Issue No. 2

“You are not a drop in the ocean,
you are the ocean in a drop.”

-Rumi

In this Issue…

Throughout the month of January, we have invited you to consider how you view your sense of self as an individual being in the world and larger cosmos. One of the reasons for this is that it is difficult to fully understand the story that you are telling about yourself in relationship to others without first understanding it in relation to the self.

In this week’s Member Zine, we are focusing on deepening into this theme by offering some examples of how our circle connections and supportive community is a place for exploring our identity within the realm of interconnectedness.  We will also be sharing a mashup of the creative art journaling our members are engaging with this month, and a fun art journaling activity to support the reframing of our usual ways of thinking and talking about ourselves!

Use the jumplinks below 👇🏽 to Choose Your Own Adventure

Mixed Media Art Journal #WIP by Musea Member Kimarie Hoard

Community Highlights

Imprensiva – Examining ‘Self’

The Cognitive Bias codex shared by Jonathan at the January 12 Imprensiva Salon

The topic of the Self was explored from a Quantum perspective during last week’s Imprensiva Salon with Musea’s Co-Founders Shiloh Sophia & Jonathan McCloud. They spoke about the process of Individuation both from a psychological and a metaphysical point of view and lead members in a Metacognitive Drawing exercise. The Salon is for Museum Members, but the following quotes and images give a sense of the flow of the highly engaging conversation.

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

~ Anais Nin (As quoted by Jonathan)

One of our Members, Dawn Karoloides shared a wonderful example of the Metacognitive drawing activity from this salon, along with a very interesting description revealing her fascination with the inquiries offered, and a noted connection to our month-long exploration of IDENTITY.

Member Art Journaling Mashup!

“Art is not about thinking something up.
It is the opposite – getting something down.”

~ Julia Camerom, Author of the Artist’s Way

Art journal page from Milagros

“When I consider IDENTITY in the context of this quote from Julia Cameron, it brings up a new and important inquiry for me… What can you put down that will allow you to fully engage as YOU in the world?” 

~Milagros Suriano-Rivera

“Cafe with my artist-hubby. We are contemplating the Muse, our personal potentials, sustainability in gardening and creative living, and images of the solar punk genre. #muselife #Cafe” ~ Rachel Payne

“Maverick journal ready to go. Navigator underway!” ~ Karen Maunder

“Grounding Page. Cosmic Smashbooking” ~ Pamela Llano

“Sometimes we must “burn through” our stored emotional pain before we can express our unique truth. Come to the Fire, reforge, reform, rebirth & rise. ….and Still I Rise Up.” ~ Phyllis Taylor

Creative Journaling

with

Jessica Richmond

CoCurator and Magazine Lead

How do we actually identify ourselves with words? Many of us, especially women, often first describe “ourselves” by our professions or as a role that we have in relation to others. But how often do we pause to think about what these descriptors connote to us about our own sense of self? What would it feel like to describe your “Self” with more intention? Let’s give it a try…

Creative Journaling Activity: Spend five minutes journaling about a part of your Self Identity in a way that you might not normally do. Focusing on giving a much more descriptive version of you.

For example, instead of writing that you are a “Mother”- explore how it feels to describe yourself instead as an OG life coach, a supporter of dreams, an endless dispenser of love and nurturance, an entertainment and activities director,  etc.

Then spend a few minutes journaling about how this feels. Pay close attention to this as a somatic experience in your body – what does it FEEL like to think of your identity in this more expansive way?

If you a Musea Member, share with us what you discover in the iMusea App using #membermusings!

Red Madonna #wip by Guild Member, Mary Ann Matthys

Member Letter

 The Power of Women Supporting Women – A Creative Conversation

“This is something magical that happens with us – we all have things going on that we’re presenting to the world, and we SHOW UP FOR EACH OTHER! It’s more than just ‘pumping us up’ we actually support each other!” 

~ Marva Collins, Guild Member

Milagros Suriano-Rivera (left), Sumaiyah Wysdom Yates (right) and Marva Collins (lower) sharing the screen for our latest LIVE #CreativeConversation

Dear Musea Members and readers,

We are continuing along in our exploration of IDENTITY as a membership community, and we’ve had some wonderful insights come through some of our community members. Last week, Milagros Suriano-Rivera and Amber Samaya Gould, hosted a #CreativeConversation in the Red Thread Café in which they invited Guild Members Sumaiyah Wysdom Yates and Marva Collins to share with us their experience of being in an accountability circle together, and the deeply powerful impact it has had on their lives!  This is connected to IDENITY in surprising ways, as our ability to rise stronger (as individuals) happens when we supportively join together! Your wellness is connected to my wellness. Your wholeness is connected to mine. When women come together in that spirit, incredible things happen in their INDIVIDUAL lives that would not be possible without the collective embrace.

