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	<title>Creative Juices Arts</title>
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	<description>Be Creative.  Feed Your Soul.  Love Your Life.</description>
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		<title>The Planet Saturn, Your Great Work and Making Your Dreams A Reality</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-planet-saturn-your-great-work-and-making-your-dreams-a-reality/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2026 18:36:05 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=42035</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The planet Saturn in our astrological chart, always presents us with a challenge. &#160; There’s something we want. And we want it dearly. But there’s something in the way of getting this thing that we truly want. That “something in the way” needs to be identified, addressed and then dealt with. And when Saturn is in the room , this “something” is often a gnarly something. It’s a thing that is difficult for us. It doesn’t come easy. &#160; It’s often a struggle and requires things from us like effort and discipline and focused intention. Saturn is also associated with Chronos… the Lord Of Time. And so getting this thing we want doesn’t usually happen quickly. We can’t snap our fingers and … voila… what we want magically appears. It often takes time … and sometimes a LOT of time… to manifest our desire. And taking that time, devoting ourselves to the step by step process of manifesting our desire, even in the face of obstacles and setbacks and frustration ( which are all a SURE sign we are in Saturn’s domain) guarantees that once we reach our goal we will have changed along the way. &#160; And become someone [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">42035</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Bye-Bye To Your Inner Bullshit. Hello To Your Creative Flow.</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/bye-bye-to-your-inner-bullshit-hello-to-your-creative-flow/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Apr 2026 21:43:35 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=42025</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Like I do most days, I’m thinking about what it means to be truly creative. &#160; And I don’t think you can answer that question without including a deep investigation of creative flow. I’m always exploring the question of what IS creative flow? Why is it important? What stops it and blocks it? And what allows it to keep moving? Creative flow is really another name for our life force energy and we ALL want a better relationship with THAT part of our selves. Plus we need a much more robust connection with both our creativity AND life force energy as we try and navigate the social, political and environmental hellscape we are all wending our way through on our way to creating a new, better, more just, more equitable, more humane and more loving world. To be clear, what gets in the way of our creative flow is all of our internal psychological bullshit. And our internal bullshit isn’t even OURS as much as it is a reflection of the patriarchal mindset we have all swallowed whole because there wasn’t anything else on the menu. So here’s a couple of the inner bullshit messages that I see come up [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">42025</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Discover Your Mythic Self Through The Inner Art Of Goddess Creation Retreat!</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/discover-your-mythic-self-through-the-inner-art-of-goddess-creation-retreat/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 19 Apr 2026 02:39:37 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=41983</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Tim and I just returned from another fabulous week long wild heart painting retreat in the Borrego Springs desert. And this was our SIXTH retreat in 5 months! WHEW!! Before the pandemic we had an incredibly busy retreat schedule&#8230; one year we hosted FOURTEEN retreats! Which was a lot of fun, totally exhausting and not something we wanted to repeat anytime soon. But I’m really glad to be in person with folks again. As much as I truly appreciate being able to teach online, there’s nothing like the profound transformational magic that happens when a group of people dedicated to inner exploration through the expressive arts gets together in real time and space, in a powerful natural environment, like the desert or mountains or near the ocean, to do this sacred healing work. And, apparently, since I can’t seem to get enough of being on retreat, Tim and I have ANOTHER one scheduled, this time in the foothills of the Sierras, coming up SOON! This upcoming retreat is called The Inner Art Of Goddess Creation and it is different in many ways from our painting retreats. First of all, the painting retreats are more open ended in terms of a [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">41983</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Women’s Liberation and The Inner Art Of Goddess Creation</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/womens-liberation-and-the-inner-art-of-goddess-creation/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 05:45:08 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=41975</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; I grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s in a household where women were assumed to be second class citizens and misogyny was like a poison gas that tainted every breath I took. And I was still in high school during the height of Second Wave Feminism and I got my first credit card in 1976 not long after it became legal for single women to have their own credit card accounts. So the Women&#8217;s Liberation Movement was an incredibly meaningful and powerful awakening for me and informed and influenced my sense of myself on the deepest levels. I became an ardent and unapologetic feminist from day one and have worn that badge proudly for the last 50 years. I spent a long time healing from those patriarchal wounds to my confidence, self esteem and sense of value. One of the biggest wounds was to my intellect. I got the message loud and clear that women were just not that intelligent and had nothing useful to think or say. And I have devoted my life to proving that premise to be all KINDS of bullshit wrong. I went to graduate school and got a Masters Degree in Clinical Counseling [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">41975</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Want To Know How To Get Your Creative Juices Flowing?? GET MESSY!!!!!!</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/want-to-know-how-to-get-your-creative-juices-flowing-get-messy/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 Apr 2026 00:28:22 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=41962</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[If you’ve been in my world for any longer than five minutes you already know how much I LOVE offering in person retreats and workshops. So I’m always on the lookout for retreat venues that are willing and capable of providing me what I need to make the retreat magics happen! &#160; One of the first things I look for as a facilitator is a physical space that is large enough to hold 10-18 painters comfortably with our big ass 4 x 6 foot easels!!! I also need privacy, accessible water and good light and preferably the venue needs to be in some wildly beautiful natural environment like the desert, mountains or forest. &#160; But one thing that is TOTALLY non-negotiable is that I need, need, NEED a workshop space where it’s OK to get messy. The experience I’m trying to create won’t work in a space that&#8217;s too pretty, or precious or pristine. It has to be no big deal if someone accidentally drops a palette full of paint or a water container on the floor ( something that happens ALL the time) or splatters some paint on the wall. I need a place that can tolerate accidents, mistakes and [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">41962</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Intuitive Painting, The Patriarchy and The Seduction Of Control</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/intuitive-painting-the-patriarchy-and-the-seduction-of-control/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2026 03:10:58 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=41877</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; This is my second installment about how the patriarchy influences us around our intuitive painting process. And I call this one The Seduction Of Control. When talking about the patriarchal mindset it’s important to remember that its number ONE value is control, control, control above almost anything else. And not only does it value control it believes that it can and should actually HAVE control and will do whatever it takes to get that control. That means trying to control things like the environment, the narrative, reality, the earth, other creatures, the climate, other peoples behavior, other people’s thought processes, other people’s bodies and emotions. &#160; Another word for control is domination. Because all of those things I listed above don’t WANT to be controlled. They are not going to willingly allow it. And even though it’s ultimately impossible to actually have that control the patriarchy never, ever stops trying. So it gets all big and blustery and domineering, trying to force that control through intimidation and threats and fear. And through that type of behavior it can often get compliance, especially from humans who are trying to protect themselves by hoping that if they give the patriarchy some [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">41877</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>How Does Your Allegiance To The Patriarchy Mess With Your Creative Process?</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-does-your-allegiance-the-patriarchy-mess-with-your-creative-process/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Jan 2026 01:24:41 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=41825</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[There’s a question I’ve been pondering for quite awhile because I see the effects and challenges it creates for my students when they try to become more free as they paint with me. And that question is this: What is the patriarchy and how does our allegiance to it mess with our creative process? The patriarchy ( also referred to as the dominant culture or over culture) as I’m defining it here is a system. And it’s a system based on male privilege where men hold the primary power and authority to dominate political, economic and social structures. Patriarchy primarily excludes women from positions of any kind of real power and does this through promoting cultural values ( rigid gender roles), beliefs ( women are second class citizens) and behaviors ( allowable levels of violence perpetrated on women) designed to keep women oppressed and the patriarchal machine running. These authoritarian patriarchal standards are permeated throughout the culture that we live in. And they are largely unconscious. We are STEEPED in them and they impact EVERYTHING that we do. Including our creativity. These oppressive dictates are one of the main things that gets in the way of creative flow and creative joy. [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">41825</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>The Astrological Nodes Of The Moon: Take Two</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-astrological-nodes-of-the-moon-take-two/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 18:36:48 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=41604</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; In my last blog post I talked about the psychology underlying the Nodes Of the Moon in terms of the South Node being old patterns, unconscious motivations and behaviors that keeps us looping in painful and frustrating life situations. And how the North Node is the key to liberation and freedom from that stuckness. &#160; But today, I wanted to go a little bit more in depth in terms of what that looks like on a more granular level. There are 12 signs in the zodiac, and each of the Nodes is in a particular sign. But the South Node is always in the OPPOSITE sign from the North Node. Each of the signs is symbolic of a particular set of values, needs and desires and when we are living solely out of our South Node the needs, desires and values of that sign are running the show. &#160; What makes accessing the North Node SO difficult is because THAT way of being is so diametrically opposed to the familiar, falling off a log experience of the South Node. And trying to embrace and live from those North Node energies can feel just plain weird. The North Node is awkward. It’s [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">41604</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>What Are The Astrological Nodes Of The Moon? And How Do They Impact YOUR Life!</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/what-are-the-nodes-of-the-moon-and-how-do-they-impact-your-life/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:29:02 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=41592</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I am a professional astrologer and to be even more precise I am what is known as an Evolutionary Astrologer. &#160; What that means is when I look at someone&#8217;s birthchart I am viewing it through a particular lens. I am seeing each person I work with as an evolving soul on a long term journey of growth, healing, transformation and discovery. I’m also assuming that this kind of growth and healing takes time. And usually a LOT of time. Which most often looks like a multitude of lifetimes. So I’m also assuming that the lifetime you are currently in is not your first time particpating in this Earth rodeo. And probably won’t be your last. &#160; And what your birthchart shows you is where you are on this particular evolutionary journey. Every symbol in your chart reveals something about your soul. It gives you insight into your souls strengths, shadows, challenges and gifts as well as where it’s been, what it’s experienced and what it needs to learn to continue to grow. &#160; &#160; While everything in your chart gives you some piece of information about your journey up until this point, there are two very powerful symbols that [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">41592</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Painting BIG As A Fuck The Patriarchy Act Of Liberation</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/painting-big-as-a-fuck-the-patriarchy-act-of-liberation/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Aug 2025 18:49:16 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=41450</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; &#160; When I first started offering my Wild Heart Painting classes in my Oakland, CA studio, the walls of the studio were covered with what I was calling easels. But they are not what people would think of as conventional easels. &#160; They were basically 4 x 8 pieces of low density fiberboard that were primarily used in building construction. The intuitive painting process uses large pieces of high quality bookbinding paper and tempera paints instead of canvas, acrylic and conventional easels. And the way that the paper gets attached to the fiberboard easels is with pushpins. Also, the paper I was using… which was essentially 24 x 36 inches… was way too big for most conventional easels. &#160; So everyone who came to paint with me essentially got one of the HUGE easels to paint on. And one large piece of paper. &#160; Once you walked into my studio, the invitation was to go BIG from the very first brushstroke. Some people found this initially intimidating and couldn’t imagine how they could ever possibly fill this huge expanse of white paper. But once they got into the groove of painting and felt more and more confident something interesting [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">41450</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Why I Choose Wildness Over Luxury At My Retreats … Every Single Time</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/why-i-choose-wildness-over-luxury-at-my-retreats-every-single-time/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 19 Jul 2025 04:41:42 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=41320</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I have had a long career as a retreat facilitator of expressive arts, intuitive painting and creativity for healing workshops. And one of my very first retreats was held at the Ghost Ranch Conference Center in Abiquiu New Mexico. I found Ghost Ranch when I went on a personal retreat and I fell in love with the beauty of the red rock desert and the incredibly powerful energy that exuded from that landscape. Like deserts from the beginning of time, it was a sacred environment that stripped you of pretensions and brought you face to face with what was raw and essential and real.  I felt such a wild sense of freedom, spaciousness and permission there and knew that it would support me and my students to expand into the fullness of who we all were as creative beings.  Ghost Ranch itself is owned and run by the Presbyterian Church so it is essentially a church camp. Which meant that it was pretty basic in terms of the physical structures which included the cabins and hotel rooms. But because it was so basic I didn’t have to worry about things getting chaotic or messy or the inevitable out of control [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">41320</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Intuitive Painting + Elder Wisdom</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/intuitive-painting-elder-wisdom/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Jun 2025 18:01:47 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=41296</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Last week I spent a little time making art with other folks in an online creative community. Before we started our creative process we were asked to set some kind of intention for the art we would be making. And what came to mind immediately was the question of what does it mean to be an elder? Since I will be 73 years old in less than four months this theme has really been up for me. I approached this art piece like I would any other time I make art by holding this question lightly in my heart and allowing myself to be open and curious as to what might emerge. What showed up on the page was unexpected as always, starting with swathes of color and then at one point a figure emerged. Once that happened I had to work with myself a bit to not jump to any conclusions, noticing that my mind wanted to immediately KNOW if this was where the painting was going to answer my question about elder hood. It’s always a struggle&#8230; even for me after having done this work for so long&#8230; to stay with the moment to moment unfolding of the [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">41296</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Even If You’re Not OK… You’re OK</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/creating-your-way-through-difficult-emotions/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 May 2025 17:03:35 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=41253</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[“How ARE you???” That’s the first question I ask a friend or compatriot when I meet them for a zoom or phone call or a lunch date and the answer I invariably get is a groan or a head shake, a nervous laugh or maybe an eye roll, followed by something like “ I have NO idea how to answer that question. Everything is so up in the air right now. It’s all so confusing and upsetting and I’m up and down and ALL over the place and just trying to keep my shit together as best I can.” And all I can do is nod my head in commiseration. So I’m asking all of you here reading this post the same question: “How ARE you?” How are you holding up and hanging on as the world around us continues to unravel at such breakneck speed? I know for myself I careen between being heartbroken and stunned and just deeply, deeply exhausted with as many moments of joy and peace as I can find amidst all the crazy turmoil. And I see that same struggle in my friends, family, students and clients as we navigate the complexity of our daily [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">41253</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Bye-Bye Pluto In Capricorn: How Will This Major Astrological Shift Impact YOU!