October 15, 2024 • 33 mins
Unlock the secrets of creative wellness with our special guest, Tahina Marcette-Pierce, a dynamic creative wellness coach and strategist. In this episode of the Resonate podcast, Tahina takes us along on her transformative journey from a conventional career to working in creative expression and emotional healing. At just 25, she discovered the profound therapeutic power of art, leading her to launch Marcette Studios.
Even if you're skeptical or consider yourself a type A personality. Tahina shares practical steps for anyone to start their creative journey, such as the "What's on Your Heart" exercise that uses colors and shapes to express emotions. We delve into journaling as a powerful method for reflecting on feelings and overcoming creative blocks, leading to a state of peace and reduced stress.
Finally, we discuss how incorporating creative wellness practices into your daily routine can foster a positive mindset and help you avoid burnout. Tahina emphasizes the importance of dedicating just 15 minutes a day to joyful activities like painting or dancing. Her signature program, "15 Minutes to Wellness," is designed to guide you on this journey. Listen in and be inspired to make creativity a cornerstone of your well-being.
About Tahina
Tahina Marchette Pierce is the dynamic force behind Marcette Studio Art & Wellness, where she serves as a Creative Wellness Coach, Creative Catalyst of Change for Communities, and Creative Solutionist. With a passion for empowering individuals through the healing power of creativity, Tahina leads the charge in providing transformative experiences for adults seeking holistic well-being. Tahina has cultivated a mobile arts and creative wellness studio that serves as a haven for inspiration and transformation. At the core of Tahina's mission is the belief in the profound impact of art therapy and creative expression on emotional, mental, and physical health. Through tailored programs, workshops, retreats, and experiential learning opportunities, she guides individuals on a transformative path towards healing, strength, and self-discovery. Tahina invites you to join her on this remarkable journey of transformation, healing, and self-discovery, as together, we paint a brighter, more vibrant future.
Thanks for listening! To book a free consultation with Aideen visit https://www.confidenceinsinging.com/contact/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Aideen Ni Riada (00:02):
Welcome to the Resonate podcast with Aideen.
I'm here today with my guest,tahina Marcette-Pierce, and she
is joining me from New York,isn't that right, tahina?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (00:14):
Yes, I'm so, so happy to be here.
Thanks so much for having me.
Aideen Ni Riada (00:18):
You're so welcome.
I'm so glad that we met becausewhen I found out about your
mission and the way that you'reworking with people around
creativity, I was very excitedto share your story.
Before we start, I'd like tojust read out a little bit about
Tahina so that you get to heara little bit about her
background.
Tahina Merced-Pierce is acreative wellness coach and
strategist who specializes insocial, emotional and expressive
(00:43):
arts.
She is a self-taught abstractartist, creative entrepreneur
and a creative catalyst ofchange for communities.
Her superpowers arestorytelling, building genuine
connections and creatingunforgettable experiences.
Tell us how you foundconfidence in your voice to
express all of this to the world.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (01:14):
Yes, so this started around when I was
about 25 years old and I was ata point in my life where I was
being challenged by what wasgoing on in my life and I was
just very unhappy.
And so one day I decided topurchase some art supplies.
I got a paintbrush and somecanvases and I took an
(01:35):
opportunity to let those colorsin the moment speak to me.
So whatever kind of jumped outfor me, and it was a color red,
it was a color blue, and it wasa color red, it was a color blue
and it was a color white, and Iactually did an abstract
painting for the first time.
And for me, in that moment, Irealized that you could be able
(01:57):
to use art as a means ofcreative expression.
As a means of creativeexpression.
And so from that point on, Iactually had started to develop
a few other abstract pieces.
I had begun painting quiteregularly, but it was all about
the expression.
(02:18):
Right, it wasn't and it wasabout the process.
It wasn't specifically aboutcreating a painting that would
like get sold, right, but it wasabout me processing my emotions
and being able to process thosemoments, those challenging
moments that I was dealing with.
And so from that opportunity, Irealized that, that is, that
(02:42):
there are so many ways that nowI could start to reach and
impact people, because I imaginehow much people experience
stress every day, theyexperience challenges every day,
or how much they have to perseif they were to be able to use
(03:03):
their own creativity, their ownart, um, in order to to find
their voice as well.
And so that's how it allstarted, essentially, and a few
years later, I did launch, uh,my um, my initiative, which is
Marset Studios.
And's how it all began.
Aideen Ni Riada (03:25):
That's amazing.
So it really was your ownexperience, your own lack of
creative expression at thatmoment, because of whatever you
were doing before you steppedinto your role as an
entrepreneur, there must havefelt like there was something
missing, was was there beforeyou found this as a as a medium?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (03:47):
um, absolutely so.
I think I've been a creative mywhole life, right, so I had the
opportunity to um, to dance andto uh, to sing, to write poetry
.
Um, I've done playwriting, soall different forms, art forms,
and so I think at that point inmy life I wasn't using that, I
wasn't using my creative nature,my creative skills and talents
(04:14):
as that expression for myself.
And so when I decided to pickup those brushes, it kind of
reignited that for me.
Pick up those brushes, it kindof reignited that for me, and it
also gave me permission to notonly process what I was dealing
with but to express myself in away that I hadn't done before.
And so you find courage.
(04:36):
I found some courage in that aswell too.
So that connected to my voiceand connected to exactly who I
was.
Aideen Ni Riada (04:43):
So connected to exactly who I was Was needing,
or feeling like you maybe needed, permission part of the reason
why you took a conventional joboriginally before you started
this more unusual kind ofentrepreneurial journey.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (04:58):
Yeah, I think that you know years ago.
You know years ago um being orlaunching out, like as a
creative and as an artist Idon't think it was as much as a
norm as it is now and so youknow, there was safety right in
having um this like stable, likeincome.
(05:19):
It didn't matter, right, thatit wasn't really um, I wanted to
be right or it wasn't really inthe direction that I was
looking to go.
But I'm good at connecting withpeople, as he stated in the
beginning, and so marketing wasa place that I was able to do
that in events, and so I was inthat space for a very long time.
(05:39):
But there wasn't anything thatI at least saw at that moment
that spoke to me and said, hey,you could do this, you know what
I mean.
And so, um, yeah, and so it waseasy to take the safe, the
safer route at that point intime.
Aideen Ni Riada (05:55):
So, yeah, we learn from everything we do, and
I mean you still use marketingin your business to some degree
as well, of course.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (06:03):
Yes, I still use that today and that's
also why a portion of that is apart of my hub now with the
Creative Wellness Hub.
It's a portion of that nowbecause I know the importance of
it.
I know that it's oftenchallenging to market yourself,
so you often need someone elseto like support you right and
getting the language that you'relooking to get, and also making
(06:26):
sure that you're that we'reable to speak to who you are in
the marketing right and thatit's not a cookie cutter but
it's able to speak to theindividual and so, yes, and so
that's why I also have added aportion of that to what it is
that I do now.
So it all ties together.
(06:47):
But I definitely felt like if Iprobably could have started
earlier, if I would have steppedout.
