There are moments when stepping away becomes part of the work.
Not as an escape or indulgence, but as a necessary rebalancing. A return to a slower pace. A widening of attention. A remembering of what it feels like to be present without demand.
This journal post reflects on that space. On what becomes possible when we allow time for restoration and how this connects directly to the way we work with others at artspace.
the quiet necessity of stepping back
In roles that involve holding space for others, whether in therapeutic, creative or organisational contexts, there is an ongoing relational demand.
Attention is given outwardly. Energy is extended. Care is offered.
Over time and without a pause, this can narrow something internally.
Perspective can tighten. The body remains in subtle states of readiness. Creative thinking can become more effortful and less fluid.
Stepping back interrupts this pattern.
It allows the nervous system to shift out of constant responsiveness. It creates the conditions for rest, not only physically but cognitively and emotionally. It reintroduces rhythm where there has been sustained intensity.
This is not separate from the work.
It sustains it.
what changes when we allow space
When pace slows, something begins to reorganise.
Breath deepens. Attention broadens. The body softens out of habitual holding.
These are not abstract ideas. They are physiological shifts.
Research across arts and health continues to demonstrate how time spent in restorative, creative or reflective states can reduce cortisol levels, support nervous system regulation and improve overall emotional balance.
But beyond the measurable, there is also something experiential.
A sense of returning to oneself. A reconnection with curiosity. An increased capacity to notice, rather than react.
From this place, thinking changes.
It becomes less driven, more exploratory. Less linear, more associative. More able to hold complexity without urgency to resolve it.
This is the ground from which meaningful creative work emerges.
how art meets us here
Art has a particular way of accompanying these shifts.
Whether through making or observing, engaging with art invites a different kind of attention. One that is sensory, embodied and open-ended.
When we make, even in simple ways, we engage gesture, movement and material. The hand leads. The body participates. The mind follows, rather than directs.
This process can:
Support regulation without requiring explanation Create distance from repetitive thought patterns Allow experience to be explored safely and indirectly Open space for new associations and insights
Importantly, this does not rely on skill.
The value is not in what is produced, but in what happens during the process.
Equally, when we encounter art as viewers, something similar can occur.
A painting, a form, a colour relationship can hold our attention just long enough for internal pace to shift. The nervous system settles. Thought loosens. A different quality of reflection becomes possible.
In both cases, art offers a way to be with an experience, rather than to immediately analyse or resolve it.
bringing this back into the work
The way we care for ourselves inevitably shapes how we are able to work with others.
Not through technique alone, but through presence.
When there has been space for restoration:
Attention becomes more available Listening deepens Pacing becomes more attuned Complexity can be held with greater steadiness
There is less urgency to fix. More capacity to accompany.
In art therapy-informed creative workshops, this matters.
The quality of the space is not only created through structure and materials, but through the facilitator’s ability to remain grounded, responsive and present.
This cannot be sustained indefinitely without renewal.
Taking time to restore is therefore not separate from professionalism. It is part of it.
a gentle invitation
In many working environments, there is an understandable emphasis on momentum, output and progression.
These have their place.
But without moments of pause, something essential can be lost.
Creative engagement, in its many forms, offers a way to reintroduce that pause.
Not as something additional to fit in, but as something that supports everything else.
This might be:
Spending time with materials, without expectation Noticing what draws your attention visually Allowing a few moments of unstructured reflection Letting the pace of thinking soften, even briefly
These are small shifts.
But over time, they can have a cumulative effect.
They support a way of working that is more sustainable, more responsive and more human.
the work beneath the work
At artspace, we often speak about what happens beneath the surface of creative practice.
The physiological shifts The subtle changes in perception The way connection re-emerges, both internally and relationally
This applies not only within creative workshops, but in how we prepare to hold them.
When there is time, care and attention given to restoration, something becomes available that cannot be manufactured or accelerated.
A steadiness A clarity A quiet confidence in the process
This is what allows the work to be held with depth.
Not through effort alone, but through alignment.
staying connected to what matters
Creative practice continually brings us back to something simple and essential.
That we are not only thinking beings. We are sensory, relational and responsive.
When we honour this, even in small ways, our capacity expands.
We become better able to meet the demands of our work, not by pushing harder, but by working from a more resourced place.
This is where creative engagement becomes more than an activity.
It becomes a way of sustaining the work, and ourselves within it.
being grateful
There are also times when a change of environment can support this rebalancing in a different way.
Being alongside expansive landscapes, engaging with materials without agenda or encountering artworks held in public spaces such as the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, can quietly deepen this process. In these settings, something of the same shift occurs: attentions softens, the senses reawaken and creative engagement becomes both personal and shared.
Time spent within a community art therapy group at the Benalla Art Gallery* offered a different but equally meaningful experience of this – one rooted in participation, presence and shared making.
Alongside this, keeping a visual journal allowed moments to be held and revisited, not as outcomes but as traces of attention, colour and feeling over time.
I hold a deep sense of gratitude for these experiences and the spaces they offered.
They do not sit apart from my work at artspace or aside from my private practice as an art psychotherapist, they return with me, informing how I hold spaces, what I notice and how I remain connected to what matters.
*Thank you to Bree and the rest of the group at Benella Art Gallery, for making me feel so welcome.
Thank you Australia for having me…
