11th August 2023
It’s been five years since I’ve blogged and a lot has happened in that time. I like changes though. Obviously, not all change feels good, but it can mean movement, growth, re-assessing and sometimes taking time out, which is kind of what I did. Creatively though, I’ve still been active. I learnt to do lino cutting and make journals. I completed a big oil painting of a Canadian Redwood, inspired by a stunning specimen in Chatsworth Gardens, and I wrote a novel (more in the next post!)
I have also formed new, important relationships over the five year period and re-connected with a friend who I’d lost touch with. These have enriched my life enormously.
I also had therapy, six weeks of it, fairly intensive but needed. I would recommend it. Sometimes the baggage just gets too much and we can’t see the wood for the trees and we’ve even forgotten what the baggage is but know we’re still carrying it. Sometimes it’s just the right time to do it and that’s how it was for me. Going through this process has enabled me to view things differently and embrace what comes. I now know that I am enough, and am grateful for any frills and sparkle that are added to this.
On the back of this, I’ve done a few firsts – I did a stint at the Y-NOT? festival last year, reading some of my children’s books and doing crafting activities with kids – it was fab and I got to see Manic Street Preachers and the wonderful The Snuts. I’ve been an extra in a film – also great fun. A couple of months ago, I visited Dublin; visiting Ireland has been on my to do list for a long time. I have ancestors from there – great great grandparents – and desperately wanted to connect with that side of my heritage. This happened alongside much research via Ancestry UK – I will talk more about this in the next blog post too as it has connections with the theme of the aforementioned novel. I have also done a DNA test so am really excited about what this will reveal. Another first was going to a sound bath – a lovely and energising experience. After years of saying I wanted to do yoga, I also did an online yoga 30-session programme with Adrienne Louise and now do a few minutes of meditation and yoga every morning. Then last week I did my first wild river swim. Yes, it was cold, but boy was it good!
As part of this process, I realised that my life-work balance wasn’t working for me, so made the decision to cut back on the English tuition that I do part-time to allow myself more time to work on my writing and art-related pursuits. Part of this has been a side-step into teaching Brightside courses for Derbyshire County Council in art therapy related activities. I also completed a Level 3 Art Therapy course alongside this. So, I’m currently teaching: Creative Art for Wellbeing, Junk Journaling, Creative Writing for Wellbeing, and Scrapbooking. I can’t begin to tell you how rewarding these sessions are, and it’s a real treat to see people building bonds while being creative and inspiring one another. It can be life-changing for people. Not only do people leave with a new love and new skills, but they get some well-needed ‘ME’ time.
Another little thing I’ve been doing is following the Facebook posts of Derek Cullen Outdoors; he reminds me that I need to ‘be bold’ and that life is for living. We need people around to inspire us, don’t we? We might not always be able to make a massive step, but we can often shift things just a little or try something new that can set us on a different path, or re-energise the old one.
By the way, the Bowie linocut gift tags above are available via my Facebook page. Please message me for details – you know you want some 🙂
Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear any comments below. Be back soon! X
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