CREATIVE AWAKENINGS!
Sunday, November 15, 2026
10:00 a.m – 4:00 p.m.
✨Reserve my spot
Hello, friends!
I'm so excited to be partnering with Candi to bring Creative Awakenings! to life.
For the past two years, we've set aside four hours every month to meet, dream, experiment, laugh, and create. Those four hours became non-negotiable ME time. They became a gift I gave myself each month.
As we spent those hours together, Candi and I began talking about how much we wished more women could experience the magic we were experiencing. The laughter. The creativity. The conversations. The freedom to simply play without worrying about getting it right.
Slowly, one conversation and one idea at a time, Creative Awakenings! began to take shape.
We kept coming back to one simple question:
How can we create a day that truly feels like a gift for women?
A place to laugh, create, connect, and remember what it feels like to do something simply because it brings you joy. A place to simply be yourself, slow down, and breathe a little more deeply.
Our hope is that when you arrive, you'll feel as though
you've just let out a long, deep sigh you've been
holding for far too long.
We can't wait to welcome you.
I hope you'll join us. ❤️
Sukhwant Shimkaveg
Master Certified Wayfinder Coach, PCC
Hiya!
I was raised working class in the Midwest, where Patio brand frozen mini-tacos were considered exotic ethnic cuisine.
Perusing the takeout menu for a Mexican restaurant near my cosmopolitan friend’s California home was intimidating. Sticking to tacos as a safe choice, I noticed they offered fish as an option. Fish tacos?! I couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea of a breaded plank of Mrs. Paul’s fish stick in the fragile embrace of a preformed corn shell that comes with protective cardboard bumpers.
I said as much to my friend. She chuckled then said, “Why don’t you live with wild abandon and get them. They may surprise you.”
Record scratch. Clouds parting. Angels singing.
Live with wild abandon.
It wasn’t a directive.
Or permission.
It was a reminder.
A reminder of “What if…?”
What if I choose the fish tacos? (Did. Delicious!)
What if I go to my neighbor’s party despite my social anxiety? (Did. Connected with a skilled carpenter willing to fix my porch.)
What if I quit my job, sold my house, and traveled around the country solo in a Winnebago for a year? (Did. Winnie, vidi, vici!)
What ifs are curiosity in action. Curiosity is the welcome mat of creativity. And creativity is the Glinda, Good Witch of the North, “It was in you all along” balm for your chapped nerves. A tonic to tame your titanic to-do list. A micronutrient to manage your mental health.
I’ve found “what if” is the lure that brings women to my house for a day of creative play. Even if they have no idea what’s on the experience menu. Especially if they have no idea. Curiosity hip-checks indecision, perfectionism, and productivity and makes room for ease, intuition, and freedom. There’s always a moment of quiet joy when the women relax into a creative pause.
The pause is where the magic is. (Not talking about that ‘pause…though that, ahem…period of our lives offers it’s own kind of magic.)
I mean the pause to breathe, notice, ponder, and allow.
Your mind read that…but did you notice, your body felt it.
Sukhwant and I designed a day where you can temporarily suspend your attention to responsibilities, appointments, and ailing appliances. All that stuff will still be there when you get home, but you’ll be able to re-engage with it in a new and supportive way, wearing sparkly creativity sunnies.
I hope you’ll join us in wild, wonderful West Virginia. What if Creative Awakenings! turns out to be your fish taco?!
Hand to Heart,
Candi Byrne
The Creative Awakenings! Experience
Imagine a day with no pressure to perform.
No "right way.”
No expectations.
All the details have been taken care of and all you need to do is show up as yourself. Sweat pants, athleisurewear, ball gown. YDY.
Throughout the day you'll be guided through experiences that invite curiosity, laughter, quiet reflection, and genuine connection with nature, yourself, and other like-minded women.
You'll spend time indoors and outside, making, noticing, experimenting, and discovering.
Not because you're learning to become an artist.
Because you're remembering another way of being with yourself.
You'll leave with simple practices you can weave into everyday life—whether you have one minute while waiting in curbside pickup, ten minutes before dinner, or a quiet Sunday afternoon.
You don't need permission to live creatively.
You simply need a pause long enough to remember that you have choices.
A Place to Exhale, Reflect, Inspire, and Restore
Creative Awakenings! takes place at Poor House Farm, in a light-filled, renovated historic barn nestled among the rolling hills of West Virginia, overlooking a tranquil lake.
The peaceful setting invites you to slow down, take a deep breath, and pause the demands of everyday life.
Surrounded by nature and the warmth of community, you'll have the freedom to play, create, and remember and reconnect to the part of yourself that delights in possibility.
Wait...West Virginia?
Martinsburg is less than 90 minutes from DC, Northern Virginia, and Baltimore.
Close enough for an easy day trip.
Far enough away that, by the time you arrive among the farms, open fields, and rolling hills, you'll feel as though you've traveled much farther from the pace of everyday life.
What’s Included?
• Guided creative experiences
• Gentle coaching and reflection
• All supplies
• Delicious lunch
• Snacks and refreshments
• Plenty of time to connect, relax, and simply enjoy being present
The number of participants is intentionally small to allow for an intimate gathering, personalized attention and expansive experience.
CREATIVE AWAKENINGS!
Sunday, November 15, 2026
10:00 a.m – 4:00 p.m.
The Barn at Poor House Farm
Martinsburg, West Virginia
$175
✨Reserve my spot
We can’t wait to meet you!
✨Reserve my spot
Creative Awakenings! November 15, 2026