#CreativeMornings

[creativemorningsvancouver]

For July’s global theme of ‘treasure’ we are honoured to host videographer, storyteller, urban planner and musician, Uytae Lee.

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Uytae Lee is the founder of ‘About Here’, a YouTube channel and creative studio dedicated to helping people understand their cities better. In addition to the channel, Uytae produces the CBC series ‘Stories About Here’.

Every month we like to ask our speakers a handful of probing questions to give us a deeper glimpse into their life and relationship with creativity:

How do you define creativity and apply it in your life and career? For me, creativity is about organizing. Combining and rearranging ideas, words, paint, or whatever really into something that’s meaningful to you. In my work, this idea has given me the reassurance that I rarely (if ever) need to come up with something from scratch - I just don’t think the creative process works that way. I research, paraphrase, synthesize, reflect, and (more than anything) take inspiration from others to put something together that feels compelling for me. Where do you find your best creative inspiration or energy? I find much of my creative inspiration from talking to people. There’s something about a live, unscripted conversation where you let your ideas collide freely that helps me get out of my head.

What’s one piece of creative advice or a tip you wish you’d known as a young person? The creative process requires breaks. Your creativity often works behind the scenes, when you’re taking a walk, distracted, or even sleeping. When you’re feeling overwhelmed or stuck on a project, try stepping away from it for a day or two. When you come back to it, you’ll almost certainly find that your thoughts have refined and organized themselves into something much more coherent and easy to understand. I think it works this way because your memory is very selective for the things that feel most important to you. When you step away from a project, you’re letting your brain subconsciously throw out what didn’t really matter and hold on to what was most important. I wish I knew this when I was younger because it probably would have saved me from dozens of wildly unproductive all-nighters spent trying to hammer out a script while overwhelmed and sleep-deprived.

Who (living or dead) would you most enjoy hearing speak at CreativeMornings? Tony and Taylor from Every Frame a Painting

What fact about you would surprise people? I was part of a ukulele group for several years.

What are you reading these days? Order without design by Alain Bertaut

What’s your one guilty creative indulgence? Cooking videos, they’re so relaxing!

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[creativemorningsottawa]

CreativeMornings Ottawa: May 2023

Jane Porter on acceptance and the importance of leading with love

Accepting reality is not always easy. From climate change to social injustice to the decline of democracy, the greatest challenges of our time can seem threatening, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to solve. 

On the CreativeMornings Ottawa stage at Arts Court, Jane Porter invited us to feel the magnitude of these challenges, and to lead with love and compassion. Doing so starts with connection: with ourselves, our communities, and the land we call home. 

Connection is something Jane has consciously cultivated throughout her life. This includes in her community work as co-founder of Impact Hub Ottawa and through convening stakeholders as a sustainability consultant. Today, as an integral facilitator and founder of Bridge Building Group, Jane brings people together to have tough conversations that spark meaningful change and heal divides. 

The journey to acceptance and understanding can be uncomfortable. In her talk, Jane used a photography metaphor to break down her approach:

Zoom out to see the big picture and break free from your existing echo chambers. 

Zoom in and reflect on who you really are and what motivates you. 

Reframe why you do what you do. For example, Jane realized she pursued a career in sustainability because it gave her a sense of connection with others and to the land.

Focus and realize that two things can be true at the same time, depending on who you’re asking and what they’ve chosen to lock their viewfinder on.

Find a tripod to support your passions and purpose. When you feel like you’re on shaky ground, dig deeper into learning and your relationships to find the support you need. 

Finally, Jane suggested it’s time we find a new lens. Western society is oriented around growth mindsets and economic success. There is much to learn from Indigenous worldviews that compel us to think of the next seven generations, and consider the well-being of all our relations, human and otherwise.

The challenges faced by the world are not going to solve themselves. To accept—and act— during this period of existential threats we must first ground ourselves by pausing, getting curious, and finding ways to respond thoughtfully and with compassion for ourselves, our communities, and the planet. 

Thank you to Jane for sharing her personal journey and for providing such food for thought on a Friday morning. You can learn more about Jane’s professional facilitation work on her website or on LinkedIn. Watch Jane’s full talk here.

[creativemorningsmontreal]

May ’s Theme is Acceptance.