But I'm grateful that I'm ableto do it now and that I'm able
to have some advocacy around itand also share my voice for
others that might feel the same,and also share my voice for
(07:08):
others that might feel the sameand they don't have that vision
to see someone else doing it.
Well, now you get to see meright, and now they get to see
you as well, and it encouragesthem to step out.
Aideen Ni Riada (07:16):
It's so important for you to speak out
about this because it doesn'tmatter what age you are.
You know whether you're 25, 35,45, 55, you know, if you have
that impulse to start exploringyour creativity and you know
that it's going to open thingsup for you, it's worth doing.
Doesn't matter if you are doingit at last chance saloon, you
(07:40):
know just before the end, it'salways going to be worth doing.
You know, you mentioned thatyou were.
You know, just before the end,it's always going to be worth
doing.
And I, you know you mentionedthat you were, you know a dancer
and that you were involved inthe arts and cultural activities
as a kid, and I feel like a lotof parents do encourage that in
children but maybe discouragethem taking that route in a
career.
(08:00):
Is that what happened for you?
A career?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (08:04):
Is that what happened for you?
Yes, I will say that so,interestingly enough.
Yes, that was what my momencouraged, that, right?
She encouraged my creativity,she encouraged my imagination,
she encouraged all my ideas,right.
So they would come and I wouldrun to her and tell them, tell
her all about them, theexcitement behind that and
everything.
(08:24):
And then I hit 22, I hit 21, Ihit 20s, and it's like, hey, you
have to get a full time job.
And it's like, but, mom, youraised me to be this way, right,
a creative, to be this, youknow, kind of like individual,
and it's not to say I couldn'thave taken those same strengths
and skills and, of course, youknow, became the best you know,
marketing manager of the world,sure, but all in all, I wish
(08:49):
that I would have kind of juststood on what, like she raised
me on and just continued in that.
But I think that being on bothsides of it now that it's given
me a little bit more we speak ofthat like resilience, right,
because I have a little bit moreto stand on and a bit more
experience behind me.
So I'm grateful for thosemoments and it still brought me
(09:13):
back here.
Aideen Ni Riada (09:14):
Yeah, no regrets, right, because you know
, when we take a you know,conventional role, whether it's
marketing or something else, italso it will lend credibility to
you as well, for for future,you know businesses, you may
work for that.
You have a corporate, you had acorporate position at a certain
point, um, but you know you now, versus you as a kid, right.
(09:36):
So you've been through thisentrepreneurial journey now,
right, and you had to trust yourintuition and you've been
pursuing your passions.
What has made you different now, like, how different are you?
Because the core is there, thecreativity is still there, but
obviously there's moreconfidence.
Now, how do you feel inyourself today?
What is it like to be you?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (09:59):
So one thing that I love to title it as
, or term it as, is courageouscreativity, and so I love to
live in this space because it'san opportunity for your courage
to actually like not necessarilymatch up, but to kind of like
(10:21):
meld together with yourcreativity.
And now you have where, like,they're very connected, you know
, and so one feeds the other.
And so I found that the morethat I ignite my creativity, the
more I tap into it, and alsothe more I learn about it that
(10:42):
it begs more courage, learnabout it that it begs more
courage, and then there's morecreativity, and so they go hand
in hand, and now that's thespace that I live in, and I'm so
grateful for that.
I think that when I was growingup as a child, you always have
this childlike innocence, soeverything is kind of like new
(11:02):
for you and you have like thisimagination.
But then you become an adultand then there's life.
But what I've learned to do now,which is also another thing
that I've termed is creativeresilience.
So I've learned how to use mycreative abilities in order to
help me to persevere, tomaintain everyday life and to
also overcome those dailychallenges, and so now that has
(11:26):
become a portion of mysuperpower.
Right, my creativity is thething that's helping to power me
in all the areas of my life,and so now I've learned that's
where the confidence comes from.
I've learned how to take thatcreative power and harness it to
show up in all the areas of mylife and to be a benefit to me.
Aideen Ni Riada (11:45):
That's beautiful, and your mom
obviously, when you were youngeryou were able to lean into her
to help you with your confidence.
Do you still have like support,supportive people around you
that you can lean into as well,and do you feel like maybe
you're more self-reliant reliant, obviously, to some degree now?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (12:08):
Yeah, so I would say there was a portion
of my life where I didn't havethe support right.
And so what I recognize is that, creatives, we thrive in having
support.
Even if it's a small amountlike, even if it's two or three
people, we thrive in that.
And so I have found that Ifound a few people who are
(12:28):
similar to me in that creativeway, and we uphold each other in
accountability.
We uphold each other in ourcreative ideas and initiatives,
and that's also why it gives megreat pleasure to encourage
(12:48):
others with their own creativity, and so, of course, that looks
different for everyone.
But then also letting them knowhey, don't do this by yourself,
right?
And to find that.
And so, yes, I am, at a certainpoint, self-reliance, but I also
have a small community that Iactively lean on.
But I think that the differenceis finding your people in the
(13:12):
sense of them being othercreatives, so they can
understand the multifacetednessof my gifting and talents.
And it's not abnormal I now Idon't have to fit in, right, but
it's not abnormal for me tospeak about the way that my
brain operates or the way thatmy thought process flows or the
way that my creativity shows upin everyday life.
(13:33):
It's not abnormal to them,because they have something
similar in their lives that theycan also think about and how
that connects to them as well.
Aideen Ni Riada (13:42):
Yeah, Well, I know that you do bring your
creative hub you know into teamsor businesses and schools and
things like that.
Do you meet a lot of resistancefrom those you know linear, you
know left brain people, to whatyou do favorite people and so I
(14:09):
can laugh about it.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (14:10):
But the reason why they're my favorite
people is because most timesthey might come in resistant,
but when they leave they're theperson who doesn't want to put
the paintbrush down, they're theperson who doesn't want to
leave.
When's the next one, right?
And so that's where it becomes.
But I'm grateful because Ithink for us that are creative,
we kind of know even though wedon't always afford ourselves
the opportunity and time to tapinto our gifts we kind of know
(14:32):
the healing virtue and theexpression that we'll get from
it.
But for someone that doesn'tknow, it's a whole new world for
them.
And those are, like,essentially my favorite people.
I'll sometimes give themone-on-one, I always give them
reassurance, I help to make themfeel comfortable, right,
because this is new for them.
(14:53):
They don't know what that means,like how do I express myself on
this?
Or they could be a type A,where it has to be like
structure and order.
So I love to give options, Ilove to give them choices, right
, of how this potentially couldlook for them, so it starts to
make sense in their minds.
But then it also I give them achance to free flow as well, and
when they get the free flow,they got enough instruction,
(15:15):
they got a little bit ofguidance, they got some support
and now they can free flow.
By the end of that, and oncethey're able to free flow, they
really get in the zone of seeinghow that it's impactful for
them and they can leave fromthat experience and say, wow, I
feel so peaceful.
