Arts and Wellness Cafe - Love

 

What's Love Got to Do with It? - 

Join Me in the Arts and Wellness Café 

How are you showing love to yourself in your creative walk.  We can often put our creative needs on the back burner and be everything to everyone.  Did you spend some creative time on yourself today?

The 'I'll do it tomorrow' never comes.  I find it is in those moments that lead to self nurturing are the ones that fall by the wayside for me.  I know I will feel great but I allow non important things to get in the way.  Going to the beach and swimming in the sea is something I really look forward to and it sets me up, but I don't do it often enough.

Take some time to thing about what it is that you are putting off and how it could impact in a negative way to your creativity.

I shared some of the work that I am currently doing at the moment, stitched pieces made from scraps.  They have been given a second chance to be something else.

Stitched Projects

What ever you decide make sure that at least one of your actions leads to an example of self love.

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Arts and Wellness Wednesday - Nurturing

In Today's Arts and Wellness Podcast I talk about the need to nurture and make sure that you prepare yourself for the Christmas Season - for some it can be a lonely time.  Were possible see if you have anyone who may need that extra support, welcome them to your homes and family gatherings and be part of a wider community that cares for the individuals who may have a hard time at this time of the year

We can often forget to take care of ourselves as we are rushing around caring for others, and so it is important to take stock every now and then to make sure your not running on empty.

Remember to check out the Art Journal page creations in Mondays Creating in faith as a way of you taking stock of how far you have come and the direction in which you are heading.  Taking one step and one day at a time you are able to make sure you are always prepared for the events that may crop up and your perspective is one that is coming from abundance rather than lack.

I look forward to the journey with you, do let me know how you are getting on in your pursuits.

Stay blessed and be a blessing.

Realityarts - Podcasts Weekly - Episode 24 and 25 - Inspiration

Blessings, to one and all.  In this weeks podcasts I touch on two connected areas.  One of the areas is where we have to make room for growth, in order to see things clearly.  We can be so used to playing small, that when the opportunity arises to do more we are not sure what to do with ourselves and we keep the same 'small mentality', without realising that we have all that we need to do more and be more.  

Points to Ponder

Maybe there are things that you can think about where you should have been playing much bigger but contained yourself?  

How did you feel when you realised that you could actually do a lot more and you never gave yourself the opportunity?

Making room for Growth






Episode 25 - Nurturing Your Environment

In this episode which is a very quick one I look at how we can change our environment to be a more nurturing one which will definitely have an impact on our outlook and how we approach things that happen in our lives.

You can start small, add some plants, tidy up, clear some of the clutter, but do something for 'you' that will have a positive impact.  As you work on you others around you are effected, and the blessings can really spread.  Take time to see what you can do, and let me know how you get on in the comments or one of the other social platforms you can find me on.





Tune in next Monday for another Episode, hope you can join me as we unlock our hidden talents.  Let me know what podcast platform you prefer listening to the podcast on.

Stay blessed and be a blessing

Word for the Week - Happy Monday!

Welcome to word for the week, where the scripture is taken from Proverb 3:24 and reads:

When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet

It reminds us to not allow worry as to disturb our sleep.  What is it that you are mulling over and over in your mind that stops you from getting that rest that you need?

  Maybe we need to go to the core of that which makes us worry, strip it back to the bare bones and take a good look.  There are some things that we have control over and others that we don't.  Let us focus on the things in our control, deal with them and the other things have a way of falling into place

I hope that you are spending your Monday nurturing yourself.  It is a bank holiday for many, although I know of a few that have to work today, but whatever you are doing make sure you spend some time nurturing yourself, taking time out to bless yourself in some way.

Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Kitchen - Memories of Home

Welcome to Memories of Home, if you would like to find out more information about the series, Click here

Being in a supportive environment is important to our growth as individuals, not everyone has had that opportunity and as adults we try and create an environment that will nurture and bless our children and indeed ourselves.