</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/bye-bye-pluto-in-capricorn-how-will-this-major-astrological-shift-impact-you/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Oct 2024 16:28:04 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=40043</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; Time for a little astrology. &#160; As many of you may have already heard, we are going through a major astrological shift right now. And that shift is the planet Pluto changing signs, going from Capricorn ( where it’s been for the last 15 years), into the sign of Aquarius. That shift is not yet complete, as Pluto is now hovering at 30 degrees Capricorn, and won’t make the permanent move into the sign of the Water Bearer until mid November 2024. &#160; And as the ancient rock band the Grateful Dead has said many, many times “What a long strange trip it’s been.” &#160; Pluto is the planet that rules things like death, rebirth and transformation. It is named after the god of the underworld in Greek mythology, and so it always heralds a descent of some kind into those hell realms of the shadow world, the unconscious and our deepest psychological and emotional wounds that we are often reluctant to encounter. &#160; &#160; It’s a fierce planetary influence and shows us where we have been hurt and disempowered in some way in our lives through things like trauma, betrayal, exploitation, abuse, violence, catastrophe, oppression, victimization, heartbreaking loss [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">40043</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Old Fire</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/old-fire-2/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/old-fire-2/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Sep 2024 21:20:16 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=40005</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; I recently celebrated my 72nd birthday so the process of aging is very much on my mind. And in honor of that birthday I took the past few weeks off from teaching the online classes ( I’m back to my regular teaching schedule in October) to deal with some nagging body issues by engaging in an ancient cleansing and rejuvenation healing process via Ayurveda called a Panchakarma, and WHEW but that’s been intense. This mini-sabbatical also gave me the space and time to get quiet and reflect on what this new phase of elder hood means to me. The bodily changes are all too real. I need to rest more and those nagging issues take a lot longer to heal. My focus continues to be much more internal and my energizer bunny self has become slower and much less interested in doing. Being is the name of the game. This period of my life also includes a lot of looking back and reflecting on where I’ve been by honoring the various epochs of my journey that got me here. Such as feeling a deep sense of gratitude for that young woman in her 20&#8217;s who courageously left her family [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">40005</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>The Healing Power Of Meaningless Experience</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-healing-power-of-meaningless-experience/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-healing-power-of-meaningless-experience/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Aug 2024 05:06:32 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WHTTO]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=39892</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; &#160; The wild heart intuitive painting approach to art is at core a liberation process which means that there are NO rules. Just practices. And, in fact, one thing we encourage our students to do on a regular basis is to BREAK any rules they might have picked up along the way regarding how they paint, because rules are often unconscious forms of oppression and a way that we limit our freedom of expression. And there are quite a few of them. For example: Don’t even TRY to paint an image without some kind of a reference point, i.e. looking outside of yourself to make sure that the image is a correct representation of “reality.” Everything has to be balanced, in proportion or symmetrical in your painting. Don’t ever use pure black as a color when you paint. (This is one rule that I have NEVER understood, but apparently it’s a thing.) Whatever you paint has to be pleasing to the eye. And not just to your eye as the artist. It has to be pleasing to anyone else who sees it. You have to LIKE your painting and if you don’t it means you’ve done something wrong. Your [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">39892</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>How To Welcome A True Spiritual ( and Creative) Breakthrough</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-to-welcome-a-true-spiritual-and-creative-breakthrough-2/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-to-welcome-a-true-spiritual-and-creative-breakthrough-2/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Jun 2024 23:36:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=39781</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; Our soul will sometimes let us know that it is time to heal something within us through an experience of suffering. We will find ourselves in a place of distress that sometimes has no discernible source. We just know that we’re miserable, hurting and unhappy. This is how the invitation reveals itself. So the first step to breakthrough is through the process of inquiry. &#160; It’s being willing to ask the question over and over again&#8230; what’s going on? What’s at the root of this suffering? And then continuing to stay open with compassionate relentlessness, petitioning your inner wisdom, your intuition, your body and your spirit to reveal the core issue and belief that is the source of the spiritual blockage. &#160; You can also call on your sacred knowing through the creative process. Let your creativity lead you. Paint without any kind of a plan. Just allow the colors, shapes and images that want to spontaneously flow out of your brush to lead you where your soul needs you to go. Spend some time free writing in your journal. Or get up on your feet and let your body move you, releasing your desire to control your movements. [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">39781</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Why Completing Your Paintings Really Matters</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/why-completing-your-paintings-really-matters/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/why-completing-your-paintings-really-matters/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Jun 2024 16:26:37 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WHTTO]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=39777</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; In my role as an intuitive painting facilitator and guide I am deeply dedicated to the principals and practices of the Wild Heart Expressive Arts Intuitive Painting process. And one of those practices is the invitation to complete any painting that you start before you begin another one. It’s actually more of a strong suggestion than it is an invitation but I try to be as nice as possible about that fact. And that practice looks like this. When someone in one of my intuitive painting classes thinks they are done with a painting they have been working on I ask them to have a conversation with me before they officially end it. As part of the ritual of completion I will ask them to take a moment to honor the journey that the painting has taken them on. To recognize what the painting has taught or shown them and to name any risks they might have taken or places where they might have grown through the painting process. And then I ask them to name three more things that could possibly show up in the painting given that anything at all could still happen. I ask them to [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">39777</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Wild Heart Medicine</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/wild-heart-medicine/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/wild-heart-medicine/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jun 2024 23:42:15 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=39729</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[When I turned 50 ( almost 22 years ago) I had just started holding my week long painting retreats at the Ghost ranch Conference Center in Abiquiu New Mexico a couple of years prior. During that retreat I had a number of my long time students in attendance. These were people who had been in my world for a long years and we had a deep relationship of love and trust. In celebration of me entering this new decade my beloved students proposed a birthday ritual that included painting my body with the tempera paints we used in the workshop. What they wanted was for me to strip totally naked but I said I would go halfway and do the Full Monty if I was still facilitating retreats when i turned 100! It was one of those invitations I just couldn’t refuse. After all, as their wild heart painting facilitator I was constantly nudging, prodding, goading and challenging them to take creative risks in their painting process. And in many ways, encouraging them to strip naked on a soul level. So I couldn’t very well refuse their loving invitation to walk my talk and say yes to this opportunity to [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">39729</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>When Butterflies And Rainbows Just Aren’t Enough</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/when-butterflies-and-rainbows-just-arent-enough/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/when-butterflies-and-rainbows-just-arent-enough/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 May 2024 23:06:53 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=39673</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[There’s an interesting form of resistance that regularly shows up in my intuitive painting classes that people don’t actually recognize as resistance. And it looks like this. What we encourage our students to practice as they are painting is their full range of aliveness. But a lot of folks define aliveness as something that is ONLY positive. Or pleasurable. Or upbeat. This common approach to creativity views art making as something that is supposed to make them feel good at all times. And what they call feeling good is often a form of avoidance. They want to feel calm. They want to feel peaceful. They want to be in the flow. But not the class five rapids flow. They don’t want their creative process to shake them up. At all. And they are often trying to use their art as a mood altering experience like having a Margarita. They are desperately hoping that their art will keep them from what they are truly feeling if those feelings are uncomfortable. Now I just want to say that this desire for joy or pleasure or a regulated nervous system is a longing we all share. This hope that your art making will [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">39673</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Listening To Your Heart. Finding A Way.</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/listening-to-your-heart-finding-a-way/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/listening-to-your-heart-finding-a-way/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Apr 2024 03:55:10 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=39640</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Before the pandemic turned all of our lives completely upside down, I had a thriving, in-person retreat business. I held weekend and four day non-residential retreats at my Oakland studio and took people on week long residential retreats in fabulously beautiful places like the red rock landscape of New Mexico, the mountainous High Sierras, the forested California wine country and the California coast overlooking the ocean.     I loved the healing magic that would happen when I invited people to step out of their normal routines and leave home to devote a number of days in sacred circle with other creative folks painting their wild hearts out and listening deeply to their souls and intuition.         But even though Creative Juices Arts was born almost 30 years ago, the retreat part of my business didn’t happen right away. For the first 5 years of my new practice I offered only weekly Wild Heart intuitive painting classes, Creative Juices classes and ran a couple of creativity based women’s groups out of my studio in Oakland.       I opened the doors to my creativity classes in November of 1994 and my business grew slowly and steadily [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">39640</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>My Personal Journey With Person Centered Expressive Arts and How It Influences My Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/my-personal-journey-with-person-centered-expressive-arts-and-how-it-influences-my-wild-heart-expressive-arts-teacher-training-program/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2024 02:20:37 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=39591</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; As we are coming down to the wire for this next round of our Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program I’ve been thinking a lot about my own expressive arts journey My early days in terms of my own personal healing and also in my professional practice centered around body based approaches to creating conditions for wholeness and what is often referred to as talk therapy… or psychotherapy. I spent many fruitful and satisfying hours in my various cozy offices with individuals, couples and groups guiding people into trusting their own inner healer and inner wise person through somatic awareness, breathwork, intuition and compassionate verbal exploration of a persons inner psychic landscape. &#160; There was also a strong focus on creating an energetic container of trust and safety and utilizing the relationship between myself and my clients as part of the healing crucible. &#160; Those years in those therapy rooms were deeply gratifying and fulfilling. And I would often marvel at the fact and feel incredibly grateful that this was my work in the world. I felt well incredibly well used and competent and like I was doing the work that spirit meant for me to be doing. &#160; [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">39591</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Smashing The Patriarchy With Intuitive Painting and the The Expressive Arts</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/smashing-the-patriarchy-with-intuitive-painting-and-the-the-expressive-arts/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Mar 2024 05:50:32 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=39292</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[One of the conversations I’ve been having a LOT with my students recently has to do with the struggle people feel around how much easier it is for them to be free and creative and fully alive when they are in painting class or on retreat with us, and how difficult it is to maintain that sense of freedom and creative flow once they are painting on their own. What they tell me is that they feel frustrated and disappointed in themselves for not being able to maintain that sense of creative liberation and they think there’s something wrong with THEM when they lose that thread of creative connection to their wholeness and authenticity. And I have to remind them that the reason it is so hard to maintain that sense of freedom and flow is because in community with us they are FULLY supported and celebrated and believed in to be absolutely, no-holds-barred themselves and once they go back out into the “real” world, they are bombarded by exactly the OPPOSITE energy. They are told in one way or another that their creativity and emotions make them weak or too sensitive. They are continually exposed to messages that self [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">39292</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>The Wild Rumpus Ride Of Change</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-wild-rumpus-ride-of-change/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 17 Mar 2024 17:23:48 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=39185</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The past four years have been a sometimes grueling, often disturbing, seemingly unending process of slip-sliding transition, rocky instability, startling change and revolutionary upheaval. This process has been happening in both in the inner world of the psyche and the outer world of politics, the environment and societal norms. No one has escaped this process of shake down and shake up. If your life is still essentially the same now as it was four years ago I suspect that you have been in a cryogenic deep freeze. Or perhaps you’ve been vacationing on another planet. There is a cosmic demand for us to wake up on both an individual and a collective level. And the Universal Intelligence that is running this show is not about to let us go back to sleep. But one of the things that spirit is trying to teach us through this process is how to maintain flexibility and fluidity. How to let go of SO many things. Of our calcified identities. Of who we think we have to be to survive. Of what we believe we need to stay safe. Of what it means to be truly secure. And how to trust that there is [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">39185</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Pouting, Whining and Getting Aligned With My Artists Soul</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/pouting-whining-and-getting-aligned-with-my-artists-soul/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Feb 2024 01:51:07 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=39110</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Whenever I launch a new round of my Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program it takes me back through my journey of being an intuitive painting facilitator that began almost 30 years ago. And one thing that stands out for me was the challenge of filling my classes. I had been working primarily as a psychotherapist when I started my Creative Juices Arts business, and I was supporting myself nicely with that work. But intuitive painting &#8230; even though it meant I was still working in the realm of psychological and emotional healing&#8230; was something that not a whole lot of folks knew about or understood. When people thought about using art as a healing path they either approached it from the technical/product oriented perspective&#8230; ( I’ll learn to make &#8220;good&#8221; art to help me relax and feel better about myself) or they saw it from the art therapy vantage point where art making is a way to solve your problems and analyze your psyche so that you can understand yourself and your psychological issues better. But intuitive painting is really neither of those things. It’s got a kind of anti-product orientation&#8230; what the painting looks like to you [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">39110</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Registration Is Now Open For The Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Online!!!