Or wow, I'm de-stressed now andthey can understand how
impactful even in that smallmoment normally workshops are an
(15:36):
hour or two and they get to nowleave with that transformative
experience with them.
So, yeah, wow.
Aideen Ni Riada (15:45):
So if somebody is a little stuck on their
creative journey let's say wehave one of those type A people
or someone who's a little bit,you know, skeptical about the
value of this, what would yousay to someone right now?
You know to say, here's how youcan get started.
Like, here's my advice to youtoday.
Here's how you can get started.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (16:08):
Here's my advice to you today Sure, so
one way that I think that theywould be able to get started is,
essentially, what area are theystuck at?
That's where we would focus inon Right.
So I would ask them, I wouldhave them identify that we would
look into what that might meanfor them.
And so if someone's listening.
Aideen Ni Riada (16:28):
we can tell you right now get out a pen and
paper, write down those things.
So, write down what's keepingyou stuck.
Is it?
Yes, correct, so you can pausethe podcast, guys, you can get a
pen and paper.
You can do this right now.
Okay, what's next?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (16:46):
Sure.
And so, now that you've writtenit down, what I like to do is
it's sort of like, um, it'scalled what's on your heart.
Okay, it's a simple activity,um, you can do it in five
minutes.
And so what you would do is,now that you've written out, um,
what's blocking you?
(17:07):
Um, I want you to draw a heartin the middle of your paper,
okay, and once you've done that,I now want you to think about
those essential areas that areimportant to you.
So, when you say what's on yourheart is what's on your heart
in that way.
And so once you do that, youcan actually start to now fill
(17:31):
in the heart.
I would say choose betweenthree and five things that are
on your heart.
You can think of it in thesense of either emotions, right,
how are you feeling now?
Or how would you like to feel?
Right, I would say how wouldyou like to feel?
Because, essentially, if you'restuck, we want to get you past
being stuck.
So let's think about how youwould like to feel if you
(17:54):
weren't stuck, what that wouldlook like for you.
Write those down on there,right?
So now that you've done itinside the heart right, you've
drawn your heart, you've writtenthose emotions in there of how
you'd like to feel beyond thestuck place.
Now what we do is we actuallyare going to play a little bit,
and that's what I love aboutcreativity it's experiential
(18:15):
learning, it's the opportunityfor you to experience something
as you learn.
And so you can either have somemarkers you can find something
that you can use some colorswith Crayons you can paint as
well Just something, even if youhave a pen but more than one
color, like a red pen, a bluepen, right, just something where
(18:37):
you can get some color to it.
Now you get to start to fill inthe heart with some colors, and
the reason why I like to usecolors is because normally, you
typically would pull stuff thatwould stand out for you and you
would take one color to eachemotion.
Okay, that makes sense.
I hope that makes sense.
Yeah, and now you start todoodle or fill in that heart
(18:58):
with.
Um, you can either cut it intopieces.
Like I said, I like to giveoptions.
You can cut it into pieces andyou can color each area of the
heart with how you feel, likeyou want to feel, right.
You can also do shapes, right,you can fill in the heart, with
shapes according to each emotion.
(19:18):
One emotion could be a triangle, another emotion could be a
circle, another emotion could bea square, and so this is
processing emotions rightthrough arts or through like a
creative, um, creative art form.
And so now that you've done that, lastly, what I would do is I
(19:41):
would take a moment to journalabout how you feel, um, the
sense of, okay, here's where Iknow that I'm feeling stuck at,
here's where I'm looking to getto, and then essentially
thinking about what steps youcan take in order to get there.
Now, I would say, make sure thatthey're actionable.
In that way, the reason whydoing this art activity is
(20:04):
helpful is because it helps youto get past the block that you
are experiencing that moment ofcreativity and art.
It almost releases your mindfrom that area of being stuck.
So I'm not saying that you arejust going to, you know, jump up
(20:26):
, all right, I'm free, like.
But because everything is likea process.
We all know that.
But essentially, if you didthis regularly, that would
become a part of your creativeprocess, and then you would
start to know how to processyour emotions that you're
experiencing every day, I wouldsay those challenging or
difficult emotions, and then, ofcourse, you start to see how
(20:46):
you can take steps in order to,to, to reach over to that other
side.
But yeah, that's just a verysimple exercise that you could
do.
Aideen Ni Riada (20:56):
Yeah, I really like it.
I mean, I know that a lot ofpeople will use journaling, like
you might write down somethingyou know about a fear you you
have and then write down youraffirmation.
Um, the problem can be thatwe're just using, you know, our
logical minds to do that kind ofexercise.
(21:17):
Um, and I don't know if manypeople who are listening know a
lot about the brain, but, um,there is research to show that a
creative brain activates bothsides of the brain and helps the
interaction between both sidesof the brain.
So what you're suggesting is,literally, it's activating more
(21:38):
of your brain.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (21:40):
Yes, exactly, absolutely, and it's
helping it to now meet in themiddle.
I think once you put it,acknowledgement, down on the
paper, your brain almost startsto come up with a solution on
its own.
And I'm not saying it justmagically happens, no, but it is
how the structure of the brainworks.
And so, now that you can, yourbrain can now see where it's
stuck, see where it's trying toget.
(22:01):
It now can start to create newpathways in order to make its
way there, if you get what I'msaying.
But of course, we're going toassist it by, you know now,
taking a little moment as we'rejournaling to see what steps.
Because now that you'veactivated that part of the brain
, you're going to start gettingsome solutions.
You're going to start gettingsome because it's not, it's not
focused on that stuck placeanymore, it's looking beyond of
(22:23):
where it actually is supposed tobe going.
Right, yeah, yeah.
Aideen Ni Riada (22:28):
And then it starts to do that in the moments
when you're you're working withyour colors.
Okay, like, like.
Do you have a suggestion on howbig the piece of paper should
be or how long you should spendon that part?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (22:41):
sure.
So typically I would say 15minutes just for the coloring
pencil part, no, for the wholeactivity.
Okay, yeah, the idea is not totake um it's it shouldn't be
challenging, it's not supposedto be difficult, it's supposed
to be um a reset and a refreshmoment for you, um, and so I
(23:02):
would say in the actual likecoloring um part and doodling,
you want that to take up more ofthe time.
So I'd probably say seven to 10minutes on that.
Aideen Ni Riada (23:14):
Perfect.
And so you're just writingsomething down at the start,
getting stuck into yourbeautiful you know, you know
writing the words and your heart, and I never can do a heart
evenly Like.
Who can do one of those heartslike symmetrically?
I mean, only an artist can dothat right.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (23:28):
Right, but it's not about perfection.
You are expressing yourself.
You can do a lopsided heartwith intentionality and accept
that it's okay, that it does nothave to be a perfect heart.
The idea is, as I stated before, it's the process we're
processing how we feel in thismoment.
This was a challenge for me.
How do I now process it?
And then now, how do I make itmake sense for actionable steps
(23:51):
for me going forward beyond thispoint, so that I'm not just
sitting in this moment feelingstuck and feeling like I can't
do anything about it?