Acceptance is the act of surrendering to our reality, without judgment or fear. There are many things in our lives that cause us discomfort or pain. We attempt to change or resist them, to no effect. So we wave a big stick, keeping them at bay like a wounded animal.

Acceptance is weaving into your story what once caused you pain — and still might, to this day. You welcome that creature into your home, tend to its wounds, and feed it out of your hand. Acceptance is knowing that this feral animal lives side by side with your tender house cat of a heart, always.

Embracing what cannot change can help you gather the energy to change what must. Accept these truths: you cannot make another person love or see you. You did not finish everything before the sun set on another day — and you didn’t need to. Every moment will pass, the blissful and the excruciating. It’s the hardest lesson, but one we need the most: the grace to let go. Our Lexington chapter chose this month’s exploration of Acceptance and Robert Beatty illustrated the theme. 

[creativemorningsphoenix]

Our theme for March is PARALLEL. It was chosen by our Kuala Lumpur chapter in Malaysiaand illustrated by OLI.

Like train tracks receding in the distance, our lives eventually hit the end of the line. Along the way, people tend to live parallel lives. Work. School. Eat. Sleep. Rinse and repeat. We exist side by side with strangers. Always keeping the same distance of anonymity between us. But unlike those tracks, our paths don’t run in straight lines. We can meet someone new at every turn. We may be living parallel lives. But we don’t have to go through them alone.

[creativemorningsfreiburg]

February’s theme is LAYERS. Unser Thema im Februar ist “LAYERS” (Veranstaltungssprache ist Deutsch).

Layers give our work a richer complexity and depth. Just like a collage is created by overlapping layers of found materials, we pile up experiences that form our beliefs and reactions. It is these layers that give life meaning. Barbara Ibo, our speaker this month, has layers upon layers. Join us to find out more about her and her upcycling work! This talk will be in German.

Unsere Speakerin im Februar ist Barbara Ibo von der Upcycling WERTstatt in Freiburg.

LAYERS bieten Komplexität und Tiefe und können kreativ neues Leben mit visueller Wirkung hervorbringen, was Barbara mit ihrem Upcycling sehr gut kann.

Barbara Ibo ist eine Mischung aus Potenzialentfaltungscoach, Werkstattpädagogin, Designerin und Visionärin. Sie passt in keine Schublade, und das ist gut so! In ihrem Talk erzählt sie über die vielfältigen Zusammenhänge, Beweggründe, Visionen sowie Herausforderungen ihrer Tätigkeit.

Mach mit, um mehr zu erfahren!

Wir begrüßen euch am 28. Februar ab 8 Uhr im ‘Studio 52’ des Grünhof Coworking, Belfortstr 52 im Freiburg.

Das Thema “LAYERS” wurde von CreativeMornings/Lausanne ausgewählt und von Catherine Olivia Pearson illustriert.

[creativemorningsderby]

Our theme for February is LAYERS. It was chosen by our Lausanne chapter in Switzerland and illustrated by Catherine Olivia Pearson.

Simplicity provides clarity, but layers give our work a richer complexity and depth. 

Musicians fuse melodies, harmonies, and rhythms to create more dynamic compositions. While other artists use a juxtaposition of colors, textures, images or materials for greater visual impact. The creative magic happens when those choices conjure different interpretations and emotions. 

Because people have layers too. Just like a collage is created by overlapping layers of found materials, we pile up experiences that form our beliefs and reactions. 

The cliché “beauty is only skin deep” means that a pleasant appearance does not guarantee a virtuous character. We are a mess of competing emotions and personality traits. So how we act to the outside world doesn’t always reflect how we feel inside. We make polite chit chat when it takes vulnerable conversations to form meaningful connections. 

Surface level pleasantries and superficial decoration have their place. But it is the layers that give life meaning. We must peel them away to discover our deeper truths.

[creativemorningscincinnati]

Cincinnati CreativeMornings /January 2025 with Rachel DesRochers

We loved having Rachel DesRochers as our speaker to kick off 2025! Gratitude and community are at the heart of everything she does — and it truly showed last month.

Thank you to Rachel and who all attended!

[creativemorningstrn]

PIERO VENESIA on Layers

Piero Venesia è un illusionista e attore esponente del neo-illusionismo.

