EXPLORING CREATIVE SELF-EXPRESSION: A Day of Presence, Play & Discovery

What happens when we stop trying to get it right; and become curious about what wants to come through?

Creative self-expression isn’t only about making art.

We express ourselves in the way we move, breathe, speak, sing, dress, create, relate, and play. It is part of how we make ourselves visible in the world; and sometimes how we discover parts of ourselves we haven’t encountered before.

Yet somewhere along the way, many of us learn to edit ourselves. We become more careful, more appropriate, more concerned with how we’re perceived.

For one day, let’s get curious about what happens when some of those definitions loosen.

Michael Ionesco and Mariel Camilleri invite you into a seven-hour experiential exploration of creativity, embodiment, connection, and expanded awareness.

Drawing from movement, yoga, conscious breath, music, sound, voice, visual expression, Authentic Relating, and play, we’ll explore different ways of allowing what’s inside us to find expression.

You might move without knowing what the next movement will be. Make sound without worrying whether it’s beautiful. Add colour to a shared canvas without needing to call yourself an artist. Meet another person without preparing what you’re going to say.

Even the way we dress can become an expression of individuality and play.

No artistic ability or previous experience is required.

The invitation is not to perform, but to explore.

What Else Might Be Waiting for Permission?

Movement can reveal something words haven’t reached. Rhythm can bring a room together. Colour can express something we couldn’t explain. Play can let us step outside the familiar version of ourselves.

Throughout the day, we’ll move between inward awareness and outward expression, individual exploration and shared creation, quiet and sound, structure and spontaneity.

The question isn’t “Am I creative?”

Perhaps a more interesting question is:

“How am I already expressing myself — and what else might be waiting for permission?”

When Experience Changes What We Believe Is Possible

Sometimes change happens gradually, through practice. And sometimes one deeply felt experience gives us access to a possibility we hadn’t previously imagined.

Mariel has written about one such turning point in her own life, when a single embodied experience changed a longstanding pattern of social anxiety and her expectation of rejection.

Her story isn’t a prescription or a promise. It illustrates something that informs this day:

Sometimes experiencing ourselves differently can loosen an old story about who we are.

Read Mariel’s personal story: From Social Anxiety to Connection: How One Experience Changed Everything

Your Experience, Your Choice

Everything offered throughout the day is an invitation.

Move, sing, paint, speak, listen, experiment, observe, or step back. Notice your curiosity and your boundaries, and choose your own level of participation.

Your way of participating is part of your self-expression.

Our October 14 Wonderful Wednesday, The Art of Connection, offers an opportunity to experience Michael and Mariel’s facilitation through Authentic Relating, breath, music, and presence. Authentic Relating will also be woven into this broader exploration of creative expression.

About Michael & Mariel

Michael Ionesco brings a deep sensitivity to music, sound, rhythm, creative expression, and group dynamics. Through curated music, live instruments, vocal exploration, movement, and attention to what is emerging in the room, he invites spontaneity and expression beyond ordinary conversation.

Mariel Camilleri brings decades of experience in body-based practice, conscious connected breathwork, somatic inquiry, movement, and experiential group facilitation. Her approach emphasizes curiosity, embodied awareness, personal choice, and discovery through direct experience.

Together, Michael and Mariel create enough structure to support exploration … and enough freedom for surprise.

Participation

This is intentionally not an anonymous ticketed event.

To participate, you must have attended at least one Wonderful Wednesday gathering, had a private session with Mariel, or have an existing personal connection with one of the facilitators.

If you’re interested but don’t yet meet one of these requirements, The Art of Connection on October 14 offers an opportunity to meet us, experience our approach, and discover whether the full-day workshop feels like an appropriate next step.

Food & Investment

Please bring a healthy dish to share. Food and breaks will be woven naturally into the day.

$222 when paid by Saturday, October 17

$252 thereafter

Saturday, October 24, 2026

2:00–9:00 pm

Studio 202 • 43 Towns Rd. • South Etobicoke

A liability waiver and additional preparation information will be provided to registered participants.

A Closing Invitation

What we discover through movement, breath, sound, colour, relationship, and play doesn’t have to stay in the room.

Perhaps you leave with a little more freedom to move as you want to move. To wear what delights you. To use your voice. To create without needing to be an artist. To show up with a little less editing; and a little more of yourself.

Come curious. Come as you are. And come ready to discover what else you might become.

Step outside the lines

Curiosity leads you

We don’t leave the same

Space is limited. To inquire or request registration, please reach out directly.