We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cicely Carr a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cicely, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I grew up in the church, I was there almost every day. It was more of a routine than a relationship. I learned about God, there was a foundation, but I didn’t take it personally. I went off to college and was called a “joiner” I wanted to try everything even if it went against my morals and values. I just wanted to feel like I belonged. It exposed me to many things that were not the best. I didn’t have a firm voice or beliefs, I was like chaff in the wind, and I went with the flow.

I thought about the things now, how I wished I had a firmer foundation in Christ growing up so that when I went off exploring the world, I would be confident in my morals, values, and spiritual beliefs. I could meet new people, empathize, and still be strong in who I was. I didn’t have to bend or break.

I lacked confidence in my beliefs because I didn’t feel like it was taught in a personal way. I wanted to encourage, educate, and empower the youth to grow in their faith, be strong in it, and share it through creativity and service. Making it personal for them.

Why creativity though? Because God is the Creator and we are image-bearers, so we are creatives as well. Creativity has no rules, you don’t have to be “perfect” it is more about the process. The process allows for introspection, growth, and exploration. It allows us to let go and let God.

Service? Yes! We are here to serve others! We have been blessed with skills and talents that will be a blessing for others. Having a servant’s heart is what God desires.

Our mission is to use faith, art, and service to bring people hope, healing, and wholeness.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

The Creative Wellness Project started off with creative faith-based and non-faith-based workshops around the DFW. We would meet at coffee shops and churches where we studied the Bible, artists, and created with mixed media, collage, painting, and more. As I grew deeper, I also grew wider and that is when youth programs came into action. We added S.H.I.N.E. which stands for Sharing His Incredible News Everywhere and Young Ambassadors. These are middle and high school programs where young people begin or grow their faith in a group setting, they learn about social issues and combat them with creative activities and service.

The middle school program is led by a teacher, parent, community member, church leader, etc they engage in bible study and lessons on topics that allow them to expand their understanding and passion for serving others. They are always doing something creative. They are engaged in various service projects that they brainstorm, plan, and implement as well as participate.

As they grow older, they begin their journey in Young Ambassadors, where they participate in an intensive program while they create their own programs and activities that mix their skills, passions and talents, to serve a social issue interest.

S.H.I.N.E. and Young Ambassadors are groups where churches, community centers, schools, and more can launch at their locations. We provide training, materials, and coaching for successful launches and longevity.

We offer creative workshops that focus on leadership, legacy, and life for all ages. We also host workshops for corporations and churches to add to their trainings.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

This is funny because I was just reflecting on this over the past week. I knew that God had called me to pursue The Creative Wellness Project and for some reason, I just believed that everything would fall into place. I thought that every person I contacted would answer the phone and say, “YES, let’s do this!” That has been the total opposite. No one was returning my many calls and emails. Social media responses were slow and I was reminded that just because God said this is what you are supposed to do, that it doesn’t mean it will be easy. It takes work, opposition, rejection, and more. But what I noticed is that the rejections, the closed doors, were literally directions. God did not want me going in that direction. I had to learn how to not get frustrated and throw in the towel when it seemed like everywhere I turned was dead ends. I had to stop questioning the mission. I remember saying one day, maybe I should have just kept it really simple, but that is not what God wanted. Learning to let things roll off my back and keep moving was interesting, it was preparation and training for growth. When I learned that, I felt like I graduated!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Failure is not a failure. Or things that do not work out are not failing. I had a bookstore! Took all of my savings to open it up. It was an amazing space. I worked hard but unfortunately, I had to close it. I felt like I had failed. I was embarrassed. I didn’t want to try again. What I realized is that I was far from failing. Failing happens when you do not start something when you give up before it happens. I had a bookstore! It was an amazing time. It housed peace, creativity, and opportunity. And it was just for a season. I had to retrain my brain to understand what failure really was and once I did that, I had the courage again to try again. When you see things, life, and situations through a lens of defeat, everything looks like failure. Longevity doesn’t mean success. Rejection is redirection and protection! I am grateful for my growth mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.creativewellnessproject.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/creativewellnessproject
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreativeWellnessProject