Creating MAGIC with Moyra Scott

In this episode we dive deep into the power of creation. Whether you can see it or not, we are ALL creative, we are born that way! And by embracing that creativity, we have the power to create MAGIC in our life!

Moyra Scott is an artist, creative facilitator and coach. She is the founder of 'Wild Painting', she has worked with the UN and she specialises in Creativity, Productivity and Magic! She understands the need for creativity in order to be productive and to create a life that turns you on!

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hello and welcome to the Big O podcast. With me, your host, Emma Reamy. I am an empowerment coach and public speaker, a visual artist, a photographer, an author, a number three, and a firm believer in the transformational power of awakening to the magic of pleasure and joy. The Big O explores ways to elevate yourself into a place of personal power through creativity, wild self-love, and awakening to your own pleasure through the feminine energy of flow so that you can embody the world that you truly are. It's time for you to get turned on by your own life and experience the Big O. Hello and welcome back to the Big O podcast. Today I have a very special guest, Moira Scott. She is an artist, a creative facilitator, and a coach. And today we are going to be talking about how she lives a life of magic and creates magic herself and how we can use that a little bit in our own lives. So hello, Moira.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Hello, Emma. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

It is such a pleasure. I am so glad to see you this morning. And I'd love it if you could introduce yourselves to our listeners today.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Right. Okay, well, hello everyone. My name is Moira, Moira Scott, and as Emma said, I am an artist and a facilitator and a coach, and I work between, if you imagine a little triangle I am about creativity, productivity, and magic. And what I do is I run art workshops. I do coaching for creative business owners, and I also work in large organizations and sort of take creativity to them. And I run um so my art workshop's called Wild Painting, and I that's in an in-person one, and then I have Wild Art Journaling, which is an online sort of club, really. It's a kind of membership, and people come every week and we do uh practice called World Art Journaling.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Oh, amazing, Moira. And I've seen your work and what you do, and it's absolutely wonderful. And I can even see a beautiful piece of artwork behind you right now, which kind of sums it up. Yeah. You literally create magic, and I love that. And I know that that's your philosophy, and I feel that everything you do, you kind of bring that spark with you. And I think creating magic is absolute key to creating a life that turns us on. It's as simple as that. And I know you talk about this a lot about how creativity in itself is almost a gateway, it's a doorway, it's an opportunity to create magic. And it brings this spark to us. And what makes me feel quite sad actually is most conversations that I have with grown-ups. Children are a little bit more open, but with grown-ups, is I'm not creative.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

Ah, yes, I also hear that a lot. Or um, yeah, it's and it's kind of combined with this kind of notion that I can't draw, as if drawing were the kind of being able to do something representative was the you know, be all and end all of being good at art. That's the one. It's like, oh, I'm not good at art. Is that for me? I'm not good at art. And I get completely um for me, it's not whether, you know, what is art, good art and bad art anyway. That's my first kind of step. What makes something good and what makes something bad? And how are we judging that and from what perspective? And for me, it's not about whether something is good using little kind of you know, quotation marks, or bad, it's about are you enjoying the process? And on that level, I absolutely believe that all humans are absolutely capable of creative self-expression. And artist is a word for somebody who is doing creative self-expression in my book. So um, you know, there are you know, you can be a professional artist, and most people kind of go to that level. It's like you in order to be an artist or to make art, you have to be good enough to sell your work and you have to be selling it and you have to professionalise it. And I completely disagree with that. I think art is something that we're we all are capable of doing. In fact, I go so far as to say that creative self-expression is in fact a human need. Art is not a luxury, it is something that we all crave, and once you start doing it on whatever level that is, there's this kind of oh, this is great, and it feels so good to be doing it without that judgment, uh without that sort of necessity for it to be uh a job or uh of such high quality that you know you're I don't know, um, as I say Picasso because Picasso paints some very strange paintings, um, but you know, somebody who can complete constable or something, you're a fine artist, and um, you know, it's and it it's it's bizarre, it's a bit like you know, you can't sing unless you can sing like you know, Mariah Carey, or you can't run unless you can go as fast as Usain Bolt. It's like we can do all of these things and they're great, you know. I mean, maybe running, I'm not so great at running, but but you know, you can people enjoy it, right? And you can get a lot from it and can be beneficial, or singing, you know, the actual act of singing yourself is great, you know, on whatever level that making that noise. And so mark making is like we just do it, you know. If you can doodle, you can do it, you know. It's it's on that level. We can we can all make marks, and so that for me is what it's about. It's about learning or kind of like unlearning, it's not about this final outcome, it's about that expression and enjoying it.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

