THE CREATIVE RESIDENCY 2026 | September 12th-19th in France 🌟
7 Days of Cozy Community, Creativity, Art, Mindfulness, Childlike Joy, Creating together & enjoying France! Who’s in? 🪷
This is not a traditional retreat where someone tells you what to do all day. We’ll be co-creating this week together. We cook together. We plan the days together. We hold space for each other. We play, create, rest, explore, laugh until our stomachs hurt, have deep 2am conversations, dance in the kitchen, maybe cry a little (the healing kind), and just let ourselves be fully alive in nature 🤍
✧ Think:
- creative sessions (painting, writing, whatever calls)
- guided meditations, stretching, dancing or yoga if we feel like it
- game nights and movie nights and SO much play
- evening circles where we talk about the things that actually matter to us
- music & singing & maybe some chaotic karaoke
- trips to nearby towns or the beach
- and honestly just... a LOT of unscheduled time to read, journal, nap, stare at the sky, do nothing
There’s pressure to be „productive.“ No forcing anything. It’s truly meant to be like a community 💌
MORE INOFS, HOW TO APPLY & FAQS IN LINK IN BIO
There are ONLY 8 Spots, so make sure to send in your application on the website if you want to be a part of it! 🫣💗
Love, Amelie x ☁️
you're meant for the most. don't doubt it.
it doesn't matter how many ups and downs there might be or if the periods of rest and uncertainty feel almost impossible to bear. it doesn't matter if you find yourself being unsure of how things will unfold or if you worry about even being capable of achieving the things you constantly dream about.
you're meant for a big life. a life that makes you feel alive. a life that feels uniquely and authentically yours. a life that makes you want to jump out of bed in the morning. a life that feels like a hug and a fire, holding and fueling you all at the same time.
you will get there.
even if you don't even know where THERE is.
because ultimately it's not necessarily something that needs to be striven for, but something fated that only needs to be surrendered to.
what if you allowed yourself to show up imperfectly, ''badly'' or even when you don't feel ready, instead of not doing the things you dream about at all? 💌
what would happen?
what would you find in the process?
what if you treated your art more like play and took the self-imposed pressure out of it?
how can you invite more ease, fun, joy & child-like play into your creative practice without the rigidness, pressure and striving for perfection? 🌜
and as my most radical act yet, i will believe in a future that is good.
because even if there is a future that is fast, cruel and destructive, i also know the opposite has to co-exist. and i know this not because of blind faith and optimism, but because light brings forth a shadow. so when darkness seems to take up more space, it is because somewhere, more light has entered the picture.
i know there's a future full of art, full of connection and full of softness and kindness. i know there's a future where we gather, overcome our differences and rise above shame and our individual egos. i know it because i try my best to embody it and the people that surround me do too. i know it because i direct my focus and it is shown to me. i know it because i experience it in some way, little or big, every single day.
my number one intention for 2026 is letting go of my sense of urgency 🤍
why are we trying to rush through this one life that we're given? why wouldn't we want to slow down and savor each moment, each breath and each breeze of fresh air?
in a world that continuously tells us that endless productivity and a faster pace are what we need to strive for, deliberately go slow. your sense of urgency is getting you nowhere. we use it as a badge of honor that keeps us as far away as possible from being lazy, when in reality, it is unnecessary hurry disguised as efficiency.
there is no race, even if everything and everyone outside of us makes us believe there is.
what if you stopped running, and started noticing, savoring, hugging, breathing and tasting life? what are you so afraid of? what would happen when we tune within and stand still? don't rush through this experience. don't rush away from the emotions just to rush to the next goal that you think will satisfy your every need when often all you need is already here, quietly, in this present moment.
so todays question for us all is: where do i experience an unnecessary sense of urgency in my daily life? and is this sense of urgency truly serving me, or am i just afraid of what i'll encounter if i'm not running? ☽ ✧
here are just a few intentions i've written down for 2026. what are yours? 💌
i'm refraining from doing a personal photo recap post here on instagram, but i'm hoping to soon show a few pages from a recap zine i created & just sent out to be printed. december has been quite beautiful and has very much been all about slowing down, reflecting & planning. i absolutely love organizing & planning, so it's easy to say that i've had a blast 🤍
i'm spending the evening cozied up with loved ones, a movie and good food. i'm seeing the beauty in a collective marker/transition like tonights, but also keeping in mind that my body lives by nature and honors natures seasons more than a random date in the middle of winter ❄ so if you feel unmotivated, tired or lazy today, don't beat yourself up.
