Fall in Love With Art
Today is the day, before the serious holiday crunch sets in, before everyone's calendar fills up for weeks on end. Pick your date for your new family or friend gathering tradition. It doesn't have to be a holiday event or have a holiday theme. You don't have to commit to the long haul just yet. We are going to start with just one great event. If it goes well, be sure to have the next date ready for your guests to plan on next month or year. Your start date can be in 2023, but pencil it in and start thinking about what you want it to look like. Pick a date that works for you and most of the folks who will attend. Don't let that one person who can't commit, keep you from starting. Hopefully they can make it work next time if not this time. I hosted an annual scrapbook weekend at the beach for 17 years. Some of the folks I really wanted at the first event, never came once over the almost two decades and that was okay, but what if I had waited for them to commit? Who will you invite?
Once you have decided the when and who, you can move on to the more fun details, what, where and how! This is where the excitement and fun kicks in! This includes the menu, activities and your ideal setting to execute.
You can be a one woman show or you can give each person invited an element of the gathering to be responsible for. Even better, include them in the planning process so they will be more invested in your monthly or annual tradition. Allow everyone to play to their strengths in the planning and execution process. You know yourself and your family or friends. Does it have to be easy to keep up the tradition? The element of fun that will keep them coming back will most likely be in some unexpected aspect of the event.
The what can be a shared creative interest, like scrapbooking or art journaling, that you want to establish some consistency in or it could be trying something new each time you gather. You might mix it up! Whatever you choose, I promise something that helps you tap into your inner artist each time will increase the overall growth and enrichment of the experience.
Meet me back here next week for some real life examples of creative activities to start off your new tradition or add to your established ones.