We Are All Artists
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We Are All Artists
Body Art and Creative Empowerment: Annie Rees on Unlocking Self Expression
Imagine an unexpected journey beginning in Costa Rica, where the absence of a canvas sparked an entirely new form of creative expression for Annie. What started as a spontaneous moment of painting a friend soon became something deeper—
Join us in this episode as Annie Rees invites us into the playful and transformative world of body art, illustrating how it serves as a pathway to emotional healing and self-discovery. This conversation reveals how body art allows women to reconnect with their inner selves in an intuitive, non-judgmental way, embrace creativity as a tool for personal growth, and soften into the art of receiving—allowing inspiration, expression, and transformation to flow naturally.
In this episode, we dive into:
✨ The powerful connection between creativity and self-development—especially for women on a journey of self-discovery
✨ The joy of creating for personal fulfillment, free from the weight of external validation
✨ The reality of balancing art with life’s demands—and why maintaining a part-time job can actually help artists stay creatively free
✨ How letting go of societal expectations unlocks deeper authenticity and transformation
This episode isn’t just a conversation about art—it’s about the profound relationship between creativity, healing, and self-acceptance. Annie’s work illustrates that when we release the need for perfection and embrace artistic expression as liberation, we unlock a creative power that transforms not just our art, but the way we move through life.
Resources Mentioned:
Learn more about IFS
Connect with Annie:
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when you feel that lust of love and like expansion in your heart and your body and you're so connected to yourself and you're looking at your creation and you're like I love that for a split second, regardless if you think it's done or not. Because this is one thing with artists the hardest thing you have is to decide when your art piece is done. I could go forever, but to have that boundary of right okay, annie, we need to stop now and to still be like I love that. That is when you put it out to the world.
Speaker 2:Welcome. You're tuned in to the we Are All Artists podcast, a space where we talk about living life as a conscious creative. I'm your host, adriana Douglas. Our intention is to support you throughout the process of discovering your inner artist and transforming from the inside out. Here in this space, we believe that the way out is through. On the other side is a world with more art, more beauty and access to more of you. Thank you so much for taking the time to be here with me today. And now let's begin. Hi, friends, happiest of new years to you.
Speaker 2:Today on the show we have Annie Rees. Annie is a passionate body artist and creative empowerment coach. Her mission is to guide women in unlocking the lives they envision by harnessing the power of creativity. She believes that the blueprint for the life that they desire already exists within their thoughts, and her role is to empower them with problem solving tools to bring that vision to life. Together, you will embark on a journey of self-expression and transformation when working with Annie.
Speaker 2:On today's episode, we talk about so many creative things that get me really excited. First and foremost, we talk about the idea for body art and where that came from. We go into what the difference is between classic art therapy and body art, and also what it's like when you're going to have a body art session with Annie. Like when you're going to have a body art session with Annie. Another thing that we chat about is really when you're going through the process of making and then sharing your artistic expression and sometimes what that can feel like and releasing the pressure of art as a full-time job. I know you're going to have so many takeaways from this episode and I cannot wait to hear them. Know you're going to have so many takeaways from this episode and I cannot wait to hear them.
Speaker 2:Hi Annie, welcome to the show. Hi, it's so good to have you here, so good to be here. I was so excited when I found your. Well, I met you in the through the goddess collective with Mel Wells and then, when I found your profile on socials, I was so captivated by your work that I needed to know more. I just, like immediately, was so drawn to how your work captivated like my senses, like I was completely engaged and wanting to like immediately was like I want that, I want that experience. What I'm talking about, like what, what captivated me and what? Um, what you've been focusing on lately is body art, so I'd love to start there and hear how that how that came to came to life yeah, good question.