</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/registration-is-now-open-for-the-wild-heart-expressive-arts-teacher-training-online/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Feb 2024 20:38:56 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=39097</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Seventeen years ago in 2007 I was facilitating a week long painting retreat in Hawaii. One of my long time students who was there with me started talking about how much she wanted to learn how to facilitate people around the creative process like I did. And proceeded to spend the rest of the retreat and 2007 bugging me to create a training program teaching people how to do this work. I had already been facilitating and teaching my own classes and workshops for twelve years and had a loyal following of students. But the idea of putting myself out there as a teacher of teachers frankly terrified me. All of my unworthiness and not enoughness inner tapes came roaring to the forefront of my psyche and paralyzed me for a time. But another part of me knew that all of my resistance and fear and kicking and screaming was just putting off the inevitable truth which was that I really WANTED to share this work with women in a much bigger way. And also claim my own wisdom and mastery of this intuitive painting process as a teacher of teachers. So I worked my way through my fears and [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">39097</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Painting Ourselves Whole</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/painting-ourselves-whole/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Aug 2023 01:16:59 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WHTTO]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=38178</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[My husband,  life and business partner in all things creative, Tim Lajoie,  has been writing more and more these days and this post is written by him.  I’m so enjoying how his wise perspective is contributing to the conversation about this powerful expressive arts process. When I was younger yellow was my favorite color. It wasn’t my favorite color because I particularly liked the color yellow. It was my favorite color because it had the power to blend the other colors together. I loved making transitions and gradients. I would spend hours making curved snaky swirls that blended between soothing blues, to brilliant light greens, to pure hot yellow, to warm inviting orange, and deep passionate reds. As a child I didn’t realize that there are a lot of colors and shades that can do this so in my box of 16 thin cheap plastic felt tip markers with the caps that always seemed to get lost, yellow was the one color to rule them all. As a result, my yellow pen tips were always stained and discolored. But I didn’t let that stop me from creating these gorgeous blends that unified the entire color palette and made a continuum [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">38178</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>How A Deep Understanding Of Creative Freedom Is Integral To The Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-a-deep-understanding-of-creative-freedom-is-integral-to-the-wild-heart-expressive-arts-teacher-training-program/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 22 Apr 2023 18:14:34 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=37844</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[We’re coming down to the wire and The Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program begins in one short week on April 29th. And as Tim and I are preparing and refining the curriculum it’s also making me think about some of the psychological, spiritual and philosophical roots and influences that inform what and how we teach. I’ve already written two articles about my journey and here’s links to both of them in case you missed them: How A Deep Understanding Of The Body Is Integral To the Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program How A Deep Understanding Of The Patriarchy and Women’s Issues Is Integral To The Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program. This is the final installment of the story, and I’ve so been enjoying sharing with you how all of this began. My early days in terms of my own healing journey and also in my professional practice centered around both body based approaches to creating conditions for wholeness and what is often referred to as talk therapy… or psychotherapy. I spent many fruitful and satisfying hours in my various cozy offices with individuals, couples and groups guiding people into trusting their own inner healer and inner [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">37844</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>How A Deep Understanding Of The Patriarchy and Women’s Issues Is Integral To The Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-a-deep-understanding-of-the-patriarchy-and-womens-issues-is-integral-to-the-wild-heart-expressive-arts-teacher-training-program/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-a-deep-understanding-of-the-patriarchy-and-womens-issues-is-integral-to-the-wild-heart-expressive-arts-teacher-training-program/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Apr 2023 21:38:55 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=37784</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[The Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program begins in a little more than two weeks on April 29th and as Tim and I are preparing and refining the curriculum it’s also making me think about some of the psychological, spiritual and philosophical roots and influences that inform what and how we teach.       Over the next week or so I want to share with you the various parts of my lineage in terms of how I approach this expressive arts work. And what you can learn from me by participating in this program.           Another major influence in my early explorations into what is healing and what does it take to heal also came through something called Radical Psychiatry. This was a concept and a movement developed by social activists who were also therapists that I was introduced to during the late 70’s and early 80’s through being mentored by a woman named Hogie Wyckoff. Hogie was the author of a number of books including Solving Problems Together and Solving Women’s Problems Through Awareness, Action and Contact.         Radical Psychiatry proposed that a person’s psychological wounds and struggles are the [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">37784</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>How A Deep Understanding Of The Body Is Integral To The Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-a-deep-understanding-of-the-body-is-integral-to-the-wild-heart-expressive-arts-teacher-training-program/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Apr 2023 20:13:16 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=37766</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; The Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program begins in a little less than a month and as Tim and I are preparing and refining the curriculum it’s also making me think about some of the psychological, spiritual and philosophical roots and influences that inform what and how we teach.  Over the next week or so I want to share with you the various parts of my lineage in terms of how I approach this expressive arts work. And what you can learn from me by participating in this program.  I’ve been teaching the intuitive painting process for almost 28 years but I also had a career as a psychotherapist and bodyworker that began over 45 years ago. And I embarked on my quest to heal myself ( which is where all these quests ultimately begin) 51 years ago! Which means I’ve been in this line of work related to healing and personal growth for a VERY long time.  It all began when I was nineteen years old and I was in my first year of college, struggling with depression. I had gone to therapy for a few sessions with a guy who sat behind a big wooden desk, [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">37766</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Trusting The Process As A Core Principle Of The Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/trusting-the-process-as-a-core-principle-of-the-wild-heart-expressive-arts-teacher-training-program/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Mar 2023 07:04:40 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=35816</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[One of the first things you will hear me talk about when you come to one of my classes, workshops or retreats is that here in these circles we are focusing on and placing greater value on the process of creation instead of primarily valuing the finished product.       What that means is we are learning to listen to our creative voice, impulses and intuition, no matter where it takes us and allowing it to lead the way. So another way of talking about this is that we are aligning with the principle of Trusting The Process.       Which is a tall order for just about everyone because trusting the process means you have to surrender control. You have to be willing to let go of your preferences and your attachments to things being a particular way. You have to be willing to paint something that you might not like or even understand.     Now, I can almost hear the incredulous outrage and puzzled disbelief roiling around in your brain that this would even be a thing. Why on earth would anyone want to create something or paint something that they didn’t like??? It makes [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">35816</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Free Webinar: Love As A Core Principle At The Heart Of The Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/free-webinar-love-as-a-core-principle-at-the-heart-of-the-wild-heart-expressive-arts-teacher-training-program/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 Mar 2023 21:42:59 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=35804</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[This is Tim and I wanted share some thoughts about our upcoming Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program and one of our core philosophies: love!     “I’m going back in!” She said defiantly as she took a deep breath, pursed her lip, and wiped away the tear that was rolling down here cheek.   Then she launched herself back at her painting with bright red paint all over her hands in a flurry of intensity and flailing arms as if she was fighting for her life.   This was the fourth time she had stepped back in and each time she stayed in a little longer. Each time that she moved back into the painting her intensity grew but so did her resolve and her ability to hold herself in the intense emotions that arose as she wrestled with herself. She began to trust herself a little more and a little more. She began to realize that she could be engaged with this story from her past and it wouldn’t destroy her.   And with each step towards the painting her aliveness grew, first wails of pain and fear, then growing rage and anger, and eventually laughter and [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">35804</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Wholeness:  Exploring A Core Principle Of The Heart Of The Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/wholeness-exploring-a-core-principle-of-the-heart-of-the-wild-heart-expressive-arts-teacher-training-program/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Mar 2023 06:18:53 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=35539</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Whenever Tim and I take another group of students through our Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training process we inevitably hear from folks how they’ve never experienced anything quite like the sense of healing and love and liberation that happens for them in our circles and in our training.       And for a long time it has puzzled me because I just do what I do and Tim does what he does and we don’t think of it as particularly special. I know our work is good and powerful and effective and I know we&#8217;re good AT it, but apparently there is a secret sauce that I just take for granted and so I wanted to try and articulate what it is that we do that is so very special.       There are a few basic healing principles that we are very committed to and take very seriously and the first one is our devotion to the concept of wholeness. And what we mean by wholeness is the process of claiming all of who you are… and that means ABSOLUTELY everything.       It’s owning our power but also accepting ourselves when we feel weak [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">35539</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>How Do I Know If This Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program Is Right For Me?</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-do-i-know-if-this-wild-heart-expressive-arts-teacher-training-program-is-right-for-me/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 03 Mar 2023 23:12:31 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=35328</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[As Tim and I go through the process of interviewing folks for our upcoming teacher training program, we often get the question of how do I know if this Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training is right for me? This is a HUGE question on a certain level because it feels like there’s so much at stake in taking this step. And sometimes what people focus on in trying to answer this question are logistical issues like: Will I be able to make money at this once I graduate? Can I make time in my busy life to actually DO the training? Is this training worth the significant financial outlay?  Now all of these questions are valid and need to be considered. But the core question underlying all of them is really this: How does this training align with my overall vision for my life? And another version of that is, What is the life I want to create? And will taking this training help me to achieve that goal?  So here’s some things to consider as you ask yourself those questions.  If you want to create a life where unabashed creative self expression and living from the wholeness of [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">35328</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>The Promise of a New Box of Paints!</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-promise-of-a-new-box-of-paints/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Tim Lajoie]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 11 Feb 2023 18:47:35 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WHTTO]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=33610</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[It finally arrived! I had been waiting all morning, checking my phone, tracking the number of stops until it got here and then, “cuh-thunk”, the satisfying thud of a heavy box unceremoniously dropped on our front porch. I pulled the box inside and grabbed a knife to slice the cellophane tape along the top seam, and pulled open the bulging cardboard flaps to find… A NEW BOX OF PAINTS! Yes, all of this excitement and anticipation for a new box of 16 different colors of paint in shiny new, yet to be caked over and dented, tall plastic bottles of kids tempera paint. If you have painted with us before you know the kind: soupy, syrupy liquid of enticing ecstatic colors that hold so much hope but also the fear that they are destined to break our hearts. Why? Because with every new box, every new, unopened bottle is the promise of what might be. Our heart soars at the thought of what will come off the tip of our brush on to the fresh white paper just waiting to fulfill our every dream. We start with so much enthusiasm imagining what it will mean, what it will bring, where [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">33610</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>I Wanted To Be A Nun As A Kid. But Became An Intuitive Painting Facilitator Instead.</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/i-wanted-to-be-a-nun-as-a-kid-but-became-an-intuitive-painting-facilitator-instead/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Feb 2023 20:23:05 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=33122</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[When I was 8 years old and in the third grade we were given the assignment to write our autobiography. I don’t remember much about what I wrote. In my memory, I don&#8217;t see words, only the thin, lined composition notebook with the black and white speckled cover and my large, looping childs script nestled comfortably within the light blue lines of the notebook paper.   At the end of the notebook we were instructed to write a paragraph about what we wanted to be when we grew up.   Again, I don’t remember much about what I actually wrote. But what I CAN see so incredibly vividly in great detail is an image that I cut out of a book or magazine and then pasted on that page. And the image was that of a nun. The image I chose was a drawing, not a photograph, and it portrayed a young woman wearing a long, black habit with a white wimple framing her peaceful, smiling face and a black veil falling down her back.   