Creative Resilience Day 14: Ground the five senses

Finding the now when the world feels heavy

Welcome to day 14 of 31 Days of Creative Resilience, a monthlong journey where we’ll gently tend to our creativity ❄️

Today's post is offered to all subscribers as we navigate challenging times together. The full month of daily prompts and access to community comments is exclusive to paid subscribers of SEE YOU.

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Two weeks into our monthlong challenge, I am ready to share that I’ve been struggling. I am really enjoying these prompts and weekly framework that I have been sharing with you every day, but I am also holding immense grief for my home community in Los Angeles.

I spent my entire childhood living five minutes from one of the LA wildfires, and my parents still live there today. By sheer luck of the Santa Ana winds blowing in the opposite direction, they have been able to remain in their home safely. I am so grateful, and still so worried.

So many people have lost their living and working spaces. Not just rich celebrities, but many artists and working class folks too. Rebuilding their lives will take so much work, and any support helps.

I’ve donated to help the owners of Fugu Fugu Press, a letterpress print shop in Altadena, as well as Grief and Hope, a volunteer group distributing funds to LA art workers who’ve lost their homes. Further resources to donate funds include this master spreadsheet of GoFundMe campaigns and this small business relief and resources list.

Natural disasters happen constantly around the world these days; this one just happens to hit close to home. I am easily overwhelmed and sensitive to news and social media, and yet to turn a blind eye to protect myself is also closing off my heart to real pain and need. There’s only so much I can do as an individual, yet as an individual I also must do and share what I can.

In times like these, returning to our senses can help us anchor in the present and find our way forward. Today's exercise invites us to notice what's right here.

Today’s prompt:

On your page, document the below through writing or drawing. These can be quick notes or detailed illustrations—there’s no wrong way to do the exercise.

• 5 things you can see

• 4 things you can touch or feel

• 3 things you can hear

• 2 things you can smell

• 1 thing you can taste

This exercise is adopted from the 5-4-3-2-1 mindfulness technique to manage anxiety. You can use it anytime you feel anxious or overwhelmed, whether in your creative practice or daily life, acknowledging the items in your head as you take slow, deep breaths.

My response

I see a visual timer, a taper candle in its candlestick, a paint palette, a monstera leaf, and a long reach stapler. I touch my wireless mouse, my office chair, my paint rag, and my water bottle. I hear a car horn, a progressive house mix, and swishing paint water. I smell a tomato candle and earl grey tea. I taste bergamot oil.

Share & connect

Comments are open to all if you’d like to share:

• Resources and mutual aid for those affected by LA wildfires

• Thoughts on finding balance between staying informed and protecting your energy

• Responses to today’s grounding prompt (to share images, upload to a hosting service such as Imgur)

I appreciate you all and wishing you a tender day.