Kate Houlihan

Our global theme for April is KISMET. It was chosen by our  Istanbul chapter, illustrated by Selin Çınar,and is presented by Mailchimp. 

Tempt fate with the hashtags #CMkismet & #CMATX.

When the stars align and good fortune visits, it must be kismet. An unexpected windfall, a chance encounter with another that blossoms, a doorway opening to impossible dreams. Kismet is a little pocket of time just for you. We marvel at the sheer, unlikely wonder of these moments.

Kısmet is a Turkish word that evolved from the Arabic qisma, meaning one’s portion or lot in life. When kismet was borrowed into English in the early 1800s, its meaning shifted into fate and fortune. But be wary of awaiting your destiny with passivity, philosopher Barrett Holmes Pitner warns, lest you resign yourself to a fate where nothing grows. Attend to the synchronicities in your life. When kismet alights upon you, the cosmos is letting you in on something, and you can choose to meet it.

March’s global theme FOLKLORE will be discussed by Charlie Lockwood, the Executive Director of Texas Folklife, on Friday the 25th.

We’ll be meeting live-and-in-person under The Star at Indeed Tower thanks to our partner Kilroy Realty.

(This the first of three months in a row that they’ll be hosting our community for what we’re calling our “Spring Star Series.”)

Registration opens on Monday, March 21 at 11:00 a.m. at this link, so set an alert to be ready to snag your free ticket!

Share your epic tale with the hashtags #CMfolklore & #CMATX.

Join us on March 9th at 5:30 for a connection experience designed and produced in collaboration with humhum — a platform for conscious, human-to-human connection, offering virtual experiences that bring us closer to ourselves as we connect with one another.

Register to reserve your spot here.

This 50-minute virtual connection experience weaves together breath, mindfulness, movement, and guided conscious dialogue to invite meaningful, and playful exchanges with others.

Think platonic group speed-dating slower, and guided, and very intentional. Grounded in mindful awareness, and rooted in the shared intention to connect, at humhum we can check our self presentations at the door and offer our presence to others— first in silence, and then in conscious verbal communication. Just a bunch of humans— being themselves, together.

Our global theme for March is FOLKLORE. It was chosen by our Guatemala City chapter and illustrated by Sara Ortega.  

The universe is vast and full of mysteries. Humankind spin stories to answer these mysteries without answers. As these stories are passed down and among a people, they become folklore. Who placed the stars up there? When a pot breaks, who might have been the unseen culprit? How do we celebrate the successes we can’t take credit for? Folklore exercises our mythic imagination, our way of seeing beyond the tangible to make sense of the enigmatic and the unfathomable.

A song about the origin of the world, a pot of simmering stew that draws the community to the table, a knot of ribbon in your hand. All of these moments and rituals bind us to our ancestors, our past to our future. Our collective and ancient wisdom is contained in folklore, we must simply look there.

We’re mixing it up for February’s global theme MONUMENTAL and hosting a Monumental Music Showcase! The lineup includes… 

Kalu, the lead singer of Kalu & The Electric Joint.

Mama Duke,  Two-time Austin Hip-Hop Award winning artist

Urban Heat - Jonathan Horstmann, Kevin Naquin, and Paxel Foley.

Plus, we couldn’t have a Monumental Music Showcase without our house band Henry Invisible ✨The One Man Funk Band✨ setting the mood.

Registration is open now. Click here to join us. (We’ll be coming together virtually, so registered attendees will receive a zoom link via email.)

One lucky attendee will have breakfast delivered to their home from our CreativeMornings Prize Patrol thanks to Cuvée Coffee.

We’re back to virtual this month, because Austin is currently in Stage 5 of COVID-19 risk-based guidelines. (Keep your masks on y’all.)  

Use the hashtags #CMmonumental & #CMATX while you enjoy our virtual jam.

Our global theme for February is MONUMENTAL. It was chosen by our Richmond chapter and illustrated by Mending Walls.  

Use the hashtags #CMmonumental & #CMATX

When we call something monumental, we mean it as a matter of scale. Societies erect statues and build squares and dedicate memorials to prevent the past from being buried. These structures loom large and cast long shadows. They are meant to endure, to keep our ancestors alive in our memories, but sometimes they dwarf the living and engulf life itself.

What does it mean to think on a monumental timescale? To honor the past in such a way that it paves a path for the unfolding of the present?  We have no way of knowing if our memories will outlive us, if they will manage to travel the vastness of space and time. But there are people in the future who will need our stories, stories capacious enough to hold all of our humanity. So what will you bear witness to? What will you leave behind when you’re gone?

January’s global theme FREE will be discussed by Anna Bradley from the TEMPO temporary public art exhibition on Friday the 28th. 

Big thanks to our partner this month: Freestyle Languages. 

Kicking us off will be musical guest Jordan Matthew Young. 

One lucky attendee will have breakfast delivered to their home from our CreativeMornings Prize Patrol thanks in part to Cuvée Coffee.

Our house band, Henry Invisible ✨The One Man Funk Band✨ will be setting the mood.

Registration is open now. Click here to join us. 

We’re back to virtual this month, because Austin is currently in Stage 5 of COVID-19 risk-based guidelines. So registered attendees will receive a zoom link via email.

Please feel free to use the hashtags #CMfree & #CMATX.

Our global theme for January is FREE. It was chosen by our Charlotte chapter  and illustrated by Lo’vonia Parks. 

Please feel free to use the hashtags #CMfree & #CMATX

What is free comes in many flavors. Free to come, free to go. Free to love, free to deliciously inhabit our own skin, free to try on all the possible version of ourselves.  “Free,” as in not charging a single cent. Free to speak truth to power. Free to say no to what’s on offer.

However, to be free to — to dream, to create, to imagine — requires freedom from. To be free from want and fear, to be free from censoring forces, to be free from oppression. To strive for true freedom is to honor our obligations to each other, to fight for our mutual liberation.

When someone is free to achieve their fullest creative expression, they become a beacon for all of us. How will you make space for your own flourishing and that of others, so that the world around you might also bend towards freedom?

December’s global theme INVISIBLE will be discussed by Henry Invisible live-and-in-person on Friday the 17th. Register here. 

Kicking us off will be musical guest Kamilla and Stefan. 

Special thanks to our beverage partner Cuvée Coffee.  

Please use the hashtags #CMinvisible& #CMATX to see the conversation unfold. 

Our global theme for December is INVISIBLE. It was chosen by our Rome chapter and illustrated by Cristina Spanó. 

Use the hashtags #CMinvisible and #CMATX to make sure your social posts are seen.  

The invisible encompasses everything that does not fall within the hegemony of visibility. An entire world we cannot see exists but doesn’t show itself. From the electromagnetism coursing around us, to the flow of capital across borders, to the adaptive strategies of wildlife. The denizens of nature know that remaining invisible is power.

Many of us labor to avoid becoming invisible at all costs. We strive to create a constant performance in an age of surveillance. Being invisible is often synonymous for being marginalized, forgotten, and fallen out of view.

What if we take a cue from nature and reclaim invisibility as a strategy? What rich inner worlds can we cultivate when we remain out of view? How might we become aware of the things that have receded from sight, suddenly coming into focus with startling clarity?