Speaker 1:So I'll break it down as two parts where it came from, how it manifested, how it was birthed through me. I was living in Costa Rica and I was selling my art in restaurants there and I was living with a friend and I had all my spray paints all my paints but no canvas. Ok, so I really wanted to make this creation. I had all these different green shades of spray paint. I was going to make a jungle and then I ended up using my friend as the canvas and she was like I don't mind, like let's just see how it goes. I ended up using her as a canvas and I was like there's something to this, like there's a reason why I have no canvas right now and I need to understand what's happening right here. And from that moment, I knew that I would do body up, like I knew that there was something there that I needed to to create and give. And the feeling that my friend had when she was like in all this art, she was like this is amazing. I was like, oh my god, if this is like shifting her energy, what's it going to do to like the people out there that actually would really need this? So, as it kind of went on with time, I took a note. I didn't act on it straight away, I kind of just put it to the side and thought, okay, there's something to that, but I'm gonna pick it up when I feel called to, when I feel to investigate it, I'm not gonna push it. So I would say, another six months went by, um, and at that point I was moving my life then from Texas back to the UK. My friend in the UK who's a photographer we've always known we're going to collaborate somehow and I was very into doing my own body art with her. So I would actually at that point kind of paint myself with her photography and then have photo shoots of myself to use later on for what I didn't even know. So you can kind of see how these things are coming together. And it's kind of is meant to be, let's say so.
Speaker 1:When I got back to the UK she was like Annie, now's the time, now you're back here, we need to make the most of this and we need to use your art and my photography and we need to put that together. And I was like, okay, cool, and it just so happened that I could look at each individual person, each woman, and go there's that color to you, there's that vibrant color to you that I need to bring out in you, like there's something inside of yourself, like a feeling or an urge that needs to come out of you, but you can see that that person needs this particular colour on them. And the way I kind of work is very different to any other body artist is very intuitive, it's very expressive and, as time has gone on, with more and more women that I've done the body art for and they've been able to have the photo shoots and have something to take away with them, is actually a deeper message of body art allows you to reconnect back to yourself.
Speaker 1:Some women don't even know that they are disconnected from their bodies for whatever reason in their past and they need to come back to self. But they need a better way of doing so, in a playful way, an expressive way, in a feminine way. So that's how it all came about and it's so. It's so heartwarming and so rewarding to see people that actually are able to bring themselves back into their bodies through tuning into the sensations of where I'm painting on them or visualizing what they want, or we're co-creating together, we're collaborating together, so that is what I do, so that is what I do.
Speaker 2:I love it and it excites me. And one of the things that excites me about it is the playful way versus more serious. For someone like me who has been very intellectual, sometimes it can feel quite heavy to be like constantly processing feelings verbally or via journaling both amazing methods in the right time and place. But this way felt a lot more liberating and a lot more lighthearted, even though I bet a bunch of emotions kind of come up throughout the process. But all in all it it feels playful, as you said, and so and therapeutic in a way, in the in art therapy, in an art therapy type of way. Would you? Would you call this art therapy? Would you call it something else? Does it have like a kind of place that it fits, or does it stand on its own?
Speaker 1:I would definitely put it in the category of art therapy, but I wouldn't class it as the typical art therapy that's been taught. Okay, so just to kind of put into perspective for people that are listening, art therapy, as we all know, is a way to de-stress, to reduce your anxiety through, maybe, journaling, prompts, through creativity, through these things. But the body, art itself, for the individual you are receiving, you're not doing, and when you're receiving, but you're collaborating, it allows your state, your nervous system, to go into your body, to then experience and feel what is up for you in your heart, what's coming up for you. And just as an example, the women that I've worked with, they will co-create a visualization for me.
Speaker 1:So I recently did a tribal woman. I didn't know her background story, I didn't know her experience, but I knew that she really wanted to bring out this dark feminine energy of tribalism. And as I was painting her, she was like this is really overwhelming, because I recently fighted breast cancer and this is my time to go. I've, I've fighted you. You know if I can swear a few. Basically yeah, yeah. And this is now where I'm at and I've overcome it and I am strong. I am a tribal woman and this is me and the photo shoot.
Speaker 1:The energy that came out in that was insane. And then you have the other side, which is like another example would be a woman that I also did body art with. She wanted all floral things, really soft things, and that was beautiful. And as it all came up the art therapy side of things in the body art she's like I haven't had a selfie of myself ever. My husband's never seen me naked like this is so big for me. And then you hold that woman in that emotion, in that space, and you get them back to self-regulation in the process of you doing it on them. So it is. It is very art therapy.
