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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. 

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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.  

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(English Below)

Le printemps est arrivé, et il est temps de s'amuser avec notre carton de bingo sur le thème du printemps ! Préparez-vous à cocher les cases avec des fleurs en fleurs, des oiseaux qui gazouillent et des ciels ensoleillés. Toute la preuve que vous avez besoin pour se prouver a nous-memes que l’hiver est fini ! 🌸🐦☀️

Si un marche avec la carte Bingo ne vous conviens pas, tenter une de ces activites creatives pour ajouter de l’ete dans vos journees pluvieuses:

1. Apportez des couleurs vives : Ajoutez des couleurs estivales à votre décoration intérieure, comme des coussins jaune vif ou orange, un tapis coloré ou une peinture joyeuse.

2. Bougies parfumées : Remplissez votre maison du parfum de l'été en utilisant des bougies parfumées ou des huiles essentielles comme les agrumes, la noix de coco ou les fruits tropicaux.

3. Plantes d'intérieur : Apportez un peu de verdure à votre maison avec des plantes d'intérieur qui vous rappellent l'été, comme les palmiers ou les fougères.

4. Jouez de la musique estivale : Créez une playlist de vos chansons estivales préférées et jouez-les dans toute votre maison.

5. Cuisine estivale : Préparez des plats estivaux comme des fruits de mer, du barbecue ou des fruits tropicaux.

6. Habillez-vous en vêtements d'été : Portez des vêtements d'été comme des vêtements de couleur vive ou des imprimés floraux.

7. Utilisez des produits de soins corporels parfumés à l'été : Utilisez des produits de soins corporels tels que de la crème solaire, de l'huile de coco ou du gel douche parfumé à la plage pour vous rappeler l'été.

8. Planifiez des vacances d'été : Commencez à planifier vos vacances d'été en recherchant des destinations tropicales ou des escapades à la plage.

9. Regardez des films estivaux : Regardez des films qui se déroulent en été, comme des films de plage, de surf ou des documentaires de voyage.

10. Apportez la plage chez vous : Créez un espace sur le thème de la plage dans votre maison avec des coquillages, des serviettes de plage, des chaises de plage ou un parasol.

En incorporant ces astuces, vous pouvez apporter la sensation de l'été dans votre vie même pendant les mois d'hiver et journees printannieres.

(English version:)

Spring has sprung, and it's time to get in on the fun with our spring-themed bingo card! Get ready to mark off squares with blooming flowers, chirping birds, and sunny skies. This is the perfect opportunity to prove to ourselves that winter is finished!   🌸🐦☀️

If you’re not so into a walk with a bingo card, Here are some tricks to make it feel like summer even during the cold and rainy days:

1. Bring in bright colors: Add some summer colors to your home decor, such as bright yellow or orange pillows, a colorful rug or a cheerful painting.

2. Scented candles: Fill your home with the scent of summer using scented candles or essential oils such as citrus, coconut, or tropical fruits.

3. Indoor plants: Bring in some greenery to your home with indoor plants that remind you of summer such as palm trees or ferns.

4. Play summer music: Create a playlist of your favorite summer songs and play them throughout your home.

5. Cook summer dishes: Cook up some summer dishes such as seafood, BBQ, or tropical fruits.

6. Dress in summer clothes: Wear summer clothes such as bright colored clothing or floral prints.

7. Use summer scented body products: Use body products such as sunscreen, coconut oil or beach-scented body wash to remind you of summer.

8. Plan a summer vacation: Start planning your summer vacation, researching tropical destinations or beach getaways.

9. Watch summer movies: Watch movies that take place during the summer, such as beach movies, surfing movies or travel documentaries.

10. Bring the beach to you: Create a beach-themed area in your home with seashells, beach towels, beach chairs or a beach umbrella.

By incorporating these tricks, you can bring the feel of summer into your life even during the winter months... now spring months!

Avez-vous d’autres idees?? Any other ideas??

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March ’s Theme is Corruption.

Our Monterrey chapter chose this month’s exploration of Corruption and Violeta Hernández illustrated the theme.

