As a student of Intentional Creativity, it is important for you to understand that the Gentlewoman's Agreement is a bridge between you as a student and you as a teacher. You are an integral weave in the threads of this community and you take part in the creation of a container that is held by all and enjoyed by all. The guidelines and agreements have been crafted to create a sacred container, a strong structure of support, a commitment by all and from all, with an eye towards mutual success.

My mother Caron’s first and most important rule when I was growing up was, “stay conscious”. These guidelines and inquiries are mostly about that – your agreement to be and stay conscious about you, your process, and your interaction with the Training and others in the Training. Anything you still need work on to step fully into your gifts may arise, which is why we say this training could be dangerous to your default settings! Hence, the need to enter and continue in intentional consciousness.

Some of what is shared in the Agreement is designed to get you thinking about what’s coming and create a context around the work. Some of the information in the Agreement will be new to you and we are simply asking you to acknowledge that you are now aware of it, even if it is the first time you have heard it. Doing a Gentlewoman’s Agreement like this instead of a traditional legal contract is our edge dancing way of being in energetic integrity, and asking you to do the same, creating awareness about boundaries and structure, and the intended energy of the training.

There is a lot to read because this is about the whole picture of you as a student, future teacher and member of the Intentional Creativity community going forward. It can even be enjoyable if you look at it that way! Strong containers equal strong results.

Intentional Creativity (IC) is an ancient practice, in place for hundreds of thousands of years; we just share about it in a specific way by naming it. Intentional Creativity does not belong to us exclusively, nor can it be bought or sold. It is a philosophy that we enjoy, lay claim to for ourselves, and share with others.

Intentional Creativity has been used in my work since 1997. Together we steward it and grant access to it for those we choose to serve and explore where it can reach to in the systems of our lives. We know that you come into the training with many gifts, teachings, and modalities already in hand and heart, and that IC is here to enhance what you already know, and to amplify it in the creative realm. Think of IC as a lens through which you look at your existing experience.

While I originated the content within the training, I am not the one ‘delivering the training’ - as in, each email and post created about the curriculum is delivered to you by a trained Intentional Creativity staff member. The content that is delivered, via video, on calls, or in person is how people experience my teachings.

About the Red Thread, yes you are here because we are connected and this is meant to be! We have been called towards one another. Either of us can ‘lay down’ the thread if it no longer serves us - as long as we fulfill our commitments to each other in the agreement with grace. You are responsible for holding your part of the thread, this training is a collaboration of energy that you are part of creating. From the power of this collaborative space, we have access to create profound community and experience transformation.

We believe that staying on track with the flow of the material is a really essential part of the training, hence why we emphasize this. That doesn’t mean you need to be online and commenting and showing up in that way – show up for yourself through doing the work and asking for help as you need it.

Intentional Creativity is a creative lineage that includes Lenore Thomas Straus, Sue Hoya Sellars and Caron McCloud as the foundation, who passed it to me, and I pass it to you, and you pass it to your Beloveds like a torch lighting another torch! Intentional Creativity, the way we use it, at the most basic level is image, language and inquiry in form. However, I also make my famous lentil soup with Intentional Creativity and engage with all things made from this framework. It is my conscious choice to engage with the universe from the ever-loving and wondrous worldview that this work provides for me. It is so subtle and so natural, that once it is flowing through it is hard to imagine not being with it, once we become aware of it and how much of a blessing it is.

Many graduates of our programs return year after year to take part in sharing a piece of their thread and service in the training. The very best way to consider the training is to consider yourself integral to a circle which you get to be a part of for years to come. Who will you show up as inside of that circle? Choose consciously to show up.

With this Agreement you enter the next part of the experience consciously, knowing what your part is to weave with us, a container of respect, collaboration and awareness now and into the future as you teach and share Intentional Creativity.

May this Gentlewoman’s agreement create a mighty space within which we, together, can realize our soulwork and serve our Beloveds.

May love be at the center of all of our choices.

Shiloh Sophia