With Our Hands: Creative Care for Times Like This
There are seasons when everything feels loud.
The news. The to-do list. The invisible work. The tension in conversations. The sense that we’re all carrying too much, privately, behind closed doors — while being asked to function like nothing is happening.
And in moments like this, “doing more” rarely helps.
What helps is returning to something older and steadier: hands moving, attention narrowing, one small act of making at a time. Not as an escape. As a way to stay human. As a way to stay connected to what matters.
This is the heart of With Our Hands — A Workbook for Creative Care & Collective Rhythm: a gentle creative companion for people who want to practice villaging—not as an ideal, but as a lived rhythm. Small. Real. Repeatable.
Why creativity, specifically?
Because creativity is one of the few places where we can feel truth without having to perform it. When we make something—anything—we move from spinning to shaping. From overwhelm to attention - From numbness to sensation. Even five minutes of drawing, collaging, scribbling, or writing can bring us back into our bodies.
Creative work doesn’t have to be “good” to be useful. It doesn’t have to be shareable. It doesn’t have to become a product. It can simply be a practice of presence. And presence is no small thing right now.
Villaging, but make it practical
When I say “village,” I don’t mean a perfect community where everyone shows up flawlessly and nobody gets hurt.
I mean something more humble and more possible:
a rhythm that doesn’t rely on constant pushing
a way of remembering we are not meant to carry everything alone
a practice of care that includes making—because making is how we process, mend, witness, and stay close
Historically, care and creation were not separate. They happened together: at tables, in kitchens, on floors, in courtyards, beside cribs—hands busy, bodies present, stories moving between people.
This workbook is an attempt to bring a little of that back—not by romanticising the past, but by giving us something we can actually do today.
What the workbook offers (without demanding more from you)
With Our Hands was designed for real life—tired life, interrupted life, “I have ten minutes” life.
Inside you’ll find:
grounding prompts (to arrive before you create)
simple creative exercises that work with what you already have
reflection questions that help you notice what’s shifting
gentle structure—without the pressure to complete anything in order
This isn’t a program. It’s not a productivity tool. It’s not a “30-day challenge.” It’s a place to return to. A small creative hearth.
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Try this: a 7-minute “hands first” practice
You don’t need special materials. You don’t need a tidy desk. You don’t need inspiration. You need: paper (any kind), one pen or pencil, and a timer.
The Table Map (7 minutes)
1 minute — arrive
Put both feet on the floor. Let your shoulders drop. Exhale slowly.
Say (quietly or in your head): I’m here.
3 minutes — map what you’re carrying
On your paper, write or draw without thinking too much.
You can use words, symbols, messy shapes—anything counts.
Prompt: What is on me right now? What am I holding?
2 minutes — add one strand of support
Draw one line, one shape, one word that represents support.
Not a full solution. Just one strand.
Prompt: What could hold me, even a little?
1 minute — witness
Look at what’s on the page.
Name one thing you notice (out loud if you can).
Then fold the paper or place it somewhere visible.
That’s it. That’s villaging, in miniature: attention, witnessing, a small return.
If you want, you can repeat this practice daily for a week and watch what changes—not in your output, but in your nervous system.
Why this helps “in times like this”
Because we are living through layered stress: personal, collective, systemic. Many of us are stretched thin—by care work, emotional labour, uncertainty, and the constant sense that we should be doing more, knowing more, coping better.
Creative care offers a different move:
from urgency to rhythm
from isolation to connection
from spinning to shaping
from “what’s wrong with me?” to “what is happening around me—and in me?”
And when we practice this alongside others—through shared prompts, quiet witnessing, letters, or small check-ins—it becomes even more powerful. Not because we fix each other. But because we are no longer alone with everything.
Get the full workbook (free via the studio newsletter)
I’m sharing With Our Hands — A Workbook for Creative Care & Collective Rhythm as a free gift through my newsletter.
When you sign up, the workbook arrives in your welcome email—so you can keep it, print it, return to it, and use it whenever you need a steadier rhythm.
👉 Get the workbook here: With Our Hands — A Workbook for Creative Care & Collective Rhythm (Delivered by email. You can unsubscribe anytime.)
And if this post reaches you at the right moment, consider sharing it with someone you love—someone who might need a small creative boost right now, too.
