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Rainbow Way: Cultivating Creativity in the Midst of Motherhood
Visioned as the guide and mentor that most creative women yearn for, but never find in their daily lives, The Rainbow Way explores the depths of the creative urge, from psychological, biological, spiritual and cultural perspectives. This positive, nurturing and practical book will help to empower you to unlock your creative potential within the constraints of your demanding life as a mother. Featuring the wisdom of over fifty creative artists, writers, film-makers, performers and crafters, Jennifer Louden (multiple best-selling author), Pam England (author, artist and founder Birthing From Within), Julie Daley (writer, photographer, dancer and creator of Unabashedly Female), Indigo Bacal (founder of WILDE Tribe). Foreword by Leonie Dawson (author, artist, entrepreneur and women’s business and creativity mentor).,
337 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 13, 2013
26 people are currently reading
527 people want to read
About the author
Lucy H. Pearce
19 books259 followersLucy H. Pearce is the author of multiple life-changing non-fiction books, including Nautilus Award silver winners Medicine Woman, Burning Woman, and Creatrix.
Her newest books are Crow Moon: reclaiming the wisdom of the dark woods and The Kitchen Witch Companion, which she illustrated and co-authored with Sarah Robinson.
Her writing weaves women’s archetypal psychology, feminist historical awareness and the healing power of creativity and nature.
An award-winning graduate in History of Ideas with English Literature from Kingston University, and a PGCE from Cambridge University,
http://www.lucyhpearce.com/
Lucy founded Womancraft Publishing, creating paradigm-shifting books by women for women, in 2014. http://www.womancraftpublishing.com/
She is the host of the Creative Magic podcast, where she interviews contemporary creative women. https://open.spotify.com/show/5tipcBA...
Support her work on Patreon http:/www.Patreon.com/lucyhpearce/
Burning Woman - an incendiary initiation to feminine power is her most recent and is blazing trails with its powerful words, a #1 Amazon bestseller in Women and History.
The Rainbow Way: Cultivating Creativity in the Midst of Motherhood was a #1 Amazon bestseller in Creativity and motherhood in the US and UK. it has been credited with kickstarting the creativity of women - and men - around the world, being the inspiration behind numerous creative businesses and even saving lives.
Moon Time - a book that hundreds of women around the world have labelled “life-changing”. The perennial #1 Amazon.com bestseller in its field.
Reaching for the Moon, a soulful guide to the menstrual cycle for girls aged 9-14, trusted and recommended by thousands of parents and their daughters as a nurturing way to approach a key rite of passage.
Her newest books are Crow Moon: reclaiming the wisdom of the dark woods and The Kitchen Witch Companion, which she illustrated and co-authored with Sarah Robinson.
Her writing weaves women’s archetypal psychology, feminist historical awareness and the healing power of creativity and nature.
An award-winning graduate in History of Ideas with English Literature from Kingston University, and a PGCE from Cambridge University,
http://www.lucyhpearce.com/
Lucy founded Womancraft Publishing, creating paradigm-shifting books by women for women, in 2014. http://www.womancraftpublishing.com/
She is the host of the Creative Magic podcast, where she interviews contemporary creative women. https://open.spotify.com/show/5tipcBA...
Support her work on Patreon http:/www.Patreon.com/lucyhpearce/
Burning Woman - an incendiary initiation to feminine power is her most recent and is blazing trails with its powerful words, a #1 Amazon bestseller in Women and History.
The Rainbow Way: Cultivating Creativity in the Midst of Motherhood was a #1 Amazon bestseller in Creativity and motherhood in the US and UK. it has been credited with kickstarting the creativity of women - and men - around the world, being the inspiration behind numerous creative businesses and even saving lives.
Moon Time - a book that hundreds of women around the world have labelled “life-changing”. The perennial #1 Amazon.com bestseller in its field.
