June 24, 2025
A few days ago, I worked with clay for the very first time. It wasn’t a workshop I had planned for long, nor something I had a burning ambition to try. It simply crossed my path when we wanted to celebrate a dear friend of mine — and something in me said yes.
I thought I would simply explore. Get my hands dirty. Create something…
Instead, I found myself choosing a complex form — intuitively, without overthinking. Later, others told me how bold that was for a beginner. I hadn’t even realized it. There was no doubt in the beginning. No fear. No voice saying “You can’t do this.” Just a quiet trust. A willingness to follow form, rhythm, texture. To feel, rather than analyze.
The Return to the Senses
From the moment I touched the clay, something shifted. It wasn’t just about creating. It was about sensing. Texture. Weight. Moisture. Resistance.
The clay invited me into a slower rhythm. It asked for presence, not performance. And in that slowing down, I met myself.
There was messiness. There was frustration. There were moments where the shape collapsed — and I wanted to walk away. There was laughter too. And gentleness. And the silent companionship of friends who were on their own journeys beside me.
It was a full-body experience — not just something you do with your hands, but something that does something to you.
Meeting Myself (And My Patterns)
Somewhere along the clay, I noticed what was really happening.
I came face to face with my impatience. With the tension I hold in my shoulders when things feel uncertain. With the thoughts that whisper, “You should know how to do this by now.” And the part of me that measures worth by outcome — even when it’s something new.
We are often so hard on ourselves. We chase mastery, forgetting the sacredness of beginning. We overvalue the result, and undervalue the process. We think softness is a reward — when in fact, it’s a doorway.
So What Does This Have to Do With Work, or Leadership, or Life?
Everything.
Because clay is just one example. In reality, we are constantly shaping — projects, teams, ideas, futures. And we’re constantly being shaped — by the unexpected, the complex, the unknown.
What would change if we allowed ourselves to begin with presence, rather than pressure? If we tuned into the senses — not to escape, but to come home? If we saw creativity not as an outcome, but as a form of listening?
A Quiet Reminder
You don’t need to know everything before you begin. You don’t need to shrink your choices to fit what’s “safe.” You don’t need to push past your discomfort to prove anything.
There is wisdom in the tactile. There is leadership in the slowing down. And sometimes, the boldest thing you can do… is allow yourself to feel.
🤍
Thank you to the beautiful clay masters who held the space Anouk De Sloovere & Emelie Abrahamsson, and the soul friends Liesbeth Benoit & Jolien De Corte who held me. This piece may be small. But to me, it’s a vessel for something real.
#firsttimewithclay #creativeprocess #embodiedwisdom #selfkindness #innergrowth #consciousleadership #sensoryawareness #learningthroughpresence #beyondperfection #lifelongunfolding
Growth Rebelle 