So, um, yeah, I that's everything you're saying, I I agree so much with. And this is something that within my 15-year teaching career that I talked about a lot, and I was a huge advocate with, um, which is why I ended up working with South Gloss, the entire area, and you know, lead in other teachers basically along this path. Because to me, it's it's a language, and it's a language that as humans, little mini humans, we often use before we can even speak, before we can vocalize anything, we mark make, we we, you know, think of those toddlers that have put the drawings all over the walls. And for my daughter, it was all over herself, you know, and it made me visualize her older, covered in body art. But um, you know, and it's just it's it's an expression, and I think that's what people forget is is your creativity comes into all areas of your life and it is you are literally born with it, it is there, and we are almost uh programmed out of it. And I I it makes me so sad to see these seven-year-old children, sometimes even younger than that, saying exactly that, I can't draw, I'm no good at art. And because the thing is, is I've taught those children from four years old. In fact, the last five years of my teaching career was in reception, and these children that are coming in, they don't have that. They've learned that they've learned to say, I can't draw. And that's that's how I feel about how we as adults have have seen see our creativity, is that we we've we've learned to think we're not creative, even though every single one of us was born that way.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Yeah, yeah. I mean, drawing, I mean it's an interesting thing because I do love drawing, but you know, drawing is a skill, and you can learn to draw. If you can, you know, if you've learned how to write, you've got the tech, you know, you've got the ability to hold the pen, you can learn how to draw, and it's you know, it takes practice, and it takes drawing is a the ability to translate something that's 3D into something that's 2D and to actually draw what's in front of you. And it's very what we do when we draw is like there's this point where we kind of go into sort of what we think we see as opposed to what we actually see. So you can learn how to do it, it takes practice, it's you know, there's exercises that you can do to improve your drawing, and there's nothing wrong with learning to be better at drawing. It's it's a you know, it's a fantastic thing to be able to do. And um the fact that you can't do it is nothing to do with your creative ability at all. And you know, this sort of generative, like it's like mark making, it's it really is as simple as like, you know, you can get a brush with red paint on it and sort of move it all over the canvas, and it feels fantastic to do that, just to be given permission to do that, or you know, finger painting. I've had people in my workshops just get paint all over their hands and just get into it, uh you know, literally saying things like, take that, Mrs. So-and-so, I finger paint like a boss, you know, like just love loving it. So like I'm just you know, killing that demon by kind of getting in there and just doing it. And um I think it's you know, that it's the taking away this kind of idea that it has to look like something, that it has to be executed perfectly, that it has to um, you know, that you have to have this idea in your head and then be able to recreate it. And it's we're not working in that, I'm not working in that space. Um, it's a very different process, actually. So um just I maybe I'm gonna I'll talk a bit about the process because it is different to perhaps what you would imagine sort of an art class to be, because often you might go to an art class and there might be a still life or a or a person and you're drawing that person, or you've got this idea in your head and you want to recreate it on the canvas or on the paper, and we're not doing that, so it's quite disruptive. Um, we definitely are, I've already said, we're playing with mark making, so we might be scratching, we might be scribbling, we might be putting great swathes of paint in great loops and these kinds of behaviours. And um, what happens is that we're working in acrylic which dries very quickly, and we're building up layers. So um it's and some there's other disruptive little things I do in that so that it's um you you don't know what's going to be happening. You can just go and just do it and respond to it and play, and really opening up that play space. We can explore, we can experiment, we can try all different kinds of things, and there's no mistakes, and it doesn't have to make a nice picture. We're in that point, and just playing with these layers and playing with the colours, and it's seeing how the colours mix together, or what happens if we do this, and really expanding, exploring, exploring, exploring. And then there's um letting go because we work in layers. Sometimes we're kind of killing our darlings. There's a sort of phrase from uh thing as a writing tutor. It's like sometimes you get hung up on one bit that you're really obsessed with, kind of like keeping, and and um we want to do everything like that, and we've got this stuck idea, so we kind of like let that go so that we don't know what we're doing. So you're at the canvas, and it's a kind of do something, respond to it, play space that's very much in the present moment. And when you know, like at this point where you don't know where you're going. Um, I was talking about um, I know we were talking earlier about like courage and the creative unknown and getting into that space where you are, yeah, the there is no plan, we don't know what's happening, you're making it up as you're go go along, you're letting things go, let it go, let it go, let it go, until you come to this point where it all doesn't matter and you're just in it. And that's the point really that I'm trying to get people to come to is that point where it's you kind of like people say, like art is you know, you can you sort of lose yourself to find yourself. It's where all of that judgment just gets stripped away, and it's just you and the paint and the canvas and your playing. And I think that's really, really exciting. And it's moving up to like then there's this kind of dance of coming away and coming back, taking things, and you can't, you know, it's not that we just do that, although that is enough in itself. There is this um kind of like cloud watching, you know, when you look at something and you start to see something there, and then you follow that. So you don't know where the painting's going to go, but there is a little point where you maybe suddenly see a path and you're like, ah, that, and you follow it, and the paintings then emerge. So it's a really brilliant process for not um getting hung up or too much judgment going on, although you know, we all through there, they say it's a process, so throughout the whole weekend, there's points where you know it feels terrible and it's really scary, and it's all going wrong in your head, and like um there's moments you don't know what to do next, and you know you're just doing something and maybe even ruining it for a moment, is this sort of place that you're kind of going through. And I think that's why it's that's why it's courageous, because you're moving into this space where you're feeling, oh my god, it's it's it's really ugly, I really hate it, and it's and then you kind of move through that, and um it's just like this wonderful metaphor for life, really. Um and it's a like a safe place to go do things that you know you wouldn't it's not that you wouldn't do in life, but it's like a kind of an area which is um yeah, and this whole s safe space to come and just like play on the canvas and to try out being really bold and black and white and you know, and just getting rid of things or kind of in a fury or trying to be really delicate and sort of seeing where that goes, it's it's all sorts of things. It's wonderful, I love it.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