We invite you to watch the inspiring 15 minute video segment below, full of wisdom and great insights into the value of having women join together in the spirit of care and community to catalyze one another! 

Why We Choose to be a CIRCLE-based Community of Artists

by Amber Samaya Gould
Intentional Creativity Foundation President

In the origin story of Musea and intentional creativity, there is a through line of women providing unreasonable support, love and care of one another. This enabled each of them to find success, wholeness, and greater joy in their lives. This is exampled so beautifully by art ancestor Lenore Thomas Strauss, who chose to become the legal guardian of Sue Hoya Sellars – one of the root teachers of Intentional Creativity – when she was just a teenage girl. Sue came from a difficult childhood and home, and yet had so much potential and natural talent in the arts. Lenore, an accomplished sculptor and writer, recognized that Sue needed nurture, a good home, and art mentorship in order for her to become the accomplished master painter that she later grew into. Choosing to take Sue into her home and adopting her as part of her own family was a transformational part of Sue’s story and journey into her own artist archetype.

Later in life, Sue also became a second mother to Curator Shiloh Sophia, taking her under her wing, becoming her art mentor, and which Shiloh Sophia calls her ‘art mother’, throughout most of her life. This mentorship, care, and deep friendship catalyzed Shiloh Sophia to find her true voice as an artist, to connect with the significance of putting intention into her artwork, and to fully develop the framework and philosophy of Intentional Creativity, which is now practiced internationally by hundreds of thousands of people.

At MUSEA, we believe that being an artist has very little to do with being talented, and much more to do with harnessing the generative power of creativity, having a devotional relationship to ‘making’, and believing that your creative contributions matter – that YOU matter. Without that sense of dignity and purpose, creativity may be hard to access, or can feel like a chore.

As our membership community is undertaking a month-long exploration of IDENTITY, a beautiful paradox has come into focus for many of us. In order to be an artist, we must individuate and access our artists archetype. We must connect with our self, our soul voice, and allow the creative energy of the universe to flow through us as a unique medium in this world. On the other hand, we so deeply need families, communities, close friends and confidants, ecosystems, animals, air and water – all those beings that support us in our creative acts, and inspire us with their own unique and beautiful creativity and essence. There is a reciprocation, a flow between, the I and the We that is at the heart of mattering. Being a part of the Musea membership community provides each one of us the opportunity to both individuate, to hone our craft as artists, to step deeper into our artist archetype, as well as see ourselves as a part of the whole. After all, for many of us, when we create, we are actually creating for each other, even more than we are creating for ourselves. It is a beautiful human impulse, that when we see beauty, that when we make it, we want to share it. That really ends up becoming the point of it all.

So this week I encourage you to consider this gorgeous paradox – that in the act of creating, you are individuating, and you are also contributing to our collective beauty. In the words of the poet Rumi, “You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the ocean in a drop.” There is incredible possibility and unique potential within each one of us as individuals, and yet it is community and connection that inspire, catalyze, and often become the ‘why’ behind us living into these possibilities.

Well, what’ya know. I matter when you matter. You matter when I matter. We matter.

In the spirit of I and WE,

~ Amber Samaya

Announcements

What’s On at the Museum!

Join us tomorrow, January 19, 4 pm PT Museum Show and exhibit opening for the Dream a Nü Dream Solo Exhibit, featuring soul artist, Laura Hollick, and photographer Kevin Thom. 

This is an opportunity to take yourself on an Artist Date, and invite your family, friends, and community to join you at the virtual museum! At this one-hour Museum Show, Curator Shiloh Sophia and Musea CoCurators, will introduce the Dream a nü Dream Exhibit, as well as host an Artist Interview with Laüra and Kevin around their creative process, partnership, and deep and profound love for the Earth expressed through their incredible photographic artifacts. We hope you will join us for an amazing show. You can read more about the show here.

CURIOUS ABOUT MEMBERSHIP?

Become a Member today of one of the world’s largest and most well established Art Movements – MUSEA : Intentional Creativity!

“Gather with us. Be a part of our movement. While we can’t yet be together in person, we don’t need to be isolated from one another. Every place a MUSEA Member is, a MUSEA IS, so we are all over the world! Being a member is something to feel good about and connected to as a part of each of our individual stories, as well as our collective story.”

~ Shiloh Sophia, MUSEA Curator

Curator, Shiloh Sophia (center), with Musea Guild and Staff Members at the Vivid 2021 Gathering! 

Have Membership Questions?

Contact Member Coordinators: Chatelle Jeram at chatelle.jeram@musea.org or Marnie Dangerfield at marnie.dangerfield@musea.org.