Permission, Granted.
Today’s Ripple Room was unlike any I’ve hosted before.
For the first time, I didn’t make anything. I didn’t reach for a pen, a brush, or a piece of paper. I simply conversed, listened, and stayed present…and it was enough.
What struck me most was what we collectively became in those 60 minutes.
Here were women scattered across the U.S. and Europe—different ages and backgrounds—each carrying their own version of creative doubt, perfectionism, or life’s current overwhelm. Yet somehow, in this small virtual space, they found permission to name what was really blocking them.
Not just creatively, but in life.
We spoke of burnout and chronic illness, the pressure to be productive, the constant noise of artistic comparison. We confessed childhood wounds that still show up. We admitted how hard it is to relax, to play, to allow ourselves to personalize our art without self-editing.
And we listened. We witnessed. We held space.
And even though I was facilitating the conversation, what I learned was that these gatherings become meaningful because of how authentically each person shows up, bringing the full range of the imperfect human spectrum, not just the joyful parts.
The Ripple Room has become so much more than an open studio hour … because creativity isn’t separate from life and none of us can, or need to, figure this out alone.
Today, thanks to a first-timer and her recognition of how at ease everyone was with each other, I realized that when you create a safe container with clear boundaries (I don’t record these sessions, we honor confidentiality, and everyone is welcome exactly as they are), a community is born.
In previous sessions we’ve made tokens, or journaled, or made finger-paintings all while sharing stories, but today we gave each other permission to just be. Some of us came stressed, some came hopeful, others were uncertain of what would unfold … but once we started talking, the space became whatever we needed it to be. And that, I believe, was the most profound creative act of all.
I walked away not just energized, but deeply validated.
Because this—this slower, more human pace—is the work. This is the pulse behind everything I do. The more I let go of agendas and trust the wisdom of what wants to emerge, the more powerful the ripple becomes.
The Ripple Room happens monthly, and it’s always different—because the people who show up are always different. What remains constant is the commitment to creating a space where your full humanity is welcome—your struggles and your wisdom, your questions and your insights, your messy process and your gentle breakthroughs.
You don’t need to be an artist. You don’t need to bring anything. You just have to be human.
Sometimes the most radical thing we can do is gather without an agenda and trust what wants to be born in the space between us.
The next Ripple events are July 23 and August 15. Come as you are. That's always enough.
