Flourishing Space, Emily Wilkinson

Flourishing Space, Emily Wilkinson Welcome to the space where compassion meets poetry and creativity so that you can flourish!

More ways the arts can help us? Stress reduction! Here's what the research is saying.Is there a creative practice that h...
23/04/2026

More ways the arts can help us? Stress reduction! Here's what the research is saying.

Is there a creative practice that helps you find a slower rhythm?

Over the weekend, I sat in a room at the Wheeler Centre with a group of poets and made a word game. It was so much fun!I...
21/04/2026

Over the weekend, I sat in a room at the Wheeler Centre with a group of poets and made a word game. It was so much fun!

Indrani Perera's workshop "Playing with Poetry" was delicious and so generative. We drew on childhood and sensory memories, love and admiration and visceral hate, built metaphors, wrote monostichs, and were invited to draw on our own ancestry and culture as source material. We each left with a game that was generated from these activities, which we can continue to use for years to come! Indrani Perera is a poet, publisher and mentor, and a fantastic teacher!

Thanks to Writers Victoria for hosting, and to Indrani for your time, energy, play, delight, and generosity.

Here's a little glimmer from my walk along the beach yesterday.Hi there, buddy! Thanks for keeping an eye out for us all...
20/04/2026

Here's a little glimmer from my walk along the beach yesterday.
Hi there, buddy! Thanks for keeping an eye out for us all β˜€οΈ

Listening and being present are essential for our work as helping professionals. And these same qualities are equally es...
16/04/2026

Listening and being present are essential for our work as helping professionals. And these same qualities are equally essential for creative expression.

This is why I resist the narrative that helping professionals need to "leave work at work" and keep their creative lives separate.

If you've been waiting until you're "off the clock" to be creative, this is your reminder: you already practice what poetry, music, and visual art require.

You already know how to do this.

Restoring attention is another way that creative engagement can support us. Here's more of what the research is telling ...
15/04/2026

Restoring attention is another way that creative engagement can support us. Here's more of what the research is telling us.

How often do you make space for engagement in the arts?

What if your GP or health care professional could prescribe a singing, dancing or painting group alongside (or instead o...
13/04/2026

What if your GP or health care professional could prescribe a singing, dancing or painting group alongside (or instead of) medication? This is called social prescribing, and the evidence behind it is growing fast.

A 2025 study in π˜•π˜’π˜΅π˜Άπ˜³π˜¦ π˜”π˜¦π˜―π˜΅π˜’π˜­ 𝘏𝘦𝘒𝘭𝘡𝘩 (Quinn, Millard & Jones) found that group arts interventions reduce depression and anxiety in older adults at rates comparable to therapy and medication. Interventions included dance, singing, and painting.

Social prescribing, where GPs and health professionals refer people to community arts programmes alongside traditional treatment, is one of the most promising (and underused) tools we have.

Have you used any social prescribing in your work?

Why the arts work! Here's what the research is telling us. When did you last engage in something creative?
09/04/2026

Why the arts work! Here's what the research is telling us. When did you last engage in something creative?

We tend to picture the perfectionist artist as someone hunched over, brush in hand, agonising over every mark on the pag...
08/04/2026

We tend to picture the perfectionist artist as someone hunched over, brush in hand, agonising over every mark on the page, devotedly working toward the perfect image. And yes, that person might exist.

But perfectionism often presents differently. And it may mean never picking up the brush at all!

Allowing ourselves to start, letting whatever lands on the page be imperfect and messy, can be all we need to engage in the creative process.

Do you struggle to get started? You're not alone.

Create for fun. Create to play!Return to what you loved before your work and life asked for everything, to the ...
06/04/2026

Create for fun.
Create to play!

Return to what you loved before your work and life asked for everything, to the part of you who plays. Return to making things just for fun.

Which creative activities did you tend to engage in when you were younger? What did you love?

The next time self-criticism shows up while you're trying to create something, try this. Take a few slow, intentional br...
02/04/2026

The next time self-criticism shows up while you're trying to create something, try this. Take a few slow, intentional breaths. Bring to mind your compassionate self: wise, kind, strong, caring. You could also try saying something like this to your inner critic:

"I see you. I know you're trying to protect me from failure. Right now, I'm choosing compassion."

If self-criticism shows up again, continue to acknowledge it, e.g., "Ah, hello again." Then return to compassion, reassuring yourself, "It's hard to start something new. Many people find it difficult. I'm going to be kind to myself."

Your nervous system and creative self will thank you for your compassion.

What does your inner critic usually say when you try something new or return to a creative activity that you haven't tried in a while?

Who supports you creatively?We're often taught that creative practices, like writing, painting or collage, are something...
01/04/2026

Who supports you creatively?

We're often taught that creative practices, like writing, painting or collage, are something we do alone. But in every session I run, there is joy in doing these things together. E.g. someone shares a messy scribble, another says, "Oh, I did something similar," and a third person notices a pattern they hadn't seen.

Suddenly, we're reminded that it can be a richer experience when we create together.

New research on GP retirement found that the most consistent protective factor against burnout was identity beyond the r...
30/03/2026

New research on GP retirement found that the most consistent protective factor against burnout was identity beyond the role. When you write, draw, garden, move, or make music, you're reinforcing the fact that you exist outside of your work.

If your entire sense of self is fused with your helping role, the system can take everything. 🌿

Stone L, Price K, Barrett M, Cahill M & Walsh E (2025). Australian Health Review.

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https://www.flourishing-space.com/

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