Kitchen

The kitchen in our home growing up was always the center of all activity. It always had wonderful aromas coming from it and was the warmest room as mum would create her delicious recipes. Mum was a great cook, and could turn her hand to anything. Her baking was divine and we would all get our own individual cake that she made on our birthdays, there was always something going on and we had to celebrate with a cake. When we were little we would help her mix and when she was finished she would give us the bowl and in those days tasting the mixture never posed any problems and tasted good, but times change.

Growing up and having homes of our own we all found we did exactly the same, the kitchen became the heart and usually when we go to each others homes we all gravitate at some point in the kitchen as we relax and reflect. My thoughts recently have been dwelling on the loss of my brother, it has now been just 6 months and new routines are being faced, with the Christmas season quickly approaching we hold his memory dear to our hearts and we gather and reminisce on how things used to be.

What part of your home holds those special memories, please leave a comment and I hope you continue to join me on my journey over the weeks, as I share my mixed media houses and look back to the memories of home. I look forward to hearing about some some of your own memories. Blessings and peace to you!

Nurturing

When we think of nurturing we think of mothers caring for their young until they are ready to fly the nest, and with birds, either with a gentle persuasion or a little push the bird is launched into the air with the knowledge that 'its' mother knows best', it has all the tools to complete the task of flying, it is ready!

As a young artist on my journey, I didn’t realise I needed to be in an environment of encouragement. On several occasions I allowed myself to listen to the negative criticisms of others and took it to heart, believing instead that they were right and I stopped being creative. Years later I discovered was not about my art, but about their own insecurities and dreams that had been killed at an early age.

I then began the task of hiding behind numerous other activities which didn’t bring the joy that I had found being creative, but would dip my toe in every now and then remembering what I really wanted to do. The catalyst that would change everything was suggesting to the day care centre for dementia that my mother attends that I could do a weekly art session with some of the clients. They agreed and I started the sessions.

I had to encourage  80 year old men and women who had been told that they were useless at drawing and who had not picked up a pen to do any kind of creative activity for nearly 70 years.  Some of them just didn’t see the point. Each week I would try different tactics until we got the balance right.

Six months later they were looking forward to the 2 hour session. We would combine creativity with singing and reminiscing, and we would regularly display their work, the art sessions continued for 2 years!

Encouraging the participants encouraged my heart and I decided that I would follow my passion to create, nurturing my dream for me.  I would spread my wings and fly into the adventure of self discovery, joy, understanding, and love. Think about any dreams you have that need nurturing, are there ideas you have pushed to the background for fear of what others think or don’t understand? and what barriers have you overcome?

Negativity/Insecurities - kick them to the curb!

At the beginning of your creative journey there is always something that seems more important than you spending quality time on your work and your development. I am half way through the Kelly Rae Roberts ecourse - Flying lesson and we are looking at the market places for your work. 

As I read through I was met with a barrage of fears and negative thoughts all designed to make you do a U-turn and dash your creative flight to the wayside as there is always something more important that you could be doing - like the hoovering, putting another wash in the machine, or a mountain of other things that often crop up when we are at the breakthrough stages. 

I decided not to ignore them but to write them all down, give my critic the space to voice its fear, and I came up with 2 A4 pages of all the reasons why I shouldn't be working on my art and creativity, but once the fears were voiced I could move on.

In the process I got myself a website and have been adding some of my work - You can see it HERE

Proverbs 3:5-6 says - Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. When I was a child wasn't sure what I wanted to do, now I am older I am sure and its taken many years of reflecting, doubting, and going though to come out the other end with a lot of experience, knowledge, wisdom and a surety of how I want to express my creativity!

Like a child I nurture my inquiring mind, I am sensitive to my own insecurities and I support my growth. There will always be dishes and clothes to wash and hoovering to be done, at one stage or another you'll wonder what you did to receive so many blessings and be able to bless others with your work, but life is not a dress rehearsal and we have to live it to the full for we are not guaranteed tomorrow.

Check out some resources and book on Amazon that may help you with your creativity and direction.