Look back to leap forward

Reviewing what we learned in the 30 Daya, and sharing feedback to grow

Hellooooooo Grown-Ups Table friends!

How are you feeling after our epic 30 days of Drawing?? Proud? Surprised? Connected? Creatively-charged? All of the above? I hope so. I am beyond inspired by your bravery and open-heartedness. No matter if you drew for 1 day or 30, you started the year with a creative leap. You made something with your hands, and with each other. And that, my friends, is a strong foundation upon which to build the year ahead, not to mention a creative life.

One of hundreds of nameplates GUT members created on our graduation day to remember what we’ve learned. A bunch are included in this dispatch and you can see them all in the chat.

Let’s keep going. If you want to stay connected and creative in 2025, join in!

This week is all about reflection.

Reflection

Miss Ross knows what’s up. Like it or now, looking back is an essential step in moving forward.

We did A LOT in 30 days. When we take in that much information and create that much output — or any amount, for that matter — it’s essential that we review it. That’s how we bake it all into our brains, hearts, and bodies, and continue moving forward in the right direction. Even if, like Miss Ross sings, we may not want the experience to be over, we gotta reflect to grow.

First step: please take a few minutes and TAKE THE 30 DAYS OF DRAWING WRAP-UP SURVEY. It’ll take less than ten minutes, and you don’t need to use a timer. It’s just questions about your experience drawing with me over the past 30 Days. Even if you only drew one day (or none days!) i want to hear from you. Everything you share will help me learn more about the power of drawing, and improve the lessons, prompts, and community experience for the future. Your responses will also contribute to understanding more about the impact of drawing on our health and wellbeing. That's right, this survey is for art AND science. And world peace. And no, I’m not exagerrating. I would never, ever, EVER do that.

Next step, I thought it would be helpful to review a few opportunities to help us all keep the 30-day energy/creative momentum going:

1. Take moment to check in with GUT community in the intros: welcome newcomers and high five some long timers. As a GUT member, you are part of a deep, dynamic network of humans all around the world who use drawing and creativity to connect with the world, each other, and ourselves. Pro-tip: Be sure to view the intros “Newest First” or you’ll be going back a couple years!

2. Draw throughout the week with the GUT. The DrawTogether Grown-Ups Table (aka The GUT) arrives in your inbox every Sunday. Paying subscribers (what we like to call Members) get access to drawing prompts and the GUT community chat where we share our drawings and support one another. It’s like the 30-days, but chill. Want to do more? Members also have access to the full GUT archive with hundreds of lessons, prompts, plus podcasts and videos for the whole family. (DrawTogether began as a kids program. Clearly the GUT is kid at heart.)

3. Join IRL GUT Local Meet-Ups. Local GUT members are connecting and gathering IRL to hang out and draw, visit museums, etc... Interested in meeting up and drawing with your fellow GUT-folk? Members can connect with other members in the location and meet-up chat. Look for people in your area and connect directly. A few GUT chapters have already started and are growing.

   

4. Scroll through the photos in the graduation chat!! There are hundreds of incredible photos of GUT members and our artist name plates we made for ourselves. I was deeply moved by the back of the signs you all made — where we drew reminders to ourselves of what we learned in the 30 days. I grabbed some images without showing your faces (the member chat is for paying subscribers only, so this felt respectful.) Take a scroll down memory lane and see some of the key takeaways y’all drew. Then go check out the rest. They make me tear up. 🥹

RIGHT?? And there are SO MANY MORE in the chat. I hope these contain spark memories of our lessons and drawing assignments. They do for me.

Alright, did i mention there is a 30-Days of Drawing post survey?

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE SURVEY.

Alright, onto our mini-reflection assignment.