And I th I think you know, what I took from that as well, what you were saying about this metaphor for life, it's almost like something that I know to be true is there's there's always this element of destruction. And it's it's through that destruction that we get to create space for something new and something that perhaps we haven't even imagined. And what I'm hearing here is that the the creative process that you use is very much based on your intuition and based on surrender, and surrendering is such a difficult thing to do sometimes. It's so hard to let go of things, and uh, you know, that that that phrase about the little darlings, I know Elizabeth Gilbert talks about that in her in her book, Big Magic, and she talks about this crystallized beautiful idea and and smashing it, just just smash it, smash this crystal of an idea you have in your head because nothing you create is ever going to match that version, and it's about accepting that and allowing that. And I know that with within my own personal creative practice and with the the people that I have under my tuition, and they they come to me for terms, sometimes several terms in a row. And one in particular really came to mind when you was talking about this. Um, it's one of my very recent coaching clients, she came to me with the question, I need to know if I'm creative. My answer was, of course you're creative, but let me show you. And we had this term of of her doing everything that you were just saying, of exploring and experimenting and and discovering her own creativity. And some of the key things that I repeat over and over and over again is that you cannot get art wrong. And this is why I love it as a gateway. You cannot get it wrong. Yeah, and I love even like Charlie Macassy's book, you know, the the boy, the mole, the fox, and the horse. I love his message, the whole message of that book, and the images in that book, because he is messy. You can see everything that he does, and they are beautiful, they are absolutely beautiful illustrations in that book, and I love it, absolutely love it, and I reference it all the time, and I reference it with regards to, you know, if I'm doing anything, even some of the kind of children's art clubs and things like that that I run, I show them that because even children are hung up on this idea of getting all the lines in the perfect place. And actually, the key thing, in fact, it seemed to be the theme for last week: the amount of people I said, you need to be more messy. Let's let's get messy, let's get our hands in there. And I often actually do that as a physical release because on previous podcasts, I've talked lots about embodiment. So if you are physically using your body and getting your hands in whatever practice you're doing, moving your body, it might be dancing, it might be singing, using your voice, it might be with pain. I love using acrylic because I love the feel of it. Because I love at some point getting it so thick that I can get my hands in there and just squelch it and move it. And I am covered, I'm head to toe covered in this. And it's so freeing because I myself am a perfectionist. I am a total perfectionist. And actually, my client, that's what she came to me. She's like, I'm a perfectionist and everything. I find it really hard to let go of anything. And that's what we did for the term was this whole process of letting go. And what I know is that I haven't let go of my perfectionism. It's still there. I feel like this is something that's quite ingrained within me because it's something that I've learned. I've learned the need to be perfect because certain things in my life have taught me that's what I needed to do to stay safe, to be accepted, and all of that. So I thank my perfectionism for keeping me safe. But the creative practice allows me to surrender it. I now know that as my time to be messy, to let go, to be free. Pretty much all of my paintings, I have no idea what they're gonna be. I allow the paint to take me on that journey. I generally will go with a feeling, or I'll go with a colour, or I'll go with whatever needs to be released at that point. There was a point I was having a particularly traumatic weekend, I think, and I went out into the garden, and I was on the grass, and I had oil pastels, I had my paints everywhere, I had sticks, and I was just literally, I think I was outside in my pants and a little came top. Like it was a particularly hot summer day, and I cried and I listened to music, and it was such a relief and a release of all of that inner turmoil that was going on inside me. And I think that's the beauty of our creativity is that if we actually let go and let it out in whatever way it wants to come out, it can create a deep sense of peace. Oh, joy.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

