Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anna Oginsky. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Anna, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents were always engaged in some kind of creative project and encouraged me to express myself through creativity too. We had shelves of books, art supplies, musical instruments, and a wide variety of works of art all around the house. They read bedtime stories and sang lullabies, took me on nature hikes, and encouraged me to read, write, and make art on my own.

My dad was a blues musician and his “studio” was set up in our living room for a while. My sister and I would make up songs and sing into his microphone–he loved it and so did we. My mom made our first sofa! She sewed cushions together and my dad built a frame to hold them.

My dad is now deceased, but I can’t remember a day of my childhood that he didn’t pick up his guitar to practice at some point. My mom is a very gifted collage artist and she is constantly learning new ways to assemble found items into new creations. She makes cards and sews books for my kids. She is amazing. No matter what was or is going on day to day, neither of them gave up on honing their craft. When something didn’t work out, they tried another way. Watching them stay dedicated to their creative work taught me some powerful life lessons. Just keep going. Try new things. Keep learning. Don’t give up and give yourself plenty of space and grace within which to practice your art. They did that exactly right.

Anna, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have enjoyed art, writing, and making for as long as I can remember, but it was in 2010 when my dad died suddenly that I took a deep dive into creativity. I found that art and writing had a healing effect on me and really helped me to process my grief. I took classes, attended retreats, and started a blog. As I learned, I felt called to share what I was learning with other people.

In 2012 I started a small business called Heart Connected and my mission was to hold space for people to tune into their hearts with art. My approach is unique in that I’m not here to teach people how to paint a landscape or sketch a face or anything like that, but rather to provide a variety of tools and some prompts that bit by bit come together to make a piece of mixed media art. As we write on the canvas, cut things up to collage, make marks with paint, and explore with different colors and texture, we enter into state of flow. It’s like medicine. We just play with no judgment or expectations. There’s no wrong way to do that, it’s all about the process rather than the outcome.

I’m most proud of being able to hold space for people to just be. It’s a bit of a struggle for some people who really want there to be a “right” way to do what we’re doing, but most people get lost in the process and appreciate the opportunity to be free. It’s also in that space that we find we know so much more than we think. We have all the answers we need inside us, we just need to give ourselves the chance to hear them.

As time went on, I incorporated meditation and writing into my workshops. Even just a few minutes of meditation can help bridge the gap between our hectic lives and peace, I traveled around Michigan and into other parts of the country with Heart Connected and felt compelled to establish a home base in my hometown of Brighton. My husband Dan and I looked at a lot of different properties before falling in love with 142 Brighton Lake Road. It was an historic home on two acres, just blocks from downtown. It wasn’t going to work for what we wanted to do, but Dan was inspired to restore the home and create the space we desired. It is now Brighton Light House. We opened in February of 2021 and it’s been a dream to curate programs aimed at inspiring personal and professional growth there for the community.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

In my experience and especially here in the U.S., I was led to believe that the prescription for a happy, successful life is to follow a linear path. Go to school, learn a trade or profession, get a job, work, be productive, maybe have a family, grow old, and die happy. A lot of us are focused on what’s next.

Much of the last 10-15 years of my life have been about unlearning that. There is no straight path in grieving, in parenting, or starting a business. I am reminded of this every day!

I appreciate the value in having a vision, in setting goals and making plans to achieve them, it’s how things get done. And also, there is tremendous value in staying open and curious with the awareness that there is no right way to achieve happiness or success. In fact, the definitions of both those concepts can look very different for different people. Yes, have a plan, and at the same time, don’t be so attached to it that you’re unwilling to course correct along the way. The richest and most joyful moments of my life were when I was fully present to what was happening then and there. It’s in those moments that I can see with complete clarity what’s working and what isn’t. Moving forward may mean taking three or even 300 steps back. Let’s embrace that.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

The goal that drives my creative journey is to follow my heart. While that might sound like a saying you’d see stitched on a pillow, what it means to me is that I trust my intuition as my guide.

My mission is to create space for others to tune into their hearts and the powerful wisdom that resides there.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.heartconnected.space
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annaoginsky/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-oginsky

Image Credits
Kelly Harper