Everything is still; all I can hear is the crackle of the log burner and the birds in the bare winter trees. I’m relishing this moment of winter stillness after what feels to me like a very long run of storms, both in a literal and metaphorical sense.
In my last post, I promised to explain more in-depth the intention behind my Arts Council England funded Re-wilding Rachel project, and, what I mean by ‘Mythopoeic’. I generally try to avoid using more academic language in speaking of my art, as I find it creates an unnecessary barrier. However with the use of the word ‘mythopoeic’ it encapsulates something which I wish to explore and share with you.
Mythopoeic?
Tldr: Life is magic and full of enchantment.
Mythopoeic to me, means seeing and relating to the world in an imaginative and creative way- seeing this earth as animate, conscious and alive. As an enchanted place of magic, mystery, awe and wonder. A place where the wind whispers in its own secret language, the trees talk to each other and to us, and the rivers and brooks are storytellers carrying tales from long ago. A place where that curious little robin might be a fairy in disguise or only its beautiful self, the hare whose wild eye catches ours might be inviting us to bridge between the worlds, or, that deer peering out in the understory in the woods might just have a message for us.
This is the enchanted way in which I see the world, and have done (mainly secretly) since I was a child. This project allows me to explore this magical and enchanted way of seeing the world at a deeper level and somehow invites and gives me permission to explore and share my vision of the world in a new way.
Intention
Tldr: The major intent for this year of Re-wilding Rachel is to find out what it is to thrive as an artist, come into my full creative expression and bring that into the world in the best possible way.
My intent for this project is to use the gift of space and time to nurture my practice as an artist, to give my creative soul to a space to breathe, explore, try new things and follow the alignment of my imagination, intellect, heart and intuition. Without the pressures of commercial survival breathing down my neck on such an intense a daily basis as they have the last few years.
My dream is to make work that weaves a thread of an enchanted/mythopoeic way of seeing the world into the culture, a way of seeing that is a kind of medicine for the mindset of disconnection from the natural world that pervades a lot of our culture. For that I need to weave my own threads back into connection with the natural world. So i’m curious to find out what I create when I intentionally spend time in nature, connecting with and contemplating a mythopoeic vision. I’d like to see what happens when I share this journey with you, with as much creativity and candour as I can muster. It’s a quest to find out what happens when I put my whole energy and focus on channeling my creativity, and discover what can be brought into the world through that, and what unforeseen opportunities will arise?
I have a huge vision for how I’d like my art and creativity to be in the world, what happens if I fully commit to realising that vision? With full freedom, No holding back, no hiding and no allowing my inner critic to dampen my creative spirit and sharing.
When I was having my unintentionally nomadic, and occasionally slightly homeless time during the pandemic, the question that helped turn what was a rather scary time into a playful adventure was ‘Where will I be by Christmas?’. I had to fully let go of control and let my intuition and the universe guide me. I found my way to a better situation in life that I ever could of imagined. So now my playful question to wonder to myself is ‘Where will I be in my artistic practice by Christmas?’ And who knows the answer to that question really - I certainly don’t, but I’m curious about the journey and I’ll put everything I can into practicing my art to see it become a beautiful answer.
A Quest
Tldr: I’ve set myself a 74 day creative quest.
To give myself a way in to the project, I’ve set myself a challenge for the next 74 days. My intent for this is that I will live each day as a quest to discover what it’s like to come into full creative expression, to prioritise spending time and energy art-ing, painting, drawing, writing, video-ing and the other media that calls to me.
The reason for this is, I’ve been so taken up with survival the last few years, that I feel I’ve barely had time to make much new work. So the first thing I feel to do is let myself play, find my way into my practice and see what happens.
What’s the plan?
Tldr: I have a bit of a map
I must admit, I’ve felt a bit lost for a while trying to figure out the way in to this project, until I came up with the 74 day challenge. However on reflection I actually already have the map which I created when I visioned and proposed the project last year, and the road map of the cycle of the seasons. Here are a few of the important elements of what i’ll be doing:
Nature Immersion - As part of this project I will deepen my connection to the natural world by intentionally immersing myself in nature for 11 days spread throughout the year. Both solo and with companions to see what arises in my art through that practice. I’m feeling that these will likely take place more comfortably in the summer months, however I will do one or two in the tale end of winter and the autumn.
Coaching - For my year of developing my creative practice I have the support of a lovely coach Manda Graham. One of the things she invited me to do before our first session was to write the most inspiring vision for my art that I can imagine. This vision is what I will use as a guidepost in my decisions along the way this year.
Collaboration - In my proposal I set the intent to work with collaborators, some rather interesting possibilities have arisen that aren’t ready to share yet, but seeds are growing in the background. When they’re looking ready to share I’ll tell you all about them.
Refocusing - I have also taken the decision to step back from a lot of the smaller events I’ve become so used to doing. I’m choosing to focus only on the larger ones and try some new ones which feels like a refreshing change.
Wheel of the year - I’m interested in the pagan and druid way of seeing the cycle of the seasons. So for me it’s interesting that this project runs from just after Samhain (Halloween) to just after Samhain. A full circle of the year. From the period between Samhain and Winter Solstice which I like to call the dreaming womb of the next year of 2023 to that of 2024. I’m feeling I will use the wheel of the year as a guide for this project which I will write about in future blog posts.
Sharing - Sharing the journey with you through writing, video, social media is an important part of the project. I’m nervous and curious about how sharing more of my authentic voice through writing and video will go, and this will likely be a big part of the personal growth aspect of the project.
So, here’s to new beginnings! I hope you’ll share this journey with me. In my next blog I will write about my journey with this project so far, what happened when I tried my first attempt at the nature immersion, and, how not listening to the signs ended up with me in a&e with concussion and what I learned from that! I’d love to hear your thoughts so if anything resonated with you in this post do let me know in the comments!