Corruption can start innocently, like favoring someone you know over someone you don’t. Or recalling a gift they once sent, and repay them with a project for that sweetness. Corruption is a spectrum, rewarding social connections and financial advantages over the rules of fair play. It exists in every society and every institution. 

Some people survive through corruption, the labyrinthine bureaucracies where they live making it literally impossible otherwise. But while they survive, others perish. Rising plumes of toxic chemicals, collapsing buildings not constructed to code, we owe the calamities all around us to those who cared more about profit than people and gain over the greater good. 

As social anthropologist Lucy Koechlin notes, “A world without corruption is a powerful idea. But it doesn’t appear out of the blue.” It takes courage to speak out. To demand transparency and accountability. To strengthen whistleblower protections and the rule of law. To break up corporate concentration while organizing coalitions of people to reset the balance. What will you do to hold power to account? 

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February’s Theme is Touch

Across the years when we had to stay apart to keep one another safe, skin hungered for the sensation of being pressed against another. The longing for touch was deeply felt.

Unlike sight or sound, the senses we primarily rely on for information, touch cannot be conveyed across distance through screens and speakers. Touch invites us to slow down, pay attention, and come closer.

When we open ourselves to the ineffable — what cannot be transmitted through words — touch emerges as a language unto itself. The grit of the soil under our bare feet, the clay slip enrobing a potter’s wheel, the sun-warmed fur of a beloved pet — these sensations can be healing.

How will you stay in contact with the electric matter that keeps us alive? What will pass through your hands today? Our Lisbon chapter chose this month’s exploration of Touch and Emma Lopes illustrated the theme.  

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January’s Theme is Sanctuary

You can stop running now, you are safe here. A sanctuary offers protection to those who are vulnerable: those who are fleeing violence, those who have been cast off and told there is no place for them there, even animals whose habitats have disappeared. Here is a place where you can finally lay your head down and rest.

The original meaning of sanctuary was a sacred place, containing a holy relic or person. A sanctuary recognizes that each of us, no matter where we have came from or what we’ve done, and our needs — for a full belly, for a roof, for safety, to be free from worry — are inviolable and whole. Where is it that you find refuge? What happens to your body when you cross its threshold? And most importantly, how can you hold the door open for others? Our Sheffield chapter chose this month’s exploration of Sanctuary, Lisa Maltby illustrated the theme, and Mailchimp is presenting the theme.

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December’s Theme is Abundance

Abundance is a state of plenty. In an intensely competitive society, we often feel like we have the opposite. Capitalism breeds a mentality of scarcity — it’s hard to feel like we have enough when we’re constantly trying to accumulate more.

Gratitude magnifies our experience of abundance. When we marvel at the taste of ripe summer fruit, juice bursting from its skin. When we set a table, a seat for every person we cherish, and bathe in the radiance.

Generosity multiplies abundance. When we prioritize mutual flourishing over private stockpiling, plant ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer posits, “the practice for dealing with abundance is to give it away.” Once you stop hoarding what you fear to lose, you find that the more you share, the richer — in community, in wellbeing — you become.

What would it take for us to feel like we have enough? What does it take for us to unclench our fists and share our overflowing bounty?

Our Santa Fe chapter chose this month’s exploration of Abundance, Neebinnaukzhik Southall illustrated the theme, and Mailchimp is presenting the theme.

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November ’s Theme is Truth.

Truth lies at the bottom of a well, winding from its source in the icepack of distant mountains. Truth tastes pristine, uncompromised by what would be profitable or convenient. Truth causes your body to hum like a tuning fork, resonating at the same frequency as the universe around you. “When you experience an undeniable truth,” writer and social worker Jessica Dore observes, “you will beg, borrow, and steal. You will rearrange your whole life, forsake everything, just to serve what is real.”

And yet the truth is fiercely contested when competing narratives collide. We forge our truth in a crucible, testing its strength through heat and hammering. Instead of smashing our convictions against one another like a particle accelerator, could we sort through the messy, contradicting facts from all around us, together? Can we wade through paradox, the dark tangle of it all, and make sense of the world?

Our Buenos Aires chapter chose this month’s exploration of Truth and Sol Cotti illustrated the theme.

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October’s Theme is Ethos.