Speaker 2:However, it is a playful, light-hearted way that you can enjoy the process yet feel your feelings with someone the huge thing that I heard you say was that they get to receive and they don't have to like do it's like you're painting on them? So they really get to slow down and feel what it feels like to receive and not have to like work so hard to transmute something. Yeah, I love that. It's really powerful. And in the have you whether, with the body art you've done on, I say on yourself or does someone else paint you? Let's go there. When you do body art, does someone else paint you or do you paint yourself?
Speaker 1:Well, I have had people do it on me in the past, but when I have a visualization for myself, I I find it hard to communicate it. I have to do it myself, you know okay yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2:I love that. I feel like I'd be so like lost, like in front of a mirror, I guess.
Speaker 1:I just kind of like do it really abstractly and like kind of throw the paint and like, okay, that's working.
Speaker 2:Then, like what, what, um. I'm curious how do you set up for this? Because once paint is on, can you, is it really flexible? Or can people move? Or are you kind of like painting them into a pose, like what's the?
Speaker 1:that's such a good question actually, no one really sees it on the day of what actually it like what, if you can move, you know? Um, answer to that question is you can move. It's like, uh, water soluble paint. As soon as you get the shower, it just comes off. You don't even need like any kind of shower gel if you were to have um, it's called gold leaf, like the only way I can describe it for people who are listening are a kind of foil, a gold foil that I stick on them.
Speaker 1:Depending on where it is on the body, say, for example, if it's on the woman's shoulder or their collarbone, they can put their arm up like this. However, it will add it will add effect, to be honest of crinkles in there, like, regardless if you have foil on you or not. Um, if you do have the foil, it will crinkle anyway as you move, but it will just be a bit more crinkled when you move your arm up and down. That's the only thing you have to be careful of, but intentional, of what you want in the photos and how you want to stand in the photos. Um, but everything else you can move, you can be as free as a bee, you know do you?
Speaker 2:you know I'm asking all these because I'm like want to do it so badly. Yeah all right what about yeah, all right, what about body hair? Is the paint thick enough to cover body hair, or do people have to come prepared?
Speaker 1:No, you don't have to come prepared. You can literally show up as you want. The paint goes through body, hair. It's amazing. And glitter as well. Glitter works, perfect, okay.
Speaker 2:Do people get their makeup done for it, too, to be more of like a formal shoot, or is it again doesn't matter, kind of come as you are doesn't matter, like a lot of women, to be honest, a lot of women do do their own makeup.
Speaker 1:It's not essential. Um depends on the look you want to bring out. If, if, for example, you wanted to bring out like the tribal woman vibe, it does help to have makeup that matches the body. And if you match the face to the body with the darker, like eyeshadows, with like bold eyes, then do it yourself.
Speaker 2:But if you find that you find it a bit challenging, then yeah, it would be beneficial for you to have someone to do your makeup as well okay, and so maybe walk me through who would be a good candidate for this, because I know we talked about this a little bit and there is sort of maybe a little bit more of a specific, of specific persona that might go toward this expression form of expression versus somebody that might take a different route or do something else before they're ready for this yeah, good question.
Speaker 1:So body art the body art that I do is very um aimed at women that want to be more connected to themselves is not for any other reason but for yourself, and if you are wanting to have body art done for other reasons are external from you, I would question it again. And that is the truth, honest, rawest answer I can give absolutely.
Speaker 2:It's a really good point, and connection to self is everything I mean on a path of creativity. Once you start to realize that we're all creative, we all have our ways, that we can express ourselves, I feel like that journey back to self is so important, no matter, no matter which way you do it, but the main point, as you're saying, is for yourself, not to exhibit. You know, obviously you want to share your art right as well. So, like, let's talk about that as well, like, sharing art is so critical. I feel like, once you start making art but I've always had this difficulty of understanding, like, oh, what art do I want to share? What art did I just make because I felt like making it? What art am I like never going to share? Has that happened to you before with with some of your various creative?