Aideen Ni Riada (23:59):
So, yeah, I loved what you said about
pathways, because I wouldexplain this sometimes to
students, to or to clients thatour brain, like literally the
neural pathway, is very rigid.
It kind of likes to go down oneroute and I like to use the
analogy of like a field, maybewith barley growing, and you can
(24:21):
tell that pathway thateverybody gets from one gap in
the hedge this is I'm thinkingof Ireland.
Now there's a hedge row and youkind of climb over that little
hedge row and then the other gapis at the other side and you
can see where everybody's walkedthrough, um, even if it's only
a small bit of, you know, spacein between, but you can tell
that the ground's been walked ona number of times.
(24:43):
But when we get stuck in ourown heads and we only see that
one path through, it's limitingour problem solving abilities
and but it can take a while tocreate a new neural pathway,
right.
So I know that this is going toopen up someone's mind and open
(25:04):
up their way of perceiving theblock that they may.
How would they help themselvesto create a new neural pathway?
Because I know doing this oncefor 15 minutes isn't going to be
life like it's going to changethat one situation, but it isn't
going to change your whole life.
Like what kind of a routine orhabit?
(25:25):
How would you fit this intoyour daily habits, maybe?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (25:29):
Right, and so that's why I had I
actually had created 15 minutesto wellness, but that's why I
said stick with the 15 minutes.
You want to start to develop acreative wellness practice,
right?
And so what that would looklike is it could be 15 minutes.
15 minutes, I would say, is theminimum that you should do, but
if you happen to have morespace in your schedule, sure
(25:50):
feel free.
But the idea is to now make it ahabit, right?
Because I think that when we'relooking at self-care, we're
looking at like taking care ofourselves.
We often put that at the backburner, but this is something
that now is priority, and so,because of that, we want to
amplify that in our schedule andknowing that we're going to now
start adding this on as a habit.
Now, it doesn't have to beevery day that you're going to
(26:11):
be creating this what's on yourheart check-in, right, but
essentially you should do sometype of creative check-in with
yourself to see where you're at,because the thing is, you don't
want to wait for something tohappen and then try to figure
out what to do.
It's much easier to have amaintenance practice or
something that you can maintainregularly.
(26:33):
So you're checking in withyourself quite often, if not
every day, and then that allowsyou the opportunity to know if
something is coming up for youalmost before it happens, or
until you get to the point ofbreakdown or burnout or you're
you know, you're overwhelmed.
Let's not get to that point,right.
Let's have something instructure and in place that is
(26:54):
going to help us to thrive atour lives, right, and so that's
why I would say 15 minutes.
And so the way that you canessentially start to build that
and this is what I do I wouldwork with you to help you to
build out what that practicewould look like.
But essentially, what you woulddo is you would find activities
that you enjoy, and the reasonwhy it says creative wellness is
(27:17):
because it's not just based inartistic or art forms.
It's creative.
So, essentially, you could dance, right, even though that is an
art form, but you could alsowork out.
But you could also work out.
(27:38):
That's a part of the wellnesspractice.
If you enjoy talking withpeople, connection with people,
that's a part of your practice,right, and then you also want to
look at other ways.
There's like mindful art thatyou can build out your wellness
practice in a creative way thatspeaks to your creative wellness
practice, and so you createthat list right.
(28:00):
I would say.
Let's say, for example, we hadfive things that we like to do
that part, because already I'mgoing.
Aideen Ni Riada (28:10):
I don't know if I can do that by myself, of
course, and of course then you'doffer the accountability and
the support, because that's thething that will keep someone
working at it.
I just was curious if you everhave done this exercise with
someone and afterwards they wentoh my goodness, I can see
something that I could never seebefore.
I've got a solution.
Has that happened?
Tahina Marcette Pier (28:33):
Absolutely .
Actually, the end of last yearI did a similar exercise, but it
was with watercolors, and wewere processing our emotions and
they couldn't actually identifywhat it was that was coming.
They were like it's something Ican't identify.
And then, once they were done,they were able to exactly know
what it was and then now havesteps that would that they could
use, um, to take them, like,outside of that area of being
(28:58):
stuck.
Yeah, yeah.
Aideen Ni Riada (28:59):
It was activation, we were able to do.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (29:03):
It was like, um, like a paint and
create session together, and we,like, did co-working, which we
love to do and we love toco-create together, and so, yeah
, and so that's what we did, andI did the similar activity of
what's on your heart.
They didn't do a heart, though,right, they ended up just using
the whole sheet of paper, and Ilike to be a guide, so I never
restrict you to say, oh, just doa heart, right, but the means
(29:25):
of she was able to do this wholebeautiful watercolor piece, but
it was enough, in, you know,the prompting and guiding
questions and so forth and so on, that she was able to process
and and come up with thesolution.
Aideen Ni Riada (29:40):
Yeah, that's like.
It's like magic, you know.
I mean, some of us go throughour whole lives with blocks that
we never figure out how tohandle, and if this is one way
that we can do it and we're notalready using that muscle in our
own minds of creativity, then,like we got to start doing these
things.
I mean, like you said, don'twait until you've got a huge
(30:01):
problem on your hands, likestart today and and start with
the small blocks that we havegoing on and we'll be more
resilient, as you say, creativeresilience.
More resilient, as you say,creative resilience yeah,
exactly.
So I'd love you to tell us alittle bit, maybe, about how
(30:22):
people can work with you and howthey can find you and find any
resources that you mightrecommend for our listeners.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (30:27):
Yes, absolutely.
So.
One of my signatures arecreative coping tools, and so I
actually put together a creativecoping tool.
It's called 15 minutes towellness, and it actually is the
starter for you to start tobuild your creative wellness
practice for yourself in only 15minutes a day.
(30:48):
Yeah, I made it just for you.
Just for you.
Aideen Ni Riada (30:54):
Yes, that's gonna be fantastic.
Oh, I need to get that.
So how do we get this thingthat you've got for us?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (31:01):
Yeah, so basically the way that you can
do that is, we'll have the linkavailable for you and basically
it's a.
Aideen Ni Riada (31:11):
It's a nice download for you and basically
it's a, it's a nice download,perfect.
So they have like the remindersof, like the process and what
kind of questions to askyourself along that process, so
that we don't forget.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (31:21):
It comes with a workbook and so, like
it's a creative coping toolkit,it comes with a check in for
yourself.
It comes with journal promptsand journal art activities, as
well as a whole workbook thatall those are encompassed with
that you would be able to use tohelp you stay on track.
Aideen Ni Riada (31:41):
Yeah well that sounds amazing.
We're going to be emailing youwith gratitude from doing these
activities Wonderful.
Well, we're getting towards theend of our time today.
Is there anything else thatyou'd like to say to the
listeners before we sign off?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (31:59):
so I just want to say that you need
to embrace your own story rightand recognize the power of your
own creativity and how that isgoing to help to give confidence
to your own voice and reallyjust tap into that and live in
(32:22):
that space and um and and findcommunity as well.
Do not do this alone.
That was another thing thatI'll add in.
