It seems like a good time of year to renew our commitment to writing posts again here. It's spring (sort of, still freezing in New Jersey) and for many folks from a variety of religious backgrounds, it's a season of rejuvenation. For us, this year, the close of March and cusp of April coincides with our decision to bid farewell to Facebook. It's our attempt to simplify and unwind from the stressors of keeping up with the Joneses and the Smiths and the . . . well, you get it. Social media was beginning to feel like part-minefield, part shouting-into-the-abyss to be noticed. To put it simply, too much of it wasn't feeling good - murky and angsty and exhausting. So we have deactivated our account and we're trying life without it.

Here's what we're hoping for in this new, less-encumbered space:

More time to create our own personal artwork (Maya has been working on a series of paper-piecing projects and Amy has been collaging again - cue the celebration!)
Plotting and planning where we'll go in our new-to-uscaravan. We purchased Sunshine Doré, a Hunter II Compact, about a year and a half ago. She's been out on the road a few times - to our favorite East coast blue grass festival at Mass MoCA (Fresh Grass Festival) and the Markets at Round Lake. We'll be taking her to Randolph, NJ in May for their inaugural Arts in the Park festival and to Drive-In 32 in June for the Qwerty Festival. She's incredibly cozy and, while she might not be able to hold as many visitors at one time as our other caravan did, she's lighter and trimmer and still the perfect little book nook. If you want to bring us to your city or town, let us know.
We're thinking about creating a podcast. What would it sound like? Where would we record it? (Coming to you from INSIDE Sunshine, perhaps?) What would we talk about and who would we talk to, besides each other? Our old video musings, Monday Musings, were fun, but Amy freezes like a deer in headlights on film so we're hoping that podcasting might be more relaxing for her.
More face-to-face time with all of you! We're bulking up our studio offerings, reaching out to other teaching artists about ideas they have for using our space, adding more poetry readings, stand-up comedy and music events, and doubling our efforts to gather community around us - live and in-person. What would you like to see happening at The Creativity Caravan?