And it's like becoming one with that. Um I said to say, it's you know, creative self-expression is this human need, it it brings us joy, it brings us peace, and it's solace, it's celebration, it's all of those things that we were talking about magic, you know, what what is magic? And um, I was really thinking about, you know, it's you know that hierarchy of needs thing, and I was saying art is a human need, and it's like, where is that? It's kind of like at the top, and you have to have your survival sorted out first. It's like, no, it's like if you're in survival, it's like, my god, you need some art at that point. You need to be able to dance, you need to be able to sing, you need to be able to express yourself. That's gonna really help. And it's um, you know, you can you can utterly survive without art. You don't it's I say you don't need it on that level. It's like it's not like air, it's not like food, it's um, but it is also, and it's like I'm trying to explain it to my even to myself, but it's like it's um part of you, it is nourishment for and nourishment for your soul, isn't it? Exactly, exactly, and it's going to um colour your life in. It's it's life would be, you know, without it, you know, life is it's fine. There it is, it's that kind of it's black and white, it's going along, and you don't even know that there's this whole technicolor world until you just literally pick up that paint dresser brush and just put it on. I've done it sort of like some. Live painting things at sort of conferences and things, and I just have paints and a canvas, and everyone has a go. And it's people just come up and they're let's like there, just like for ages, going, I've forgotten how good this feels, you know. Just to put like this beautiful blue and a bit of a canvas. It's you know, it's a canvas for everybody's mark marks all over it, but you know, just to feel that it feels really good, and that's it, right?

SPEAKER_00 22:25

Yeah, it's it's the feeling, and actually, something that you said there is about we can survive. Yes, we can survive, we can survive without it. I guarantee you there'll be a point. If you were literally in survival, you'll be drawing stuff in the mud. I am just visualizing this person like out in the open, you know, without their home, but they're surviving because they've got something to eat and all of that, and they'll still probably do these little marks and things like that. Because yeah, we can survive, but then if we're at that level, then we are living in survival mode, and that is not a place to be, and there is actually only so long that we can survive there, that we can function there, because it does not nourish our mind, our soul. And our minds and our soul feed our body. So, do you see see how this you know can where this can go is that if we are not nourishing that part of ourselves, then our bodies start to decay as well. And I and I know this in myself because I got to that point, I got to that point of it was 10 years since I had done anything in my own personal sketchbook and and things like that, because obviously 10 years prior, I was very hung up on it being perfect, and then I got on with my life, and I got deeper and deeper and deeper into survival mode. And I ended up having a massive mental breakdown, huge, and you know the what got me out of that was creating again because it was at that point the only physical thing I could do. I couldn't vocalize, I couldn't speak, I felt like I couldn't breathe. So I was breathing, but I don't know if any of you have ever felt a panic attack. I was in that state most days of feeling like I was in a panic attack. There were days where I just couldn't stop crying, so I couldn't talk, I couldn't breathe, I I was leaking, my eyes were continuously leaking, and the only thing I could do at that moment in my life was sit down and I used I used pencil just at first, and then it developed, and I started using pen and ink and watercolor, and then it was through that that I actually healed my body because I healed the the bit that had broken in my mind, because I was actually nourishing my soul with a thing that brought me peace, and it was just peace at first, and then peace led to this kind of sense of contentment, which led to this inner sense of joy and this spark of oh, holy shit, I'm this person. This realization of I lost this person, I forgot because I think when we get to that point when we are in survival mode, we we we have forgotten who we truly are, we've forgotten our essence, our spark, our our soul element.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