Speaker 1:good question. To be honest with you, every creation that I have done, it's almost like it just has to come out of you. You have no choice. Yeah, like, if you choose not to create, it's like your physical, your, your mental, your emotional, your spiritual health will dim. And if you don't get that out of you, like a sponge, you're like squeezing the sponge to get the water out, and that's, that's the art. Then it's like, it's almost like for me personally, it's like my light has dimmed. It's like I can't express everyday life like I would if I hadn't have done the art. Does that make sense?
Speaker 1:yeah, is there yeah, go ahead, uh, with the, with the particular pieces of art and which ones I show, which ones I don't, is all based on feeling. It's not any. There's no logic in creations, in art, you know this like there's nothing to it, yet there's everything to it. But when we are really in that moment of there's something to that that I really love, when you feel that lush, that lust of love and like expansion in your heart and your body and you're so connected to yourself and you're looking at your creation and you're like I love that for a split second, regardless if you think it's done or not. Because this is one thing with artists the hardest thing you have is to decide when your art piece is done. I could go forever, and but to have that boundary of right Okay, annie, annie, we need to stop now and to still be like I love that. That is when you put it out to the world.
Speaker 2:I feel that so deeply. I've I agree with you one that what wants to be created has to be created, or else you start to kind of get restless, in a way, and to the timing you talked about this earlier, the timing, and not pushing the creations like you don't. Sometimes you don't know how it's going to come together. But then also this other part, like you're saying, of knowing when it's complete and saying, okay, this is complete, I'm going to release it and I'm no longer going to be refining it, because I've found myself in refining periods for long periods of time. And then you're like, what do I do with it? And that's when I think I start to go up to the up to the mind. The logic comes in, um, and then you're no longer in that flow yeah, 100%, and you know what as well.
Speaker 1:Like I wish someone had told me earlier that, with with art, with any creative role that you do, one of the best things I did for myself was to not put the pressure on myself to do it as a full-time job, because when I let that go and I was like, okay, a part-time role in something that I still enjoy, that's still in the creative zone, but I'm not fully working for myself. I am a contractor. That allows me to step outside of that creation I'm making and when I put my focus elsewhere and I come back to it, I've got a fresh pair of eyes.
Speaker 2:No, that's really helpful for for anyone listening, because there's such a narrative on the internet about you know, working for yourself or starting a business, being an entrepreneur, following your passion, creating your art.
Speaker 2:But sometimes I feel like nobody talks about these pieces, where it's like, yeah, but if you just quit tomorrow and start making your art, the pressure, the pressure that comes in, and again some people, I feel like human design and nature might be like I love pressure and I'm going to like go for it, but for me that's not in my, in my design, my designs, like you need to have some structure and stability so you can feel inspired to make the thing, and so I love that you said that, because I definitely feel like for those that are just starting to explore their art, it would be helpful for them to know like you don't have to figure it out overnight, and also it's like these micro steps to then I don't know if you immediately went part-time or if you had a full-time role before and once you realize the, the art and the, the um, this expression that wanted to come out, if you then went part-time.
Speaker 1:But I think that talking about this is important it's so important and, to be truthfully honest, like I, the reason why I say it is because I was one of those people that decided from my own business before that I was going to completely stop that business.
Speaker 1:I was going to go into creativity and I was going to make my now full-time living out of it. And I did that jump. And I was one of go into creativity and I was going to make my now full-time living out of it and I did that jump. And I was one of those people that was like I'm going to go all in on this and it ended up I was homeless, I was broke, I had no home and I was living in Costa Rica and it wasn't until I was like okay, I've learned this lesson, that I need to take pressure off myself, because when I have pressure, I can't create, there's no inspiration, it's dimmed. So what is this base, this stability base that I need? Like you said, that I need the safety, security and the stability there to then build your blocks of creation. You can't build on like water, you right? Because then you have nothing there to.
Speaker 1:You have your stability and it no one's saying to get a part-time job that you hate. No, why didn't you do a part-time job, that? Or even something that's like 10 hours a week, if you really want to limit it to something that is creative? That is maybe something you didn't ever think that you would do. But you get the inspiration from these other roles that you do and that's where I'm honestly this is such a good reminder for me at times is these other roles, these other things I do is where I find my inspiration and that allows me to create.