Ethos is that specific quality that defines a place, time, or group of people. When you step into a room, a busy downtown, or a community gathering, you intuit its spirit. A messy DIY space invites experimentation and mistakes, a lush city park promises tranquility to anyone who seeks it. Maybe you even know of a monthly event where everyone is welcome and everything is free of charge.

 At its core is a paradox: despite the specificity of an ethos, it’s impossible to pinpoint or trace to a specific origin. What honed that distinctive sensibility is long gone, vanished into myth.

 With our actions and words, we embody these values and beliefs beyond conscious knowing. In turn, we subtly shape the ethos that our descendants — of family, of place — will receive from us. Ethos is alchemic, ineffable, and infinitely ponderable across place and culture. What ways of moving through the world did you inherit?

 Our Asheville chapter chose this month’s exploration of Ethos and Colin Sutherland illustrated the theme.

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And now?

by Diana Hor | Host CreativeMornings/Montréal

More than 2 years ago now, I took the lead of our wonderful chapter of CreativeMornings/Montréal. 2 years later, I am elsewhere in my life. We went through a pandemic, I changed my job, I discovered other ambitions that I hadn't seen coming and I have other projects in mind.

And it is precisely because I am elsewhere that I am no longer the best person to lead CreativeMornings/Montréal.

I have been part of the CreativeMornings family since January 2018. It has been 4 years since I joined MTLCM where I started as chief of breakfast, to discover and highlight the breakfast entrepreneurs of our city. Then I took over as chief of staff and officially started taking care of the team at that point. In the meantime, I took great care of the influence and visibility of our events, and gradually prepared my entry as a host. I am very proud of my CreativeMornings journey, of my evolution within the organization, but also of my own evolution as a person.

Since then, I believe that there is nothing that I have not done within MTLCM.

I became too comfortable in my organization. And it is precisely because I am too comfortable that I am no longer the best person to lead CreativeMornings/Montréal.

I'm not afraid of anything anymore. Trying new things has become easy. Readjusting our events has become predictable (thanks Covid). Improvising has become my monthly appointment.

There is one thing I haven't done yet: find my replacement.

I grew up. I have learned. I let go.

I love the person CreativeMornings made me become.

I love everything that I have been able to experience through our mission, the people I have met, who trusted me and in whom I also believed.

But it is time to leave my place and leave the opportunity to someone else and I would be delighted to discover and support this new person.

In May 2022, after our #CMnow conference, I announced that I was leaving CreativeMornings/Montréal no later than May 2023, for our 10-year anniversary. I gave myself a year to prepare for the post-pandemic chapter, recruit and transfer to new team organizers and find a new host to take over MTLCM.

And that's it, here we are 😊:

CALL FOR THE FUTURE HOST CREATIVEMORNINGS/MONTRÉAL

To the new CreativeMornings/Montréal leadership: Welcome to a new phase of your life.

It will be the best and the worst, and it will be awesome :)

If you are:

passionate about your local creative community in Montréal

psyched to lead a small volunteer team to put your own spin on MTLCM

excited to be connected with 222 chapters and growing

one to use the words brave, driven, creative, generous and curious to describe yourself

Click here to apply!

This is a great opportunity to set up a handover process; I am very grateful to be able to open it and offer it to our community.

Great pleasure to meet you 😊!

Thank you so much,

Diana

montreal@creativemornings.com

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Et maintenant ?

Par Diana Hor | Hôte CreativeMornings/Montréal

Il y a plus de 2 ans maintenant, je prenais la tête de notre merveilleux chapitre de CreativeMornings/Montréal. Deux années plus tard, je suis rendue ailleurs dans ma vie. J’ai changé de job, j’ai découvert d’autres ambitions chez moi que je n’avais pas vu venir, j’ai d’autres projets que je veux réaliser, sans oublier la pandémie qu’on a traversé, où comme tout le monde, je n’en suis pas ressortie indemne.

Et c’est précisément parce que je suis rendue ailleurs que je ne suis plus la meilleure personne pour leader CreativeMornings/Montréal.