That's so, so true. That is, you're absolutely right. It's totally connected. There's and you know, say some people more than others, you know, people everyone's different, everyone has their thing that turns them on, right? And it may be different, but if you've got that kind of little creative yearning inside you, that needs to come out and you need to go play with it because it's gonna bring you so much. And I think the other thing to say, Emma, is that yes, when you're completely broke, you know, if you don't do it, you will break and you'll get to that point. You will, and it's not fun, and don't go there. But if if you're feeling fine, it's gonna give you this extra boost and this kind of this glow or this kind of um I want to tell you a story, Emma, because um what happened for me and why I'm doing this stuff is um I wasn't I wasn't in complete survival state, but I had been mum to a small child, um, you know, from baby to like three and a half, who didn't sleep, so I didn't go out for like a long time, and it was quite difficult as you know, that period of a child's life can be quite all-engrossing. You don't have your own hands for a while, it's very frustrating. But I also had to leave behind my career because I was working in television production, it is not child-friendly, you know. The transmission date is takes precedence, you know, the fact that you've got a kid, you know, they don't compute, and it was like, oh, okay, I can't do that anymore. So, anyway, um, at um sort of in that time I discovered online that there were these things called art retreats. I discovered blogs first and found this whole new world of kind of and all sorts of things that I really, really liked. There was Kelly Kelly Ray Roberts, um, this course I did called Mondo Biondo, which is a coaching thing with Andrea Cher. There was Brene Brown was part of this gang. It was like all in anyway, so and through them there were these things called art retreats where you could go for three days and be creative and hang out with other creatives. And I was like, oh, I really want to go. And it was, you know, they were in America, I had a baby, I didn't have any money, it was like it's not happening. But I wanted to go so much that I bought a brochure for one of these things, it was called Squam, and um I and I just bought it, I think I spent you know $25 or something getting it posted over because I just wanted to go so much, and I was in there and I was having dreams about painting, like big canvases, massive, colourful abstracts, and I never used to do that. I used to draw actually, that was my thing. Black and white little drawings, drawing people sitting in cafes on trains. That's what I did. So it was like all this sort of stuff was kind of bubbling up, and um, in this brochure, there was a picture of a woman painting. She've got a big canvas on the floor, and it was like a real physical kind of painting. You know, this kind of you really I'm I'm you know, you can't see me right now, but I was moving my arms like really big paintings, big brush strokes, that kind of thing. And I just want to do that, I want to do that. And um, I did this course with Kelly Ray Roberts, which was about how to run a creative business because I saw you know, I was like, Well, what can I do? I was like, Well, I can draw, I can draw pictures of people's children, and I'll and I'll do that, you know, that will be something I can do. And um, there was a lot of people on that course, it was quite overwhelming actually. But there were 10 British people that I'm connecting with them, so I connected all of them, and it was like I wanted to do this art retreat so much that um I thought I'm gonna have to have my own, I'm gonna have to have my own. And then one of these women, uh, she was called she's called Beth Kempton now. So I'm running an art retreat in in Yorkshire, and I was like, Oh, I have to go, I have to go, and uh that you know, fine, she could organise it, that's great. And this was when Ted was finally sleeping, it's my son, he was finally sleeping, and I could leave him for a few days, and so I paid the deposit to go, even though I didn't really have the money, and then the next day, you know how the universe conspires. The next day there was this job that I it was a random job, it was like £250 a day to be a creative consumer. You had to give your opinions on things, and I didn't get it, and then I paid the deposit, and the next day they rang me up and said, Oh, somebody's sick. Can you come and be be be part of it? It's four days' work, it was just the exact amount of money. It's like, right, yes, yes. And the other thing was the person who was the teacher was the same woman who I'd cut out and was painting um sort of big uh this big abstract paintings. It was it was her. This just has to, you know, I have to go, I have to do it. And spent three days, and it was like this process of doing things in layers comes from, you know, I acknowledge her, Flora Bowley, she's amazing. It comes from her. Let's it was a whole new world of painting for me. And um, you know, as we talk about soul nourishment, it was like I plugged myself in and was just sucking in this kind of like nourishment, and it's like I came out of it full and shiny and um just glowing with this radiating, you know, I don't know, joy, I suppose. Because I've spent three days just painting, all my meals cooked for me, you know, talking to other people who were also just as excited as I was, and it was fantastic and it it was so um nourishing to me that I thought I've got to do one of those every year. So uh, you know, after over the next five years I did a go-to-one every year. But the other interesting thing that happened um was when I got back, um, I was also looking for work, you know, because I I you know my son had started nursery. I didn't have a career anymore. It was like I was just looking for something to do. And I met somebody that came back from this weekend, met somebody who I vaguely knew, but not really, and um he'd said, Well, you know, how how you? You know, I I was like, Oh my god, I've been to this arbitrary, it was brilliant, oh you know, just gabbling away about how great it was. And I said, How are you? And he said, Well, you know, things are going great, we're looking to hire someone, and the words just came out of my mouth, which was hire me. What is it? You can train me, and um, because I was just looking for work, and I just don't think I'd have said that had I not been so you know full of energy and kind of brimming with life, and um, so it turned out to be the coaching work, which is something I still do, and it's been my whole kind of career, and it you know, it's it's half of what I do, it's the the productivity side of what I do, and sort of going into organisations and helping people manage their work. I do that with creative business owners as well, but you know, that that side of things, and they did train me, and it's it's been I've been doing it for over 10 years now. So it's just like the whole thing, it's like it can give you so much to kind of step into that creativity. Yes, it you know, it can save you when you're completely broken, but it also can give you this massive boost and kind of energy and life that spills over into other areas of life. And we talk about courage, and it's like stepping up to a massive blank canvas actually takes courage. It's quite scary to kind of look at the first mark. Yeah, how am I gonna deal with this? Um, but that it spills over into the rest of your life, you know, it's not just one part of your life that it it's it's it's saving, it kind of gives you this extra magic and because I think I think at that point you're deciding that you are capable of doing it.

