My Journey

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In the last couple of decades, being creative has been my anchor. It has been therapy, respite, learning and an outlet. I usually have a few unfinished WIPs and they are what I let my mind drift to when I can't sleep or it all gets a bit too overwhelming.

Looking back, I can't remember when I started "being creative". All I can think is that it wasn't just me, it was the whole family. Mama, an Artist and Daddy, an Engineer, meant we were exposed to art, DIY and tinkering from an early age. They always thought outside the box, so we didn't rush to the shops for every school project — we used whatever was at home and ended up with great stuff.

After a decade and a half working in IT, I realised I had to take some time out and pursue something that would make me happy. I started planning during my maternity leave with our second baby, and after some sleepless months I knew I was ready to give up the day job. It was a leap of faith, but it worked out. A couple of months in, I had the opportunity to run outreach workshops for women in the local community. Since I had a baby in tow, I found a place with a space for babies and toddlers to play in the same room — a breath of fresh air for women who didn't have to think about childcare while taking a couple of hours for themselves. And with those morning art sessions, Breathe Art was born.

We moved across the world in 2019, and I began again in Abu Dhabi - Creative Mornings, a weekly art club of wonderful women, and more recently Expressive Art, a six-week programme with mental wellbeing at its core.

Over time I incorporated mindfulness into these hours of art, knowing how essential good mental health is. In recent years that has become the focus. I am completing a Master's in Neuroscience and Psychology of Mental Health with a focus on NeuroArts, researching art, ageing, mental health and wellbeing — my thesis reconceptualises women's midlife anger as a biopsychosocial experience. That research now feeds directly into my painting, and my work has been exhibited at the Abu Dhabi International Mental Health Conference in 2025 and 2026. This intent has realised into what I call being 'Artful'.

- Arouj