I want you to know, I know. 

 

Since the moment I began teaching there has always been one semi-uncomfortable bit of knowledge demanding to be reckoned with: 

 

You could get what I’m offering you for free. 

 

I know this for a lot of reasons.

One of those reasons is that I spent a lot of time at the library as a kid. It was my favorite place to be and books were my favorite kind of “people,’ to be around. All the humanity. None of the risk. 

 

It was not lost on me then and it's still not lost on me today that knowledge, the deepest and most profound rivers of it, FREELY flow all around us (not to mention within). In every library, lives copy after copy of some of the greatest art human beings have ever 

 

a. conceived of 

 

and 

 

b. put into form. 

 

 

In poetry, in story, in journal, in the weird books or CD on tape section that somehow, magically still exists even when it feels no one possibly resorts to such outdated technology these days, are words strung together in such a way that have on numerous occasions saved lives, transformed lives, inspired lives. 

 

You wanna learn something? Say no more. Someone has already written a book about it. Often, too many someones, too many books. I dug through them on the library shelves, looking for anything that would spark my soul.

 

These days people are skipping the book writing and going straight to YouTube tutorials, or lord help us, Tik Tok. The point is, nearly everything is researchable or Googleable, or at the very least livable. As in, nothing will teach you faster than trying everything out for yourself and paying close attention. Believe me. I would know. 

 

And yet, it would seem that humans, after all this time, learn best directly from other humans. It would seem that there is something unnamable, ancient, and invaluable in the exchange between teacher and student that we are still willing to pay for, despite the plethora of ways learning is individualized.

 

I believe this exchange is a remembering. The key to the lock is one that as a teacher, I turn. But what is released; far beyond tips, tricks or strategies, are palpable human truths you recognize as soon as you hear them. You recognize them because somewhere in your own  rhythms they already pulse.  

 

To be honest, I believe that there is an inherent beauty in the relationship between a student and a teacher that is so intricately woven, I’ve never been able to pull it loose to name. I just know that it's what I felt in the third grade when Mrs. Rowan, with her huge, all seeing eyes, selected me to write a poem as a special assignment. And again in the fifth grade when Mrs. Lockey told us about her travels to Papua New Guinea and the entire world opened up to me as a place I might move in. And once again in high school when Mr. Totorica told us to feel the choral songs we sung in our bodies - to connect them to personal stories so that the music would come alive for all. 

 

This unnamable thing is why one gray day on a Utah college campus, though a huge part of me longed to pursue a degree in the arts, I turned and marched firmly to my counselor’s office and declared my major as Elementary Education. In that moment, I only knew that teaching was my path. That I wanted to give to others, as early as possible, the gift my greatest teachers had given me; love of life. 

 

This gift should be free. And as we firmly established earlier, it is. It's one I give freely where I can. 

 

It is also how I make my living. Miraculously, amazingly, though my college degree did not land me in an elementary school classroom, and soon after I graduated, the arts stole my body back as they already had my heart, I somehow managed to intertwine two heart dreams into one career. I make art. And I teach about it. The gratitude for it all makes me pause even now as a lump rises in my throat...

 

 

So when I tell you about a workshop I am doing. I want you to know first, that I know. That  I know and even root for (especially for those of you watching your pennies) to rally a group of friends (and hell, throw in one enemy for funsies) together for a day or a weekend - go somewhere gorgeous, then make ANYTHING and talk about EVERYTHING. You will learn. You will uncover hidden beauties and things you forgot you already know. If you invite the enemy, you will even experience drama which could inspire great art. Lolz

 

But if you, like I believe many of us do when we are truly ready for a teacher, feel a pull in a more formal learning direction where you can connect with a compassionate, experienced, irreverent guide

 

If you have both the means and the desire to learn in an open hearted space with other, ready to learn, open-hearted people

 

If you know you just need to press reset; to get away from all the familiar noise; of friends, of family, of everyone who “knows,” you so damn well that it's actually become a challenge to really share and embody your whole inner artist self…

 

then I invite you to join me this March in California.

 

 

I will be teaching two workshops for the creative individual. These workshops are all about walking the creative path: the light/dark, yin/yang, push/pull, beauty/terror of it.

They are designed to equip you to walk this path with courage, humor, curiosity and grace.

 

I used to design workshops around what I knew artists (photographers in particular)  *thought* they needed to thrive. Then I would try to give them some of that while sneaking in what I truly believed was important. I loved the teaching anyhow, but I presented the workshops as more practical than I wanted them to be because I know how often that justifies making a purchase in the mind of a potential student. I did this because I needed the money badly. Those workshops inevitably sold out. Fast. 

 

Although I still need the money badly, I don’t do that anymore. Instead, I create learning  experiences that are packed with as much living vital wisdom as I can possibly muster. Because after 15 years in business, and teaching for 10 of those, I have witnessed again and again that this kind of learning is what creatives ACTUALLY NEED MOST. 

 

Apparently some of you feel the same, because without formally announcing the details of the workshop, a handful of seats have sold. I’d love to fill the rest of them up as soon as I can. This workshop is for all kinds of creatives, NOT just photographers. You can drop a deposit to hold your seat and read more about what the day entails HERE.

 

 

 

Xx, 

Yan

Have you been lovin' IT'S ALL YANPENNING and wanting for your friends 

to experience all the things every Tuesday too?

Activation as my true north. •  Believe. •  Favor is here.  •  Forward. •  I want to feel held. 

I wish to feel alive. •  Let it FLOW.  •  I am free. • I am worthy of lightness and laughter. 

• I am reverent of what is lifegiving in the ordinary encounters of my days. •

I'm creative. •  Live with ease. •  I create freely. •  My heart and mind are spacious.  

Today is what it is.  • I am open to miracles. •  I am worthy. •  Be. •  I can do hard things. 

I am the best. •  I am healthy and safe. • Feel alive.