Margaret Bowrys is a teacher of children’s dance, expressive movement and creative yoga. She is a facilitator of Authentic Movement integrating mindful movement and compassionate healing practices. A performing activist, she is a touring member and choreographer with the Survivor Theater Project. Margaret was a member of the Dance Generators dance theater company. Margaret is currently performing with choreographer Fritha Pengelly in New Work and Michelle Marroquin's Day of the Dead. Margaret presents place-based dance as a member of Movement Arts Ensemble. She brings dance into interdisciplinary collaborations with other local teaching artists including, project Motion with abstract landscape painter, Marlene Rye. 

Margaret is a Laurel Park Arts board member and American Poodles At Work ambassador.

Essential Voyage is supported in part by a grant from the Amherst Cultural Council

Paper Clay
There are still a few spots available in my Paper Clay class at Snow Farm. It is a one week intensive- think art retreat of the very best kind! Great food, cool people, beautiful setting, and fabulous fun with paper clay! It runs from September 27 to October 2.  Register through Snow Farm

You dream up a creative project that feels right on, and gives you a lot of joy to imagine it, but it never really gets off the ground. In fact after dreaming of it for so long, not only does it lose its joy, but it can actually begin to be a drain on your confidence!

I have so been there, and it is painful!

The thing is that you are an adult and you have a ton on your plate. 
It is really hard to prioritize a creative project when you need to pay the bills, tend to the kids, get the car fixed, buy groceries, and have some sort of a social life.

Not being able to get past that first hurdle of getting the project firmly in the line-up of priorities can be what keeps a person from doing their creative work for years and years, and this is a travesty.

The world needs your creative work!
If you have a creative itch it is because it needs to be expressed and if you need to express it there are others out there who need to be able to connect with it! It is part of the collaborative project of our human culture- we are all in it together and we need each other’s wisdom, questions and creativity. 

I believe firmly that each of us has something very particular to offer the world and it is our job to do it. And it is not always easy to know what that thing is and to find the energy to make it happen.

Why can't I make real art any more?
Is this question familiar? It goes like this: You are frustrated because it has been forever since you have made any real art and you doubt that you still have it in you. You have always thought of yourself as an artist, but sometimes you wonder whether you can really claim that anymore. I have so been there! If you have been like me, there are things that you have done to try to be creative, and they have satisfied a certain part of you, but they go now where and end up feeling like dabbling. The feeling of really making art is like a distant memory. Art school is long since over and life kicked in- responsibilities took over and here you are 20 years later and you don’t really know who you are anymore. It’s like that old Talking Head’s song  “this is not my beautiful life, how did I get here...”. You do things to get yourself grounded and centered like yoga, walks in the woods, even taking a day to clean and organize helps sometimes, but there is something missing.
 

First I want to acknowledge that this is not actually small. It is a big issue. You and so many others like you have been able to keep on living and taking care of the stuff of life, but underneath it all- there is this 

Ahh the holiday is over and my joints are creaky and achy again! This is not too surprising- I have not been able to avoid the candy dish and there is desert after every dinner. And wow the wonderful pancakes, bagels, homemade rolls, waffles, and cookies not to mention the extra coffee inserted in an effort to peel myself out of the over-eating stupor. Yup sugar, flour and caffeine are definitely taking a toll on my body again. The good news is that after trying to cut back on them  for the months before the holiday and finding that indeed my joints were feeling better, I now have even stronger proof that those are the culprits. Ok and I admit that the lack of long walks might be a contributing factor as well.

So what to do? I could start harassing myself about it- and wake up my inner rebel who appears any time I give myself restrictions or rules. Does this sound familiar: My inner military officer commands, “no more sweet luscious delights- must get back in shape! Serious backsliding! Look at that scale- look at yourself- you are never going to fit any of your cloths again if you keep doing this.” And then my inner rebel says, “Get lost you hard-nosed bully – you can’t talk to me this way! I will eat what I want, I deserve the treats! I work hard- I am a mom, and I have a lot of responsibility- I need to have a little something just for me- a little pleasure in life!”

I don’t know about you, but as soon as I begin a diet concept, and I have tried a few, I immediately have to eat more and worse. Some part of me cannot stand the feelings of restriction and control.