Dopo una formazione da autodidatta, entra nel Circolo Amici della Magia di Torino, dove perfeziona il suo percorso artistico. Nel 2020 crea “Quello che resta”, spettacolo online che permette agli spettatori di vivere illusioni interattive con oggetti ricevuti per posta.

Nel 2024 vince il primo premio ai campionati europei di magia con il suo “Needles Act”, che lo porta a esibirsi in Italia, Spagna, Francia, Svezia e Stati Uniti.

Dal 2022 fa parte di “Incanti”, spettacolo in cui sei giovani illusionisti esplorano il concetto di incanto e la sua importanza nelle nostre vite.

[creativemorningschicago]

🎤 Next Speaker: Samantha Callender

Samantha Callender is a multimedia professional passionate about storytelling, culture, and digital media. With a background in journalism, social strategy, and brand communications, she’s worked across industries, from NPR’s WBEZ to Essence Magazine and luxury brands like Aesop. She amplifies voices, creates inspiring spaces, and thrives at the intersection of media and culture. A proud Chicagoan, she loves exploring local arts, design, and cafés. Connect with her @OnYourCallender.

📅 Friday, February 28th at 8:30-10am

📍 ⭐ In-Person Only ⭐ at See You Soon, @seeyousoon.chicago - 1757 N. Kimball Ave Unit 203C, Chicago, 60647

🎵 DJ Mike Caliber

🎟️ Registration Opens Friday, February 21st at 9am. Tickets go first come, first served. Limited!

👋 High fives and humble gratitude to our local sponsors: Big Shoulders Coffee | Busy Beaver Button Company | Downstate Donuts | DJ Mike Caliber

💛 And a big shout out to our global partners: Adobe | The Harnisch Foundation

[creativemorningsseattle]

Shin Yu Pai is the former Civic Poet of The City of Seattle (2023-2024). She is a recipient of a Poets Laureate Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets and received the 2024 Shelley Memorial Prize for poetic genius from the Poetry Society of America. She is the author of several books including a recent poetry collection, No Neutral (Empty Bowl, 2023).

Shin Yu is also co-author of a book on psychedelic microdosing, Small Doses of Awareness (Chronicle Books, 2024). She created and hosted Ten Thousand Things, a podcast on Asian American stories for KUOW, which garnered recognition from the Asian American Podcasters Association, plus winning a Silver Signal Award and a regional Edward R. Murrow Award. Shin Yu’s literary papers are held in the Beinecke Collections at Yale University.

Location: Gensler 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 500 Seattle, Washington United States 98101

Date: Feb 28, 2025

Time: 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM PST

[creativemorningsvirginiabeach]

Check out the most event recent photos from on Flickr: CMVB JAN 2025: Raeesah Islam on JOUNREY | Flickr

[creativemorningsvancouver]

We are quite excited to host chef, restauranteur, 
author, and activist, Meeru Dhalwala, who will share her compelling story of creativity through the lens of June’s global theme ‘reverie’.

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Meeru moved from Washington, D.C. to Vancouver in February 1995 and has since been cooking and running the kitchens and menus at Vij’s and Rangoli restaurants. Vij’s has been hailed by the New York Times as “easily among the finest Indian restaurants in the world.” (Rangoli closed after 17 years in May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Meeru also wrote all three award-winning Vij’s cookbooks.

In 2021, Meeru created a small community business built from her learned ethics in the food industry: My Bambiri (baby) Foods. My Bambiri sources from BC organic farmers and sells on income-based pricing: three price options based on a family’s specific finances. She has also partnered with Food Stash Foundation to sell My Bambiri at their markets for low-income families who face many economic and social barriers. In October 2022, Meeru relaunched her annual international food fair called “Joy of Feeding” that is held at the UBC Farm Centre for Sustainable Food Systems.

Meeru holds a MSc in development studies from Bath University, UK, and brings her passion for humanity into her business and cooking practices. She is one of Vancouver’s most prominent promoters of women in business, climate change and sustainability, and healthy-elegant cooking. She proudly sits on the Board of Directors for the Green Party of Vancouver. For her professional and community work, Meeru has received honorary doctorates from both University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University.

