On living a slow creative life...
... with Claire Venus from Creatively Conscious
Happy Leo season!
I am really excited to be coming to you with a brand new series. This has honestly been in the works since 2020. And the way it came about has such a Generator-waiting-to-see-what-happens vibe to it.
Back in 2020, I dreamed about talking with people who were paving their own path through this life. I dreamed of coming together and sharing the wisdom gathered along the way. I have a vague memory of calling them Knot So Wild Conversations.
Fast-forwarding to May this year, I responded to a Note that lit up my Sacral. You can read the Note here, and yes, I totally went back in time to find it for you. It took a minute as our fellow creative wanderer today has such a beautiful way of engaging with her community online and really encouraging our creative expression, our vulnerability in online spaces, and the magic of collaboration. This cosy fireside post is a true representation of that.
, you must have a 4th Line in your HD Profile! And I am so curious to see your natal chart now too…just putting it out there for you. ;)So please, give a warm welcome to Claire Venus from Creatively Conscious.
Claire Venus is an Engagement Consultant and mentor for creatives. She lives under dark skies on the Northumberland Coast with her husband, two children and 7 pet chickens. She is the author of two creativity and wellbeing journals.
Claire discovered Substack in April 2022 and has been keen to promote and create on the platform and encourage other creatives to do the same.
Claire co-hosts a podcast called Company of Two right here on Substack for mothers who want to explore being, business and balance in motherhood.
I’d love to invite you to connect with Claire through her website, her Instagram and her Substack spaces linked at the end of this post.
And now over to Claire!
What has been your journey to living a slow creative life and how has it evolved?
Honestly? Meeting my now husband and a whole host of crisis’ that followed. We were stunned by life, practising a lot of yoga and he had a job abroad that saw him have long periods at home. I would come home from work and be full of busy energy and he’d just be making his second meal of the day or brewing up some loose leaf tea after coming back from walking the dogs. We completely clashed in our view of how we experienced the world but after a few woodland walks and adventures I slowed down to meet his pace.
Moving to the coast in Northumberland was the next piece in the puzzle for me – being surrounded by beautiful gardens and nature and the sea – it just flicked a switch. A slow living switch. I was so aware of it at the time but I didn’t know how to make work and motherhood match.
I was quite lonely as a new mum and I struggled to just be in the village on my own with my son… I felt like I needed a bigger sense of purpose and before we extended the house I didn’t love our home. It was cute and all but just needed more of us stamped on it. I spent all the time I could in the garden when my son was small – we just pottered around together playing with water and painting fence panels in pastel colours, baking and things and that’s when I found my slow I think.
For the last 6 years I would say the possibility of being slow lived has been awakened. The pandemic shifted things even further as I didn’t have to travel for work so we got to really put down roots as a family. I’ve never gone back to commuting for work so I have lots of time here at home to be a home maker, to work, to create, to parent. It’s beautiful.
As a Projector in Human Design, how do you balance all the doing with being in the various facets of your life?
I’m very new to Human Design – my neighbour is really into it and I’m fascinated. Apparently 1 in 5 people are projectors? I understand we are seen as leader and mentors but act like generators and manifestors so yes I can see that fits. One of the things that centres my creative practise is I know that you can create anything you can imagine.
I have the quote“Create the things you wish existed” above our stairs and I read it every day – it keeps me centred and on track with my offers and the way I show up in the world. I like solitude to write, fairy lights, a hot drink and some space and time. It’s the flip side to event management and project management which I also do lots of.
I was nicknamed Rainbow Spider by my yoga teacher as he could see me spinning multiple webs at once and bringing all of the colours of the rainbow together to super charge experiences.
I feel called to do the work I do by a force bigger than me so I show up and I do the work. I feel purposeful and aligned and I am trying to heal from the things that hold me back.
How do you cultivate self-trust in a world that wants us to fit into neat little boxes? What’s in your magical self-trust toolbox?
I love this question. I guess I’ve always been happy being outside of the box. I haven’t followed a typical career path and my work sees me deliver lots of short and longer term projects. I couldn’t tell you what I’ll be doing for work this time next year. I’ve worked for myself since 2008 and it’s worked this far so I trust it will all be ok. My biggest fear at the moment is supporting the kids financially as the grow up – we’ve got some plans to invest in property to help buffer and support their dreams – I hope it’s enough.
As someone who has cultivated a beautiful community, what advice would you give to someone who is at the beginning of their journey to cultivating a community around their magical offerings?
Ahh that’s such a lovely complement. I have actually been really surprised how easy it’s all felt on Substack and I think that’s because I just show up as myself?
What magical offering is lighting you up in the present moment?
I am part of a writers group on zoom every Tuesday and Thursday morning for an hour and I love connecting with the other heart centred women there.
I’m looking forward to taking part in my first ever sound bath this summer! It’s in a priory next to where we got married. I’d also like to get back to craft, book making specifically as I feel like I’ve written and been online a lot more than usual this year…
I am so grateful for the experience of the last few years. My husband has been very sick and the sickness ran parallel with pregnancy, my daughter’s first two years on planet earth and loosing my father in law. It was intense, unfair and difficult and we’ve come through the other side (I hope). So honestly as twee as it sounds every day is a gift. I really wasn’t sure if David (my husband) would make it through and experiences like that change you. I’ve lost friends, gained some and a whole boat load of perspective.
Thank you both for this lovely interview. Fellow Projector here too, and only slowly learning what that means 😅
Such a beautiful interview, it was lovely to hear Claire’s natural evolution to slow through honest and authentic answers to such brilliant questions. And hello from a fellow Projector over here! x