In this heartfelt shortie episode, host Jodi Rose Gonzales offers a tender reminder to caregivers that creativity isn't an optional luxury—it's an essential anchor for self-nourishment. This episode speaks directly to those who constantly give to others while neglecting their own emotional and creative needs, providing gentle permission to reclaim creative expression as a path to wholeness and sustainable caregiving.

Key Takeaways

• Creativity as Necessity, Not Luxury: Your creative practice isn't selfish—it's sacred and essential for emotional wellbeing.


• The Caregiver's Dilemma: For those who constantly hold space for others while their own needs "wait patiently in the wings," finding balance is crucial.


• Integration of Caregiving & Creating: The qualities that make you an excellent caregiver—compassion, attention to detail, sensitivity—also feed your creative capacity.


• Emotional Processing Through Art: Creative expression provides a safe container for processing difficult emotions like grief, rage, and exhaustion.


• Permission for Imperfection: You don't need to create for an audience or for perfection—the act itself is what matters.


• Sustainable Caregiving: When you nurture yourself through creativity, your capacity to care for others becomes "more sustainable, more rooted, and more real."

Weekly Art Prompt: ATTEND

This week's prompt invites you to reflect on what "attend" means to you—not in terms of attending to others, but allowing yourself to be attended to:

1. Reflect on what parts of you need witnessing or support


2. Consider if you allow others to attend to your needs


3. Create an image expressing what being nurtured would look or feel like


4. Journal with your finished piece


5. Take action on any realizations that emerge

Resources Mentioned

• iROSE Society: A supportive online community offering weekly art prompts, affirmations, and feedback directly from Jodi. Join at jodirosestudio.com/society

Final Thought

"Your creativity doesn't just heal you. It heals everything it touches, as the result of a slightly more vibrant you."