Reaching for the Moon, a soulful guide to the menstrual cycle for girls aged 9-14, trusted and recommended by thousands of parents and their daughters as a nurturing way to approach a key rite of passage.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 22, 2015
THE RAINBOW WAY is an excellent self-help book for nurturing your creative self. It is primarily written for woman, mothers, but I think it is an important read for anyone male or female, mother or not. Lucy Pearce has taken some very complicated concepts about individuation (becoming your authentic self) in Depth Psychology and given them life in an easy to read language. I loved her "reflections' and questions she poses to the reader in each chapter. These reflections sections are so very useful in self-discovery and in finding a way to implement what is discovered about oneself in the real world of a mother (or otherwise busy person with responsibilities outside of one's own needs). I definitely recommend this book to guide you on your path to get in touch with and flourish in your creative nature in the midst of motherhood and the demanding world around us.
I need to disclose that I won this book (and I am happy that I did) on First Reads.
Martha Love
author of What's Behind Your Belly Button? A Psychological Perspective of the Intelligence of Human Nature and Gut Instinct and
Increasing Intuitional Intelligence: How the Awareness of Instinctual Gut Feelings Fosters Human Learning, Intuition, and Longevity
I need to disclose that I won this book (and I am happy that I did) on First Reads.
Martha Love
author of What's Behind Your Belly Button? A Psychological Perspective of the Intelligence of Human Nature and Gut Instinct and
Increasing Intuitional Intelligence: How the Awareness of Instinctual Gut Feelings Fosters Human Learning, Intuition, and Longevity
March 24, 2016
An inspiring mixture of practical, spiritual and psychological advice on combining motherhood and creativity. Each chapter contains exercises and reflections and there is a wealth of quotes from other mothers walking this path. A recommended read for creative types, and those who would like to be more creative.
June 6, 2015
Lucy Pearce's voice was real--a convincing and inspiring ode to real life creativity while mothering. It's a hippie, red tent sort of vibe but she's also down to earth about what it really takes to do some work and speaks to that adage: No one's happy if mama's not happy, or something like that.
August 29, 2023
I hate giving bad reviews. I really do. But I feel the need to share why I think this book is poison for mothers.
I gave it two stars instead of one because I know the author means well. I can tell she loves women and wants to be supportive of the artist within them on their motherhood journey. The reason I picked up the book was because I had recently had my first child and it rocked my world. It awakened new creativity within me that I craved to unleash, but didn't really know how to do so in the new version of my life that started as soon as I held my first little one.
I guess I expected a book with advice and stories about how to pull this off.
The book explains two "types" of mothers: rainbow mothers and earth mothers. Earth mothers are nurturing and fit more of the traditional gender role of a mother, finding joy in the domestic life. Rainbow mothers are supposedly more creative and find more joy in their art or career than in home life, and the book even says that their families come second. The book says that the "shadow side" of the rainbow mother is the crazy mother, and at one point even implies that women wouldn't need mental health medication if they were able to do their art. As someone who suffered from postpartum mood disorders, I beg to differ. It says rainbow moms wish they could be like earth moms, but it's just not who they are.
There are stories of women complaining about not being able to do anything because of their children (like hours of art), and about how having children gets in the way of them "flying free."
As I read through the book, I found myself becoming a bit irritable with my toddler. I realized that when you take away the fancy new-agey spiritual talk, the book was casting motherhood in a negative light, and it was permeating my mind, making me resent my child.
I stopped reading it immediately.
You might get triggered by this, but here it goes: I feel like this book gives selfish mothers affirmation for loving their hobbies more than their children. "It's not my fault--it's because I'm a rainbow mom!" "I'm a rainbow mom, we don't like cleaning the house or cooking food." I'm sorry, but no! You CAN be nurturing and creative at the same time. You CAN cook dinner, you CAN get the house clean. Stop making excuses. Don't be a mediocre mother.