Aideen Ni Riada (32:31):
Absolutely yeah .
It's so important Because, inessence, we're all creating our
lives.
We're co-creating our lives.
Our circumstances are one thing, but how we relate to them has
a huge impact on what happensnext, and anything that helps us
to relate to our world withmore mindfulness and use
(32:56):
resources, like you've suggested, with creativity, those things
can genuinely change how werelate to the world for the
better, and I love the workyou're doing, tahina.
It's absolutely phenomenal andI'm glad that you were able to
step out of you know the moreyou know conventional job and
step into your creativity, andit's you're very inspiring and
(33:19):
I'm very I'm grateful that youtook the time today to talk to
the listeners on the Resonatepodcast.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (33:25):
Yes, thanks again.
So much for having me, and Ihope that whoever is listening
will also take it uponthemselves to be creatively
courageous thank you so much,tahina, um, take care and take
and see you soon on the resonatepodcast.
Aideen Ni Riada (33:42):
Bye.
Welcome to the Resonate podcast with Aideen.
I'm here today with my guest,tahina Marcette-Pierce, and she
is joining me from New York,isn't that right, tahina?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (00:14):
Yes, I'm so, so happy to be here.
Thanks so much for having me.
Aideen Ni Riada (00:18):
You're so welcome.
I'm so glad that we met becausewhen I found out about your
mission and the way that you'reworking with people around
creativity, I was very excitedto share your story.
Before we start, I'd like tojust read out a little bit about
Tahina so that you get to heara little bit about her
background.
Tahina Merced-Pierce is acreative wellness coach and
strategist who specializes insocial, emotional and expressive
(00:43):
arts.
She is a self-taught abstractartist, creative entrepreneur
and a creative catalyst ofchange for communities.
Her superpowers arestorytelling, building genuine
connections and creatingunforgettable experiences.
Tell us how you foundconfidence in your voice to
express all of this to the world.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (01:14):
Yes, so this started around when I was
about 25 years old and I was ata point in my life where I was
being challenged by what wasgoing on in my life and I was
just very unhappy.
And so one day I decided topurchase some art supplies.
I got a paintbrush and somecanvases and I took an
(01:35):
opportunity to let those colorsin the moment speak to me.
So whatever kind of jumped outfor me, and it was a color red,
it was a color blue, and it wasa color red, it was a color blue
and it was a color white, and Iactually did an abstract
painting for the first time.
And for me, in that moment, Irealized that you could be able
(01:57):
to use art as a means ofcreative expression.
As a means of creativeexpression.
And so from that point on, Iactually had started to develop
a few other abstract pieces.
I had begun painting quiteregularly, but it was all about
the expression.
(02:18):
Right, it wasn't and it wasabout the process.
It wasn't specifically aboutcreating a painting that would
like get sold, right, but it wasabout me processing my emotions
and being able to process thosemoments, those challenging
moments that I was dealing with.
And so from that opportunity, Irealized that, that is, that
(02:42):
there are so many ways that nowI could start to reach and
impact people, because I imaginehow much people experience
stress every day, theyexperience challenges every day,
or how much they have to perseif they were to be able to use
(03:03):
their own creativity, their ownart, um, in order to to find
their voice as well.
And so that's how it allstarted, essentially, and a few
years later, I did launch, uh,my um, my initiative, which is
Marset Studios.
And's how it all began.
Aideen Ni Riada (03:25):
That's amazing.
So it really was your ownexperience, your own lack of
creative expression at thatmoment, because of whatever you
were doing before you steppedinto your role as an
entrepreneur, there must havefelt like there was something
missing, was was there beforeyou found this as a as a medium?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (03:47):
um, absolutely so.
I think I've been a creative mywhole life, right, so I had the
opportunity to um, to dance andto uh, to sing, to write poetry
.
Um, I've done playwriting, soall different forms, art forms,
and so I think at that point inmy life I wasn't using that, I
wasn't using my creative nature,my creative skills and talents
(04:14):
as that expression for myself.
And so when I decided to pickup those brushes, it kind of
reignited that for me.
Pick up those brushes, it kindof reignited that for me, and it
also gave me permission to notonly process what I was dealing
with but to express myself in away that I hadn't done before.
And so you find courage.
(04:36):
I found some courage in that aswell too.
So that connected to my voiceand connected to exactly who I
was.
Aideen Ni Riada (04:43):
So connected to exactly who I was Was needing,
or feeling like you maybe needed, permission part of the reason
why you took a conventional joboriginally before you started
this more unusual kind ofentrepreneurial journey.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (04:58):
Yeah, I think that you know years ago.
You know years ago um being orlaunching out, like as a
creative and as an artist Idon't think it was as much as a
norm as it is now and so youknow, there was safety right in
having um this like stable, likeincome.
(05:19):
It didn't matter, right, thatit wasn't really um, I wanted to
be right or it wasn't really inthe direction that I was
looking to go.
But I'm good at connecting withpeople, as he stated in the
beginning, and so marketing wasa place that I was able to do
that in events, and so I was inthat space for a very long time.
(05:39):
But there wasn't anything thatI at least saw at that moment
that spoke to me and said, hey,you could do this, you know what
I mean.
And so, um, yeah, and so it waseasy to take the safe, the
safer route at that point intime.
Aideen Ni Riada (05:55):
So, yeah, we learn from everything we do, and
I mean you still use marketingin your business to some degree
as well, of course.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (06:03):
Yes, I still use that today and that's
also why a portion of that is apart of my hub now with the
Creative Wellness Hub.
It's a portion of that nowbecause I know the importance of
it.
I know that it's oftenchallenging to market yourself,
so you often need someone elseto like support you right and
getting the language that you'relooking to get, and also making
(06:26):
sure that you're that we'reable to speak to who you are in
the marketing right and thatit's not a cookie cutter but
it's able to speak to theindividual and so, yes, and so
that's why I also have added aportion of that to what it is
that I do now.
So it all ties together.
(06:47):
But I definitely felt like if Iprobably could have started
earlier, if I would have steppedout.
But I'm grateful that I'm ableto do it now and that I'm able
to have some advocacy around itand also share my voice for
others that might feel the same,and also share my voice for
(07:08):
others that might feel the sameand they don't have that vision
to see someone else doing it.
Well, now you get to see meright, and now they get to see
you as well, and it encouragesthem to step out.
Aideen Ni Riada (07:16):
It's so important for you to speak out
about this because it doesn'tmatter what age you are.
You know whether you're 25, 35,45, 55, you know, if you have
that impulse to start exploringyour creativity and you know
that it's going to open thingsup for you, it's worth doing.
Doesn't matter if you are doingit at last chance saloon, you
(07:40):
know just before the end, it'salways going to be worth doing.
You know, you mentioned thatyou were.
You know, just before the end,it's always going to be worth
doing.
And I, you know you mentionedthat you were, you know a dancer
and that you were involved inthe arts and cultural activities
as a kid, and I feel like a lotof parents do encourage that in
children but maybe discouragethem taking that route in a
career.
