for the breathtaking unfolding of their unbounded intellectual, aesthetic, collaborative and imaginative capacities.

We show them that we are responsible for creating our own lives and that we can have a direct impact on every area of them. Our creativity can be used to create our living spaces, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the gifts we give to each other. But most of all we share directly with them that life is good, and that joy, celebration and beauty are to be nurtured and treasured – that life is not all work, hardship, suffering, nor should it be dominated by practicality and money-making. 

Through nurturing creativity we give our children the practical and emotional skills to be productive, engaged authors of their own destinies. 

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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 shares an extract from the chapter Nurturing a Family Culture of Creativity.
• Lilly Higgins is a passionate food writer. Now a mother of two boys, she's discovered a new calling: to instil in them a love of food and creativity in the kitchen.
• DeAnna L'am shares how visioning the New Year with your child is an invitation to be inspired: use creativity and resolutions to create a fun road map for the year ahead.
• Molly at Talk Birth on Releasing Our Butterflies - balancing motherhood with creativity.
• Laura shares some of the creativity happening at Nestled Under Rainbows and a few thoughts about creativity.
• Georgie at Visual Toast celebrates her own unique culture of creativity at home.
• Esther at Nurtureworkshop spreads the love of the ordinary, the delights of everyday things that can be an adventure of the imagination.
• For Dawn at The Barefoot Home creativity is always a free form expression to be shared by all in a supportive environment where anything can be an art material.
• Naomi at Poetic Aperture is a mother, artist and photographer who tries to keep her daughter away from the expensive pens and paints.
• Aimee at Creativeflutters writes about keeping your sanity and creativity intact with small kids in the house in her post: Mother + Creativity - They Must Coexist.
• Amelia at My Grandest Adventure embarks on a 30 Days of Creativity challenge...you can too!
• Becky at Raising Loveliness explores creating with her smaller family members.
• Jennifer at Let Your Soul Shine reveals how children help us connect to our souls, through music and movement.
• Mary at The Turquoise Paintbrush shares her experiences of creating with kids.
• Joanna at Musings of a Hostage Mother explains why creativity at home is important to her in her post "I nurture a creative culture."
• It took until Amy at Mama Dynamite was pregnant aged 35 to discover her dormant creative streak - she has found lovely ways of tuning into it every since.
• Emily at The Nest explores how creativity runs through her family's life together.
• Jennifer at OurMuddyBoots sees that encouraging creativity in children is as simple as appreciating them for who they are: it just means overriding everything we know!
• Lisa from Mama.ie has discovered that a combination of writing and traditional crafts can provide a creative outlet during those busy early years of new motherhood.
• Anna at Biromums shares what nurturing a culture of creativity means to her.
• Zoie at TouchstoneZ argues that the less they are interfered with, the more creative children become as they grow up.
• Darcel at The Mahogany Way celebrates creating with her kids.
• Sally (aka The Ginger Ninja) of The Ginger Chronicles is continually inspired by her own mum and grandmother.
• Just being creative is enough, says Nicki at Just Like Play, as she ponders her journey of nurturing a creative family.
• Allurynn shares her creative family's musings in her post "Creativity... at the Heart of it" on Moonlight Muse.
• Laura at Authentic Parenting explores how being creative saves her sanity.
• Mama is Inspired talks about how she puts an emphasis on the handmade in her home, especially in the holiday season.
• Kirstin at Listen to the Squeak Inside shares with you several easy ways for busy mamas and dads to encourage their children to be creative every day.
• Mila at Art Play Day always lived in her dreams, sleepwalking through life ... now she is finding out what creativity is all about.... her inner child!
• Sadhbh at Where Wishes Come From describes how picture books can nurture creativity in young children.
• On womansart blog this week - nurturing a creative culture at home.

The Wait is Over... It's Here!!!!!

THE WAIT IS OVER!

I know, it feels like forever... but it's finally here!

THE RAINBOW WAY!!!!! My book baby. The biggest book I've ever written - over 2 1/2 times the pages and almost 4 times the words of Moon Time. The Rainbow Way is 335 pages of life-changing glorious words, ideas, exercises, reflections and support which are about to be let loose on the world and I am so excited I can barely contain myself. I keep reminding myself it's "just" a book. 

But who I am kidding? 

It is SO much more! It's massive in every way! It is pure creative energy, insight and inspiration in page form. It's the book that changed my life in the writing of it. Totally transformed me, from depressed stay at home mama to the rainbow coloured creative entrepreneur you see glowing before you.

I am SO excited that you can finally ORDER YOUR VERY OWN COPY NOW! And then tell me what YOU think about it, and how it's transforming YOUR life. Do leave reviews on Amazon or email them to me! It's available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk too! W

ant to know what glory stuff is packed into it? Check out the list of contents and extracts.

"Is this is the creative rainbow mama book?" people keep asking me - yes, yes, yes it is!

It's the very first book I started writing... and the most recent book I have written. It's been two and a half FULL years. This book has carried me from aspiring writer through self-published to now published author. 

This is the book that when I am skating on the edge of burn out refer myself back too. Or when I am feeling uninspired and all dried up, or frustrated with the creative process. It is my go-to guide... even though I wrote it! How mad is that - to read your own book? 

But don't just take my word for it. Read what some of my biggest creative heroines have said about it - their words of praise for it leave me truly breathless.

Wow, look a nice, shiny BUY NOW button. I dare you to press it... butterflies will fly out of your computer screen... 

Wow! Magic! ... Well not now... but when you open its pages. So say the women who've already gotten their hands on a copy.

Buy one for yourself, for your sister, your best friend, your grown up daughter, put it on your Christmas wishlist!

The first 200 copies are signed and include:

• an inspiring book-mark
• a vibrant greetings card of one of my paintings (you can even put in a request for your favourite!!)
• exclusive access to private Facebook group for creative mothers. 

But even more exciting there is a SPECIAL BONUS GIFT!!!!!!!!!!!! Remember when I was designing covers for it? Well 10 4 lucky customers will receive an original labyrinth mono-print that I made (7x5 inches). Each picture is totally unique, and naturally quite rainbow-ish. (*Orders number 1,12, 25,38, 52, 71, 84 and 99 and the first 2 orders of 2+ copies will all receive a print!)

I'll see you over in our secret hang out on Facebook - there are already nearly 50 women there: it is a supportive place to network, meet other creative mamas, find resources and get inspired. After the busyness of the launch I will be doing some group projects in there too!

And don't forget to join us for the online launch - 4 glorious weeks of creative mothers around the world writing about nurturing creativity, creative heroines, creative inheritance and the creative process, linking up in blog land... starting tomorrow!!! We have over 70 women from around the world signed up already! You can find out more and JOIN US here!

PS. Kindle and paperbacks editions are available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com too - I just don't make much of a living from them. (Please do leave me a review!)

Paperback editions are also stocked by Book Depository, Barnes and Noble...or order it from your local bookshop!

ISBN: 978-1-78279-028-0
ebook ISBN: 978-1-78279-027-3