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I was not trying to become an artist. I was simply searching for relief.
At first, I painted intuitively, allowing color and texture to express emotions I could not yet name. Some days I tore magazine images into collages. Other days I filled journals with fragments of thoughts, sketches, symbols, and questions. None of it was polished, none of it needed to be. What mattered was not the final product but the experience itself. The page became a place where I could stop performing and begin listening.
Over time, creativity transformed from a hobby into a healing practice.
Creativity Is Not a Luxury
Many women tell me they are“ not creative,” but I do not believe creativity belongs only to artists. Creativity is a deeply human birthright. Long before it became commercialized or measured by talent, women gathered in circles to quilt, weave, sing, dance, tell stories, tend gardens, and create beauty together. Creativity was woven into daily life as a form of connection, ritual, healing, and meaning-making.
Somewhere along the way, many of us stopped giving ourselves permission to create unless we could do it well. We learned to value productivity over presence and perfection over play.
WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH
© 2026 Original artwork by Minette Riordan
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