Speaker 2:I definitely resonate with that because, as I've created this podcast, I've also found, in a positive way, that there are other parts of me that are like, hey, we want to be expressed too, like don't forget about us. And so it's been really interesting to see, like, once you have something, a dream realized, or a manifestation, um, come into form, that then other things come up. It's not like, oh, I've decided to do body art, I've decided to do a podcast, and now I'm done. It's like's like you're just getting started and and knowing then how to work with all the parts that come up as you navigate, creatively expressing, because it can feel really vulnerable, like extremely vulnerable, especially body art.
Speaker 1:Yes, a hundred percent. One of the most vulnerable things you could do is put your art out there, and you know what? There's a very close link between creation and creativity with self-development. One thing I noticed a while back was it required a lot of vulnerability to put your art out there, because one of the reasons why I was so scared is because I didn't want people not to like my art and I was like that's interesting, let me notice that.
Speaker 1:And what? Where is that linked in my own life? So it's like a mirror. And then I realized from that that actually I had this like belief that wasn't serving me of I want to do so much to be liked, and that had such a correlation of my art piece of not wanting to put in the world because I don't want people not to like it, and then like not wanting to do something because I wanted people to like me or to over give because I wanted people to like me, and that that was a. There's so many breakthroughs and insights you can get from creating as well how did you manage?
Speaker 2:maybe two questions. How did you manage? Maybe two questions. How did you manage looking at those patterns from that witness place Because I agree that is a very powerful place to come from Be like that's interesting. I'm so curious. And also, did you experience, or do you experience this like vulnerability hangover, once you've shared? Sometimes I feel that way Like it's interesting, as I watch podcast episodes being scheduled, like when I have them scheduled for release, some some for me are more vulnerable than others, and so I, I know I start to notice where I get a little bit of that Ooh like, oh my gosh, people are going to hear this Like I get a little bit of that ooh like, oh my gosh, people are going to hear this Like, oh my God, what's going to happen if they know that I'm like not perfect and human, you know? And it's like this interesting dance. So I'd be curious what your experience is with the vulnerability piece, once you've expressed.
Speaker 1:So I think your question one is very much linked to ifs, which we, like I know you both, you love it as well. It's changed my life, it's changed your, your life, I'm probably sure, because you've you've you learned a lot about it I learned a little.
Speaker 2:I learned a little bit. It's very powerful. I'm not I'm not an expert, by any means. Beginner status, but okay, the concept is amazing to me. So if you want to share with listeners what it is, that'd be cool too yeah, of course.
Speaker 1:So ifs came around for me, I was working with a neuroscientist who was helping me, um, connect my body to self. What is self? How are we connected? And these different parts of ourselves. So we've got our firefighters and we've got our exile parts, and then we've got ourself, and it's not so much a masculine approach way of let's try get back to the eight, eight parts of self, which is all c's, by the way. So you've got your courageous part, your compassionate part, your um god, my mind's gone blank now.
Speaker 2:Great, uh, courage, compassion, actually I have them if you want, I have them right here yes read them out, okay, okay, all right. The eight C's calmness, clarity, compassion, connectedness, confidence, courage, creativity, curiosity. I just got these the other day, literally, but I put it on my desktop.
Speaker 1:I love that. So we've got those eight C's. So we've got those eight C's. And I always view this I'm very playful, right, the aim of the game is not to get to those eight C's, the aim of the game is to actually notice and witness all parts of yourself in a loving way and to notice these parts of yourself that have been adopted since childhood. You know some of us, some of them serve us, some of them don't, and it's looking at them and seeing.
Speaker 1:Right, I've got a really strong part to me, that is a protector part, and protector parts can come up in working too much, overworking, addictions, all these other things, and I think for me I was definitely overworking at some point and that allowed my nervous system to go and fight or flight response pretty much all the time. And so your question to the first one would be noticing. It's the biggest thing and the best thing you possibly do, because when we notice and get curious, that automatically allows non-judgmental on yourself, so you're not judging yourself when you're getting curious around yourself, you're just noticing, you're witnessing. Say, for example, I was to see a part of myself that was like, oh, like why, why did that part of me just show up where? How does that show up in other parts of my life, like where's? Where was the earliest part that I can ever remember of this part coming up? And it's literally just creating, creating a deeper bond to yourself.
