2020 has been quite a year. As a nation we have not known grief, loneliness and restrictions on our daily lives in most of our living memories. We have felt powerless to stop the many plights on our society: covid-19, climate change, racism and discrimination in all its forms.
However, we are powerful, we do have a voice. We can use it for good or for ill. So in this festive period, as 2020 is coming to a close, I invite you to use your voice for encouragement and bringing hope!
Action
Today take some time to use your creativity to say thank you. This can be saying thank you to an individual or an organisation who has helped you through the darker times of 2020 or has brought you joy in some way. We have all had a tough year so words of encouragement and thanks will mean so much. In this time many people feel powerless, knowing that we have helped someone can really give us a boost so give someone else that gift.
Here are a few ideas for creative ideas to send an encouraging message:
- Create a Christmas tree decoration for someone
- Make a pop-up Christmas card
- Embroider an encouraging message onto a hanky
- Knit a hat someone thinking about their favourite colours
Please share what you make with us on Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #LeedsCraftivists.
Here in Leeds we believe that creativity is a powerful thing and we can use it to build the world we want to see. We run a Creative Activism group that meets monthly for conversation, learning about a topic and doing something creative together that gently and kindly asks for change. In early December we will be meeting on zoom to create something beautiful to encourage our favourite ‘ethical’ brand and chatting about small changes we can make to have a more sustainable Christmas. If you want to come along sign up here.
Reflection
We believe that along side our actions for change we also need to find spaces of rest. If this month you want more times of gentle reflection try our guided meditation about creativity:
You can subscribe to our fortnightly meditations for free on your podcast app, just search LMM and look for our logo.
Find us here on Spotify or here on Apple podcasts.
You can find more of our recorded reflections here.