It all begins with an idea.

Finding Myself in Clay: How Risking It All Became My Path to Healing

There’s something almost sacred about holding a lump of clay — heavy, formless, waiting. It doesn’t care who you were yesterday or what titles you left behind. It only asks: What will you shape me into?

For years, I asked myself that same question.

I had checked all the boxes — the steady job, the predictable schedule, the quiet ache that came from ignoring my creative heart. But somewhere between the deadlines and the daily grind, I lost touch with the part of me that once found joy in making things. My mental health began to unravel in the quiet hours — anxiety, burnout, the feeling of being trapped in a life that looked fine on paper but didn’t fit my soul.

And then, pottery found me.

At first, it was just a single night class — something to keep my hands busy and my mind calm. In a, “Make a Mug in a Night” with my now friend Rod Beck (@rodfbeck_ceramic_art) I felt inspired. A my fingers sank into the clay, something shifted. I’ve always hated mess, but this was chaotic mess with a purpose! The mug was far from perfect, part round and part square. The handle was a mess, the bottom wonky, but it made me want to make more.

Clay taught me presence. It taught me patience. It taught me that things collapse sometimes — and that’s okay. You start again, a little wiser, a little softer, a little steadier.

The Leap

Starting a pottery business wasn’t part of the “plan.” In fact, it was the opposite — it was the beautiful chaos that came after deciding to stop living for everyone else’s expectations.

Leaving behind stability for the unknown wasn’t easy. There were nights I doubted everything — the money, the timing, the audacity of believing I could build something out of mud and dreams. But there was also freedom in the risk. Throw that in with moving to a new province so my husband and the whole thing sounds like a terrible idea!

But now, as I strip my life back to its raw elements — hands, heart, craft — I start to remember who I am.

The Courage to Begin Again

Starting Mavoureen Designs wasn’t just a business move — it was an act of self-rescue.
It was saying yes to myself after years of “maybe later.”
It was trading perfection for process, control for curiosity, and fear for freedom.

Risking it all doesn’t mean you have nothing to lose — it means you finally have something worth fighting for: your joy, your peace, your creative voice.

And if there’s one thing pottery — and healing — have taught me, it’s this:
You don’t have to know what the finished piece will look like.
You just have to keep your hands on the wheel.

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.