Speaker 1:So that was the first piece. The second piece that you said about the vulnerability of your art and how that process when you send it out to the world, that feelings that you have inside it's different for everyone, like you said about yours, um, I would definitely say my experience when I put something out in the world, depending on what the creation is. There's some creations that I've done that are like short reels online on social media that I have not even thought twice about. That I've done, that are like short reels online on social media that I have not even thought twice about, that I've been like okay, bye, like let's get that out of the way.
Speaker 1:And then there's, like other ones, that I spent more time on but more been more intentional about, and those are the ones that are the most daunting to put out there and I've noticed in that moment of me putting it out there that I experience a protector part of me that wants to come in and like save me through disassociation of my body, I switch off, I don't want to know and I'm like gone and I've worked and worked for months to bring that and shorten that gap, because I used to be disassociated for at least a day afterwards and now I'm short or after the expression after the um, like either expression I've put there, after I've put the piece of art in a restaurant, after I've put a piece of art on Etsy, after I've done the body art.
Speaker 1:Actually, body art is the only one I haven't been disassociated in my body. That's something I've just noticed, literally live, live. How amazing. But yeah, it's not about getting there as quick as possible. It is that process of get curious and also noticing and catching yourself out sooner, rather than when it gets too far down the line and then you're more dysregulated and you're gonna it's gonna manifest in worse ways. Um, but it's always an ongoing thing. Is it's for anyone to say that when they put their creation out there, that it's nothing is lying?
Speaker 2:I feel so much connection with what you said about the disassociation, because that's something that I didn't understand before. Well, disassociation in and of itself, but the um, what you were just sharing about the shortening the time. It's like you're not trying to go from, like uncovering a pattern that is like been with you and and you has protected you for your whole life or however long, to then working with the part or the pattern and then the next day being like I don't disassociate anymore, like, at least for me, like it just doesn't work like that. Right, like you were saying it's like, oh, I shortened it instead of a day, it's half a day, or instead of an hour. Like I went and restored and replenished and now it was like five minutes after the post, right, like there's definitely a a moment where you have to be so proud and celebrate that that was the progress.
Speaker 2:You know wasn't like this. Like, oh, I'm out of the pattern now forever. Like these parts were here for good reason. Right, they, they, um, yeah, they love, they love protecting us and it's's. And it's amazing, because I remember I don't know how you feel about this, I'd be, I'd be curious to know. For me, the reframe from self-sabotage to protector was like really huge for me, because I no longer felt like I was like against myself. It was more like I was trying to, like you said, save or support myself in the way that the body knew how. So I don't know if that's come up for you or if you still use that terminology, but that was something that I reframed yeah, 100% like.
Speaker 1:So to put a playful twist on it, because I it very the neuroscience part of ifs. Um, I can do it, I can, I can process all these things intellectually, logically, but for it to stick for me, I have to do it in a playful way for it to really stick. So, these protector parts, I would give them names cool, so I would give and it, I would see it as a playful thing. And not when I switched it from that self-sabotage, like you said, and put it into like oh, that's my inner critic coming out again. She's right there next to me literally holding my hand today, like she can like, ease, like let go of my hand a little bit if she likes, like, or another one would be like there's a rebellion part of me. Like I'm, I can be rebellious at times.
Speaker 1:I it was only today I was actually saying it to a friend that I actually did this neuroscientist um course with and I said to her we would. I was doing a workout at the gym and I had all these uh things I need to do at the gym and I said to her I was like right, I've got the rebellious part of me coming out. She's like F, this, I'm off. I've got my inner critic that's coming out going you're not doing it right, this movement pattern's not right. I've got my high achiever part that just wants to do her best. Then I've got my inner child coming up. That's like having a tantrum, like I'm out, I'm bored. So I've got four parts of me coming up at the gym and and then on top of that we're meant to be present, like what this is so much like. You have to laugh you have to laugh.
