Creative Participation as a Transformative Journey

August 18 & 25, 2026

The reasons for developing an everyday creative practice are many, but the greatest, most valuable “why” of creative engagement is because you will experience healthier connections with the world and those around you.  It is the process of participation—being in conversation with the images, the ideas, the materials, the elements—and the sharing of that with others, that transforms and sustains us all.

Dr. Mary Lounsbury is an expert at making things and making things up, alone and with others. The work is playful and profound, based in curiosity, common sense and everyday experience, yet grounded in depth psychological awareness and mythological understanding.

Dr. Lounsbury’s early work in education inspired her curiosity about why many adults are so anxious about their own creative expression; while in her own creative practice she became fascinated with metaphor and symbolism, and the way they shape our works. Following these threads led her to Pacifica, where she earned her doctoral degree in Mythological Studies and Depth Psychology. Her research argues for creative engagement as a means to personal discovery and genuine social connection.

In 2025, she published How to Participate in the World: A Manual of Creativity and Connection with Lots of Theory and Digression. This radical revision of her dissertation is not an academic work, but it is a substantive treatment of her topic, made more entertaining and useful (one hopes) with illustrations, meditations, how-tos, and idiosyncratic asides, all presented in a conversational tone.

We give physical form to imaginal content through the creative process, and in so doing, we also make our lives meaningful.  When we bring people together to explore and share creatively, we build shared metaphorical understanding, aka mythology. Without shared creative experience, social systems break down. The matter is urgent, as evidenced by the widespread isolation so many are feeling. The antidote is participation.

In these sessions, Dr. Lounsbury will discuss her methodology, and how the Pacifica journey transformed her work.

The session on August 18th, 12-1pm PT will be a presentation by Dr. Lounsbury, followed by Q&A.

Join us on August 25th, 12-1pm PT for an engaging and interactive mentoring circle led by alum Dr. Lounsbury, following her thought-provoking presentation on Creative Participation as a Transformative Journey. This session offers current students and others who are interested in connecting more deeply on his presentation.