If Letting People In Feels Hard, Pottery Gives You a Safe Place to Start

You’ve been hurt before. Or maybe you just find people exhausting. You want connection—but the idea of opening up feels terrifying. Pottery offers another way.

At The Clay Hole in Draper, Utah, we create shared spaces where you don’t have to talk to connect. You don’t have to overshare, perform, or push past your own boundaries. You just have to show up and make something—alongside others doing the same. Connection grows naturally, slowly, and without pressure.

If your walls have been up for a long time, pottery offers a back door into trust.

Why Pottery Helps You Open Up at Your Own Pace

Letting people in doesn’t have to mean spilling your life story. It can mean laughing over glaze colors, sharing tools, or silently working beside someone who gets it. Pottery invites this kind of low-pressure connection—where the bond is the clay, not the conversation.

• You control how much you engage—social or quiet, both are welcome
• Creating side by side builds trust without the intensity of direct focus
• You’ll slowly get to know others through shared experience, not small talk
• Instructors model warmth, vulnerability, and nonjudgment
• There’s no pressure to explain yourself—just space to be you

A study on co-regulation through art-making found that parallel creative activity fosters nonverbal emotional safety and reduces fear-based resistance to closeness—especially for individuals with relational trauma or guarded tendencies.

How Pottery Gently Builds Connection

There’s something powerful about working quietly in the presence of others. Pottery lets you feel seen without being exposed. And over time, little moments—like a shared laugh or glaze tip—become threads of real, safe connection.

• Our Draper studio welcomes quiet souls, guarded hearts, and new beginnings
• Weekly classes + bonus studio time offer consistent, low-pressure presence
• You’ll never be pushed to talk or explain—we honor your boundaries
• Studio founder Dan Pearce frequently joins classes and believes in connection through comfort

“I didn’t know how much I needed people until I sat beside them in silence, shaping clay. I never felt pressured. And somehow... I let them in. One mug at a time.” — C.J.

*You don’t have to tear your walls down. Pottery just helps you crack the door—on your own terms.*

Conclusion

If letting people in feels scary or overwhelming, you’re not broken. You’re protecting yourself. Pottery meets you where you are—and helps you slowly, gently, remember what safe connection can feel like again.

This content was created in collaboration with Dan Pearce, owner of The Clay Hole—a professional potter with nearly 3 million followers across social media who regularly joins members in studio classes.

Join a Class and Connect at Your Own Speed