Since then, I've found that channeling creativity into the housework, cooking, and child rearing is the sweet spot. Perhaps the reason we are transformed into a creative woman when we have children is FOR them and the family, which includes us. Most of their brain is developed by age 3. We are literally creating their world and the way they see it. We create their environment, we create their bodies with the nourishing food we give them, we create how they think and feel by nourishing their senses, we create the type of person they will be....we are creating the future! This is our biggest masterpiece. It's more important than you being able to paint for 8 hours. Wake up!
When my husband gets off work, I take an hour to go downstairs by myself and do art. I also do art with my kids throughout the day. That's good enough for me.
I suggest finding some good books about creative parenting.
I gave it two stars instead of one because I know the author means well. I can tell she loves women and wants to be supportive of the artist within them on their motherhood journey. The reason I picked up the book was because I had recently had my first child and it rocked my world. It awakened new creativity within me that I craved to unleash, but didn't really know how to do so in the new version of my life that started as soon as I held my first little one.
I guess I expected a book with advice and stories about how to pull this off.
The book explains two "types" of mothers: rainbow mothers and earth mothers. Earth mothers are nurturing and fit more of the traditional gender role of a mother, finding joy in the domestic life. Rainbow mothers are supposedly more creative and find more joy in their art or career than in home life, and the book even says that their families come second. The book says that the "shadow side" of the rainbow mother is the crazy mother, and at one point even implies that women wouldn't need mental health medication if they were able to do their art. As someone who suffered from postpartum mood disorders, I beg to differ. It says rainbow moms wish they could be like earth moms, but it's just not who they are.
There are stories of women complaining about not being able to do anything because of their children (like hours of art), and about how having children gets in the way of them "flying free."
As I read through the book, I found myself becoming a bit irritable with my toddler. I realized that when you take away the fancy new-agey spiritual talk, the book was casting motherhood in a negative light, and it was permeating my mind, making me resent my child.
I stopped reading it immediately.
You might get triggered by this, but here it goes: I feel like this book gives selfish mothers affirmation for loving their hobbies more than their children. "It's not my fault--it's because I'm a rainbow mom!" "I'm a rainbow mom, we don't like cleaning the house or cooking food." I'm sorry, but no! You CAN be nurturing and creative at the same time. You CAN cook dinner, you CAN get the house clean. Stop making excuses. Don't be a mediocre mother.
Since then, I've found that channeling creativity into the housework, cooking, and child rearing is the sweet spot. Perhaps the reason we are transformed into a creative woman when we have children is FOR them and the family, which includes us. Most of their brain is developed by age 3. We are literally creating their world and the way they see it. We create their environment, we create their bodies with the nourishing food we give them, we create how they think and feel by nourishing their senses, we create the type of person they will be....we are creating the future! This is our biggest masterpiece. It's more important than you being able to paint for 8 hours. Wake up!
When my husband gets off work, I take an hour to go downstairs by myself and do art. I also do art with my kids throughout the day. That's good enough for me.
I suggest finding some good books about creative parenting.
March 10, 2025
Not for me, but I appreciate that the author shared her own creative pep talk with a broader audience. I think the reflection questions at the end of the chapters make decent writing prompts and I did start a few projects when I wanted to set the book down. In general the fetishization of pregnancy, motherhood and female body was over-the-top for me. The labels and symbols central to the book didn't resonate with me. The borrowing from others' traditions and long excerpts from other creative women didn't speak to me in the same way they seem to have for others either.
(purchased from a small selection of books in English in a used book store in Sant Cugat, Spain)
(purchased from a small selection of books in English in a used book store in Sant Cugat, Spain)
January 8, 2021
Oh yes, Creative Rainbow Mother, me in a nutshell. Wonderful to read of other kindred spirits and get some advice and encouragement on how to make my creativity a priority- for my own well being and therefore the well being of my family too. I can be more present with them when I take my creative life seriously.
December 8, 2019
I love this author...she speaks right to the hearts of women.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews