✨🔮 This is a collaboration between the Big Feelings ENM & Big Feelings Creatives spaces, which are both community-centred events all about fostering vulnerability and meaningful connections.
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️We are curating a warm, non-judgemental, inclusive space, where queer, neurodivergent, and disabled voices are particularly welcome.
Who is this event for?
What is this workshop about?
This is a friendly, inclusive creative workshop for ENM peeps to hang out, connect and create together.
We’ll delve into love and non-monogamy and how it's represented in the media. Then you’ll get to create your own zine about your experience of non-monogamy, and to bring to life the stories and representation that reflect your reality.
We'll have four hours together in a gorgeous, peaceful, comfy venue where we can socialise, relax, talk, and craft. The venue offers soft seating, crafting tables and chairs, a kitchen with hot drinks and snacks provided, a cloak room AND a mezzanine for chilling and taking breaks.
Our agenda for the workshop:
2pm-2:30pm - Informal socialising with fellow attendees, with optional ice breaker prompts, and free hot drinks and biscuits (GF options avail).
Please arrive no later than 2:30pm to avoid missing the start of the workshop!
- 2:30pm-3:15pm - Open discussion about your experience of ENM/RA, what it looks like/means to you, and how it's represented in the media. How do your experiences compare? What would you want to see in media that you feel is missing? What do you want to say to the world about how you love?
- 3:15pm-3:30pm: Reflective creative prompt: an invitation to translate your feelings and takeaway from the conversation in whatever form you'd like: prose, drawing, poem, doodles, mind map, dialogue…
- 3:30pm-6pm: ZINE making, building on the discussion and reflective prompt: create a zine about your experience of love and non-monogamy. All crafting materials and creative guidance provided.
What the heck is a zine? (pronounced "zeen")
- Zines are essentially self-published, self-printed magazines, in the form of booklets.
- They can be made by ANYONE.
- Zines are often about subversion and freedom of thought. They can be about anything, including very niche topics. How tos, your feelings, your story, your art, your sexual identity, your manifesto, the life of frogs, the stranger you met on the bus, social justice, the meaning of life...
- Zines are usually very DIY and collage style, but can be made digitally.
- They can be entirely visual, entirely made of text, but they’re usually both.
- They can be any size and any number of pages.
- We'll show you loads of examples and inspiration, and how to make different kinds!
Ethos & Agreements
The Big Feelings Creatives space:
- This is space where big feelings and busy brains are not only welcome, but celebrated. Be your whole self. Ask for the accommodations you need.
- This is an unapologetically inclusive space where we want to cultivate acceptance. We have a zero tolerance policy for any form of discrimination or harassment, including racism, transphobia, homophobia, sexism, ableism or ageism.
- We’re fostering a warm, friendly, relaxed environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing and being vulnerable. Community is built out of mutual care. We want to encourage you to practice active listening, and to be gentle and supportive when discussing the experiences of others.
- This is a confidential space. Anything shared by others during our events, whether personal or creative, is private, and should not be shared with anyone else without prior consent.
The ENM bits:
- All Big Feelings spaces are inclusive and s-x positive, though please note this is a workshop to delve into your experience with relationships, love, and connection, rather than focusing solely on s-xual connections.
- While love, relationships and non-monogamy will often and inevitably intersect with other areas of your life and well-being, please note that love and non-monogamy is the focus of the workshop, and we can't facilitate in-depth discussions about other topics.
- This is a space to express yourself and your creativity, and to build community. No cruising will be tolerated.
Event Organiser
Hi there, my name is Laurie and I'm the founder of Big Feelings ENM & Creatives.
As a neurodivergent, queer woman with c-ptsd, and a multi-passionate creative, I feel incredibly strongly about making space for the authenticity of people's lived experiences and emotions.
As part of the Big Feelings Creatives community, I host creative workshops as well as body doubling events. You can follow me on instagram here or sign up to my newsletter here.
Our venue - Green Place Studios
This workshop will be held at the lovely, peaceful Green Place Studios in East London.
Venue accessibility:
- Our workshop will take place in the main upstairs studio, which is accessed via a staircase with about 15 steps.
- The studio space includes the following, on the same floor:
- Soft seating area including sofas, armchairs and a large rug.
- Tables and chairs for crafting.
- An open kitchen where hot drinks (teas, coffee, milk and DF milk) as well as biscuits (inc GF options) will be provided.
- A gender neutral toilet.
- A cloak room.
- The studio also includes a mezzanine accessible via a steep ladder as an extra chill out space to sit/lie down/rest. Access to the mezzanine is not required to take part in the workshop.
Transport options:
- The nearest stations are:
- Homerton overground station on the Mildmay line. The station has step-free access to and between all platforms. It's a 15min walk to the venue from there.
- Clapton overground station on the Weaver line. It's a 20 min to the venue from there.
- Alternatively, you can take the 308 bus from Stratford tube station.The station has step-free access to and between all platforms.
If you have any questions, please DM me on instagram at @BigFeelingsCreatives or @BigFeelingsENM, or via email at laurie@bigfeelings.uk.
I can't wait to meet you!
- Laurie at Big Feelings