Something happened to me when I was about 8 years old – I somehow developed a belief that I was not creative, that I could not draw. I stopped drawing from that point on and dreaded going to art class each week.

Flash forward 30 years I am sitting down at a table with my son at his kindergarten. In front of us is a sheet of paper and some pencils. He asks me to draw him something. I freeze. That same belief is still there: “My son is asking me to draw…but I can’t draw!”. But I can see the anticipation in his eyes and decide to give it my best shot.

I was amazed at what actually flowed out of my body and through my pencil. Perhaps I was wrong about my ability to draw, but what seemed to be even more important was how I felt because of the drawing I was doing. It was liberating and awakening. And of course, my son loved every line.

My guest for this week is Melanie Knight. She curates experience like the one I had with my son in his kindergarten, where adults can tap back into a creativity and expression that may have been dormant since their childhood years. Dr Sketchy’s is an experience specifically focus on drawing, and Dead Letter Club is about remembering what it was like to make up a story and a character through the medium of hand-writing letters.

I enjoyed the depth of discussion with Melanie in this conversation. I love her ability to show up just as she is, to bring what she sees as valuable and important into the world.

If you do enjoy listening to Melanie, you may also enjoy listening to Kate Challis on the connection between design and wellbeing, Mykel Dixon on bringing the artist in all of us back into the workplace, or Luke Hockley on creating settings where we can safely explore our expression.