Today I am............

Grateful ~  for the little things. The birds in the trees outside my windows. The sun that is warm on my back as I hang the washing. The bin man who just collected my rubbish.  The postman who delivered my longed for parcel. The clean tank water I am drinking.

Enjoying ~  the very clean and tidy house I have. Monday's are usually tidy up/clean the house day after the weekend. However, we had real estate people coming on Saturday so we tidied and cleaned Saturday morning. Miraculously it is still tidy and clean.

Proud ~  of my nearly 14 yr old son who completed the 40 hr famine this weekend. No food for 40 hrs. He was so good. Hardly had any of the allowed juice or barley sugars. Didn't complain at all even when the rest of us had mixed berry smoothie's Saturday afternoon when he was starving.

Longing ~   for Sunday. I'll tell you why later. Right now it seems so long away.

Listening  ~  to Brandi Carlile.  Love her voice. Love her music.

Wondering  ~  what to make for dinner. Something with chicken I think. Maybe a stirfry. Or chicken pie?? 

Reading ~  this and loving it. Inspirational, educational, and encouraging. Think I might go make a cuppa and read some more.

Hope your week is inspirational and wonderful.

Teaching Mum.

Ever since my kids were very young we have enjoyed being creative together.

Over the years we have

played playdough, painted, re-arranged furniture,

made collages, arranged flowers in a vase, organised our nature table,

coloured in, drawn pictures, decorated school books,

made cards, scrapbooked, built lego,

taken photos, baked and cooked.

Here are some photos of when the kids were younger enjoying creative play.

                                                     

 As I reflected over this list (and enjoyed the photos) I realised that

many activities required me to give instructions, ideas and guidance,

however there were other occassions where it was the kids giving me the instructions or ideas. 

I love that.

Sharing our ideas with one another and
creating together.

Last week at school Timmy had been making flowers out of tissue paper.

 I had seen what he had made at school and I asked him how he made it. 

He suggested he teach me at home.

I had a little chuckle to myself at that.

He was quite serious.

So yesterday after dinner all four kids and I (Dad was out) gathered around the kitchen table

to 'learn' how to make the tissue paper flowers. 

We had the supplies ready and Timmy began to show us the steps involved. 

I am not sure who was happiest.
Timmy as he shared his project?

 Or me, being taught by my 8 year old son

and enjoying the interaction with him and his older siblings
as they give their time to watch and learn from their young brother.

My hope,

as time ticks on and my children grow,

is that we can continue to embrace creativity
and have space to share it with others.

                                                                 

Let your heart soar.

Things have been a bit quiet in the studio the last few months.

Chicken pox times 4, fractured bones times 2,
colds, chest infections and an asthma diagnosis
 all added to an already busy life.



Timmy recovering after sedation and plastering.



Sarah's fractured collar bone.



Amongst this chaos and busyness I was having a melt down.

I was burnt out.

I kept a brave face.

I kept plodding along.

I tried to keep doing all the things I was commited to.

Then one night I just knew I couldn't go on.

I couldn't keep that brave face anymore.

I couldn't keep plodding along anymore.

I couldn't keep doing all those things I was commited too.

I was going through my diary, adding things here and there.

Filling up days at a speed I had never seen before.

That is when the anxiety set in.

I began to panic.

How could I do all this?

I was empty and spent.

I had nothing left.

I cried.

I spent the next week wandering around in a daze.

So tired and lost.

I spent days sitting and thinking and just being.

I read and sat some more.
I made decisions that were hard yet necessary.

Through these days of wondering and questioning and trying to 'see' again

 I realised I hadn't been in the studio for a while.

The busyness and fullness of life had taken me away.

I decided I would go and make a start.

Maybe I could just paint a background in my art journal.

I took one look at my studio table and gasped.

Where was it?

Two months of dumping stuff on top of more stuff had made my studio very unfit for creating.

So I ignored the studio for a few days after that.

 I was too tired and overwhelmed to tackle that project.

My soul however wasn't ready to give up.
It kept calling and reminding me it had things to release.

My soul wanted to play and experiment and share.

My soul was crying out for me to create something.

Anything.

Eventually I listened.

I devoted some time to tidying up.
Putting stuff away and making my space ready again.

My soul was thankful.
My soul was grateful.
My soul was getting excited.

The process of preparing my creative space was therapy in itself.

It was good to create again.

It was good to put paint to paper.

It was good to write some thoughts and words in my art journal.

I had missed this.

My soul had missed this.



The first layer of a new art journal page.

 

It has been a few weeks since I first began to melt down and unravel.

Am I better?

Heck no.

Am I less tired?

Not at all.

Is the anxiety gone?
Not completely.

But my soul feels a little fresher.

My heart is seeing hope again.

My world is still busy and chaotic.
It is difficult to allow myself the time to just create and play.

However, I am finding little bits of time here and there to

express my soul creatively.

I am trying to give myself permission to play in the studio again.

I am slowly allowing my heart to soar again.

And I like that.