Je fais partie de la famille CreativeMornings depuis janvier 2018 où j’ai commencé en tant que chief of breakfast, à faire découvrir et mettre en valeur les entrepreneur.e.s déjeuners de notre ville. Puis, j’ai pris le poste de chief of staff et commencer à prendre soin de l’équipe à ce moment-là. Entre-temps, je me suis beaucoup occupée du rayonnement et visibilité de nos événements, et préparer progressivement mon entrée en tant qu’host. Je suis fière de mon parcours CreativeMornings, de mon évolution au sein de l’organisation, de ma propre évolution en tant que personne qui se découvre et qui découvre les autres.

Depuis, je crois qu’il n’y a rien que je n’ose pas faire au sein de MTLCM.

Je suis devenue too confortable dans mon organisation. Et c’est précisément parce que je suis trop confortable que je ne suis plus la meilleure personne pour leader CreativeMornings/Montréal.

Je n’ai plus peur de rien : essayer de nouvelles choses est devenu facile. Réajuster nos événements est devenu prévisible (thanks Covid). Improviser est devenu mon rendez-vous mensuel. Il y a une chose que je n’ai pas encore fait : trouver mon/ma remplaçant.e.

J’ai grandi. J’ai appris. J’ai lâché-prise.

J’aime tellement la personne que CreativeMornings m’a fait devenir.

J’aime tellement tout ce que j’ai pu vivre à travers notre mission, les personnes que j’ai vu rencontrées, qui m’ont fait confiance et en qui j’ai cru aussi.

J’aime regarder les gens arriver le matin même, j’essaye de parler et d’accueillir chaque personne, surtout celle pour qui c’est la première fois. J’essaye d’accompagner mon équipe à grandir, à donner le meilleur d’elle-même tout en s’amusant, mais il est temps de laisser ma place et de laisser l’opportunité à quelqu’un.e d’autre de le faire.

En mai 2022, après notre conférence #CMnow, j’annonçais que je quittais CreativeMornings/Montréal au plus tard en mai 2023, pour notre anniversaire de 10 ans. Je me laissais une année pour préparer le chapitre post-pandémie, recruter et transférer aux nouveaux organisateur.trice.s de l’équipe et trouver un.e nouveau host pour reprendre MTLCM.

Et ça y est, on y est 😊 :

APPEL À FUTURE HOST CREATIVEMORNINGS/MONTRÉAL

Au nouveau leadership de CreativeMornings/Montréal : bienvenue dans ta nouvelle étape de vie. Je te la souhaite être la meilleure et la pire, et ce sera super !

Si tu es :

Passionné.e par la communauté créative locale de Montréal ;

Excité.e de bâtir ton équipe de bénévoles qui apportera une touche unique et magiques aux événements MTLCM ;

Impatient.e d’être en connexion avec 222 autres chapitres CreativeMornings dans le monde ;

Quelqu'un.e qui utilise les mots courageux.se, motivé.e, créatif.ve, généreux.se, curieux.se. pour se décrire soi-même ;

Clique ici pour postuler !

C’est une belle opportunité de que mettre en place un processus de transition ; j’en suis bien reconnaissante de pouvoir l’ouvrir et l’offrir à notre communauté.

Avec grand plaisir pour vous rencontrer😊!

Merci beaucoup,

Diana

montreal@creativemornings.com

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September’s Theme is Depth

Depth is a measure of distance. Get a feel for it by traveling along a rock fissure that tunnels into the earth, stepping across the expanse between our galaxy and the next, or diving into the mysteries hidden within ourselves. Depth is a space that denies easy ways of seeing or comprehending — when we shine a light into the deep blue of the ocean, we cannot see much further than the surface. In our age of instant answers, we bristle at this resistance. It’s often easier to reduce people, places, and ideas into flattened renderings, rather than grapple with the nuanced and contradictory truths found in their depths. In what depths could you submerge yourself if you let curiosity guide you? Ask open-ended questions and listen for responses to arise. With patience, watch those questions transform and transmute as they travel further. Blink your eyes open in the abyss, lose your frame of reference, and discover something altogether new. Our Columbus chapter chose this month’s exploration of Depth and Bryan Christopher Moss illustrated the theme.