as i'm reflecting on my year, i'm noticing that 2025 felt like 3 years in one. this year was beautiful and magical. i learned so much about myself, did a ton of difficult things, expanded my comfort zone to an entirely new size and met some amazing people. i'm feeling creatively inspired, content with where i am and excited about the projects, ideas and ventures i have planned and coming up 💌🌜
i hope all of you are doing well and that 2026 treats us well 🌟
we’re at a moment in history where, thankfully, many people consciously decide that they do not want to succumb to all new modern inventions and modernizations. people are more burnt out, drained, overstimulated, sick and tired than ever and most people don’t want to live this way anymore. most people recognize how dangerous the path we’re on is and also realize that we have the power to make a change 💌
there will still be a split and many people will venture down this modern road and will sooner or later find their happiness (or their demise) there. but many others will take a step back and decide to do things differently. we’re noticing that even though yes, change is important and the innate striving for progress and transformation that we as humans have is normal, much ancient wisdom still applies today 🌙
community, love, connection with nature (physically & through natural food), creativity and movement are just a few important ones. given the fact that we’re living in a society full of loneliness, artificial connection, artificial food and circumstances that make time for connection to nature, peace, mindfulness and creativity hard to come by, it is now more important than ever that we take back control. that we focus on what’s truly important. that we return to what’s been proven to be good for us and our souls.
i don’t believe we can stop AI. the revolution is currently happening and will continue to happen. i believe though, that we can choose which side we want to be on. communities, connection, physical creations and slower paces will make a comeback. the question is just, will you participate? ⭐️
(excerpt from my latest substack post) 🌜
i struggled with clarity for years. it was all i ever wanted, especially since i previously had a lot of clarity about the path i was on, and then suddenly...i didn't. i thought clarity would hit me like a brick. i thought it would come in a moment of meditation, like a flash, or in form of an immediate knowing. i spent days, weeks, months planning, thinking things through and never really committing to anything. i was so scared of making the wrong decision, of choosing the wrong path, of having to pick one of my 40 different passions and then neglecting the others. it seemed like an impossible task. a task that left me mentally and emotionally paralyzed for months 🌙💗
looking back now, while finding myself in a beautiful place, i notice that clarity, as we often wait for it, (at least for me) is a myth. things are ever-changing and yes momentary clarity can arise beautifully in specific moments. but what i was waiting for, before allowing myself to commit to anything, was full clarity for my entire path. i kept thinking about how things would be way down the line, viewing the entire staircase instead of taking each day as it came. until i took a look at the beliefs i held. the beliefs that told me that whatever i would choose, i would be stuck with. we know rationally that we can change, evolve and grow and be entirely different any given day. but as we're still living in a society that praises experts & people staying in the same profession for 40+ years, this can be difficult to unlearn..
choosing a (career) path used to feel like i was standing in front of hundreds of doors lined up next to each other, having to choose and open just one & once i was in, there was no way back. now i see that each door is stacked in a line behind the other, each one leading right into the next. every decision, every failure, every wrong turn and every right turn, every intuitive impulse, every passion, every hobby, every curiosity you follow leads you home to yourself. there is no end goal to reach, no final (career) path to choose. the path is what we came here for 💌
love, amelie x
what do all the gods from religions to greek mythology have in common? they create. to connect to the divine, in whatever form you believe in: create. and this might look entirely different from whatever just popped into your head while reading. you don't have to pick up a paintbrush or become an artist. infuse the art of creativity into your daily life, in any field that you feel intuitively called to. your soul will show you how and what to create 🌜
create, no matter how silly it might be.
create, no matter how many times it has been done before.
create, no matter how much fear you carry inside.
create, until all that's within you has been expressed in the physical form it longed to be in 💌
