All My Life's a Circle
~ Harry Chapin
All my life's a circle, sunrise and sundown
Moon rolls through the nighttime, till the daybreak comes around.
All my life's a circle, still I wonder why,
Season's spinning round again, years keep rollin' by.
From this….
To this…
June 1st was Unfold Studio’s 7th and final anniversary. Sunday, I closed the studio doors for the last time, the black and white tile floors and golden yellow walls looking bereft after so long filled with words of inspiration; art supplies of every imaginable type; bits of paper and ephemera on shelves, in bins, on tables, and the floor; and old file folders covered with the beautiful evidence of unbounded creative explorations and discoveries. The abundance of creative materials that filled the space literally caused jaws to drop in awe as they entered for the first time, but it was the sacred and healing energy of the studio that changed lives. Empty, it is really merely a room.
It didn’t actually hit me—the perfectly sacred roundness of this timing, these 7 years—until after I’d announced the approaching closing of Unfold Studio. But it clearly has made a perfect circle.
In Jewish thought and tradition, seven is a very significant number. Seven is Divine Completion. It is the seventh day of the week, the number of days one sits shiva when mourning the recently dead, the number of blessings bestowed on a couple in their wedding, the number of days in two major holidays (Passover and Sukkot), the number of significant holidays in the Jewish year, and more.
Another one of the most auspicious meanings is that every seventh year is called a shmita year. The shmita year is a year in which farmers let the land lay fallow, planting nothing, allowing the power of nature to take over and the power of the plow to be put aside. The shmita year is a year of rest and a year of rejuvenation. Interestingly, we are coming up on a shmita year in the Jewish calendar this fall.
And so, it makes sense to me, the synchronicity of Divine Completion and the shmita year coinciding and coalescing in the closing of Unfold Studio and the fruiting of other branches of my creativity and entrepreneurial tree. Last year, technically was the shmita year of my business, the seventh year of the studio, and due to the pandemic it did indeed lay fallow. I only entered it a few times from March 2020 to March 2021. I let all those art supplies just sit, waiting to see what would happen.
But I didn’t do nothing. This past year was a year of quiet birthing of a new path for my work. As the in person classes went dark, the online classes blossomed, and even more, my one-on-one creativity coaching work took off, sending out new branches and foliage, filling me and my clients with a sense of great unfolding and awareness that despite what you might think, sitting across a computer screen is a completely meaningful way to connect and explore our shadows, stories, and expressive terrain, when held by a heart-centered guide who believes in you unconditionally. And…of course, it has nothing to do with where you are in the world. My clients are now scattered all across the globe! And that is absolutely transforming for all of us.
Many people have asked if I plan to open another in person studio and my answer is: “We shall see.” For now I will continue my creative unfolding online with you!
(If you’re interested in having a chat to explore the possibilities of working with me, send me an email!)
And so, of course, it still comes back to unfolding, doesn’t it?
Seven years ago, I opened Unfold Studio with two art journaling classes a week, which grew to three. There were also frequent knock-your-socks-off weekend playshops, juicy new years retreats, deep dive programs, and private creativity coaching sessions. Hundreds of students have entered the studio, found their creative voices, opened their hearts through color and imagery and telling their stories, and gone home energized, cracked open, and inspired. Many found that they were indeed artistic. Many others found healing that had eluded them in years of talk therapy. Many found their “tribe,” their community of creative souls in which they felt safe to explore their stories, memories, histories, and shadows. Many came back week after week after week to dip their hands in paint and let go of their expectations.
Over the course of the past few months I have heard story after story from my beloved students of how their work with me at Unfold Studio changed their lives. There is little more valuable than being seen and known, being witnessed and given space to explore the voice deep within one’s heart that yearns to speak. My work at Unfold was all about that. I created it out of my own powerful experience with healing through art journaling and I made sure people knew right from the start: This is not an art class. This is a transformation class using art supplies.
Last Saturday we had a beautiful ritual of letting go and saying goodbye to the studio. So many lovely, heartfelt stories were shared. My dear friend Heather Paul, a rabbinic student and the co-director of the neuro-oncolgy family camp I songlead at yearly, facilitated. She created a really meaningful activity of sharing what we were taking with us from the studio, what challenged us at the studio, and what brought us joy from the studio. I’d love for you, too, to add your thoughts and words. Click on this LINK to go to the boards and add your own “sticky notes” (the 4th icon down on the left panel).
Closing the studio has been a beautiful, if heartbreaking, process. I’m thrilled that so much of the studio is now going on to live and be used in your lives. That, clearly is something that you are taking away from Unfold! Personal art spaces, school maker spaces and art classes, rehab centers…all will have the healing power of the creative now imbued with all the juicy goodness from the studio. Thank you to each of you who came out to support my closing sale and give away! (And why was it SO hard to dump boxes of old magazines in the recycle bin at the end of the day on Sunday???)
And so, these amazing seven years come to an end. Divine Completion. Full Circle. So much wonderfulness happened in that golden yellow room with the black and white floors. And it’s because of YOU. I couldn’t have done any of it alone, by myself with a few spray inks! No, it was because you came and trusted me with your tender hearts; you tried something new; you brought friends because you knew they needed it; you shared your stories in the circles that gathered there; and you inspired me, others, and yourself time after time with your creativity, ingenuity, vulnerability, bravery, and authenticity in your art journal pages and your lives. THANK YOU! I am SO grateful for YOU and to YOU!
Please stay connected and know that your presence in my life and Unfold Studio’s unfolding story means the world to me.
It seems like I've been here before, I can't remember when,
I’ve got this funny feeling, we'll all get together again.
No straight lines make up my life, all my roads have bends,
There’s no clear-cut beginnings, so far no dead-ends.
If you’d like to listen to Pete Seeger singing this song, one of my faves, click here.
Here’s to gathering together again in sacred, creative circles wherever we are. Sending you love and blessings and may all your roads have bends.
As I did my final sweep up of the space, I was given some messages. Let’s all take them with us!
Some scenes from the last days…
