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

Maria, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I’ve explored the concept of meaningful moments my entire life. I vividly remember being a 5-year-old kid and observing how the moon “followed me” as we drove in our car. So this question is a bit challenging for me because I believe all of the projects have had a lot of meaning in my life.

The beauty of having a creative practice is that it allows you to process all of those meaningful moments. As an eight year old child I spent making up stories, first in Spanish and then in English as I learned the language. Having a space to retrieve into when the world felt overwhelming was and continues to be such a blessing in my life.

So, I will always answer this question with the current project I’m working on because it is helping me process the every day parts of life.

Currently, I am using creative writing as a way to explore the different parts of me. Inspired by Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS), I am learning that there are these characters that have something to say. And that the main character, Isabel, must give them attention, love, patience, compassion in order to continue on her journey. I began this project in January of 2023 and have developed 8th characters so far. I plan to continue writing and illustrating these characters through the end of 2023.

I believe that this is the most meaningful project, not only because I am currently working on it, but also because it is bringing everything I’ve learned together. Getting to meet and know these characters (aka parts of me) is allowing me to show up in my daily life with more authenticity and acceptance. When I go to my full-time teaching job or I parent my own children (9 and 3) knowing about these parts gives me the opportunity to bring them fully and integrate them into our lives.

The really cool thing about this project is that my family has been a huge part of creating these characters. I am realizing just how powerful creativity is for building relationships and bridging those gaps that are often overlooked. My nine-year-old child will use the names of these characters to explain their feelings. Often times I can just ask “So which part of you is showing up right now?” and they can easily let me know how they are feeling by simply stating the name of the character. It is such a beautiful thing to be able to engage with my children in this way. We are creating this new way of communication that allows us to show up fully as our true selves.

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.

I am a creative soul who wants to share my day-to-day journey with you! In the “real world”, I am a Spanish teacher at a Montessori school. In my “other world”, I am a certified Marth Beck Wayfinder Life Coach who helps creatives engage with their creativity to live a life that is meaningful to them. I host in-person local workshops and share my own creative work with others through weekly emails, podcast and (limited) social media posts.

I am so proud to listen to that inner voice that tells me to go right or left, or sometimes just hang out for a while until the next decision can be made. The experience of motherhood has catapulted me into the world of creative living and I love to help others who feel that urge to create, to make meaning of the everyday life moments.

As a sensitive and creative person, I help others explore those parts of themselves so that they can show up fully in their lives. This is incredibly motivating for me because I can see the ripple effects of creating community-based systems that see the BIG picture. When you provide space, support, and love for a mom, for example, you’re not just providing that for the mom. You’re providing that for her entire family. It’s all about connections!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I feel like I pivot every single day! As a busy mom, the idea of starting my own business has been quite a challenge. I had a fairly successful tutoring business before the pandemic. The shutdown and having another baby really helped me see that there is something to this creative practice that I NEED to pursue.

I thought that building a coaching business was going to be my next step. As I was going through the training, an opportunity to teach at my child’s school opened up. With a two-year-old and an eight-year-old at the time, I had to make the quick decision to slow the building of my business to go back to teaching.

The funny thing is that by having a full-time job I was able to relax a lot more about the financial aspects of growing a business and the unknown of what that entails. With my mind more at ease, my creativity came gushing out. There were so many more connections I was making, both in real life and in my creative mind.

I’ve come to learn that pivoting in life, career or business is not really about the “doing” or “not doing. But it’s really all about the listening of what FEELS good. I’m sure all the business books might disagree, but I believe in our own power to make decisions rooted in our bodies and trusting that things are happening in a way that will guide us to what is meant for us.

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

My mission driving my creative journey is to come back to wholeness. To bring all of those parts of myself back to that sense of being home. The more I explore in this creative journey, the more I learn that this is what I have been trying to do my entire life. Even in my teaching career, it’s always been about helping create the space for others to do the same. And now as I view my coaching practice as part of my creative journey, I see that this particular goal expands in all areas of my creative life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mariaplata.podia.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/platalife/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/maestraplata
• Other: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maria-plata