Two years ago I was blessed with a new friendship in artist, Cassy Tully. It seems like we have known each other a lifetime. Perhaps we somehow did connect in a past life– at least this is the way we have begun to feel about each other.
She is also in my heart the daughter I never had. Though I never wanted children, if I’d have had them, I feel like she would have been the one I would have wished for. We are kindred spirits– that there is no doubt.
A few months ago we began what we call our Creative Coffee Break. We meet once a month to discuss projects we are working on and get input and advice on things we wish to do coming up.
Last week we met in her newly created artist space. She has always had a space in her home where she goes to paint. But most recently she added a cozy area within her painting studio that has a big overstuffed size chair, a table with magazines that feed her creativity, photos that capture favorite moments which have inspired her, and trinkets that remind her of what it means to her to be the artist that she is.
I’m a big believer that everyone needs their own space to just be, or to create, or to do whatever it is that feeds and refreshes their soul. Awhile back when I posted a photo of my writing cottage saying this very same thing, I heard from one angry woman saying “It must be nice, but not everyone can afford a writing cottage.”
While yes, she had a point, it made me sad that she missed the point. Besides the fact it is easy to judge as what we think is “must be nice.” My space came to me at a price of giving up something else. Though I don’t feel like it was a sacrifice. The point is everyone deserves a space to call their very own. It does not need to be a whole separate space and can be as simple as a small corner in your home. And as in Cassy’s case, hers is in her basement. This may not sound ideal to someone else, but another point is that she made it her own– surrounded by what feeds her soul, just like my space does. Meeting there this month truly fed my soul– but just being around Cassy inspires me to keep believing in myself as a writer and blogger.
Also feeding our souls helps us to go out and face the world- to stand tall in who we are. Don’t we all need that? I don’t know about you, but I do. It’s why I’m so thankful for my friendship with Cassy– she inspires me on so many levels. It’s why I’m thankful for not only my creative space, but also to be within the space of someone else who is a creative spirit. I think there is nothing like it to shoot you over the moon of inspiration!