What I remember saying about the picture was that I wanted to be a school teacher. And since I was raised Catholic and all [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">33122</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Painting With Fire and The Power Of A Committed Creative Practice</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/painting-with-fire-and-the-power-of-a-committed-creative-practice/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Feb 2023 07:25:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=32403</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; Greetings to my beloved wild heart community,     I just returned from spending a magical week in the desert with an amazing group of wild hearted painters at my most recent Painting From The Wild Heart retreat.   And I must say, that as grateful as I am that I have been able to transfer my teachings and classes into an online format since the beginning of the pandemic, there is absolutely nothing like being in person with people again.   It’s hard to put into words the powerfully palpable energy of healing and transformation that happens when a group of people who are devoted to this potent intuitive painting process comes together to sit in sacred circle and to paint their wild hearts out for six days straight.     I can say with the utmost confidence that none of the folks who participated in this retreat will ever be the same again in the BEST possible way. And that includes me!   I often tell my students that the reason that I offer these retreats and classes is primarily for me because I am inviting people into co-creating with me the world that I want to [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">32403</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Some Wishes And Prayers For You During This Season Of Darkness And Light</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/some-wishes-and-prayers-for-you-during-this-season-of-darkness-and-light-2/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Dec 2022 18:23:43 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=30254</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; Some Wishes And Prayers For You During This Season Of Darkness And Light Holidays are always such a mixed bag for folks. Especially this one where we’re supposed to be all merry and cheery. And if you ARE genuinely feeling merry and cheery I party with you joyfully! But maybe today is no big deal and if that’s the case, rock on! Maybe you’ve lost someone you love this year and all you can do is cry and miss them. I hold your heart tenderly in mine as your tears continue to flow. Maybe you are lonely and disappointed in where your life has led you up until now. I see your pain and struggle and wish for you hope in the future. Maybe you are simply cranky and hating the whole shebang. Can I hear a righteous Right ON! If you are in the middle of a gorgeous love fest, allow it to soak into every pore of your being and fill you up from your head to your toes. If you are in need of support, don’t be afraid to ask. There is always someone out there who can respond to your pain, no matter what you [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<title>How Long Does It Take To Truly Heal?</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-long-does-it-take-to-heal/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Oct 2022 19:24:08 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WHTTO]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=30107</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In my early days as a psychotherapist whenever I would begin with a new client I would often get the question, “How long is this going to take?” Meaning, how much time will it take before I am healed and this problem I am bringing to you is permanently solved. &#160; And I would often reply in a lighthearted joking manner, “ You really don’t want to know.” &#160; This yearning to be fixed, to be done and finished… hopefully forever… with whatever suffering is plaguing us is such an understandably common human desire. But thinking that it’s possible to completely banish our painful feelings or challenging psychological complexes actually gets in the way of any true experience of healing and wholeness. &#160; I don’t do as much psychotherapy anymore, but I can’t tell you how many times I have heard some version of that same wish from folks who come to paint with me in my studio. &#160; One of my students will begin to feel something intense and taboo, like anger or rage and paint the fury out of them in an explosion of movement and shapes and color and then look at me hopefully with that same [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<title>Astro Wisdom: Gemini as Holy Messenger of Sacred Curiosity</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/astro-wisdom-gemini-as-holy-messenger-of-sacred-curiosity/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 May 2022 20:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=29504</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[When Gemini appears on the scene you can be guaranteed an endlessly entertaining torrent of scintillating conversation about anything and everything under the sun. Gemini’s primary superpower is an unquenchable curiosity that searches far and wide for the most interesting bits of information to share and explore, fully confident that anything they learn will lead them down ever more compelling avenues of new things to discover. They love to be surprised and regularly swim in the wildly turbulent waters of paradox and contradiction. They seem to thrive on chaos and thrill to the opportunity of being catapulted into the unknown where they hope to pluck from the universal flow even more awe inspiring facts, data and messages from the cosmos. Gemini is endlessly fascinated by the multitudinous variety that is this world and doesn’t want to waste a minute not learning or communicating about all the amazingness that they have encountered. Which is why you often find Geminis on the phone and the computer at the same time with the TV or a radio on in the background. They live to be intellectually stimulated and have no patience for being bored… even for a nano-second. Gemini is ruled by the [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">29504</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Why This Wild Heart Creativity Process is MORE Important Than Ever During These Challenging Times of Change</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/why-this-wild-heart-creativity-process-is-more-important-than-ever-during-these-challenging-times-of-change/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 May 2022 16:24:40 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=29442</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In these times of radical change and upheaval I’ve heard a number of people question the relevancy of this inner creativity work or making art at all. It can seem like this focus on healing and internal awareness and exploration using art is no longer necessary when so many things in the outer world desperately need our attention.       But I truly believe that this work is more important than ever for a number of reasons.   First of all the world is falling apart. So many structures and old ways of being and doing things are disappearing. So much of what we have long experienced to be reliable and dependable is now wobbly and shaky and tottering on the edge of collapse.   During times like these it’s incredibly hard to find any kind of sense of equilibrium, firm footing or solid grounding. The big problem is that we can’t look to the outside for those things anymore because they’re just not there. More than ever we need to find that sense of groundedness INSIDE of ourselves. We need to become even MORE deeply connected to the natural equilibrium of our bodies and hearts, feelings and creativity, [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">29442</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>How Deeply Do You Really Know Yourself? And Why It Really Matters.</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-deeply-do-you-really-know-yourself-and-why-it-really-matters/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-deeply-do-you-really-know-yourself-and-why-it-really-matters/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 Apr 2022 02:58:59 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=28651</guid>

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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">28651</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>How Is Painting With Fire Different From Other Intuitive Painting Classes?</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-is-painting-with-fire-different-from-other-intuitive-painting-classes/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-is-painting-with-fire-different-from-other-intuitive-painting-classes/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Feb 2022 03:13:35 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=27848</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; Greetings to my beloved wild heart community,     My signature online intuitive painting class Painting With Fire begins in a couple of weeks. And many people have happily signed up in eager preparation for a 6 week deep dive into their sacred creative being through the intuitive painting process.   But there are still quite a few folks thinking about the class and wondering if this class is for them.   So I thought I would take a few moments to answer some common concerns by addressing a different aspect of this class over the next couple of weeks.       Painting With Fire is totally unlike any other intuitive painting class out there. A lot of creativity teachers use the process of intuition to make art. But they always have an agenda that you as the student will end up with beautiful piece of art. And one way they make sure that you get a beautiful piece of art is to teach you how to paint like they do.       In Painting With Fire the goal is to give you the freedom, support and total permission to paint EXACTLY like yourself… and to learn [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">27848</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>For The Times When There Is No Map</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/for-the-times-when-there-is-no-map/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Sep 2021 17:09:57 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=27207</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[No matter what it might look like from the outside, everyone is learning the hard way.   So give yourself a break.   If you’re struggling or floundering or feeling stuck and confused and can’t see a way forward out of whatever is challenging in your life right now, know you are in good company with all the rest of us stumbling, bumbling and wildly flailing humans.   Lurching forward haphazardly into the dark of the unknown isn’t a bug&#8230; it’s a feature of being alive.   It’s why trying new things and taking risks and simply living requires SO MUCH COURAGE. Because it is SO INCREDIBLY MESSY.   There really isn’t a map. There’s no guarantees&#8230; ever. You can never know how your efforts will pan out. The consequences of any action taken or not are continually shrouded in mystery.   What looks like a good idea can blow up in your face in a monumental fashion. And what seems to be a foolhardy and questionable decision can lead to unexpected gifts and openings.   You just never know.   So keep trying anyway. It’s the only thing you can really do. Don’t take yourself and the whole mishegas [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">27207</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>The Inner Critic and The Art Police</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-inner-critic-and-the-art-police/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-inner-critic-and-the-art-police/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Aug 2021 23:47:02 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WHTTO]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=27120</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In the Wild Heart Expressive Arts approach to intuitive painting and art-making we are in a continual dance of trying to navigate our relationship to the judging mind also known as the inner critic.     I’m defining the inner critic as the part of our psyche that is mean or punitive and makes us feel bad by telling us we are inadequate or worthless or just not good enough. And those internal messages get transferred to our art. Which is one of the primary reasons that people don’t make art, or can’t really enjoy their art making if they do get past it enough to actually try and create something.       The inner critic is relatively easy to spot once you understand that it’s something that you’ve internalized and is not a part of your true, essential self. Once you see it, you can recognize that it’s actually pretty toxic and something that you really don’t want to give any attention to because it’s damaging and objectively hurtful to your creative self.       But there’s another part of the mind that is a cousin to the inner critic and is much harder to challenge because [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">27120</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Saying Goodbye To My High Sierras Retreat Center</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/saying-goodbye-to-my-high-sierras-retreat-center/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/saying-goodbye-to-my-high-sierras-retreat-center/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 Jun 2021 16:28:46 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=26980</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; As many of you know who have been in my world for awhile, prior to the pandemic, I lived my life pretty much on creativity retreats. &#160; I offered Wild Heart Painting workshops in some of the most beautiful natural places in the western United States multiple times throughout the year, and truly enjoyed the life of making art magic in stunning natural environments with groups of my beloved students. &#160; One of those places was called Tioga Lodge and it lived on the edge of the otherworldly Mono Lake in the high country of the Eastern Sierras. &#160; I loved working there. It was a soul home for me. And I also loved the woman who owned the lodge, named Gloria Ma, for her unmitigated enthusiasm in hosting and feeding my students and for the intuitive painting process. &#160; We started teaching there in 2013 and had our last pre-pandemic retreat in 2019. I was really looking forward to going back there to teach again once things calmed down around the pandemic, hopefully in the summer of 2022. &#160; But I found out recently that Gloria died. I don’t know the details. Just that she’s gone. And the [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">26980</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>What To Do When You’re Creatively Stuck</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/what-to-do-when-youre-creatively-stuck/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 May 2021 17:37:11 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=26750</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Some tips for when you find yourself at a creative standstill. Don&#8217;t expect yourself to be creative. Or original. Or goddess forbid an ARTIST! Don&#8217;t even call what you do creativity. Or art. Simply pick up a brush if you paint. Open a notebook if you write. Put on some music if you dance. And then be willing to do all or any of it VERY badly. Make a mess on the canvas. Write a TERRIBLY shitty first draft. Simply stomp around grunting and groaning while you move your body in no particular way. &#160; And have as much fun as possible being an outrageously crappy creative person.]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">26750</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Why It’s So Important For You To Shine Your Own Light</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/why-its-so-important-for-you-to-shine-your-own-light/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/why-its-so-important-for-you-to-shine-your-own-light/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 May 2021 18:34:55 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=26709</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Many of us are still wrangling with a bullshit layer of some old UNHELPFUL story that comes out of an ancient family wound. And this wound is related to the way that we took on the pain of those around us who couldn’t be supported to see their OWN beauty and gifts and inner light. And from that place of pain tried to dim our beauty and gifts and inner light down as a way to protect themselves. Of course, we need to have compassion for that lineage of light dimming that we come out of and the suffering of those folks who weren&#8217;t trying to hurt us in a conscious way. But you have to try and also remember this…. You ARE special, my love. We all are. And it&#8217;s our job to claim that specialness. To bring it to the world. To be as bright and as gorgeous as we are. Because that specialness, that uniqueness, that beauty and light IS YOU!!! Through and through. The world truly needs you to BE that blessing. Because you blazing brightly doesn’t take anything away from anyone else&#8230; it only creates more space for others to be their OWN bright light.]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">26709</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Intuitive Painting As A Spiritual Adventure</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/intuitive-painting-as-a-spiritual-adventure/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/intuitive-painting-as-a-spiritual-adventure/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 May 2021 22:35:16 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=26617</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I often think of the intuitive painting process as a spiritual adventure. It reminds me of this lovely quote from the poet John Donahue: “Behind your image, below your words, above your thoughts, the silence of another world waits.”  I really see creativity and spirituality as coming from the same place. They are both rooted in a deep connection to the primal source of everything. They allow us to see what can’t be seen with the naked eye. They are portals into the invisible realms and unseen dimensions of infinite potential, wild imagination, profound wisdom and mystical inspiration. They invite us into the mystery of the formless energies that shimmer behind the veil of all earthly existence. They are both practices in the art of surrender to something larger than us. They both rely upon and develop our intuition. They both require that we let go of our allegiance to left brain concerns like logic, linear thinking, rational analysis, objectivity, productivity and of course… our need to control the outcome. They are both expressions of divine love. So every time you open the door to your creativity, you are also opening the door into these magical cosmic worlds where spirit lives. [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">26617</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Making Bad Art Fun!!!