Explore It 3: Growth, Connection, and the Beauty in Blooming
There’s a distinct energy when something begins. Explore IT 3 has launched with that energy in full bloom...literally. With new and returning participants diving in, the collective creative pulse is vibrant and strong. Each day has already offered quiet moments of awe, insight, and connection. This season, it’s not just about what we’re seeing outside,it’s about what we’re uncovering within ourselves.
Explore It 3 is a 30-day creative mindfulness project that invites participants to explore their environment, emotions, and imagination through art, movement, photography, writing, or simple observation. Whether you're a seasoned creative or trying something new, this practice encourages deep presence and reflection.
A Season for Mental Health Awareness and Mindful Practice
In just a few days, participants have shared images, reflections, and practices that speak to the power of pausing with intention. As we enter Mental Health Awareness Month, it feels especially meaningful to pause and honor the intention behind this project: to slow down, reconnect, and create. This isn’t just about art—it’s about healing. It’s about presence. It’s about noticing the micro-shifts around and inside us that so often get overlooked. From shadow paintings and stitched collages to videos paired with sound and texture, each offering feels like a window into someone's inner landscape.
This practice aligns beautifully with the core mindfulness principles in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). DBT encourages us to engage in “wise mind” thinking, to notice without judgment, and to return to the present moment with intention. Explore IT gives us that opportunity daily. Through nature, reflection, and expression, we step into mindful awareness—not just with our surroundings, but with ourselves. This is the essence of a nature-based mental health practice—accessible, grounding, and deeply personal.
Already, I find myself deeply preoccupied with everything that is beautiful, growing, and blooming around me. The earth is truly amazing. Every leaf, every petal, every movement of light through branches has me more grounded than I’ve felt in a long time. I know I’m not alone in that. The work shared by this community—whether seasoned contributors or new explorers—is a gift. It’s bold, sensitive, reflective, joyful. It’s reminding me that when you manifest something—when you plant an idea with intention—it grows.
That’s not just metaphor. It’s neuroscience. When we consistently focus on the things we want to cultivate—like beauty, connection, peace, or purpose—we form new neuropathways. Our brains literally begin to reshape in response to our intentions. And Explore It is a ritual that supports that growth. One mindful action at a time. This practice reinforces the core of creative mental health work—small, intentional acts that promote lasting internal shifts.
But this season is also reminding me that growth doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens in connection—with our environment, and with each other. I’ve learned this in very real ways already. When my wooden ring cracked before we even began, I couldn’t repair it on my own. I had to ask for help—something I haven’t always been able to do. And then, on Day 2, I found myself wanting to photograph one of my favorite trees—a dogwood once planted in honor of a new marriage that later ended. To get the shot I envisioned, I needed a 71” selfie stick, a ladder, and someone to steady that ladder while I climbed 10 feet in the air.
There was something incredibly moving about that moment. Fixing the ring. Climbing to frame the shot. Seeing that dogwood in full bloom. It wasn’t just about aesthetics. It was about resilience. That tree, once planted to mark a beginning, continued to bloom even after an ending. Now, it’s part of a new beginning. A repaired circle. A new story. It was also a powerful reminder of what DBT teaches us about radical acceptance, acknowledging what is, without judgment, while still moving forward with purpose. Letting go of control over the past, and anchoring ourselves in the present moment with compassion and clarity.
Why You Should Join Explore IT 3
So here we are, just a few days in, and already this season is offering so much insight. Insight into the earth. Insight into each other. Insight into ourselves. For many of us, this seasonal reflection practice is becoming a cornerstone of our mental wellness routines. This project is more than a creative challenge—it’s a nature-based mindfulness practice that supports resilience, emotional awareness, and joy in small daily acts.
To everyone who’s joined in, thank you. Your curiosity, vulnerability, and creativity shape the foundation of this community. And if you haven’t signed up yet—consider this your invitation. It’s never too late to START something that reconnects you to yourself and the world around you. Whether you begin today, tomorrow, or next week, Explore IT 3will meet you where you are.
Keep exploring. Keep sharing. Keep noticing. Because what we create together matters—and your voice belongs in this story.
Here’s to the next 30 days—and everything that blooms along the way. Sign up here!
Explore It: Volume One
Explore It: Volume Two
Follow and tag @startcreativeartstherapy with #ExploreItProject to join the community.