Every month we like to ask our speakers a handful of probing questions to give us a deeper glimpse into their life and relationship with creativity:

How do you define creativity and apply it in your life and career? I imagine and then come up with ideas. Lots of ideas, of which most aren’t realistic, but contribute to the final ideas that I/we can execute. I love the process of ideas popping or slowly coming to form in my head. I love the crazy ideas that are impractical and the ideas that could make stories if I were a novelist. I say the word “IDEA!” in the Vij’s kitchen and staff stops whatever we’re doing, get excited and hear the “IDEA!” Half of them result in all of us just laughing b/c while even saying it, I realize it’s not practical or just sounds silly coming out. My kitchen staff doesn’t rely on me to run the daily kitchen—cooking, ordering, loading, prep, etc.—but they rely on me for my “IDEA!” And if I love my idea, I don’t let it go.

Where do you find your best creative inspiration or energy? From running in my neighborhood—not any neighborhood or trail. Running is combination of my familiar surroundings and my body igniting me—my brain is dancing while my body is doing all the physical work. Whatever is on my mind—whether my family, trying to save some aspect of the environment, imagining being dead, imagining my comfort place on this earth, a work issue, coming up with recipes, etc.—it’s done with abandon while I’m running. Within 10 minutes, I lose myself in imagining, pondering…and daydreaming about my past in relation to today.

What’s one piece of creative advice or a tip you wish you’d known as a young person? Find a solo activity during which you feel abandon and…yes, lose yourself in reverie! I run. All those times when I was crying or stressed about my home life or school life, if I had gone out running and released that stress energy, the weight would have lightened and so many windows would have opened. Doesn’t have to be a physical activity—it can be knitting or drawing.

Who (living or dead) would you most enjoy hearing speak at CreativeMornings? George Eliot or Graca Machel. Intellectually attuned and gracefully passionate, brave women. Middlemarch is still relevant as a compelling storyline and observation on humanity’s social concoctions. Women and children’s rights activist Graca Machel was the First Lady of Mozambique at an important and crucial time. Her husband (the President) was assassinated via a plane crash. Later, she became the First Lady of South Africa, as wife of Nelson Mandela.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done? Fly to Vancouver from Washington D.C. to meet a guy I was talking on the phone with for a month (back in 1994) and, after spending 5 days with him, deciding to marry him asap. I left my hometown, friends and career in human rights and economic development to move to Vancouver. It resulted in a new and completed unexpected career, two beautiful children and 17 years of marriage. I don’t know how, but I grabbed the confidence in love before it escaped in the form of common sense.

If you could open a door and go anywhere, where would that be? My partner is a dry suit (meaning he dives in cold waters) scuba diver and travels to all waters of the world to dive, take photos. His “comfort place” in this world is the silence and being solo under water—complete opposite from mine. He lies there with his camera, watches and waits for creatures to swim, fully in zen mode. This level of silence and alone-ness intimidates and fascinates me. I would LOVE to turn myself into an invisible and weightless being, and be on his shoulder while he does this. I would not want to disturb his zen. For me, this would be like magically living in a dream.

What are you proudest of in your life? Giving motherhood my all, by which I don’t mean just love. The most important moment of my life so far is when I first looked down at my newborn and felt/saw the look in her wide eyes, settling on her mom’s face. I call this “Newborn Eyes”. Newborn Eyes are the energy of my personal life. I’m proud of fully and honestly engaging with my two daughters as humans and not as my extensions. I’m proud of calling them out on their shit and not worrying if they like me or not, or if they’ll rebel. I’m proud that I never stopped being me for the sake of being a mother.

If you could do anything now, what would you do? Have each human above the age of, say 6, in this world watch the animated documentary film “Flee” for its subject matter and b/c its engrossing storytelling. I want all of us watching at the exact same time so we are aware of sharing this experience together, as one. So, a bit of magic or super sci-fi high tech required here. Some of the bravest and most loving people in this world are “refugees” and “migrants”. These are labels for some, but for me they are my mom and dad.

What books made a difference in your life and why? The Employees by Olga Ravn. This book is potentially our real future with real humans co-existing with AI types of humans. It’s beautifully written. It’s a very short book and I read it twice in a row.