</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/making-bad-art-fun/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Apr 2021 02:21:28 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=26601</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; I am totally dedicated to helping folks find their way back to creative flow. Which means I’m endlessly curious to discover what gets in the way and BLOCKS creative flow. One of the most nefarious and unfortunately popular of the creativity blockers is perfectionism. This is the belief that you should only do something if you can already do it well, that it’s not OK to be a stumbling, bumbling beginner and that if you can’t do something perfectly you shouldn’t even bother to try. This is a recipe for NO creative anything EVER getting done. Perfectionism will bring your creative life to a screeching standstill. And will suck all of the joy out of your creative soul. The only thing that matters to your muse is that you BE creative. Your muse doesn’t really care about things like good art or bad art or ugliness or beauty. Your muse only wants you to engage with your creativity any chance you get. And if that means you make a lot of what you perceive to be bad art, but you’re still creating, she will be very, very happy. So the next time you make art TRY to make it [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">26601</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Is Painting With Fire For You? Do I Have To Be An Artist To Take This Class?</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/is-painting-with-fire-for-you/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Apr 2021 19:13:02 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=26272</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[My signature online intuitive painting class Painting With Fire begins in a week. And many people have happily signed up in eager preparation for a 6 week deep dive into their sacred creative being through the intuitive painting process. But there are still quite a few folks thinking about the class and wondering if this class is for them. So I thought I would take a few moments to answer some common concerns by addressing a different aspect of this class every day for the next week. Another question I hear a lot is do I have to be an artist to take this class. Well, first of all I think EVERYONE is an artist and everyone is creative. We develop the belief that we’re NOT creative because of cultural conditioning and early creative wounding. I can’t tell you how many stories I hear from folks about how they were told in KINDERGARTEN that they just weren’t very good at art. Which is the height of utter bullshit. So the problem you have with creating is never that you “ don’t have a creative bone in your body” or that you’re not talented. The issue is that you never got the [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">26272</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Is Painting With Fire For You? How Do I Find The Time To Be Creative.</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/is-painting-with-fire-for-you-how-do-i-find-the-time-to-be-creative/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 31 Mar 2021 05:50:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=26238</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[My signature online intuitive painting class Painting With Fire begins in a week. And many people have happily signed up in eager preparation for a 6 week deep dive into their sacred creative being through the intuitive painting process.  But there are still quite a few folks thinking about the class and wondering if this class is for them.  So I thought I would take a few moments to answer some common concerns by addressing a different aspect of this class every day for the next week.  Another big concern that comes up for folks around taking the Painting With Fire class has to do with time. The class is intended to work in ANYONE’S schedule and will help you develop a consistent creative practice through being asked to paint for a minimum of 15 minutes a day. My hope is that by the end of the 6 weeks you will have developed your creative muscle enough so that the daily practice simply becomes a part of your ongoing creative routine. But people are always asking me how they can possibly fit this class… and their creative practice… into an already full and often overly busy life.  They are worried that [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">26238</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Is Painting With Fire For You? Learning To Love Yourself Through Your Art</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/is-painting-with-fire-for-you-learning-to-love-yourself-through-your-art/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/is-painting-with-fire-for-you-learning-to-love-yourself-through-your-art/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 31 Mar 2021 00:22:40 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=26230</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[My signature online intuitive painting class Painting With Fire begins in a week. And many people have happily signed up in eager preparation for a 6 week deep dive into their sacred creative being through the intuitive painting process. But there are still quite a few folks thinking about the class and wondering if it&#8217;s for them. So I thought I would take a few moments to answer some common concerns by addressing a different aspect of this class every day for the next week. Painting With Fire is totally unlike any other intuitive painting class out there. A lot of creativity teachers use the process of intuition to make art. But they always have an agenda that you as the student will end up with beautiful piece of art. And one way they make sure that you get a beautiful piece of art is to teach you how to paint like they do. In Painting With Fire the goal is to give you the freedom, support and total permission to paint EXACTLY like yourself… and to learn to truly accept yourself through the art that you make. We do a lot of work during the class around dismantling the [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">26230</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>You Can Create No Matter HOW You Feel!</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/you-can-create-no-matter-how-you-feel/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Mar 2021 03:31:15 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=26220</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[There’s a lot of different ways that people unconsciously shut down their creative flow. But one of the more popular methods is by believing that you can only create when you are in a particular frame of mind. Sometimes it’s a belief that you need to feel inspired, or energetic or enthusiastic. Sometimes it’s thinking that creativity only happens when you are calm or grounded or unstressed. But if you are always waiting for the ideal inner emotional conditions to make art it means that you are seriously limiting your opportunities for creative expression. In my experience, you can create no matter WHAT emotional state you are in. You can create when you’re cranky, tired, hating life or sad. You don&#8217;t even need any IDEAS and you CERTAINLY don’t need a plan in order to create. All you need is the intention to be creative. And the willingness to actually take some action around your creative process. The only thing that guarantees you will keep your creative mojo in tip-top shape is by committing to some kind of ongoing creative practice. Which means showing up for your creativity no matter what else is going on in your inner life. Instead [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">26220</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>An Invocation To The Glories Of The Unknown</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/an-invocation-to-the-glories-of-the-unknown/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Feb 2021 05:56:57 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25963</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[What I sell is the unknown. I make it safe for people to explore the invisible, to not know what they are doing or why they are doing it and trusting that it&#8217;s OK to do it anyway. I give people permission to do away with stories. With explanations. With understanding. With justifications and with defending their desires. And with needing to answer the question “Why?” I&#8217;m only interested in the Sacred What and the Holy How. In my world, feelings matter. Intuition rules. And I take the dream time seriously. I make room for the unreasonable. I freely open the door for the irrational to come barreling in. I create spaciousness for whimsy and magic and caprice. I trust implicitly in spontaneous impulse, imagination, visceral instinct and the genius of your intuition. I gleefully follow the twists and turns of non-linearity, knowing that pure logic has its place. But also has its limits. And that there is divine order in the most chaotic of situations. I dive headlong into the rabbit hole where up is down, no is yes, and surrendering to confusion is the most direct path to true clarity. I will guide you into realms where anything [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25963</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Some Notes &amp; Musings On The Creative Process</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/some-notes-musings-on-the-creative-process/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Feb 2021 17:23:27 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WHTTO]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25955</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I’m pretty sure it will come as a surprise to NO one to hear that I spend a lot of my time thinking about creativity. I’m endlessly curious about what it is, how it works, what gets in the way of its full expression and what helps to keep us in creative flow. So today I took some time to make a few quick notes that cover much of what I know about creativity and to share them with you here. Creativity delights in play. It loves to make things up. It’s excited to see where your imagination can take you and is always encouraging to stretch yourself into uncharted realms and try things simply because they&#8217;re fun to do. Creativity doesn’t take itself seriously. Creativity actually likes change. It likes to try stuff just for the heck of it. It isn&#8217;t much interested in the tried and true. It likes to experiment and take risks. It gets bored easily and constantly wants to be making NEW things. It’s not concerned with safety. It’s willing to be uncertain. It’s fascinated by the process of venturing into the unknown. Originality is baked into the creative process. You don’t have to worry about [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25955</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Radical Self Acceptance: The Key To Creative Freedom + Flow</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/radical-self-acceptance-the-key-to-creative-freedom-flow/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Feb 2021 01:52:07 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WHTTO]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25944</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; &#160; When people come to work with me one of the first things I tell them is that this intuitive painting process is an exercise in Radical Self Acceptance. And everyone who hears that invitation nods their heads in agreement. I mean, who WOULDN’T give a huge thumbs up to the idea of accepting yourself totally and completely?  But liking the idea and putting it into practice can be two entirely different things. That gap between the idea and the practice shows up in full force when people begin to make original art from their own heart and soul, because nowhere is the adage “wherever you go, there you are” more true than when you’re painting intuitively. The truth of it is that you literally can ONLY paint like yourself. Your individuality will make itself known in a million different ways on your canvas from the color choices you make to the way you hold your brush. So who you are comes through loud and clear with each brushstroke. Every time you make art you are reveaing yourself to yourself in no uncertain terms.  And that moment of revelation is the point when people start talking about feeling stuck [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25944</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>The Art Of Choosing Yourself When The Stakes Are High</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-art-of-choosing-yourself-when-the-stakes-are-high/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2021 16:58:26 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25841</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[One of the things that I am deeply committed to in all the work that I do with the women in my life is to help them to recognize and eventually release old patterns of self sacrifice and always putting others needs ahead of their own, otherwise known as being the Good Girl. I’m actually so incredibly DONE with the Good Girl. What I really want instead is for us to claim our Vibrantly Powerful Woman self. I want us all to learn to feel good and unapologetic about being centered in ourselves, to respect and honor our own longings and desires and as I often tell my women students to practice being Needy, Greedy and Proud of it!! This is a skill that needs to be learned and the skill really comes down to choosing yourself… again and again and again. It takes a lot of courage to make that choice, because it flies against everything you have been taught by the dominant culture about what you need to do to guarantee safety and security and love. But I know from direct experience that the greatest source of all good things lies in deeply knowing who we are, valuing who [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25841</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Trusting In What Makes You Happy In 2021</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/trusting-in-what-makes-you-happy-in-2021/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 Jan 2021 20:02:59 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25822</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; As we leave 2020 behind and step into whatever 2021 has in store for us I’ve been thinking about happiness. &#160; In fact, the word that I have chosen to guide me through this next year is joy. 2020 was hard. There were many losses, some of them tragic, for so many folks. The sense of restriction and frustration around our daily lives has been overwhelming at times. &#160; But even with all of those difficult realities, there has been beauty and growth and incredible changes afoot. I have witnessed deeper healings and more powerful soul transformations in the people around me this past year than at just about any other time in my long career as a healer and guide. I know that joy and happiness is possible even during the most challenging of outer circumstances. And that the pathway to that joy is most often dependent on clearing away whatever ancient inner psychological debris is blocking our access to our hearts desires. &#160; Of course, the biggest thing we need to let go of at ANY time is our self doubt and belief that we’re simply not enough. We spend so much valuable time judging who we are. [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25822</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>INTO THE DEEP CREATIVE PROCESS WITH CHRIS ZYDEL</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/into-the-deep-creative-process-with-chris-zydel/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 30 Dec 2020 18:28:59 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25812</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Over my winter break I had the pleasure and the honor to be interviewed a couple of different times by some amazing creative women. And the first interview was with the wonderfully soulful and powerfully insightful psychotherapist and podcaster Rebecca Wong for her inspiring Podcast series called Connectfulness. She named this episode and our conversationINTO THE DEEP CREATIVE PROCESS WITH CHRIS ZYDELwhere we talk about creativity, vulnerability, the patriarchy, anger, archetypal energy, perfectionism, the inner critic, the mystery, creating from our hearts and bodies and all kinds of other juicy topics. So get yourself a cup of tea and make some time for yourself to settle in for this deep and nourishing soul chat.]