Awakening Creatives

The future is full of rainbows.

If you know anyone who is:
- gender expansive
- over 18
- a parent of caregiver of someone under 18
- has parented or pursued parts of their fertility/gestational journey in a US state with restrictive LGBTQ+ laws..
They may qualify for participation in a co-research collective exploring gender expansive parent and caregivers practices of worldmaking. Please refer them to my last post!

I’m writing to share an invitation to participate in a doctoral research study exploring the lived experiences of gender expansive parents and caregivers, including transgender, nonbinary, and other gender-diverse people, who are raising or caring for children.

The study, “Gender-Expansive Worldmaking in Webs of Relationship: Co-Creating Intergenerational Q***r Flourishing,” explores how amid oppressive circumstances gender expansive parents and caregivers cultivate intergenerational flourishing through care, belonging, and imaginative worldbuilding practices within their web of relationships that extends beyond the human world to include land, plants, animals and spiritual relationships.

Participation may include:
- 30-minute intake call
- Optional asynchronous review of discussion prompts (~30 minutes)
- A 2-hour online opening circle to build connection and share stories
- A 2-hour co-dreaming and co-creation circle to express experiences through art, imagination, or conversation
- Optional one-on-one interviews (about 60 minutes)
- Optional collective analysis to interpret and make meaning together

All participation is voluntary, flexible, and confidential. This research is being conducted by Liberty Gonzalez (they/them), a doctoral candidate at Pacifica Graduate Institute in the Depth Psychology program's Community, Liberation, Indigenous and Ecopsychologies Specialization.

If you or members of your community might be interested in participating, please feel free to share this invitation or direct them to contact me for full details and the brief screening survey.

Thank you for supporting this work toward collective flourishing.

Warmly,

Liberty Gonzalez (they/them)
Doctoral Candidate, Pacifica Graduate Institute
[email protected]

Awakening Creatives is in a season of meaningful transformation, and we’re excited to share what's evolving.

Over the past few years, our work has been growing branches: empowering leaders to embody living systems wisdom for cultural transformation and equitable relationships in their organizations and communities. As part of this evolution, we’re preparing to introduce a new branch of our practice: Woven Grove Consulting. A formal launch will unfold in the coming weeks.

While the full reveal is still ahead, today we’re celebrating the return of Awakening Creatives to the creativity-focused foundations of our work. Awakening Creatives was originally conceived in 2014 as a fertile homeplace to cultivate visionary, imaginal and embodied wisdom of our innate collective creativity. Basically, Awakening Creatives imagines a world where our collective creativity is awakened in service to better lives for all of earth's beings.

Along the way, the Covid-19 pandemic created an opportunity for q***r and BIPOC artists from around the world to visually dream about what "Liberatory Care" means to them in their respective communities and experience. Five years later, we are releasing a 2nd Edition of the coloring book to celebrate the homecoming of Awakening Creatives to its creative roots.

So, the Liberatory Care Coloring Book is officially relaunched.

This project has always held a special role in our ecosystem — an accessible tool that supports reflection, grounding, and creative regulation during times of change. It’s a resource designed for leaders, teams & individuals navigating complexity and looking for ways to cultivate steadiness and imagination.

Whether used in leadership development, retreats, wellness initiatives, or personal practice, the coloring book offers a simple but powerful invitation: to pause, reflect, and reconnect to the kind of care that sets us free.

Support the artists and give a meaningful gift this winter. Explore the coloring book at the 🔗👆🏻

Thank you to our community and partners who have been part of this work as it grows and we look forward to sharing more about Woven Grove Consulting in the coming season.

Over the past week, I have received a number of messages asking me about how to navigate the world as an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. I love to see it, and it does give me hope. These questions are so important AND so needed, because there are definitely ways that one can act on good intentions and accidentally cause more stress and harm to folks right now who are dealing with an onslaught from many different directions.

As of right now, all of my low-cost sliding scale coaching spots for q***r folks are full. If you are an endeavoring ally and need a 1-on-1 or group session for yourself or your organization around LGBTQ+ allyship in light of recent events, I am offering special pay-it-forward sessions through the month of February. One third of every booking will go to expand low-cost coaching access for a q***r person this spring. Be it coaching, training, or consulting, we can find the best way to support you and the q***r folks that you serve.

I would LOVE to see at least 5 allies commit to this focused education and strategy support for you or your team. This is a critical all hands on deck moment to keep q***r practitioners and allies serving the q***r community to the best of our ability.

DM me or drop your interest below 👇🏼 Feel free to share or just show this post some love because the all-go-rhythm may keep it from circulating.