Creativity Catchups – find pals that want to go to creative events and shows with you

I don’t know about you, but when I suggest to my family that we can go to ‘such-and-such’ a craft show, or ‘so-and-so’s’ exhibition, they roll their eyes and rapidly try to think of something else we can do instead.

Julia Cameron promotes the idea of ‘Artist Dates’ in her hugely popular book The Artist’s Way, a manual for getting you out of a creative block. These dates are intended to be solo, so you can give time to yourself and fully immerse yourself in an activity.

HOWEVER, personally, I spend plenty of time solo as it is! I am self-employed and work from home. My children are grown-up so I don’t need to take them to parties or get-togethers that would normally include my meeting other parents. Everyone I already know is busy (aren’t we all?) with their own work and family situations (whether that involves parents, children or grandchildren), and the list goes on.

I would much prefer to go on some creative ‘dates’ with other people, and not have to strong-arm them into going, like I do with my husband and children.

If this sounds like you too, then you’re going to want to hear about my idea for Creativity Catchups.

But first, a little background.

When I was struggling with anxiety a number of years ago, I came to two conclusions about myself:

1. I never did anything that wasn’t for other people – customers, local community, family.
2. I was lonely.

Despite having a financially comfortable home life, a great husband, children that were fun to be around, parents to call on if I needed, uni friends that I adored, and a host of people I had met in the local village, I was still lonely.

It was a bit embarrassing to be honest. I felt that I had no right to feel lonely. I kept pretending to those around me that I wasn’t. But when it came to inviting anyone to ‘come out with me’, I felt I had no-one to ask.

I started Open Stage Arts fun singing and drama classes for adults to help combat point number 1. What it also did was open me up to ways to combat point 2, too. I’ll talk more about this in a future blog, but for now let’s get back to Creative Catchups.

In 2020 when in-person classes and IRL networking events stopped happening, I managed to find some companionship in online events.

In 2021 Clubhouse came into my life, and I met a wonderful selection of new friends from all around the country that shared my creative ideals – and even introduced me to different ones (I have a whole new understanding of photography now).

That summer, when things opened again, I called on these friends to meet me at events in their areas.

My daughter wanted to visit a pop-up 1970s fashion shop called Hippie Shake in Shoreditch, so I asked Maxyne if she wanted to meet me there, and we had a great lunch a catch-up.

I wanted to see Rabiah perform stand-up at Camden Fringe, and Andrea wanted to come too.

Kate was exhibiting at The Other Art Fair and Furrah, Andrea, Rabiah and I met for lunch before a great afternoon at the exhibition.

I took my son to a U15s rugby tournament in Weston-super-Mare where I knew Hajni lived, so I invited her to meet me there, where she learnt a thing or two about the game (as did I to be honest).

We all met online in the first instance, but in real life we also get on like houses on fire, and we like to go to the same kind of events.

And that’s what Creativity Catchups, a part of the Creativity Found Collective membership here at creativityfound.co.uk, are all about.

If you want to go to an event and would like someone interested in the same thing to meet you there, so you can share the experience and potentially make a new friend, add a post to the Members Chat Group, accessed via your Members Page. Use the topic Creativity Catchups.

Keep checking back to the Chat Group and the topic Creativity Catchups to see if anyone is planning on visiting an event in your area, and connect and meet them there.

Creativity Found is a creative community, not just online but out there in the real world too.

I look forward to meeting you soon, both online and at a real-life Creativity Catchup.

Subscribe to the Creativity Found mailing list to hear more about what this fabulous community is up to by clicking here. 

Creativity Found Collective

The Creativity Found Collective is a membership for artists and crafters who share their creative skills with grown-ups through workshops, online courses, products or subscriptions. It is also a membership for business-support enterprises who use their expertise to help those artists and crafters to grow their businesses.

We promote their offerings on the website and connect them with a network of like-minded business owners. 

All of this is backed up by the Creativity Found podcast, in which I chat with grown-ups who have found or re-found their creativity later in life.

You can find out more about the Creativity Found Collective membership here.

And don't forget, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.