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25812</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>What I Learned About Trusting The Process In 2020</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/what-i-learned-about-trusting-the-process-in-2020/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2020 02:41:25 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25807</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; As we approach the end of this Year Like No Other, I find myself ruminating on the issue of trust. Knowing what to trust and how to trust when the world has turned completely upside down, the road map of life as we have known it is gone and nothing is going to ever be the same again is a big question for a lot of us right now. I often joke with my students that my wild heart painting classes, workshops and retreats are not REALLY about painting. That painting is just the bait I use to sneakily lure people into doing some profound inner work using the promise of creative freedom and the deceptively simple tools of paint and brushes and paper. I know what trust and surrender looks like when I’m being creative. I know what it means to let go and allow the life force to take me wherever it wants me to go when I have a brush in my hand. But even though it IS the same process it still feels radically different and like SO MUCH MORE is at stake when it’s my actual life. Which is actually true. There IS more [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25807</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Things I Know For Sure In This Time Of Uncertainty</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/things-i-know-for-sure-in-this-time-of-uncertainty/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov 2020 02:21:26 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25752</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Things I know for sure in this time of uncertainty: Even in the best of times, life is a scary, confusing, overwhelming shitshow threaded through with tendrils of grief and disappointment and heartache. Even in the worst of times life is a beautiful, amazing, miraculous temple of overwhelming wonder threaded through with tendrils of courage and magic and outrageous joy. Love heals. Everything you love you will lose. Humans will make art NO MATTER WHAT. Becoming fully human is the only thing really worth doing. Curiosity is a superpower. Everything changes ALL the fucking time. Believing that we are in control of ANYTHING ever is our most treasured illusion. We’re all going to die. I love you. AND&#8230; One of the best ways I know how to BE with the uncertainty from a place of willingness and courage is to spend time in sacred community while making art from your heart and soul. So come and join me for two days of diving deep into whatever needs to be healed and held with exquisite compassion and radical self acceptance using the process of painting from your true and authentic self during my final online painting retreat of the year which is [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25752</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Generosity As A Portal To Creative Flow</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/generosity-as-a-portal-to-creative-flow/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Nov 2020 02:37:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25731</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Generosity and Creative Flow Helping people become more creatively expressive is my mission in life. And I&#8217;ve learned a few things about what works to keep your creativity, which is really another way of saying your life force, operating at its full and fulfilling capacity. There are just so MANY different ways to talk about what supports you to keep those creative fires burning bright. But there’s a particular way of being that I’m convinced gets regularly ignored and overlooked as a pipeline to creative flow. And that is the power of generosity. Generosity is an always available and renewable type of energy. It&#8217;s related to love and is one of the most abundant forces in the Universe. And the more you allow yourself to access it the more creative you will become. I have identified four portals into generosity that I have listed below. And since I can&#8217;t do anything and not have it become a workshop of some sort I&#8217;m going to invite you into this exploration as an experiential experience. My intention as you read this is to FEEL these different forms of generosity in your body instead of just something that you understand with your head.  [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25731</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Love Your Body. Free Your Creative Soul.</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/love-your-body-free-your-creative-soul/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2020 19:01:10 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25585</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I was working with a woman student of mine not too long ago and when I asked her how her painting process was going she said that she was having a hard time connecting with her creative source because she was obsessing about something else. She was going to be in a wedding soon and she was really worrying about her weight and how she was going to look in her bridesmaids dress. But all she really wanted to do was to be free to paint. And at that moment I got it&#8230; I saw more clearly than ever before how women&#8217;s preoccupation with our bodies gets in the way of fully accessing our creative energy. It drains our creative aliveness by keeping us focused on how we are seen from the outside. It keeps us in a state of constant judgment and anxiety about our worth based on our appearance. And the really sad thing is that we continue to foster it in each other by focusing on the size of our bodies. Every time I hear a woman saying to another woman &#8220;Wow, you look great!&#8221; because her sister lost a few pounds it makes me cringe. It&#8217;s [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25585</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>INTUITION and The Invitation To Adventure Into The Unknown</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/intuition-and-the-invitation-to-adventure-into-the-unknown/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 04 Oct 2020 03:02:54 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WHTTO]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25516</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Our rational, logical and linear mind is more limited than we are led to believe. &#160; There are many times in our lives when we need to make choices or decisions and just don’t have enough information from the visible world to take confident action.  And when that happens, we can end up feeling feel lost or in the dark or confused.  Out of desperation we often try to find our way out of the uncertainty by frantically searching for MORE left brain information, which only serves to intensify the confusion. Those places of desperation are usually a sign that we are headed into territory that is totally unfamiliar. And we need new and novel ways of accessing instructional wisdom to guide us.  And this is where our intuition can step in and save the day. Intuition is expressly designed to navigate the anxiety provoking and murky waters of the unknown. It can help us to maneuver that liminal space between where we are now and an unforseeable and oftentimes unfathomable future by showing us where the hidden breadcrumbs on the secret paths of potential lie.  Which all sounds great and dandy until we realize that to find this new [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25516</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Learning To Trust Your Intuition As Your Own Personal Oracle</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/learning-to-trust-your-intuition-as-your-own-personal-oracle/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/learning-to-trust-your-intuition-as-your-own-personal-oracle/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Oct 2020 23:16:45 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25421</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Greetings to my beloved Wild Heart Creative Community,   I have another round of my online intuitive painting class, Painting With Fire, coming up in a few more days and as much as that class is about claiming the freedom to make art in your own way, it’s just as much about reconnecting with your innate intuitive knowledge and wisdom. So my plan is to spend this week exploring some themes related to intuition.       And of course, to entice you to sign up for the class!!!     I’m also going to add a couple of writing prompts at the end of each article to encourage you to begin to explore your OWN relationship to your intuition.       One of the most weirdly mysterious ways that the intuition operates is in how it knows about things that are GOING to happen. And tries to prepare you for and sometimes even protect you from future eventualities.   To be honest, this is the place where I struggle with it the most. My intuition will warn me about things or make suggestions about something I should or shouldn’t do and I will blithely ignore it because the [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25421</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Your Intuition Is Your Portal To Your Inner Wisdom</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/your-intuition-is-your-portal-to-your-inner-wisdom/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Sep 2020 18:02:51 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WHTTO]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25382</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Greetings to my beloved Wild Heart Creative Community, I have another round of my online intuitive painting class, Painting With Fire, coming up in a little more than a week and as much as that class is about claiming the freedom to make art in your own way, it’s just as much about reconnecting with your innate intuitive knowledge and wisdom. So my plan is to spend this week exploring some themes related to intuition. And of course, to entice you to sign up for the class!!!  I’m also going to add a couple of writing prompts at the end of each article to encourage you to begin to explore your OWN relationship to your intuition.  In my last post I talked about how intuition communicates to us through our bodies and emotions. But today I wanted to explore how it also makes itself known through speaking to us in words and images as metaphor and story.  I was a practicing psychotherapist for many years, and from the very beginning of my practice I noticed an interesting phenomenon. I would be sitting with a client and listening to them deeply, focusing all of my attention on them and their inner [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25382</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Is Your Relationship With Your Intuition All You Want It To Be?</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/is-your-relationship-with-your-intuition-all-you-want-it-to-be/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 27 Sep 2020 01:07:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WHTTO]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25374</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; Greetings to my beloved Wild Heart Creative Community,   I have another round of my online intuitive painting class, Painting With Fire, coming up in a little more than a week and as much as that class is about claiming the freedom to make art in your own way, it’s just as much about reconnecting with your innate intuitive knowledge and wisdom. So my plan is to spend this week exploring some themes related to intuition.       And of course, to entice you to sign up for the class!!!     I’m also going to add a couple of writing prompts at the end of each article to encourage you to begin to explore your OWN relationship to your intuition.     Here’s the first installment. Enjoy!!       If you’ve been in my world for more than five minutes you know that I am a huge fan of intuition.     My Creative Juices Arts studio was also known as a Temple To The Intuition and the painting process I teach is called Wild Heart Intuitive Painting. I’m on the intuition bandwagon BIG time, madly waving pom-poms in service of honoring the process of intuition [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25374</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>The Practice Of Radical Self Acceptance During Times Of Radical Upheaval</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-practice-of-radical-self-acceptance-during-times-of-radical-upheaval/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Sep 2020 21:30:12 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=25370</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[There’s no right way or wrong way to respond to the tragedy and destruction, turmoil, crisis and devastation that is our world right now. Some of us are prayers. Some of us are doers. Some of us respond with startling immediacy. Some of us need time and space for the events to simmer and marinate before we can make a response. Some of us are passionately driven to make changes in the outer political system. Some of us are passionately driven to make art that shifts our inner perspective. Some of us are healers whose work it is to minister to and midwife the channels of grief and the broken hearts. Some of us are warriors crying out for justice and the fierce need to transform how things have always been done. If you are feeling outrage or anger or the need to fight back, open fully to your warrior spirit and help us to see how righteous action can be a powerful healing balm. If you are brought to your knees in grief and can’t get up off the floor for three days, know that you are crying for us all. If you are feeling joyful and grateful for [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">25370</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Some Tips On The Messy, Challenging Process Of Dismantling An Old Life</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/some-tips-on-the-messy-challenging-process-of-dismantling-an-old-life/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/some-tips-on-the-messy-challenging-process-of-dismantling-an-old-life/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2020 03:05:42 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=24929</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; I’m getting to the end of the dismantling process with my Creative Juices Arts Studio, ( i.e. The Mothership ) as the world around me goes through it’s own process of disassembling and breaking down. Which I am finding weirdly comforting, because I feel so much less alone and like I’m somehow part of a much larger process. Dismantling a studio, a way of being or a way of life means that something is coming to an end. An old form is breaking apart in order to make room for a new structure to emerge. And there’s something very universal about how this whole dismantling thing works. &#160; So I thought I would share with you some things I’m learning as I go through this rite of passage into the next phase of my life. And as we ALL go through that same passage together in one way or another. &#160; Dismantling is overwhelming.  At the beginning of the journey the job in front of you can take your breathe away with the enormity of what you have to do. It feels completely and utterly impossible and downright depressing. When Tim and I made the decision to close the [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24929</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>How Long Have YOU Been Putting Off Your Hunger To Create?</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-long-have-you-been-putting-off-your-hunger-to-create/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-long-have-you-been-putting-off-your-hunger-to-create/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2020 16:01:40 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=24799</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; I recently had a conversation with a beloved long time student who I hadn’t seen in awhile. We were reminiscing aout the first time we met about 15 years ago when a friend of hers brought her to one of my weeklong wild heart painting retreats. And she shared with me how coming to that workshop was like diving into a deep pool of creative waters that allowed her to quench a desperate thirst that she didn’t even know she had. She was the expressing the archetype of the starving artist, but not in the traditional sense of the artist who isn’t making enough money from selling their art. She was actually starving herself from making art and by coming to the retreat she fed that hunger to be creative again. For many moons she made a yearly pilgrimage to that same retreat, guaranteeing that she would feed her creative soul at least once every revolution around the sun. But then life got busy and she stopped coming to those workshops. And as we talked she revealed that she hadn’t been creative hardly at all since then. I asked her how she dealt with that creative longing and she [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24799</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Inner Critic Got You Down? Here’s Some Tips To Help You Find Creative Freedom Again</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/inner-critic-got-you-down-heres-some-tips-to-help-you-find-creative-freedom-again/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2020 23:39:52 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=24762</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In all my years of teaching the intuitive painting process and helping people get more creative, the biggest ongoing issue I’ve seen that keeps folks blocked, stuck and unable to be creatively free, is the inability to deal effectively with the inner voice of judgment, more commonly known as the inner critic. Or as I like to call that voice&#8230; Mr. Judgy. So here’s a few tips that I have learned over the years that can begin to help you get a handle on taming your own version of Mr. Judgy and find your way back to the land of creative joy. CREATING A CRITIC FREE ZONE You need to make a conscious choice to take the critic on, because it&#8217;s not going to just go away on its own. You can avoid confrontations with the critic but only by staying in the circle of limitation and safety that doesn&#8217;t challenge it. If you want to grow creatively you need to engage directly with the critic. There are two different archetypes you need to recruit to help you in your battle with the critic. The first archetype, the warrior, is the part of you that is capable of setting boundaries [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24762</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>The End Of An Era: Saying Goodbye To My Creative Juices Arts Oakland Studio</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-end-of-an-era-saying-goodbye-to-my-creative-juices-arts-oakland-studio/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Jul 2020 23:19:44 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=24670</guid>

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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24670</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Astro Wisdom: The Wild Planetary Death and Rebirth Ride Of 2020</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/astro-wisdom-the-wild-planetary-death-and-rebirth-ride-of-2020/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2020 04:57:32 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=24455</guid>

