How art refuels a thriving mind — reflections from our second SAVOR Society gathering
Before everyone arrived, I'll admit I was a little afraid.
Our first gathering in March had felt like the start of something I didn't quite have words for but could feel. Magical, maybe. And when something begins that way, there's a quiet fear that the next time won't measure up.
I was wrong.
If anything, the trust we built in March made room for this gathering to go deeper. (A note to self, and to all of us: tissues from here on out. The emotions we reached this time were the kind worth crying over.)
Reflection: art as a way to refuel
SAVOR maps five dimensions of a thriving life: Sustenance (food and nourishment), Activity (exercise and movement), Variables (the medical, genetic, and hormonal), Organization (how we manage stress), and Refuelment (meaning, purpose, relationships, and positive emotions) — positive psychology, the thriving mind.
This second gathering lived in that R: the mental dimension of our health, happiness, and well-being. And we explored one way to refuel it — through art. The invitation was simple: engage with art in some form, and pay attention. Notice the experience, the feeling, what it stirred.
We opened by sharing, and the room filled. We talked about being surrounded by art in Paris. Art as a way of connecting to memories and to family. Art as a way to touch the emotion and the pain that is part of being human. The conversation that lives inside a piece of art. And nature as its own art form.
Do you give yourself permission to experience beauty without earning it?
Then the conversation widened, and it landed on that question — and it turned out to be a doorway.
For some, the answer was immediate and decisive — no permission needed, none at all. For others, it cracked something open: the quiet, often-unexamined belief that I have to do x before I'm allowed to enjoy y.
We wandered, too, into the difference between creativity and art — are they the same thing, or not? And the sentiments that surfaced have stayed with me:
"Let art fall into me." "Moving through life is an art form." "Art as a habit."
Integration: carrying it forward
We always close the same way — by naming what resonated and how we want to fold it into our lives. Because that's the whole point.
Thriving isn't accidental. Thriving is intentional.
We're preparing the soil. We're nurturing the seedling — rooted, and growing.
In their words
I recently asked the women of our circle to describe SAVOR in their own words — because their perspective is the truest measure of what this is. Here's some of what came back:
"A nourishing and stimulating group that fosters deeper conversations and lets us be vulnerable in a compassionate and caring environment. I'm so happy to be part of it." — Ann
"SAVOR forces me to expand my circle, challenges me to think in new ways, and expands my little world." — Barbara
"Uncomfortably comfortable — and refreshing. A much-needed gathering of multicultural and multigenerational women… We laugh, we cry, we HUG." — Andrea
"From the moment I walked in, it felt like a warm and safe space to express yourself without judgement and be yourself." — Amy
If this resonates with you, let's connect. Expansion is on the horizon.
With warmth,
Julie