(08:00):
Is that what happened for you?
A career?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (08:04):
Is that what happened for you?
Yes, I will say that so,interestingly enough.
Yes, that was what my momencouraged, that, right?
She encouraged my creativity,she encouraged my imagination,
she encouraged all my ideas,right.
So they would come and I wouldrun to her and tell them, tell
her all about them, theexcitement behind that and
everything.
(08:24):
And then I hit 22, I hit 21, Ihit 20s, and it's like, hey, you
have to get a full time job.
And it's like, but, mom, youraised me to be this way, right,
a creative, to be this, youknow, kind of like individual,
and it's not to say I couldn'thave taken those same strengths
and skills and, of course, youknow, became the best you know,
marketing manager of the world,sure, but all in all, I wish
(08:49):
that I would have kind of juststood on what, like she raised
me on and just continued in that.
But I think that being on bothsides of it now that it's given
me a little bit more we speak ofthat like resilience, right,
because I have a little bit moreto stand on and a bit more
experience behind me.
So I'm grateful for thosemoments and it still brought me
(09:13):
back here.
Aideen Ni Riada (09:14):
Yeah, no regrets, right, because you know
, when we take a you know,conventional role, whether it's
marketing or something else, italso it will lend credibility to
you as well, for for future,you know businesses, you may
work for that.
You have a corporate, you had acorporate position at a certain
point, um, but you know you now, versus you as a kid, right.
(09:36):
So you've been through thisentrepreneurial journey now,
right, and you had to trust yourintuition and you've been
pursuing your passions.
What has made you different now, like, how different are you?
Because the core is there, thecreativity is still there, but
obviously there's moreconfidence.
Now, how do you feel inyourself today?
What is it like to be you?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (09:59):
So one thing that I love to title it as
, or term it as, is courageouscreativity, and so I love to
live in this space because it'san opportunity for your courage
to actually like not necessarilymatch up, but to kind of like
(10:21):
meld together with yourcreativity.
And now you have where, like,they're very connected, you know
, and so one feeds the other.
And so I found that the morethat I ignite my creativity, the
more I tap into it, and alsothe more I learn about it that
(10:42):
it begs more courage, learnabout it that it begs more
courage, and then there's morecreativity, and so they go hand
in hand, and now that's thespace that I live in, and I'm so
grateful for that.
I think that when I was growingup as a child, you always have
this childlike innocence, soeverything is kind of like new
(11:02):
for you and you have like thisimagination.
But then you become an adultand then there's life.
But what I've learned to do now,which is also another thing
that I've termed is creativeresilience.
So I've learned how to use mycreative abilities in order to
help me to persevere, tomaintain everyday life and to
also overcome those dailychallenges, and so now that has
(11:26):
become a portion of mysuperpower.
Right, my creativity is thething that's helping to power me
in all the areas of my life,and so now I've learned that's
where the confidence comes from.
I've learned how to take thatcreative power and harness it to
show up in all the areas of mylife and to be a benefit to me.
Aideen Ni Riada (11:45):
That's beautiful, and your mom
obviously, when you were youngeryou were able to lean into her
to help you with your confidence.
Do you still have like support,supportive people around you
that you can lean into as well,and do you feel like maybe
you're more self-reliant reliant, obviously, to some degree now?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (12:08):
Yeah, so I would say there was a portion
of my life where I didn't havethe support right.
And so what I recognize is that, creatives, we thrive in having
support.
Even if it's a small amountlike, even if it's two or three
people, we thrive in that.
And so I have found that Ifound a few people who are
(12:28):
similar to me in that creativeway, and we uphold each other in
accountability.
We uphold each other in ourcreative ideas and initiatives,
and that's also why it gives megreat pleasure to encourage
(12:48):
others with their own creativity, and so, of course, that looks
different for everyone.
But then also letting them knowhey, don't do this by yourself,
right?
And to find that.
And so, yes, I am, at a certainpoint, self-reliance, but I also
have a small community that Iactively lean on.
But I think that the differenceis finding your people in the
(13:12):
sense of them being othercreatives, so they can
understand the multifacetednessof my gifting and talents.
And it's not abnormal I now Idon't have to fit in, right, but
it's not abnormal for me tospeak about the way that my
brain operates or the way thatmy thought process flows or the
way that my creativity shows upin everyday life.
(13:33):
It's not abnormal to them,because they have something
similar in their lives that theycan also think about and how
that connects to them as well.
Aideen Ni Riada (13:42):
Yeah, Well, I know that you do bring your
creative hub you know into teamsor businesses and schools and
things like that.
Do you meet a lot of resistancefrom those you know linear, you
know left brain people, to whatyou do favorite people and so I
(14:09):
can laugh about it.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (14:10):
But the reason why they're my favorite
people is because most timesthey might come in resistant,
but when they leave they're theperson who doesn't want to put
the paintbrush down, they're theperson who doesn't want to
leave.
When's the next one, right?
And so that's where it becomes.
But I'm grateful because Ithink for us that are creative,
we kind of know even though wedon't always afford ourselves
the opportunity and time to tapinto our gifts we kind of know
(14:32):
the healing virtue and theexpression that we'll get from
it.
But for someone that doesn'tknow, it's a whole new world for
them.
And those are, like,essentially my favorite people.
I'll sometimes give themone-on-one, I always give them
reassurance, I help to make themfeel comfortable, right,
because this is new for them.
(14:53):
They don't know what that means,like how do I express myself on
this?
Or they could be a type A,where it has to be like
structure and order.
So I love to give options, Ilove to give them choices, right
, of how this potentially couldlook for them, so it starts to
make sense in their minds.
But then it also I give them achance to free flow as well, and
when they get the free flow,they got enough instruction,
(15:15):
they got a little bit ofguidance, they got some support
and now they can free flow.
By the end of that, and oncethey're able to free flow, they
really get in the zone of seeinghow that it's impactful for
them and they can leave fromthat experience and say, wow, I
feel so peaceful.
Or wow, I'm de-stressed now andthey can understand how
impactful even in that smallmoment normally workshops are an
(15:36):
hour or two and they get to nowleave with that transformative
experience with them.
So, yeah, wow.
Aideen Ni Riada (15:45):
So if somebody is a little stuck on their
creative journey let's say wehave one of those type A people
or someone who's a little bit,you know, skeptical about the
value of this, what would yousay to someone right now?
You know to say, here's how youcan get started.
Like, here's my advice to youtoday.
Here's how you can get started.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (16:08):
Here's my advice to you today Sure, so
one way that I think that theywould be able to get started is,
essentially, what area are theystuck at?
That's where we would focus inon Right.
So I would ask them, I wouldhave them identify that we would
look into what that might meanfor them.
And so if someone's listening.
Aideen Ni Riada (16:28):
we can tell you right now get out a pen and
paper, write down those things.
So, write down what's keepingyou stuck.
Is it?
Yes, correct, so you can pausethe podcast, guys, you can get a
pen and paper.
You can do this right now.
Okay, what's next?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (16:46):
Sure.