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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24455</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>A Compassionately Creative Guide To Doing Your Shadow Work Around Internalized Racism</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/a-compassionately-creative-guide-to-doing-your-shadow-work-around-internalized-racism/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Jun 2020 02:34:25 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=24383</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Greetings my beloved wild hearted creators, My creative mission this lifetime is devoting myself to the process of engaging in ongoing inner psychological, emotional and spiritual healing work.  And the core of that work is a commitment to facing my unconscious patterns which include my ancient trauma wounds, my inner critic, my limiting beliefs, my allegiance to the patriarchy, my resistance to necessary change and any way that I am still unwilling to be fully in my power by opening my heart to love and my mind to the truth. When people come to work with me in the role of client, mentee or student I also both support and challenge them to do the same. And there is a huge piece of inner work that, particularly as white people, we need to take on and deal with. And that is the work of addressing and healing our own racism.  These past couple of weeks have been a particulary virulent nightmare in the ongoing nightmare of racism that is black people’s daily experience. And if you are a black person or POC reading this my heart is breaking for you and your beloveds.  I join you in grieving and outrage [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24383</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>However You Are Responding To These Times Is MORE Than Enough</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/however-you-are-responding-to-these-times-is-more-than-enough/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 May 2020 06:37:45 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=24192</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Greetings my dear and wondrous creatives, Once again I am writing to you from this wild place of so much uncertainty and a radically transformed world. As always my heart goes out to you wherever you are physically, emotionally and spiritually and sending love and hope and healing your way. I’m feeling incredibly blessed on so many levels at this point, and one of those blessings is that I’m still able to do my work with my beloved students online. Yay for the internet!! Which means that I’m privy to their questions and concerns during this time. And there’s a couple of themes that are showing up on a regular basis. One is the feeling that somehow they aren’t doing something RIGHT! As if there even IS a correct way to meet a pandemic. But the uncertainty that we’re all experiencing in the outer world translates into feelings of uncertainty about how we’re responding to all the changes. So I just want to reassure you that ANYTHING you’re feeling or doing right now is absolutely ENOUGH! If you’re grieving, let yourself sob and wail until there’s no more tears to cry. If you have ZERO motivation to do anything, it’s [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24192</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Astro Wisdom: Taurus As An Invitation Into Sacred Embodiment</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/astro-wisdom-taurus-as-an-invitation-into-sacred-embodiment/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 25 Apr 2020 17:15:09 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=24139</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[As spring explodes in a riot of color and growth and the sheer exuberance of living things it heralds the season of the astrological sign of Taurus.  Taurus’s evolutionary purpose is to reconnect us to the sweetness of life on this luscious green and blue planet. To remind us that we are earth beings of flesh and blood and bone and that our bodies are holy vessels for channeling the precious gift of the life force. Taurus asks us to treat our bodies and the earth itself as sacred by honoring our physicality and paying attention to what it takes to maintain a true sense of balance and stability. And Taurus knows that cultivating equilibrium comes from getting back down to basics like eating when we’re hungry and resting when we’re tired. Taurus is a big fan of simplicity and ease and is suspicious of anything that gets too complicated. Taurus is an earth sign which means that she is grounded in the here and now, relishing each and every moment for what it is, without asking that it be anything more. She is allergic to change so takes her commitments very seriously and enters into relationship with a view towards [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24139</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Creative Wisdom: How And What To Trust When Your World Turns Upside Down</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/creative-wisdom-how-and-what-to-trust-when-your-world-turns-upside-down/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 23 Apr 2020 22:33:16 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=24063</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Greetings, Dearest Wild Heart Creator, I’m writing to you from my wildly colorful home, five weeks into the sheltering in place directive with another edition of Creativity In The Time Of Quarantine. I think of you all often and hope you are navigating this weird and rocky time by holding yourselves with as much kindness, compassion and creativity as humanly possible. And when that feels like it’s totally out of your reach, my wish for you is that you find time for a nap, a good cry and an entertaining show on Netflix. Like so many of you, my world has been turned upside down in the blink of an eye. There’s all the day to day stuff to figure out around things like food shopping, new ways of getting exercise and staying in contact with friends and family in a way that feels safe for me and my loved ones but also protects my larger community. This all takes a bit more thought and planning than it did in the past but ultimately feels doable. But what feels like it has less of a straightforward solution is my work and business life which has been impacted tremendously. If you’ve [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24063</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Wild Heart Teacher Spotlight: Becky Fowler</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/wild-heart-teacher-spotlight-becky-fowler/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2020 02:29:51 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=24126</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; At this point over 100 amazing women have gone through my Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program. I love them ALL so dearly and, like the proud creative mama that I am, want to show off their incredible wisdom, power and creative genius to the world. So I’ve created this series where once a month I will be showcasing them so that you can see what they’re up to and be inspired by their unique creative journeys. 1.Tell us a little bit about yourself and your creative journey? I am Becky Fowler. I was born in the UK, grew up in Australia and lived in Ireland for the last 18 years. I just recently moved from Ireland to Worcester, UK. I’m a qualified teacher and have worked for nearly 20 years in teaching and disability services. In 2018/19 I trained as an Intuitive Painting Facilitator with Chris Zydel and Tim Lajoie. I’ve always loved making art and being creative. As a child, I was always singing, playing imaginative games, drawing and using my creativity to entertain myself and those around me! I’ve always loved the magic of creating. Not knowing what’s going to appear and how it’s going to turn [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24126</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>The Space Between Worlds: Activating Intuition and Navigating The Unknown</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-space-between-worlds-activating-intuition-and-navigating-the-unknown/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Mar 2020 20:44:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=23773</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[It’s been almost two weeks since the shelter in place order was given to those of us in the San Francisco Bay Area. And my first response was to launch into a flurry of activity. Offering free Creative Courage webinars. Putting my weekly in-person classes on a digital platform. Even creating a new online weekend workshop experience called Into The Deep. And it was all necessary and felt really good and right to do. But in the back of my mind I was looking at this pandemic crisis as&#8230; well&#8230; a CRISIS. And it is. But most crises I have lived through have had an intense but relatively short trajectory. The adrenaline spikes. The crisis takes up all my attention and bandwidth. I’m mega tense and harried for awhile. But then the crisis ends and normal resumes itself. It might be a transformed normal that includes some serious experience of loss. But the white hot heat of fear and anxiety and simply being stressed calms down to a certain extent. It’s slowly dawning on me that this is not the case with where we are now. The thing about being in crisis is that it throws everything known and familiar [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23773</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Astro Wisdom: Uranus In Taurus As Harbinger Of Radical and Unsettling Change</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/astro-wisdom-uranus-in-taurus-as-harbinger-of-radical-and-unsettling-change/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Mar 2020 16:58:20 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=23749</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I know that a LOT of us are feeling over the top, uber excruciating anxiety lately because of all the incredible upheaval and turmoil on our planet right now. And some folks have asked what might be going on astrologically to activate these turbulent times. So here’s my astro two cents on the matter. The planet Uranus is now the sign of Taurus and has been there since last year. Uranus is the planet that shakes everything up and DEMANDS radical, uncompromising change. Like NOW. And Uranus rules the energy of SUDDEN change. Everything turns upside down in the blink of an eye. You never see it coming. It creates a jarring sense of instability. Like there’s no solid ground to stand on anymore. When Uranus is in the house, we’re living on the fault line and the earthquake is definitely happening. It’s akin to the Tower card in the Tarot. The sign of Taurus symbolizes our basic sense of security. It’s the earth. It’s money. It’s our resources. It’s food and shelter. It’s our material circumstances. It’s our animal body. It&#8217;s about what we value and what we think is worhwhile. It’s what allows us to be grounded and [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23749</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>From My Heart To Yours In This Time Of Uncertainty</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/from-my-heart-to-yours-in-this-time-of-uncertainty/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Mar 2020 01:48:05 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=23745</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; Greetings to my wondrous and wild hearted creative clan, Well, it’s been almost a week since we have been in voluntary quarantine and sheltering in place here in the San Francisco, Bay Area due to the Corona Virus.  And among other things it still seems totally surreal. I KNOW it’s happening in my mind and I’m acting accordingly by staying home, stocking up on essential supplies and social distancing with Tim. But my heart and emotions are having a hard time coming to terms with this new way of being in the world. It’s just hard to believe on a feeling level that it’s actually real. It’s confusing, because on some level, as long as I’m hunkered down at home, everything looks the same. But as soon as I leave the house for walks around the neighborhood or the one time I went to the grocery store, the difference in the outer world energy is palpable. For those of you who don’t live in the San Francisco Bay Area, the pace of life here is intense and often frenetic. The traffic and the high cost of living is a source of constant stress, parking is a nightmare, and people [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23745</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Creative Courage: The Art Of Staying Centered In Challenging Times</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/creative-courage-the-art-of-staying-centered-in-challenging-times/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2020 02:35:23 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=23398</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; Greetings to my wondrous and wild hearted creative clan, Whoa! What a harrowing roller coaster of a ride this past week has been! Trying to navigate our way through this scary tangled thicket of the CoronaVirus and all the ramifications it presents has got all of us more than a little jangled and disoriented. And I want to say that my heart goes out to ALL of us as we try and make our way through a world that has turned upside down seemingly overnight. First of all, I want to send a ton of love to any of you who are actually sick with anything at all this week. It’s totally nervewracking to NOT know what’s going on and when any cough or sneeze can turn your lizard brain onto high alert. And to all of you who are being impacted financially by losing business ( if you’re self employed), losing wages and tips if you work in a service industry like a bar or restaurant, and of course to all the artists, musicians, teachers, and workshop leaders who rely on working in person with groups of folks for your livelihood, I am holding you and your nervous system in [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23398</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Why Having A Creative Community Is Essential To Knowing What You Want</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/why-having-a-creative-community-is-essential-to-knowing-what-you-want/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Feb 2020 06:36:40 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=23209</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I just recently returned from holding my first creativity retreat of 2020 at Bodega Sky Ranch and was reminded once again why I have made retreats the cornerstone of my work. The women… and it’s almost always women… who attend my events come for many reasons. At this retreat two women were there to process grief from the loss of long term and beloved partners, one woman was contemplating a potential cross-country move, someone else had questions about her choice of livelihood and another one was healing from a major and unexpected health crises. But one thing they had in common was that they were at powerful transition points in their lives and were looking to answer the question of how to navigate this time of dizzying change by identifying potential next steps. So the spontaneous theme that arose during this retreat was related to the issue of desire. The question that kept arising over and over again was what do I want? How do I identify what I want? And even more importantly how do I get in the way of knowing what I want and then acting on that desire? This issue was played out in the studio [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23209</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Wild Heart Teacher Spotlight: Diana Fisch</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/wild-heart-teacher-spotlight-diana-fisch/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/wild-heart-teacher-spotlight-diana-fisch/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 31 Jan 2020 16:18:12 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=23154</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[At this point over 98 amazing women have gone through my Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program. I love them ALL so dearly and, like the proud creative mama that I am, want to show off their incredible wisdom, power and creative genius to the world. So I’ve created this series where once a month I will be showcasing them so that you can see what they’re up to and be inspired by their unique creative journeys. 1.Tell us a little bit about yourself and your creative journey? I&#8217;m a bit of a mountain magpie, collecting shiny sparkly art materials throughout my life.  I have lived and traveled all around the world and have acquired trinkets of  jewelry, ribbon, pastels, crayons, watercolors, and beautiful blank sheets of weighted paper. This collection of possibilities were evidence of my deep longing to create. I had dreamt of using these materials but found that I did not trust myself, and kept searching and feeling inadequate.  With my nose pressed to the window, outside of this sacred realm of creation, I envied others experiencing the joy of painting and drawing and other artistic expressions. I dabbled in drawing, feeling I needed to go through a logical progression before I would allow myself to explore color. [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23154</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>14 Really Wrong Myths Around What It Means To Be Creative</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/14-really-wrong-myths-around-what-it-means-to-be-creative-2/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jan 2020 07:31:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=23150</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; 1.) Only certain special highly gifted people are creative. 2.) Creativity is a rarefied quality which you are either born with or not. 3.) Not everyone is creative. 4.) Creativity needs to be learned or taught. 5.) Creativity can be graded or quantified. 6.) Creativity is somehow intrinsically related to things like making money or becoming famous. 7.) Anything you create has to be 100% original, otherwise it’s not truly creative. 8.) Creativity is only related to traditional art forms like painting, or writing or sculpture or dance. 9.) You can’t be creative as an engineer or a mathematician or an entrepreneur. 10.) Without external validation ( I.e. money or fame) your creativity is not very worthwhile. 11.) A creative product has much more value than the creative process. 12.) Being creative also means you are emotionally unstable, ungrounded and not to be trusted. 13.) Creativity and creative techniques are the same thing. 14.) Creativity is dangerous and will change your life forever… OK… come to think of it&#8230; maybe that last one is actually true.]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23150</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>How To Be Creative, Feed Your Soul, + Love Your Life In 2020</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-to-be-creative-feed-your-soul-love-your-life-in-2020/</link>