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[creativemorningsbasel]

JOURNEY – unser Thema im Januar 2025

Was für ein großartiger Start ins neue Jahr! 💫 Wenn unser Gehirn feststeckt hilft meist eins: sich zu bewegen: Ob um die Ecke oder über eine ferne Grenze. Durch Reisen machen wir Erfahrung, gewinnen andere Perspektiven und vielleicht sogar neue Inspirationen. SRF-Moderator und Fotograf Christian Zeugin nahm uns mit auf eine einzigartige Reise und zeigte uns, wie unsere innere Welt unsere äußeren Erfahrungen formt. Seine Liebe zu Menschen spiegelt sich in seiner Arbeit wider – sei es beim Interviewen von Gästen oder beim Blick durch seine Kamera. Es war eine inspirierende und erheiternde Erfahrung an einem eher kalten und grauen Freitag morgen ☔️ Wir hatten das Glück, im wunderschönen Vorstadttheater im einladenden Foyer zu Gast sein zu dürfen. Vielen Dank für eure Gastfreundschaft! Ein riesiges Dankeschön auch an unsere großartigen globalen und lokalen Sponsoren: 🎨 Adobe, Köstliche Leckereien 🥐 von Bäckerei Kult, fantastischer Kaffee von Coffee B ☕️, edle Tees von London Tea und Leihlager für die Unterstützung mit Equipment 📽️. Und natürlich geht ein Danke an euch: unsere Community! Wir hoffen, ihr hattet so viel Spass wie wir und wir sehen uns wieder, im Februar!

Fotos: Dirk Wetzel Video: Marcello Keller

[creativemorningsmontreal]

April’s Theme is Movement.

The body in motion is a thing of beauty. Our cells shake kinetic energy through the finely articulated instruments of muscle, ligament, and bone. We blink, we pulse, we dance. Some even pull off feats of human athleticism and daring, from which we can hardly look away.

Movement is a universal state of being. Even at rest, the matter we’re composed of is in motion — subatomic particles whir about at dizzying speeds, to create the sense of solidity. The things that appear still — the earth beneath us, the trunk of a tree above us, is but a trick of the eye. They move slowly but at a staggering scale.

When we move together, we can build social and collective movements. Like a murmuration of swallows, we can form sweeping visions of a world never seen before. Our collective energy directed like a mighty river flowing downstream, taking unexpected and winding turns to carve mountains.

Our Wellington chapter chose this month’s exploration of Movement, Hannah Webster illustrated the theme, and Mailchimp is presenting the theme.  

[creativemorningsphoenix]

Our theme for February is LAYERS. It was chosen by our Lausanne chapter in Switzerland and illustrated by Catherine Olivia Pearson.

Simplicity provides clarity, but layers give our work a richer complexity and depth. Just like a collage is created by overlapping layers of found materials, we pile up experiences that form our beliefs and reactions. People have layers too. It is the layers that give life meaning. We must peel them away to discover our deeper truths.

[creativemorningstijuana]

El tema de febrero es CAPAS. Fue elegido por el capítulo de Lausana (Suiza) e ilustrado por  Catherine Olivia Pearson.

La simplicidad aporta claridad, pero las capas ofrecen a nuestro trabajo una mayor complejidad y profundidad. 

Los músicos fusionan melodías, armonías y ritmos para crear composiciones más dinámicas. Mientras que otros artistas utilizan una yuxtaposición de colores, texturas, imágenes o materiales para lograr un mayor impacto visual. La magia creativa se produce cuando esas elecciones conjuran diferentes interpretaciones y emociones. 

Las personas también tenemos capas. Igual que un collage se crea superponiendo capas de materiales encontrados, nosotros amontonamos experiencias que forman nuestras creencias y reacciones. 

El cliché de la frase «la belleza es sólo superficial» significa que una apariencia agradable no garantiza un carácter virtuoso. Somos una mezcla de emociones y rasgos de personalidad que compiten entre sí. Así que nuestra forma de actuar de cara al exterior no siempre refleja cómo nos sentimos por dentro. Hablamos de forma amable cuando lo que hace falta son conversaciones vulnerables para establecer vínculos significativos. 

Las galanterías y la ornamentación que ocupan la superficie tienen su lugar. Pero son las capas las que dan sentido a la vida. Debemos quitarlas para descubrir nuestras verdades más profundas.