Lindsay Kolasa

“…”I love my creative life more than I love cooperating with my own oppression.” If we were to abuse our children, Social Services would show up at our doors. If we were to abuse our pets, the Humane Society would come to take us away. But there is no Creativity Patrol or Soul Police if we insist on starving our own souls. There is just us.”
~ Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run with Wolves

When I ran the apothecary for 5 years not too long ago, my work and my life were filled with creative energy. I gardened, I foraged, I gave offerings to the earth, I made medicine, and I spoke and vocalized my views on health, healing, and the beauty and power of plant medicine.

I will continue to do those things. But, I noticed something has shifted in me. It happened when I became pregnant. All of a sudden, materials…textiles…colors…textures…they all began to mesmerize me in ways I had never experienced before. Some other layer of creativity awakened in my being.

For the past three or so years I have been following the bread crumbs along this trail of self-discovery and creativity and it has been fruitful. I’m engaging with the land in yet another way…to create for the sake of beauty. It’s with this handmade recognition of the gifts of plants and the gifts of each place that my curiosity has been held.

It’s also a great way to share the world with my little one who also delights in making, creating, and crafting.

Even though the world flows past me like a maddened, mechanical river…I have decided to slow down and touch, taste, and smell my way through this wondrous world. I am not as tuned in as I would like to be…but I am getting there and the earth is patient with me. A gentle teacher, she is showing me how to take something right from the hem of her glorious dress and fashion cordage, or a basket, medicine, or pigment.

Place-based art is something I am intrigued by and something I have surrounded myself with the past few years. I desire to understand the offerings and gifts of a place and infuse my spirit with its spirit in the act of creating and mean-making.

In this blog post I’ll share some of the crafts I have been up to and what’s in store.

“Being with real people who warm us, who endorse and exalt our creativity, is essential to the flow of creative life… …Every woman is entitled to an Allelujia Chorus.” ~ Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run with the Wolves