					<comments>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-to-be-creative-feed-your-soul-love-your-life-in-2020/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 Jan 2020 22:59:53 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=23146</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[If you are part of my Creative Juices Arts community either by having painted with me in a class or on retreat or even just reading this blog, it’s a pretty good bet that creativity is high on your list of priorities. But even when that’s the case, it can still be incredibly challenging to put our creative wishes and desires at the center of our lives and give them the time and energy that our heart is longing for. And the reason for that is because we spend so much valuable time judging those desires. And in the process judging who we are. We are constantly finding fault with what we want. We question what we like and doubt what we need. What don’t trust what would make us happy. And dismiss as not worthwhile what comes easily and effortlessly to us. Forgetting that all those things are major clues about who we are intended to be in this life. I had a woman come to me for a creative soul coaching session and she was the bemoaning the fact that she didn’t know who she was. And couldn’t even begin to figure out how to discover herself. So [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23146</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Wild Heart Intuitive Painting Online with Chris Zydel</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/wild-heart-intuitive-painting-online-with-chris-zydel/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Jan 2020 20:35:18 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=23142</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Come and join me for an intimate and powerful experience of intuitive painting by being part of a sacred creative circle of courageous wild hearted painters ONLINE! I have three different opportunities available for you to paint with me in this online format. And each of them allows you to participate with me and the Wild Heart Expressive Arts intuitive painting process in a way that works for YOU!! &#160; WHERE: In the comfort of your own home. All you need is access to wi-fi and a computer! WHEN: Introductory Class: Friday January 17,2020 10:00 AM -12:30 PM PDT $50 Four Week Class Series: Fridays January 24-February 21st 10:00 AM- 12:30 PM PDT $200 One Day Painting Intensive: Saturday,February 22nd 10:00 AM-5:00 PM PDT $100 Click on the yellow button below for more info and to register: &#160;]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23142</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been: Reflections On A Decade Of Creative Transformation</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/what-a-long-strange-trip-its-been-reflections-on-a-decade-of-creative-transformation/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Dec 2019 23:28:01 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=23060</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[It’s that time of the year when everything is in that space of being in-between. The old year is not quite over. The new one has not yet begun. Normal routines are on a kind of hiatus. There’s a feeling of pause. And waiting. And that period of pause can bring with it a turning inward. A time of reflection. Looking back more than looking forward. Noticing where we’ve been as a necessary prelude before jumping into where we’re going.  And realizing that this is not only the end of a year, but the end of an entire decade. 10 years of a life full of so many things.  And even though on one level, it’s only a number, it does feel like something has been wrapped up. Some process has been completed. And it’s time for something new. Even if I don’t know exactly what that means. When I look back at the beginning of this decade I see myself at 57 years old, which is a time when a lot of folks are thinking about winding down. Retirement is maybe a few years out but it’s on the horizon. But for me it felt like I was on [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23060</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Why I Don’t Believe In The Whole Idea Of Bad Art</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/why-i-dont-believe-in-the-whole-idea-of-bad-art/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Dec 2019 17:08:18 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=22986</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; When I was a kid I absolutely adored Christmas. I loved the twinkly lights and the schmaltzy music but most of all I loved that sense of anticipation and wonder and surprise. My family and I lived in a rowhouse that had three stories and two flights of stairs. On Christmas morning I would wake up at some ungodly early hour and  sneak down those stairs with my siblings trailing behind me (I was the big sister) until we reached the living room where the tree was set up and the wrapped Christmas packages were piled high. It was always a breathtaking moment to walk into this normally ordinary room and find it transformed into something so magical and full of treasures. The studio where I hold my weekly classes in Oakland, CA is in a huge, old Victorian house that is very cool and charming. Over the time I’ve been there I’ve transformed most of the house into art space in one way or another. But years ago I lived there with my husband. The house has two stories so the upstairs was our living space and the downstairs was the painting studio. It’s like Christmas every day [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">22986</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Why We Need Your Creativity Now More Than Ever</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/why-we-need-your-creativity-now-more-than-ever/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Dec 2019 21:57:16 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=22922</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Whether we like it or not, we humans are on the verge of a huge transformation. We are at a collective crossroads where a lot of things need to change in terms of what we think and believe and how we live our lives on a day to day basis. And most of what has to die and be reborn are social and cultural systems that have been in place for hundreds if not thousands of years that are challenging to our very survival. The patriarchy needs to be dismantled&#8230; pronto. Late stage capitalism is eating us alive. White supremacy and racism are at the roots of terrible injustices that undermine our very humanity. The birds and trees and insects and animals are crying out to us to heal the planet so that they can flourish again. So that WE can flourish again. This call to change is an invitation to think outside of ALL the boxes and to access our capacity to be wildly creative. But like all transformations it will be messy and chaotic and frustrating. It will be an exercise of groping around in the dark and lurching forward then backwards then sideways and forward again. It [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">22922</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>How Women’s Creativity Circles Can Save Your Life</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-womens-creativity-circles-can-save-your-life/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Dec 2019 01:50:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=22894</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; I just returned from another fabulous week with my current cohort of Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training students and the creative energy was completely OFF THE CHARTS! And being part of yet another magical healing circle of women made me think about what those circles mean to me. I spend a great deal of my life sitting in these circles. And I have done that consistently for more than 40 years. At this point I do so primarily in the role of leader, facilitator and guide. But in the beginning of my personal healing journey, I sat in many of those circles as a participant before I started facilitating my own. And those early circles literally saved my life. So I knew first hand the healing power that came from being part of a group of women who have gathered together with the intention to practice self love, to become more self aware, to develop their relationship with their intuition, to regain their divine feminine power, to speak their truth, to reclaim their creativity and to become more fully themselves. A typical meeting unfolds with all of the women sitting in a literal circle around a central focal [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">22894</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>The Pain In The Ass Truth About Creative Dream Manifestation</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-pain-in-the-ass-truth-about-creative-dream-manifestation/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Nov 2019 15:11:30 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=22774</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I have been very fortunate to have lived a life full of my own creations. It’s the way of the artist and I’m grateful every day that I chose that path. But there’s a myth floating around out there in the dominant culture collective brain that says choosing to do the work that has heart and meaning for you is easy. That once you make the decision to follow the promptings of your soul your dreams will unfold with minimal stress and effort. Your art will flow out of you in one continuous stream of unfettered delight. Money will joyfully fly into your open and waiting arms. Your book will get published on the first try. Your workshops will fill as soon as you put the word out. Your art will sell effortlessly. You will get all of the recognition you know you deserve just by announcing that you are now open for business. But I’m here to tell you that is a line of total, unadulterated bullshit. That myth is just a tall tale from people who have either never really done the work of manifestation or who are trying to sell you on that story of ease so [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">22774</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>The Courage To Be Real When You Don’t Know What’s Next</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/the-courage-to-be-real-when-you-dont-know-whats-next/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Oct 2019 21:50:50 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=22719</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[My work in the world has everything to do with cultivating freedom of expression. I have devoted my life to spreading the gospel of trusting in your ability to connect with your deepest intuitive wisdom through the creative process. And finding personal and collective liberation through the power of making art in an authentic and soulful manner. No matter WHAT curveballs life may throw your way. And boy oh BOY have these last few months ever challenged me around my confidence and connection with these core precepts. I’ve been SO thrown off my center by the avalanche of continual plot twists of upheaval and disruption in the outer world that it sometimes feels like I’ve forgotten everything that I used to know about grounding and faith and creative healing. And I figure if this is happening to me, I’m sure that it’s happening for a bunch of you out there in my beloved creative community. For example, It’s been hard for me to write lately which is something unusual for me. I love writing with a holy passion. Just as I love all forms of creative self expression. But the past few weeks the words have NOT been flowing. I feel kind [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">22719</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Some Thoughts On Women and Power</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/some-thoughts-on-women-and-power/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Oct 2019 16:19:34 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=22703</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[A couple of years ago I was interviewed by my dear friend Theresa Reed, otherwise known as The Tarot Lady in honor of International Woman’s Day. The topic was Women and Power&#8230; a topic for which I have a very deep passion. &#160; That passion is expressed through engaging with my own power but also in supporting other women to joyfully claim theirs. I offer that support in ALL my work but there’s a particular emphasis on claiming divine feminine power in my Wild Heart Expressive Arts Teacher Training Program.  What does it mean to be a powerful woman? &#160; Creativity is my business. And my life is devoted to understanding and developing a positive relationship to the creative process. I love making art. But what I love even more is feeling like I am my canvas and that my LIFE is a work of art. So for me, being a powerful woman is related to knowing that I am the creator of my own life. It’s that deeply intoxicating experience of making decisions based on what I want. What I choose. What matters to me. And the more those choices come from a place of truly resonating with my superpowers and [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">22703</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>At The Core Of All Resistance Is a Deep Longing</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/at-the-core-of-all-resistance-is-a-deep-longing/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Sep 2019 15:04:22 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Process]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=22625</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; At the core of all resistance is a deep longing. &#160; There’s something that you want. And you want it bad. But you’re afraid to let yourself really want it because you imagine that you will be disappointed. You don’t think you can bear the disappointment. You can’t see anything on the horizon BUT disappointment. &#160; So you dig in your heels in terms of taking any action at all. Resistance is another face of fear and fear always wants us to keep still. To stay where we are. To remain forever frozen, paralyzed and unmoving. &#160; Resistance is incredibly sneaky. It doesn’t always announce itself as resistance &#8211; it likes to hide and camouflage itself behind “reasons&#8221; to not go after your dream right now. Reasons like: I’m too busy, I don’t have enough money, I don’t have enough time, I’m too old, I’m too young, I don’t know how, I don’t have enough training or talent, I’m not ready, I just CAN’T, I need more clarity, I’ve always been this way, I’m not good enough yet. Of course, those “reasons” are always diversions obscuring a deeper truth. Which is that there’s no such thing as ready. There’s [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">22625</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>How To Know If You’re REALLY In The Flow</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/how-to-know-if-youre-really-in-the-flow/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Sep 2019 00:52:30 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=22617</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[In terms of the creative process everyone always talks about wanting to be in the flow. But the thing that everyone forgets is that there are many different KINDS of flow. And the least popular experience of flow is the one where it feels like you are trying to maneuver your way around the boulders and eddies of a class five rapids without crashing your kayak on the rocks below. But that is OFTEN how flow works. Being IN the flow means surrender. And surrender looks like opening yourself to anything and everything that presents itself to you and allowing spirit to lead the way. Flow doesn’t need for you to be serene and accepting or even believing in it. You can be as cranky as you need to be and doubting every step of the way. But flow does demand that you continually show up and let the elemental energies flip you over and turn you around. And hopefully gain a bit more trust in the mysterious unfolding of life in the process.]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">22617</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Releasing The Stuff That Holds You Back From Shining Your Creative Light</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/releasing-the-stuff-that-holds-you-back-from-shining-your-creative-light/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Sep 2019 06:04:06 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=22573</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[&#160; I’m still on a MAJOR high from being on retreat with my totally A-MAZING teacher training students a few weeks ago. And thinking about how doing this powerful inner work using creativity and the expressive arts is an invitation and imperative to shine our most glorious shiny selves. Sadly, most of us have a lot of dirt and grime occluding that shine. And a TON of that dirt is being brought to the surface during this time of collective transformation. Which means we need a serious dose of spiritual Windex to clear away the crap. This crap is personal. It’s collective. It’s systemic. It’s an outgrowth of the patriarchy and misogyny and racism. It’s old. It’s been hanging around for WAY too long. And once you make the choice to look this stuff straight in the eye you are saying in no uncertain terms it’s TIME FOR THIS SHIT TO GO! However, we all have some serious blindspots in our psychological makeup. Personal stuff. Family allegiances. Trauma based lineages. Political attitudes. And these blind spots are called the shadow. The shadow by it’s very nature is in the dark. We literally can’t see it. Another word for the shadow is [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">22573</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Wild Heart Teacher Spotlight: Amy Alaman</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/wild-heart-teacher-spotlight-amy-alaman/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Sep 2019 16:35:21 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Teacher Spotlight]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=22470</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[What I am most excited about is just sharing this process with other women, especially other black women and people who are often left out of wellness and healing practices. This process of reconnecting with self through art has been the greatest gift in my life, and I am just so grateful to get to share it with others. With so much violence and negativity happening in the world, having spaces to just exist with ourselves and be in community with others is more important than ever.]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">22470</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Don’t Let The Patriarchy Stop YOU From Being The JOYFULLY Too Much Woman</title>
		<link>https://creativejuicesarts.com/blog/dont-let-the-patriarchy-stop-you-from-being-the-joyfully-too-much-woman/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Zydel]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Aug 2019 01:44:57 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[WHTTO]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://creativejuicesarts.com/?p=22445</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I was recently in the middle of one of my teacher training retreats and something I so enjoy about working with students at this deeper level are the powerful and energizing conversations we have as a community about art, life, creativity and the intuitive painting process.  During a particularly lively discussion we focused on how OFTEN we get non-stop bullied, coerced, controlled and pushed around by that part of us that I refer to as the Judging Mind. And how vigilant we have to be to even notice that it’s happening, much less stop it from exercising so much power over our creative selves. Now this is something that I talk about ALL the time. It’s not a novel concept. In fact there’s not much that I teach that is actually new. But even though these concepts and ideas seem obvious and self evident and something that EVERYONE agrees with ( no one says&#8230; YEAH.. I absolutely LOVE being bossed around and beaten up by my inner critic)&#8230; it is incredibly difficult to actually change our relationship to it and NOT allow it to run the show. One of the primary and often invisible reasons the judging voice is SO [&#8230;]]]></description>
		
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