Speaker 2:You have to laugh at that point because I'm just trying to lift a weight and four feet. Hearts are like here. It's so true, because then people I feel like people get so are so hard on themselves before kind of realizing this playfulness. It's like, oh, I can't believe, I don't want to go to the gym again. It's like no, like look up what you're working with, like everything you just described, like that's why you don't want to go to the gym. It's not like, don't this? I think for me it's been this coming out of blame, coming out of victim, and I know there's been a lot of folks that talk about going from victim to then conscious creator, and that's something that I think has been really interesting as a, as a topic in terms of everything being art, your life being art, your, your work being your art. Is that something you that you've experienced in terms of once? Once you take the responsibility of, of consciously creating that kind of everything changes yes, in a feminine way.
Speaker 1:I noticed, because I've had it, so you can hear it in the side no, that there's another part of me right there. Um, previously I very much tried to change from victim to conscious career in a masculine way, okay, and by masculine way I mean the doing, and the to-do list is very long and I'm out in the world and I'm collaborating, doing this, doing that and showing up here, and then I'm on there, and that led me to burnout, which then led me back to victim mentality.
Speaker 2:It's a little cycle.
Speaker 1:It's a cycle, yeah, correct. So I then, when it was this cycle of I'm burned out, oh, I'm not even getting where I want, oh, and then I'll run the cycle again and then it'll be even worse. I then noticed, okay, this is a way that's not serving me. I need another way. And what is this way that allows me to still create, be that conscious creator, get where I want to be, but also allow me to know that I'm there and I'm there now. In that being so, I kind of noticed of I need to do less, but know that I'm still doing enough.
Speaker 1:So when I was in that conscious creation is that when I was able to do it in a feminine way, that was obviously. Creativity is part of the, the thing I do anyway, but do it in a way that was more expressive, reducing the doing as much as possible and seeing actually what 20% of what I'm doing right now can I focus on that and see and make sure this 20% that I'm doing is getting 80% of the way there of what I was doing before, and that really shifted it for me, where I was able to be like, okay, this is, this is the doing part and that's okay. Now, this part is where I'm being and I'm expressing, I'm re-evaluating and I'm reflecting and I'm being in this moment, and that that actually broke the cycle of going back to a victim mentality and I'm literally just recreating and conscious, creating more, and that's where it's got me, if that makes sense yeah, so that shift of recognizing that was the 80 20 that you're describing.
Speaker 2:How has that now then supported you in making a business around this? Or or we didn't really get into your origins of business like fully in that in the interview, but how has this supported you now with your business, with having creativity as part or as really a business? And then it sounds like you might work part-time elsewhere.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So two parts to that One. I've learned I need to ask for help when I need it. How that help may look like we spoke earlier like hiring someone to do my content, you know these things like it's okay to ask for help. And this doesn't just go for your business, this goes for personal. So outside of business, I have someone that, yes, I know how to do my own personal training stuff because that's where I came from, that's where I originated with personal development. Yeah, but I need someone at that moment in time in my life to do that for me. It gives me free time to do what I love to do. It gives me that space. So asking for help was a big one.
Speaker 2:We were talking about the way that you've managed now, in this more 80-20 rule, the creativity in business. What kind of changes did that mean for business when you shifted from this burnout cycle to then going into a more relaxed way of still getting work done and still creating, but also allowing the space for creation, more creation to come through, more expression to come through?
Speaker 1:yeah, so that asking for help piece was a huge part. Um, that asking for help piece was a huge part, especially in the business part Getting another role somewhere else. So I am a contractor for teaching creativity for young kids and you know what? They spark my creativity more than ever. I bet they really, because, if you think about it, kids that are in school, everything is don't do this, do this. This is the answer. This is not the answer.
Speaker 1:We are teaching kids to be very black and white and very uh, like what's right and what's wrong. And how is a child meant to be able to express their creativity when all they are learning is what is right, what is wrong, and if something's wrong, then they're not. They're not good enough in that, you know, or maybe that subject's not not for me, whereas when I come into the creative space of teaching these kids creativity and allowing them to learn that there is no wrong way of doing this, that that shift that I see in these kids is like, oh, really, like really, and and it breaks my heart, you know, because I see them go really like, are you sure? And they're still asking me like is this okay? And I'm like, yes, like did this come from you? Yes, it did. That's perfect.
