Jani Franck is an artist, blogger, creativity mentor and founder of The Art House, an arts cafe in Southampton, UK, and a worldwide online creativity circle.
Jani has been working with people from all walks of life in playshops, groups, and online courses for over a decade and has helped thousands of people find their own unique path to creativity. She uses simple, fun, and down-to-earth exercises in creative living to help people access their inner artist, for a fuller and more colorful experience of life.
We think that Jani is absolutely adorable and brings some amazing gifts to the world through her online courses. (That’s the beauty of the internets, isn’t it? Makes the world a smaller place so that any of us can learn and share and grow and have fun together!)
1. Who do you think is awesome and why?
This will sound silly, but I think everyone is awesome once you take the time to get to know them. People are just so interesting, so diverse, and there’s so much more than meets the eye with most humans I get to know!
2. Do you believe in the power of positive thinking and how do you apply it in your everyday life?
I think it’s powerful to focus on the positive side of things, but it’s important to balance that with being real.
Sometimes, things aren’t positive, or don’t seem to be at least – and sometimes it’s just a case of experiencing what’s really happening, even if it isn’t all sparkles and rainbows! To me, that is positive – accepting life with all its bumps and mess.
3. If money and time were no object, what one thing would you love to do?
Money and time ARE no object. I’m very lucky in that I am doing what I love to do and what I dreamed of, and I managed this by realising that you can’t wait for the right time, enough money, or anything else – you just have to allow it to happen.
4. What’s the biggest struggle you’ve dealt with and how did you overcome it?
The biggest struggle for me, always, is staying switched on and engaged with life. It’s an everyday challenge and I overcome it by showing up as often as I can, even when it feels impossible and I just want to numb or hide from all the realness of it.
I guess I just find the alternative – play acting through life and missing all the depth of it – worse than the sometimes painful, uncertain and scary stuff that comes through when you step up to experience life in all it’s wild glory!
5. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?
Hunger.
Seriously though, I feel a very strong sense of purpose, and feel very useful in the jobs I do, so it’s pretty easy to get up and at ’em most days!
If I ever really don’t feel like getting out of bed, and it does happen, I usually just go with that.
6. What is the best compliment you have ever received?
That I’ve brought out the inner artist in people. That just blows my mind – it’s such a powerful thing to be a part of!
7. What is your best summer memory?
Today is pretty good! Sunshine, parrot learning to whistle “The sun has got his hat on,” getting lots done whilst getting to wear a sarong as I’m working from home. This will do very nicely, very nicely indeed!
7.5 When it comes to hijinks, instigator or implementer?
Instigator, implementer, whatever I need to be to get the hijinks going, I am THERE!
Thanks so much to Jani for sharing a little of what makes her and her life awesome! (And I must admit that Jani’s answer to #6 is so inspiring! How wonderful it must be for her to know that she has helped people along in their journey in such a wonderful and meaningful way!)
I loved her answer to #5. Hunger!