SPEAKER_00 33:08

As soon as you start making though those marks, you are deciding that you can do that, and up until that point, you're not sure. You're not sure. I think it's it's it's so big, it's such a big thing to do, it's such a big step to take, which again is such a beautiful metaphor, it's like a mirror for life, really. When we get to that point, we've talked a lot about change, and I know that's something that a lot of people that I've had conversations with that I work directly with are going through is change, and it feels so big approaching it. But when we step into whatever change it is that we're going through, whatever transition in life, we are having that faith in ourselves because actually not doing anything is a choice too, and we we get to take the courageous choice of taking a step towards a life that we actually want.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

One that you're creating, one you know, you're stepping into the unknown, which requires so much courage because it's not what you've done before, and then you're you are creating it, and you're the person who's directing it, it's scary but so exciting as well.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

And that's it. So it's it's it's either that choice and to do that and to create that life that turns you on, or the alternative is to not do that, but you are never going to, yeah, you will never move on, you will never move through whatever you need to move through, and you certainly won't grow, staying exactly where you are. And what I want everybody to understand really is that is also a choice. That's that's sometimes we need those moments where we don't take action, but that is a choice, and I think the more that we can become conscious of this, and this is why the creative practice helps so much, we become conscious of those choices that we're making. Are we having making that choice to rest? And that can be a very productive choice. Resting, I really want to make this clear resting, stopping, pausing can be sometimes the best choice you can make for yourself, and then taking action and moving forward, yeah, yeah. Looking at your blank canvas, that's it. Looking at your blank canvas and just contemplating, just resting, just switching off, just letting go is is can be such a good choice for you. And then also looking at a change or making that mark or going forward is also a choice. And what all that we need is to actually listen to ourselves to understand which choice we need to make at that moment. We need to pause, we need to surrender, we need to let go. Everything that we've talked about that we actually actively engage in through creativity, through our own creativity, whatever form that might take, whether it is for me, it's painting. I know for you, Moira, that's the same. But other people I know do it through dance, do it through singing, do it, do it in so many different ways. You know, puzzles, putting things together, breaking things apart, you know, that's all a creative process. Because what you're doing is is is you are co-creating. You're you're you're you're you're creating something that wasn't there before in one way or another. Yeah. Whether that's through your voice, through your body, through, through a physical thing that you create. And the thing that I took from from your story was you you mentioned a few times actually about the glow and feel, and I know that feeling. I I really know that feeling. When you are so aligned with the thing that you're supposed to be doing, to your path, and it's like um for me, I I feel it, it always comes from my heart center. It's like this warm glow, and I can actually feel it vibrating into the world. And when I'm in that place, like you were saying, you notice opportunities, you put yourself out there, you stand taller, you walk, you know, with that that kind of confidence that perhaps you haven't had before. And this is what creativity does. That's the magic right there, the transformation that happens within us when we take part in the journey, take part in the process, when we actually allow that creativity, our own spark to come out in one way or another, it transforms us from the inside out. Yes. I I love that that kind of I always get that visualization of us cracking open. And this is where I think a little bit of the destruction element always has to come in because that destruction makes way, it clears space, it clears space for us to actually allow that. It can create those cracks within us that allow that spark to actually come out. And I am so certain that our imaginations are actually very limited, and it's only through sometimes that process of kind of breaking and creating, breaking and creating and going through that process that we actually get to suddenly think and see the possibilities and the opportunities like you, like you were saying. I would never have said that. I would never have said, Well, employment, I can be trained, I can do this, and that took you on a path that has been beautiful and has led to you to exactly where you are now.

SPEAKER_01 38:32

You know, it's it's been brilliant, yeah. And such growth and such opportunities, and you know, ended up at the United Nations doing collage work.

SPEAKER_00 38:43

I know, it's crazy. Well, this is it, actually. For those that don't know and aren't aware of Moira, you should follow her on Instagram, it's at Moira Scott. And um, she you you'll see her beautiful work and the magic that she creates. And yes, very recently she's actually been with the UN bringing her magic there, which is just astounding. You know, imagine that version of yourself all that time ago, you know, where before you went on these retreats, would you have even imagined? Could you have even imagined that that's where you'd be this year?

SPEAKER_01 39:15

And um, I, you know, going through it and following following that really has led in all sorts of you know incredible directions. I would never have believed that was possible. So doing that art retreat opened a door for me that um I went through and led to incredible things that I did not know were going to happen. I'm doing collage at the United Nations was just brilliant. And you know, before that, honestly, I couldn't speak in public at my own wedding. Um, my husband was saying, Well, do you want to give a speech? I was like, No way! I'm so glad the brides aren't expected to do it. I didn't wonder, I couldn't stand up in front of people and um speak to people. So it's you know, the derny is really kind of quite enormous. I I mean, my first like job post-baby was I was running a playgroup. At the end of the playgroup, you have to sing nursery rhymes. You have to, I sort of inherited it, it was going to close and it was the best place for my son to go to. So I was like, Oh no, it can't close. I'll yeah, okay, I'll take it on. And I had to sing in front of, you know, sing nursery rhymes in front of a bunch of toddlers and their mums, terrified, terrified to do that. So, you know, I've come a long way.

SPEAKER_00 40:24

Yeah, oh my gosh, that's amazing. Isn't it funny though, when you look back at the the the past version of yourself, you suddenly realize how much you've grown. And for me, and by the sounds of it for you, and actually for a lot of people that I know, that doorway, that gateway has been using their own creativity in some way or another. Just saying yes, taking opportunities because that glow that it gives you, that inner sense of joy, I think that's what it is.

