Team Blog Post – Micaela Janse Van Rensburg for Swallowing Clouds

It’s a crisp Friday afternoon in October
I step off the busy streetcar onto a corner of an even busier intersection
It’s been another uncertain and unpredictable week as an artist
A week of trying to muster inspiration, of performances getting cancelled
A week of waiting to hear back about applications, and dealing with mysterious new aches and
pains
My mind is inundated with thoughts:
Am I doing this right?
Am I doing enough?
Is this good? Interesting?
I’m not sure about this…
How do I know, when will I know, who knows?
A week of searching and hoping
Grasping for certainty
I walk through the library doors, exhale, I have a job to do
It’s time for Swallowing Clouds
We don’t know who we will meet today, who will walk through those doors to join us
We don’t know what will happen, each session being different from the one before
Things don’t go exactly as planned
We listen, we follow impulses, we pivot, we allow things to unfold as they may
We invite tangents and randomness
There are no wrong ideas here
“This is not a pipe cleaner, it’s a telephone”
“The colour red sounds like ka-booming apples”
We connect with our senses instead of trying to make sense of
As the session goes on, my earlier anxiety is replaced with pleasure and curiosity

Together we have untethered our imaginations from the need to know
As I step back into the bustling world outside, I’m reminded that creativity thrives in uncertainty
Each week may bring its own set of challenges,
but it is within the unknown that we discover new ideas and possibilities
By embracing spontaneity and allowing ourselves to be led by curiosity,
we open the door to a richer, more vibrant creative experience
Swallowing Clouds reminds me that creativity is not about having all the answers
It’s about being willing to explore and play in the vast expanse of what could be