Success! – Jeux de l’Acadie en région

The most popular post on my website is the 2015 Guide to Intuitive Painting (available in French & English), getting an average of 4000 visits a year. It goes over the paint layering technique I taught during that year’s cross-province tour with both francophone children & adults. Those workshops were roughly 3-hours each.

On October 14-16th, I got to go back to the Port au Port Peninsula on the west coast of Newfoundland to teach intuitive painting to 9 francophone youths (ages 12-13 + our volunteer’s 8 year-old) during the Jeux de l’Acadie en région (regional Acadian Games).

This time, we had 14 hours together to go deeper into intention setting, painting techniques, visioning meditation, and integration of the techniques into a second free-style painting.

As you’ll see in the video below, my 9 girls did amazingly well, learning the technique and then adding their personal artistic voice to the final piece.

We also created the group painting above on Sunday to thank Gaston Létourneau, the coordinator of Franco-Jeunes Terre-Neuve et Labrador, who gives so much of himself to the youths of this province.

So enjoy this short video I created on the 2nd day to include in an upcoming online exhibition for the parents. Note that only the paintings that were finished at the time of filming are included. All the students’ paintings will be part of the slideshow on participant & parent night.

Are you ever presented with a challenge you feel is too daunting to succeed at? 

If so, you may want to add the song “I Believe in Miracles” by Fearless Soul to your playlist – I love it when it comes up on my morning dance shuffle.

I’d been organizing this workshop for months. The Games had had to be postponed, so it had given me more time to envisage the flow for a multi-day workshop. I was confident and enthusiastic about that.

But on the morning of the 14th, I found out that there had been a mixup with the truck rental. Instead of sharing the driving of 1 large vehicle with Gaston for our team of 4 and all our stock, we’d have to rent 2 smaller ones. That meant leaving a couple of hours late and having to be the sole driver for 9+ hours from St. John’s to Grand’Terre (Mainland) to get there on time to open the Games & teach.  

With only a few quick breaks, we arrived just in time to set up (thank goodness for volunteer help!) and then teach from 8-10 pm, when I’m usually in bed. Yikes!

My workshop continued 8:30 am to 7:30pm on Saturday, and from 8:30am -1pm on Sunday. The youths had a few extra hours after that both days for sports. Intensive & fun!

Having a support team of volunteers and staff was invaluable. Thank you Josette & Kyle and Gaston & Elizabeth!

Luckily, the participants of the culinary workshop helped their leader prepare delicious meals to sustain us during these Games. We not only fed on the creative energy of the process, but great food too.

During the slower 12-hour drive back to St. John’s on my own through rain & fog on Monday, I reflected on how amazing it feels to rise up to a challenge and to witness the fruits of creativity blossom. And blossom they did!

The children did great! I did great! Together, we gave it our all during this intensive weekend, and I believe we’re all better for it. Success!

So although the scheduling was a stretch of my comfort zones, I’m glad I said “Yes!”.

In addition to our group experience, I’m also grateful for

• the gorgeous fall colours on the drive there & back,
• the beautiful suite & great hospitality at the Inn at the Cape in St. George (25 minutes drive from the school), where I could recharge my introvert batteries
•  my 2-hour break on Sunday afternoon (see video below). My exploratory drive brought me to a kitchen party in the next village, where I got to waltz with a gentleman of my father’s generation and boogie with some friendly local women who were intrigued by a stranger at their weekly gathering. How fun to stretch my comfort zones again for some local culture.
• having my own vehicle (go figure!) for added freedom and a more relaxed drive home.

The lesson for me was:

“Remember that when a task seems too daunting for success, take it one breath at a time. You’ll be surprised at the resources (yours and others’) you can pull from to co-create something amazing! Just believe that everything happens for a reason, go with the flow, smile, and stay aware of your mindset.”

Hope this story gives you courage to embrace a challenge and stretch your comfort zones too. You just might get a great dance out of it too!