SPEAKER_01 40:53

That inner sense of joy, yeah, and yeah, just being involved in your own life, in creating your own life, and it can go in that you were saying earlier that it it's not it's not just kind of like making art, there's something about the choice and making that choice that's you that's the kind of that's the doorway, really. It's choosing, and so you know, a lot of work I do is in kind of big organizations helping people manage their day-to-day work, and they don't necessarily have a creative job, but if they um sort of step into the role of like, actually, I'm one, I'm choosing to do this, two, I can say no to things that uh you know I don't have the capacity for, and I have the power to negotiate, and I can choose that actually, do you know what? I'm gonna have a lunch break every day and I'm going to leave on time, and these things, these are my boundaries, and you can choose those things, then the job becomes this much more engaging. When you step into that role of like, I can do stuff here, I can choose, I can, you know, oh, you know, my boss is annoying. Have a conversation with your boss. Oh, you know, now I understand, you know, that why they're asking me these things and what you know, I can have a conversation back. I don't just have to listen because it this hierarchy, you know, there's there's, you know, they're just people and what they want, you know, when I understand what they want and you know, I can I can have that conversation back. And it's it really is transformative to know that you've got that choice and to be, you know, have that creative time or to choose to kind of mold your job so that it fits you, you know, even on that level, you know, you don't have to leave it. And um, I think um uh Elizabeth Gilbert does talk about it's like you don't have to give your whole job up and leave it and become a kind of an artist, you know. You can keep your job, be creative with it and in it and choose how you respond and do your creativity at the weekends. Why not? It's because it's fun and it gives you fuel and it lights your life.

SPEAKER_00 42:56

There's something there actually about because it's fun. Because it's fun, we are so used to denying ourselves things that we enjoy because it doesn't reward us in the way that is seen as acceptable, it doesn't give us money, for example. That's the prime one. It doesn't create or generate income for us, then why are we doing it? And it comes back to that part of our soul nourishment that we need, we need fun, we need joy. It is essential, and you know what you're saying here about the productivity side of it, and particularly in a workspace and in a career or within your own business and all of that, it is essential. It's essential that you feel that spark. And by following that and by having fun and by engaging with your own inner joy and doing something that you love, whether it is part of the thing you actually do, or whether it is just For you, it doesn't actually matter because what it does is it creates a sense of an awareness around who we are. And we get to understand ourselves better. And it's through that self-awareness that we get to set our boundaries, we get to know what our limits are, we get to have those powerful conversations, we get to basically stand up for ourselves and our lives and say, this is my life, this is my choice, and this is what actually brings me joy. Because it's not until we think, yeah, it's it's it's not until we actually start exploring the those kind of things, those fun things, and you'll find some things you love and some things you'll try, and you think, uh, you know, doesn't it doesn't spark me, and that's okay. But but just by making that choice to create in one way or another, to engage your creativity, to actually say to yourself, I am creative, because I guarantee you, whoever is listening to this, I promise you now you are because you were born with it. You have just forgotten it, you have just been disengaged from it. Saying to yourself and making that choice about yourself first, I am creative, let's find out how. You know, let's explore, let's play, let's have fun. It can change your life.

SPEAKER_01 45:28

You know, you know, you've made choices, and that's got where you are. You can make different choices and you can see what happens. And you know, people say, Oh, it's because it's not directly generating income. But I completely say, no, but it does generate income because it just makes you more of a magnetic person, you know, and that can get you promotions and that can get you opportunity, you know, it makes you the kind of person that sees opportunities, it makes you the kind of person that feels empowered and feels that they can have conversations that they didn't normally, you know, didn't think that they could before, but they can and they try and they experiment, and that actually can lead to income generation. Exactly. It can be, you know, it's it's like having a break, you know. You think, oh no, I've got to push through, I've got to put, you know, some productive expert. Having a break is productive, you know, stopping, assessing where you are, having breathing space gives you energy to carry on. It's like not having that break, you start to lose intelligence. It's just, you know, you go, you you're starting to lose your discernment, you're just going, going, going, going, going, and you don't know when to stop then. So the farther you go down that path, the more somebody else needs to come in and go, hey, stop. Otherwise, you're gonna burn out, you're gonna not do your best.

SPEAKER_00 46:47

Or your body will make you stop. Or your body exactly your body will break in some way, you'll you'll be ill. That's what it was actually a physical illness that broke me first, and then everything else broke after. Because your body knows, and and this is this is it, you know. We we we talked about embodiment, and that is literally being in our body, being aware of our body, bringing it back to that, and understanding ourselves. And I know for me, for my business, the best thing I can do is go away and do something completely unrelated to it, and then I have a flow of ideas. It's like you release something. I I always visualize this kind of river, and it's got this like dam in it. And and by going away and doing something away from the the thing you're trying to focus on, going away, it's like it releases that dam, and then this like flood of ideas and intuition comes through, and and you get excited and you feel that spark again, and that's how you do it. You need to let go.