And so, now that you've writtenit down, what I like to do is
it's sort of like, um, it'scalled what's on your heart.
Okay, it's a simple activity,um, you can do it in five
minutes.
And so what you would do is,now that you've written out, um,
what's blocking you?
(17:07):
Um, I want you to draw a heartin the middle of your paper,
okay, and once you've done that,I now want you to think about
those essential areas that areimportant to you.
So, when you say what's on yourheart is what's on your heart
in that way.
And so once you do that, youcan actually start to now fill
(17:31):
in the heart.
I would say choose betweenthree and five things that are
on your heart.
You can think of it in thesense of either emotions, right,
how are you feeling now?
Or how would you like to feel?
Right, I would say how wouldyou like to feel?
Because, essentially, if you'restuck, we want to get you past
being stuck.
So let's think about how youwould like to feel if you
(17:54):
weren't stuck, what that wouldlook like for you.
Write those down on there,right?
So now that you've done itinside the heart right, you've
drawn your heart, you've writtenthose emotions in there of how
you'd like to feel beyond thestuck place.
Now what we do is we actuallyare going to play a little bit,
and that's what I love aboutcreativity it's experiential
(18:15):
learning, it's the opportunityfor you to experience something
as you learn.
And so you can either have somemarkers you can find something
that you can use some colorswith Crayons you can paint as
well Just something, even if youhave a pen but more than one
color, like a red pen, a bluepen, right, just something where
(18:37):
you can get some color to it.
Now you get to start to fill inthe heart with some colors, and
the reason why I like to usecolors is because normally, you
typically would pull stuff thatwould stand out for you and you
would take one color to eachemotion.
Okay, that makes sense.
I hope that makes sense.
Yeah, and now you start todoodle or fill in that heart
(18:58):
with.
Um, you can either cut it intopieces.
Like I said, I like to giveoptions.
You can cut it into pieces andyou can color each area of the
heart with how you feel, likeyou want to feel, right.
You can also do shapes, right,you can fill in the heart, with
shapes according to each emotion.
(19:18):
One emotion could be a triangle, another emotion could be a
circle, another emotion could bea square, and so this is
processing emotions rightthrough arts or through like a
creative, um, creative art form.
And so now that you've done that, lastly, what I would do is I
(19:41):
would take a moment to journalabout how you feel, um, the
sense of, okay, here's where Iknow that I'm feeling stuck at,
here's where I'm looking to getto, and then essentially
thinking about what steps youcan take in order to get there.
Now, I would say, make sure thatthey're actionable.
In that way, the reason whydoing this art activity is
(20:04):
helpful is because it helps youto get past the block that you
are experiencing that moment ofcreativity and art.
It almost releases your mindfrom that area of being stuck.
So I'm not saying that you arejust going to, you know, jump up
(20:26):
, all right, I'm free, like.
But because everything is likea process.
We all know that.
But essentially, if you didthis regularly, that would
become a part of your creativeprocess, and then you would
start to know how to processyour emotions that you're
experiencing every day, I wouldsay those challenging or
difficult emotions, and then, ofcourse, you start to see how
(20:46):
you can take steps in order to,to, to reach over to that other
side.
But yeah, that's just a verysimple exercise that you could
do.
Aideen Ni Riada (20:56):
Yeah, I really like it.
I mean, I know that a lot ofpeople will use journaling, like
you might write down somethingyou know about a fear you you
have and then write down youraffirmation.
Um, the problem can be thatwe're just using, you know, our
logical minds to do that kind ofexercise.
(21:17):
Um, and I don't know if manypeople who are listening know a
lot about the brain, but, um,there is research to show that a
creative brain activates bothsides of the brain and helps the
interaction between both sidesof the brain.
So what you're suggesting is,literally, it's activating more
(21:38):
of your brain.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (21:40):
Yes, exactly, absolutely, and it's
helping it to now meet in themiddle.
I think once you put it,acknowledgement, down on the
paper, your brain almost startsto come up with a solution on
its own.
And I'm not saying it justmagically happens, no, but it is
how the structure of the brainworks.
And so, now that you can, yourbrain can now see where it's
stuck, see where it's trying toget.
(22:01):
It now can start to create newpathways in order to make its
way there, if you get what I'msaying.
But of course, we're going toassist it by, you know now,
taking a little moment as we'rejournaling to see what steps.
Because now that you'veactivated that part of the brain
, you're going to start gettingsome solutions.
You're going to start gettingsome because it's not, it's not
focused on that stuck placeanymore, it's looking beyond of
(22:23):
where it actually is supposed tobe going.
Right, yeah, yeah.
Aideen Ni Riada (22:28):
And then it starts to do that in the moments
when you're you're working withyour colors.
Okay, like, like.
Do you have a suggestion on howbig the piece of paper should
be or how long you should spendon that part?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (22:41):
sure.
So typically I would say 15minutes just for the coloring
pencil part, no, for the wholeactivity.
Okay, yeah, the idea is not totake um it's it shouldn't be
challenging, it's not supposedto be difficult, it's supposed
to be um a reset and a refreshmoment for you, um, and so I
(23:02):
would say in the actual likecoloring um part and doodling,
you want that to take up more ofthe time.
So I'd probably say seven to 10minutes on that.
Aideen Ni Riada (23:14):
Perfect.
And so you're just writingsomething down at the start,
getting stuck into yourbeautiful you know, you know
writing the words and your heart, and I never can do a heart
evenly Like.
Who can do one of those heartslike symmetrically?
I mean, only an artist can dothat right.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (23:28):
Right, but it's not about perfection.
You are expressing yourself.
You can do a lopsided heartwith intentionality and accept
that it's okay, that it does nothave to be a perfect heart.
The idea is, as I stated before, it's the process we're
processing how we feel in thismoment.
This was a challenge for me.
How do I now process it?
And then now, how do I make itmake sense for actionable steps
(23:51):
for me going forward beyond thispoint, so that I'm not just
sitting in this moment feelingstuck and feeling like I can't
do anything about it?
Aideen Ni Riada (23:59):
So, yeah, I loved what you said about
pathways, because I wouldexplain this sometimes to
students, to or to clients thatour brain, like literally the
neural pathway, is very rigid.
It kind of likes to go down oneroute and I like to use the
analogy of like a field, maybewith barley growing, and you can
(24:21):
tell that pathway thateverybody gets from one gap in
the hedge this is I'm thinkingof Ireland.
Now there's a hedge row and youkind of climb over that little
hedge row and then the other gapis at the other side and you
can see where everybody's walkedthrough, um, even if it's only
a small bit of, you know, spacein between, but you can tell
that the ground's been walked ona number of times.
(24:43):
But when we get stuck in ourown heads and we only see that
one path through, it's limitingour problem solving abilities
and but it can take a while tocreate a new neural pathway,
right.
So I know that this is going toopen up someone's mind and open
(25:04):
up their way of perceiving theblock that they may.
How would they help themselvesto create a new neural pathway?
Because I know doing this oncefor 15 minutes isn't going to be
life like it's going to changethat one situation, but it isn't
going to change your whole life.