Speaker 1:And what do you see in this? Why did you create this the way you did? And, like these questions, there's no right, wrong answer here. Like I'm not trying to test you. All I want is you to just create from what's within you, and that is the most liberating thing for them, but also for me, because I'm able to have inspiration of okay.
Speaker 2:I'm literally helping people bring out their expression in real time, but also from there and witnessing their response gives me that inspiration to then do my own work that's so empowering for them and inspiring and to me also, like systemically with where we are like, like systemically with where we are like, also makes me a little bit sad because, you know, so many adults got brought up with that mentality of right and wrong and like yes and no and like can't do this, can't do that. So, like you wonder why I feel like we have like a creativity sort of issue. I say issue but just because there's so many people that think they aren't creative or can't do it or aren't allowed to do it. But what you're, what you're sharing, is so powerful that to bring new generations with that feeling of like they can create, they will create. Any creation is perfect in its own way is it this?
Speaker 1:is it because even in schools they still, even if they do touch on art, is very much like okay, the art needs to look like this, you have to achieve this at the end of the art lesson and it has to be this. Whereas you haven't, there's nothing out there that is like I want you to create what's inside of you Like. What curriculum ever does that? None.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, yeah, they're usually. If I remember art class from high school, it was always like a theme or a painter and it was like try to make this.
Speaker 1:I'm not good at that. Yeah, literally, see this apple, paint it.
Speaker 2:That's hard, that's hard, that's hard, it's hard for for those of us that are now um recovering creativity, it's a challenge. It's a challenge to recover it yeah, what would you call that?
Speaker 1:like a recovery?
Speaker 2:creative. I just, I don't know that's from like the artist's way, like right, artist recovery, like recovering creative, so, but I feel like it. But it goes back, just to kind of bring the conversation full circle recovering your, your artistry, I feel like goes back to that journey of self-development, like there was no way at least in my experience, there was no way to not discover myself.
Speaker 2:When I was discovering art, it was like, yeah, they're they're intertwined and they're parallel, and sometimes they're together, sometimes they're, yeah, right next to each other, but there was no way to ignore the self-discovery piece, which is why I like talking about this, because it's like art and development, self-development, hand in hand.
Speaker 1:Um so I love that and you know what like the deeper you meet yourself, the deeper your artwork is, and that will hit more yeah, that's so true.
Speaker 2:That's so true. Are there ways that people can work with you apart from body art at this time?
Speaker 1:yeah, so I do group online at the moment that I'm actually launching as of next year, so that's super exciting. So, if you were to want to do that, it's actually recreating your creations, which is wherever you feel that you are dimmed in your creativity in your life and your playfulness about that and how you can just create consciously without even having to put as much effort in, like this, is that course for you. I'm doing it starting January, so I don't know when this podcast will be out, but it will probably be around that time. Anyway, I do have a YouTube that talks all about the creativity and the creative process and art therapy activities, tools that you can use, mindfulness tricks and ways, and my Instagram as well. That's all my body art. So my Instagram as well, that's all my body art. So, um, my Instagram is I am Annie Rees and my YouTube is I am Annie Rees.
Speaker 2:Keeping it plain and simple, though yeah, I will link it all for everyone in the show notes.
Speaker 1:So they will have it.
Speaker 2:Yes, thank you. I appreciate you coming on the show. It was so wonderful to chat with you and I hope that many people in this world get to experience your work because it is so cool oh, it's saying thank you so much for having me you're welcome.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. I hope you learned something new and embrace being the student of your own life until the time we meet again. If you'd like a way to support the show and to hear more of this content, it means so much to me for you to take a few minutes out of your day to leave a review. Wherever you listen to your podcasts, I'd love to stay connected with you. On Instagram or TikTok at Adriana Goes Creative, you can find me and hit follow. While you're feeling inspired right after listening to the show, I can't wait to get a DM from you hearing what you loved about it and what you desire to hear more of. I appreciate each and every one of you so much. I'll talk to you soon. I'll talk to you soon. This podcast is for entertainment and general informational purposes only. I am not a licensed healthcare professional and this podcast is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician or other qualified professional.