SPEAKER_01 47:48

Yes, you need to go do something else because you know, even you know, if you're kind of like if you're worrying at a problem, and this is you know, stepping into that whole productivity side of things, like you've got um your preferminal cortex and your executive function is actually quite small, and we rely on it very, very heavily, but it gets tired after about 25 minutes of kind of thinking and concentrating. After that, you're starting to go round and round and round and overthink. It's not helping, you know. Even just go for a walk while your body is concentrating or not bumping into things, the rest of your brain is figuring out the answer to the problem and it's sifting and it's sorting and it's doing all of those things that's kind of actually going to give you a kind of bit of insight because insight happens in your whole brain and it's sort of non-verbal, but you'll come back and you'll be like, right, okay, that's that's what I need to do. And e even you know, it's like regardless of kind of like getting paint out and doing all of those things, this can happen in a very kind of prosaic kind of way, but it it's still important doing something else, like getting into a flow where you're totally absorbed in what you're doing and you've forgotten about everything. It's like you disappear, and then your kind of whole brain is kind of like working together. Idea new things can come because like everything's connected, and this is like in your creative brain. You kind of things are just like barking off all over the place, and then two things that perhaps hadn't crashed together before can crash together, and that magic will happen, that new idea will just emerge, and that's really exciting.

SPEAKER_00 49:24

That flow state is beautiful as well. I love that state where you've been you're you're doing something, and and you look at the time and you can't believe the hours that have gone past, and it hasn't even felt it because you've just been in such an engaged state of you know, and it and it's very physically engaging as well, I find, when you're in that kind of state. It's not a passive state, as if you're there and your your body is engaged in it as well. And I it's just such such a beautiful space to be. And and you're right, that's when those sparks within our brain, literal sparks within our brain, and those connections that are being made, and that that magic that gets to happen, and and it really can change your life. It changed my life, and and from what I hear from you, it's it's changed your life as well. And this is what I would love for everybody that listens to this today to understand is that by engaging this and by allowing your magic, allowing the fun, allowing the joy, and making the decision that you are creative, or even if you're not sure, doing it anyway. Having that courage and doing it anyway, whatever it is, do it anyway and and and go with it and release and surrender.

SPEAKER_01 50:38

That's a play state, isn't it? It's like even if you don't know, go try something and experiment and see, you know, like try it, see how you feel, like you know, pottery painting, dancing, whatever. Try it, see how you feel. And that I think is the decision to go try things, to not think about, oh my god, I've got to be the most perfect potter in the whole world, and I've got to make the really perfect pots. It's like, no, just go try it, like do it badly. That's one of my favorite things. It's like make it ugly, let's just do a bad person. Come on, let's just do that, you know, let's take away, let's have fun.

SPEAKER_00 51:15

That's it, and and it is it's releasing that that perfectionism of the the point of you doing this is for the process of doing it, it doesn't matter what's there at the end. And actually, I I've had some great therapy from doing some campuses and then destroying them after, you know, and actually there isn't uh an end result, but the process of doing it has been so deeply nourishing for me, and it's what what I needed to do. So, you know, engaging in that is is clearing that space in your mind, and it and it is comforting and nourishing your soul, and and it's it's just a beautiful opportunity for you, for you to actually begin to create the life. You're not you're not being passive then anymore. You are actually engaging in your life, and you are choosing to create a life that you love, and and that is beautiful. Thank you so much for joining me today, Moira. It has been such a beautiful conversation, and I really hope that the people listening to this will get so much from it, you know, whatever's going on in their lives, whether they're within a job, perhaps they're in their own business. There's so much, so much magic in this that they can take. And I know that I would, yeah, I would love to hear from anybody that listens to it, anybody that decides to take that leap, to take that courageous choice and and and create something to to share. So you can find me at Joyous Nisfit on Instagram, you can find Moira at Moira Scott on Instagram. We would love to hear from you and continue this conversation because this is kind of what we talk about quite a lot, isn't it, Moira?

SPEAKER_01 52:54

So juicy, it's so juicy and fun.

SPEAKER_00 52:57

Yes, it is it is pure magic. And as Moira mentioned, she does well painting, she has loads of beautiful opportunities that where you can work with her or have some of her artwork. So please go over and find her. She's got a beautiful page and um a beautiful website as well. Is uh is yeah, you know, it does exist.

SPEAKER_01 53:19

It's moirascott.com with a why. Moira with a why, but yeah, it's getting getting better.

SPEAKER_00 53:25

Oh, thank you so much, Moira. I cannot wait to speak to you again in the future about more magic and creation.

SPEAKER_01 53:32

So Emma, it's been a very enjoyable time.

SPEAKER_00 53:36

Take care. Bye.