For the Jewish Mother Who Feels Overworked and Under-Nourished
How art becomes a pathway back to yourself
Motherhood invites us to give endlessly — but somewhere along the way, many of us forget how to receive.
This is my story about creativity, inner connection, and finding our way back to the parts of ourselves we didn’t realize we lost.
When Creativity Was Home
When I was little, I used to open all the lower kitchen cabinets and climb inside, turning them into a tiny hidden fort. I’d sit there with my feet stretched toward the small heater tucked beneath the counter, warm air blowing over my toes, and I’d draw or write poems in my own quiet world. It felt like a cocoon — a place where imagination came naturally and creativity felt like home. Even then, before I had words for it, I knew that creating wasn’t just about making something. It was comfort. It was freedom. It was where I could let myself be heard.
From the time I was a young girl, creativity was my gift and my way of coming back home. I remember sitting in art classes, watching the paint move across the page, feeling something inside me surrender. I was open to a whole other world that existed within my imagination. On the contrary, I also remember constantly asking the teacher to “fix” parts for me — a line here, a shadow there. I wanted to get the proportions right, which is something I struggled with for many years. At the time, it felt normal to ask the teacher to do it for me. But looking back, I see how early the pressure to “get it right” enters our lives.
The Rules We Learn Too Early
So much of mainstream art education is about structure and playing by the rules. Don’t get me wrong — structure has a time and place. However, we often try too hard to get it to look a certain way. School is about passing the test, finishing on time, and fitting ourselves inside a little box. Very little is about what’s actually happening within and finding our unique gifts — yet we are here to tell the story of our soul. We are here to connect to the body’s wisdom and the inner world that so often gets pushed aside as we grow up.
Losing Ourselves in Motherhood
As mothers — especially in the fast-paced Jewish homes we are blessed to build — it’s easy to drift away from our inner self. Our days are full: work, carpool, cooking, cleaning, laundry, bedtime routines, community, and social life. We care for everyone else first. And slowly, without even noticing, we lose touch with the part of us that once created so freely… the part that colored outside the lines, the part that wasn’t afraid to explore and sing our own song.
Watching It Begin in Our Children
My children remind me of this constantly. Two of them paint with wild freedom — expressive and joyful. And one of them struggles more. He wants it to “look right.” He freezes if he feels he can’t do it perfectly. And every time I see this, I think: This is where it begins for all of us.
That moment when creativity becomes pressure… when expression becomes judgment… when we start to shut down instead of open up.
Returning to the Inner Child
I’ve been painting for over thirty years now, and the deeper I go into my own creative journey, the more I see how art becomes a bridge between worlds: the physical and the spiritual, the emotional and the thinking mind, the mother I am and the child I once was. It’s the place where I reconnect with my inner child and hear my intuitive voice again — where I show up and discover new parts of myself. Painting is where I feel liberated from the everyday pressure of trying to keep up with life, and where I can simply be.
When Art Becomes Medicine
Art, when approached with gentleness and permission, becomes something entirely different. It becomes a form of medicine.
I’ve learned over the years that the soul has its own language — beyond words — and art is one of its purest expressions. When we step into a meditative, intuitive state and simply allow ourselves to create, something begins to move inside us. Even if we don’t feel it in the moment. Even if we think we’re “just painting.” Something is releasing. Something is awakening. Something is being witnessed.
We are intuitive beings. Hashem created us as tzelem Elokim — co-creators with Him. When we allow ourselves to slow down, breathe, and listen inward, we surprise ourselves with what we are capable of. I believe every person is an artist at heart. Not because of talent, but because creativity is part of the neshamah.
Healing That Ripples Outward
For me, art is where I process. Where I pray. Where I breathe again. It’s where I discover parts of myself I didn’t even know were waiting. And as a mother of three, I’ve seen how my own healing ripples outward — how my children respond differently when I’m more grounded, more inspired, more connected to myself.
Everything we do is for our children. But what if part of giving to them is allowing ourselves to come alive again? What if the greatest gift we can offer is a mother who feels inspired, expressive, and whole?
The Heart of Soul Journey
This is the heart of Soul Journey, my online spiritual painting course for Jewish women. It was born from watching so many mothers long for a space of their own — a space to breathe, create, reflect, and reconnect with the deeper parts of themselves. Soul Journey blends intuitive painting with meditation, journaling, and painting techniques, helping women release old patterns of judgment and return to creativity with softness and courage.
It is a homecoming.
Bringing Art Into the Home
And while I guide women in their own creative process, I also bring creativity into the physical home through my artwork. A piece of art hanging in a space transforms the atmosphere entirely — it becomes a source of warmth, inspiration, and quiet strength. A home with art feels alive with love. It welcomes each person with a warm, colorful hug.
I believe that a Jewish home should feel like a sanctuary of beauty and soul, a place that supports our growth and healing. Art makes that possible in a way nothing else can.
A Gift for You
As a small gift to the readers of this blog, I’m offering 10% off any artwork or Soul Journey enrollment. Every mother deserves a space — whether on a canvas or within her home — that reminds her of the light she carries.
Use the coupon code "JewishMother" at checkout to receive your discount.
With love & light,
Avigail Sapir
AvigailSapir.com