Like what kind of a routine orhabit?
(25:25):
How would you fit this intoyour daily habits, maybe?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (25:29):
Right, and so that's why I had I
actually had created 15 minutesto wellness, but that's why I
said stick with the 15 minutes.
You want to start to develop acreative wellness practice,
right?
And so what that would looklike is it could be 15 minutes.
15 minutes, I would say, is theminimum that you should do, but
if you happen to have morespace in your schedule, sure
(25:50):
feel free.
But the idea is to now make it ahabit, right?
Because I think that when we'relooking at self-care, we're
looking at like taking care ofourselves.
We often put that at the backburner, but this is something
that now is priority, and so,because of that, we want to
amplify that in our schedule andknowing that we're going to now
start adding this on as a habit.
Now, it doesn't have to beevery day that you're going to
(26:11):
be creating this what's on yourheart check-in, right, but
essentially you should do sometype of creative check-in with
yourself to see where you're at,because the thing is, you don't
want to wait for something tohappen and then try to figure
out what to do.
It's much easier to have amaintenance practice or
something that you can maintainregularly.
(26:33):
So you're checking in withyourself quite often, if not
every day, and then that allowsyou the opportunity to know if
something is coming up for youalmost before it happens, or
until you get to the point ofbreakdown or burnout or you're
you know, you're overwhelmed.
Let's not get to that point,right.
Let's have something instructure and in place that is
(26:54):
going to help us to thrive atour lives, right, and so that's
why I would say 15 minutes.
And so the way that you canessentially start to build that
and this is what I do I wouldwork with you to help you to
build out what that practicewould look like.
But essentially, what you woulddo is you would find activities
that you enjoy, and the reasonwhy it says creative wellness is
(27:17):
because it's not just based inartistic or art forms.
It's creative.
So, essentially, you could dance, right, even though that is an
art form, but you could alsowork out.
But you could also work out.
(27:38):
That's a part of the wellnesspractice.
If you enjoy talking withpeople, connection with people,
that's a part of your practice,right, and then you also want to
look at other ways.
There's like mindful art thatyou can build out your wellness
practice in a creative way thatspeaks to your creative wellness
practice, and so you createthat list right.
(28:00):
I would say.
Let's say, for example, we hadfive things that we like to do
that part, because already I'mgoing.
Aideen Ni Riada (28:10):
I don't know if I can do that by myself, of
course, and of course then you'doffer the accountability and
the support, because that's thething that will keep someone
working at it.
I just was curious if you everhave done this exercise with
someone and afterwards they wentoh my goodness, I can see
something that I could never seebefore.
I've got a solution.
Has that happened?
Tahina Marcette Pier (28:33):
Absolutely .
Actually, the end of last yearI did a similar exercise, but it
was with watercolors, and wewere processing our emotions and
they couldn't actually identifywhat it was that was coming.
They were like it's something Ican't identify.
And then, once they were done,they were able to exactly know
what it was and then now havesteps that would that they could
use, um, to take them, like,outside of that area of being
(28:58):
stuck.
Yeah, yeah.
Aideen Ni Riada (28:59):
It was activation, we were able to do.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (29:03):
It was like, um, like a paint and
create session together, and we,like, did co-working, which we
love to do and we love toco-create together, and so, yeah
, and so that's what we did, andI did the similar activity of
what's on your heart.
They didn't do a heart, though,right, they ended up just using
the whole sheet of paper, and Ilike to be a guide, so I never
restrict you to say, oh, just doa heart, right, but the means
(29:25):
of she was able to do this wholebeautiful watercolor piece, but
it was enough, in, you know,the prompting and guiding
questions and so forth and so on, that she was able to process
and and come up with thesolution.
Aideen Ni Riada (29:40):
Yeah, that's like.
It's like magic, you know.
I mean, some of us go throughour whole lives with blocks that
we never figure out how tohandle, and if this is one way
that we can do it and we're notalready using that muscle in our
own minds of creativity, then,like we got to start doing these
things.
I mean, like you said, don'twait until you've got a huge
(30:01):
problem on your hands, likestart today and and start with
the small blocks that we havegoing on and we'll be more
resilient, as you say, creativeresilience.
More resilient, as you say,creative resilience yeah,
exactly.
So I'd love you to tell us alittle bit, maybe, about how
(30:22):
people can work with you and howthey can find you and find any
resources that you mightrecommend for our listeners.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (30:27):
Yes, absolutely.
So.
One of my signatures arecreative coping tools, and so I
actually put together a creativecoping tool.
It's called 15 minutes towellness, and it actually is the
starter for you to start tobuild your creative wellness
practice for yourself in only 15minutes a day.
(30:48):
Yeah, I made it just for you.
Just for you.
Aideen Ni Riada (30:54):
Yes, that's gonna be fantastic.
Oh, I need to get that.
So how do we get this thingthat you've got for us?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (31:01):
Yeah, so basically the way that you can
do that is, we'll have the linkavailable for you and basically
it's a.
Aideen Ni Riada (31:11):
It's a nice download for you and basically
it's a, it's a nice download,perfect.
So they have like the remindersof, like the process and what
kind of questions to askyourself along that process, so
that we don't forget.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (31:21):
It comes with a workbook and so, like
it's a creative coping toolkit,it comes with a check in for
yourself.
It comes with journal promptsand journal art activities, as
well as a whole workbook thatall those are encompassed with
that you would be able to use tohelp you stay on track.
Aideen Ni Riada (31:41):
Yeah well that sounds amazing.
We're going to be emailing youwith gratitude from doing these
activities Wonderful.
Well, we're getting towards theend of our time today.
Is there anything else thatyou'd like to say to the
listeners before we sign off?
Tahina Marcette Pierce (31:59):
so I just want to say that you need
to embrace your own story rightand recognize the power of your
own creativity and how that isgoing to help to give confidence
to your own voice and reallyjust tap into that and live in
(32:22):
that space and um and and findcommunity as well.
Do not do this alone.
That was another thing thatI'll add in.
Aideen Ni Riada (32:31):
Absolutely yeah .
It's so important Because, inessence, we're all creating our
lives.
We're co-creating our lives.
Our circumstances are one thing, but how we relate to them has
a huge impact on what happensnext, and anything that helps us
to relate to our world withmore mindfulness and use
(32:56):
resources, like you've suggested, with creativity, those things
can genuinely change how werelate to the world for the
better, and I love the workyou're doing, tahina.
It's absolutely phenomenal andI'm glad that you were able to
step out of you know the moreyou know conventional job and
step into your creativity, andit's you're very inspiring and
(33:19):
I'm very I'm grateful that youtook the time today to talk to
the listeners on the Resonatepodcast.
Tahina Marcette Pierce (33:25):
Yes, thanks again.
So much for having me, and Ihope that whoever is listening
will also take it uponthemselves to be creatively
courageous thank you so much,tahina, um, take care and take
and see you soon on the resonatepodcast.
Aideen Ni Riada (33:42):
Bye.
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