The Dormer Window is Evolving!
Hello Readers,
It’s nice to reconnect :) I’m back with some news…
My little newsletter series has been about making the abstract idea of creativity more tangible and actionable.
We dove into the science of creativity and went behind the veil of several working artists to uncover the “small disciplines” that bring about real shifts in the mind that are needed in order to create (like follow instead of lead and notice we build boxes that have interesting cracks).
Creativity will save the world. And The Dormer Window is interested in talking about that through the insights of artists who’ve built up a discipline to create what doesn’t yet exist.
While my newsletter was circulating, an incredible book came out called Your Brain on Art, by Ivy Ross, VP of hardware design at Google, and Susan Magsamen, director of the Arts & Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins. The book collects the data on creativity, highlighting how technology can finally show us what changes in our brain when we create or consume art.
When we make art, we increase the brain's plasticity—its ability to adapt in response to new experiences—and we create new synapsis, new pathways…children also become better learners.
If you’re interested in learning more, here’s a great conversation with the authors at the famous Aspen Institute. (And I’d also suggest Annie Murphy Paul’s newsletter Science of Creativity).
What’s become evident through the research, and the interviews I conducted with artists (and my own personal experience these past 7 years having immersed myself into the creative process and all its highs and lows), is that being more creative—strengthening that muscle—does a couple of things for us in our daily life and for our relationships:
It generates a looser way of seeing, judging situations and approaching decisions.
We become more comfortable expanding instead of contracting. Retreating into what feels comfortable and safe all the time does very little for our growth.
We open to different parts of ourselves that we may have unconsciously trained to be less alive in us.
“Creativity should be defined by its expansiveness,” Deepa Rajagopalan, writer
“We build very small worlds for ourselves with our reason,” Rick Rubin, record producer
It’s for this reason, The Dormer Window newsletter is evolving, and I’m creating The Dormer Window Creativity Studio!
The DM Creativity Studio is a little place where people come together to awaken and strengthen their creative intelligence. And it’s focused on activating the creative muscle through a collection of very specific writing and mindfulness techniques.
I’m kicking things off with 2 workshops! Here’s a bit on the first one, with a note on how you can get involved.
Art & The Natural World
A group of teenagers from Thorncliffe Park, Toronto’s largest newcomer community, met with me to discuss designing a series of creative workshops.
Some of them experienced a troubling school year, where, for the first time, there were gun lockdowns and levels of violence they’d never seen before (new reports tracking Ontario’s youth have found a rise in emergency room visits from self-harm and violent incidents at school).
This summer, the group are working in Thorncliffe Park’s vegetable, herb and pollinator gardens. For those who don’t know, Thorncliffe Park is Toronto’s densest neighbourhood, with around 35 high and mid-rise apartments.
The gardens, created by Michelle Delaney, a local resident, mother and gardener, have become a treasured community space. Over the past 2 years, with Story Planet, I’ve helped the garden offer free art and writing workshops to residents.
When we operate in the realm of art-making, gardening, listening to music, and the like, we increase the brain’s plasticity. We grow an ability to adapt, to trust, to be comfortable with uncertainty, to stay open to our emotions, to think differently. - “Your Brain on Art”
This summer, Michelle and I want to continue to offer the writing and art workshops for free to local residents, and grow the offering to a wonderful and eager teen group.
But I need your help!
We need financial support to keep it going. You can go to my Go Fund Me page to learn more and donate.
The funds we will go toward purchasing materials, paying workshop facilitators and expanding the workshops.
Our first session with the teens took place this past Sunday morning! We dove into a set of mindfulness and creative writing techniques and created beautiful and deep work. I must share this amazing poem one participant found in a newspaper article.
All around, the creative work blew my mind, and I think surprised some of the makers as well. It would be a great gift to keep this going and offer it to more people.
That’s the latest update. Thanks again for allowing me to make this pitch. And thanks for being a part of The Dormer Window and the work it’s doing to build up people’s creative intelligence.
I’ll be back with a new series on creativity very soon!