Meet Dorothy Randall Gray

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dorothy Randall Gray a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Dorothy Randall, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

Dorothy Randall Gray
I water my creativity with silence, spirit and sky. Like the plants that fill my apartment, I can blossom when fed these elements. Like the birds that pierce the sky with their wings, I can fly with words that sing to me upon wakening. Like the sky above that beckons me to watch and savor minutes that won’t return, and passing clouds that never repeat themselves, I take my cue and honor the words, ideas and thoughts before they too pass me by.

I greet the day with gratitude and prayer, thanking my ancestors and spirits guides for giving me yet another day. I lay still, caressed by the morning sun, and allow the field of silence to invite all the creative thought that took flight while I slept, and winged their way through the clouds looking for a place to land. I ready myself with paper and pen and begin.

I am a writer, artist, poet, teacher and crafter, an avid note taker, infomaniac, lover of words, color, artwork, music, trees, birds and things made by hand. These too feed my creativity, keeping it alive while they nurture my soul.

My apartment is filled with things that inspire and seduce me to create – books, legal pads of writings, colored yarns, magic markers, workshop plans, acrylics and watercolor paints, clay, beads, mud cloth, photos, handmade papers, divine ephemera, unfinished writings and unfinished projects for my unfinished life.

On my wall is a colorful drawing on which is written, “Creative people don’t have a mess, they have ideas lying around everywhere.”

My creativity is alive and well fed.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am a master teacher and award-winning artist whose heart-centered healing, creative and expressive writing workshops have inspired thousands throughout the US, India, Iceland and China. My business and my passion is providing transformational poetry, storytelling, visual art, crafting & writing services to educational and social service institutions, corporate and creative organizations, healing retreats and empowerment centers. Some of the powerful components utilized in these workshops include music and mindfulness, somatic movement, visual art and writing stimuli,
Thousands served have included teachers, veterans, business persons, beginning and experienced writers, incarcerated populations, creative aging and youth groups.

Author of the bestseller, SOUL BETWEEN THE LINES, SHARING THE SAME SKY, several fiction and non-fiction books, and numerous anthology works, I’ve been twice designated LA Poet-in-Residence, recently appointed West Hollywood National Poetry Month rep, former board member of the International Women’s Writing Guild and present executive director of Women Writers and Artists Matrix.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. A spiritual practice and /or community to help you survive the vicissitudes of creating a life that works for you and makes a differen1ce in the world.

2. Cultivating and nurturing friends who believe in you, encourage and console you, and who are not afraid to tell you the truth.

3. Being gentle with yourself while being determined with your goals- take time to learn new things an to have fun.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

As a writer, artist and teacher, overwhelment is a constant in my life.. I am usually being pulled in at least three different directions at any given time, and the need to plan, create, write or do some dreaded necessities like housework, cooking and shopping. What I do sometimes is just stop and do none of it. I take a couple of deep breaths and watch the sky,or sit and allow a quiet stillness to invite thoughts, feelings, ideas, words to have their way with me. One of my favorite things to do, if writing and working at the computer start to feel like too much, I pick up something I can make with my hands and give a part of my brain some much needed rest. If I’m overwhelmed with papers that need sorting or discarding, I grab a big stack, and put on a movie to watch while tackling that task. When I’m finished with that stack I say to myself, “Thank you, well done, ‘then give myself some kind of a pleasurable reward,

Contact Info:

• Website: www.DorothyRandallGray.com (presently being renovated)
• Instagram: #dorothyrandallgray
• Facebook: Dorothy Randall Gray
• Linkedin: Dorothy Randall Gray
• Other: [email protected]
  [email protected]

Image Credits

Head shot photo credit: Mark Starr