CREATIVE CARE PRACTICE
Inside your box are simple creative tools: watercolor paper, clothespins, red string, a watercolor set, brushes, and a Creative Care card with a QR code.
Over the coming month, you'll create seven Companion Cards—small creative reflections that you can return to whenever you need a moment of grounding, encouragement, or perspective. Think of them as personal reminders of the places, values, strengths, and hopes that support your well-being.
We'll begin creating the first one or two cards together during our next session. After that, you'll have the opportunity to continue at your own pace, allowing each card to develop naturally. There is no need to finish them all at once. The prompts that follow are simply invitations. Feel free to complete them in any order, spend more time with the ones that resonate, or return to a card whenever new inspiration arises. There is no right or wrong way to engage with this practice. These cards are not meant to be masterpieces. They are meant to become companions.
Once all cards are created, hang them on the red string with the clothespins. Then display your companion cards anywhere you’d like.
On a wall in your home
At your workplace
In your vehicle
Card 1 — Color of Calm
Prompt: Using only watercolor, paint the card a color that helps you feel more at ease. There is no image to paint. Simply select your color and apply it to the watercolor paper provided in your CCB.
As you paint, notice how the color moves across the paper. Pay attention to the way in which the paint and water mix and flow. Resist any urges to control this process.
On the back of the card, answer the following question: What is it about the color you chose that helps you feel most at ease?
Card 2 — A Place That Holds You
Prompt: Draw a real or imagined landscape that makes you feel safe, grounded, or restored. Focus on the feeling of the place rather than focusing on too many fine details.
On the back of the card, answer the following question: What does this place offer you?
Card 3 — A Symbol of Strength
Paint or draw a symbol from nature that represents an inner strength you already possess.
It can be simple:
A mountain
A tree
A feather
A waterway
A bird
On the back of the card, answer the following question: What strengths does this nature symbol reveal to me?
Card 4 — Something Worth Carrying
Create an image that represents one value you want to carry into your future. For example, a heart is an image that often represents compassion and kindness. Take a few minutes to first think about the value you desire to call into your life. Then reflect on the best way to represent that value visually.
Give yourself permission to be as creative as possible and represent your chosen value however you wish.
On the back of the card, answer the following question: How could you live into this value over the next week?
Card 5 — Life’s Great Mysteries
Create an image of something that reminds you of life’s mysteries. Life is filled with unexplainable things. Things that puzzle us or inspire our curiosity. Can you think of one of life’s great mysteries? Paint or draw an image of the thing that makes you wonder.
On the back of the card, answer the following question: What lesson(s) can my chosen mysterious and unexplainable thing teach me about myself?
Card 6 — Gratitude
Create an image of one ordinary thing you're grateful for. The smaller the better.
A cup of coffee
Morning light
A friend's laugh
On the back of the card, answer the following question: What is something extraordinary about this ordinary thing?
Card 7 — Looking Forward
Create an image of something in your life that you're hopeful about.
A relationship
A new beginning
The completion of a project
On the back of the card, answer the following question: What small step could you take to nurture and tend to this hopeful endeavor?