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To be critical means to be like a sieve, dividing and separating. Our critical abilities allows us to discern the insubstantial from the made-to-last, the credible from the untrustworthy, the sincere from the ego-driven. We do so by gathering more information, seeking nuance, and locating something in its specific context.

Critical feedback is essential for our growth. Poet Adrienne Rich advises, “Responsibility to yourself means seeking out criticism, recognizing that the most affirming thing anyone can do for your is demand that you push yourself further.”

But being needlessly critical — especially of ourselves — can stifle the creative impulse. Few are as harsh as our own internal critic. How can we hone our perception, spotting what needs to evolve, without becoming ruthless? How can we remain astute while not losing sight of all that is inherently good and whole? It’s critical.

Our Calgary chapter chose this month’s exploration of Critical, Maedeh Mosaverzadeh illustrated the theme, and Mailchimp is presenting the theme.

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July’s Theme is Spirituality

Spirituality is the search for our deepest values and meanings, something that touches us all. It is our yearning to peel back the curtain on the world we can see. The word comes from the Latin spiritualis, meaning “of breath, wind, and air.” It comes so naturally it might as well be breathing. Spirituality can be found in meditation, in science, in holy spaces, in music, in community. We locate the sacred in the stars that guide us home, our capacity to love both kin and stranger, the divine that gathers in the kitchen dustpans and the forest groves lit by fireflies. Through spiritual practice — be it by prayer mat or paint brush, microscope or movement — we seek answers to the eternal questions: How should a person be? How might we find meaning in the mundane, and purpose through great pain? How can we repair the world? Our Jeddah chapter chose this month’s exploration of Spirituality and Bayan Yasien illustrated the theme.

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June’s theme is WILDERNESS

We travel to the edges of our known world — to wander, to lose ourselves, to commune with the wilderness. Dappled light dripping in through the forest canopy, insects buzzing as feet squelch through wetlands, inhaling the hot dry air and endless skies of desert, we long for this. Some of us seek enchantment and estrangement here. Some of us call it home.

We do not exist apart or separate from the wild. In her meditation on trees, poet Grace Paley writes, “we are like any greengrowing machinery / riding the daylight route / into darkness.” The wilderness lives within all of us, the rhythms of our bodies tethering us to the natural world.

What is the wilderness that calls you home? Where do you go to wander? How do you honor what is wild and unruly inside of you?

Our Chattanooga chapter chose this month’s exploration of Wilderness and Hollie Chastain illustrated the theme.  

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May’s Theme is Now.

These days, the “nows” hurry past us, shoved aside by the “next” — the urgent to-do’s, the latest breaking news. Constantly anticipating and staging for our future decimates our experience of the present. Our “now” vanishes, like water flowing through our fingertips.

We cannot keep time from spilling out of our hands and into the soft earth below. It is not our task to master the present, but to savor it. To pause. Go still. Feel the air on the back of our necks, sit in both discomfort and pleasure, and marvel in the radiance of the present moment. So that we may, in the poet William Blake’s words, “Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand / And Eternity in an hour.” For all we ever have is now.

Our Buffalo chapter chose this month’s exploration of Now, Mizin Shin illustrated the theme, and our global partner Mailchimp is presenting the theme.

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April’s Theme is Kismet

When the stars align and good fortune visits, it must be kismet. An unexpected windfall, a chance encounter with another that blossoms, a doorway opening to impossible dreams. Kismet is a little pocket of time just for you. We marvel at the sheer, unlikely wonder of these moments. 

Kısmet is a Turkish word that evolved from the Arabic qisma, meaning one’s portion or lot in life. When kismet was borrowed into English in the early 1800s, its meaning shifted into fate and fortune. But be wary of awaiting your destiny with passivity, philosopher Barrett Holmes Pitner warns, lest you resign yourself to a fate where nothing grows. Attend to the synchronicities in your life. When kismet alights upon you, the cosmos is letting you in on something, and you can choose to meet it. 

What do you take as signs of good fortune? What moments of kismet have appeared before you? How did you answer?

Our Istanbul chapter chose this month’s exploration of Kismet, Selin Çınar illustrated the theme, and Mailchimp is presenting the theme.