Happy New Year - 2016 - What's in Store!

I am late in wishing you all a Happy New Year, but better late than never.  There are so many things that I have planned for this coming year, I feel as if I am a roller coaster ride, and its one of those ones where you say 'I'm ready to come off now' before you go up another steep climb and let out the loudest scream you can muster:)  

I will be reflecting on 2015 this coming week, that seem to go so fast as well as share on the exciting developments that have been taking my attention away from the blog.  I have been painting and creating and exhibiting, but I guess we all go through the moments where we hide ourselves away, and work through things, and get a sense of where you are in it all.

2016 has found us in a very different location than last year and we have been able to enjoy the warmer weather of Barbados.  Many of you know we have been spending more time here and I have yet still to share that transition and the ups and downs, and it's also coming as we continue to go through a process of change!

This year I am teaching in two exciting online courses that you are going to love, there are so many inspiring artists taking part, I feel honored to have also been chosen to teach.

The Journey Within - Click here for more information

The Journey Within starts today and I had two seats to give away, the two lucky winners who have been selected will be announced shortly.  

You can still register for the course HERE

The other course is One BadAss Art Journal which starts on 1st February 2016 - we are currently on a Blog Hop to meet the artists.  It will be my day to share and show a sneak preview of my class on Sunday 3rd January, so please do come back to see what's in store for you!

Click HERE for more information

The other great news about courses for this year is that I will be a guest artist on Embrace Your Art 2016 JAM, and will be sharing some more information about what I will be creating on this.  

I know that creatively 2016 will be a year where the seeds sown in previous years will begin to bear fruit.  I am excited at all the creative possibilities, the revelations, ah-ha moments and more and look forward to connecting with you as you dive into your creative self where ever you are around the world!

I would love for you to join me on the journey, that is going to be bursting at the seams, so strap yourself in for it is going to be an extremely exciting year!

Humour - Reflection - A reminder

Thought for the week

You are beautiful, and not defined by your past mistakes  Face your fear, name it, and then move on and laugh out loud!  We have to see our lives from many different perspectives, and when we can laugh in the face of adversity, we will find many doors and solutions making themselves available - Realityarts

Quote

Patience is power. With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes silk. ... Chinese Proverb

Scripture 

Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; For you will forget the shame of your youth, And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. Isaiah 54:4

Gratitudes and Celebration - Prayerfulness - Week 63

Gratitude’s and Celebration

I think it is important to be thankful in all things, most importantly that we have breath for another day, but also for the things that we can’t see that bring blessings, change, new opportunities and grace into our lives.

Prayer is important to me, I pray to God who I have confidence exists, and who as far as I am concerned created me in his image to be all that I can be.  Prayer is a continual thing, not just for one day a week but for every day, each and every moment, and in every circumstance.

I pray for my family, friends and I pray for people I don’t know.  When I see an ambulance I pray for whoever they have been called out for that God touches their lives and they are healed, prayer is key.

Gratitude's and Celebration Journal

Today I am grateful and celebrate that I can pray, that I have the freedom to be able to pray openly and talk about my faith without fear.

I look forward to the journey and hope you come along and join me. Why not start your own journal, keep it as simple or complex as you wish, but do something!

Gratitude and Celebration Journal

Reflections and Understandings - Tips for Carers

When I decided to be part of the Ultimate Blog Challenge I didn't think about what I had on in terms of work and responsibilities, I just jumped in and had to fit things around writing the posts.  

From Gratitude's Journal - Your life deserves your attention

It wasn't easy and every day I had to encourage myself to share a bit more than I was used to, though I am glad I took the step as there were things I needed to encourage within myself and with each post brought me to a greater understanding of my role as a carer.  I have been encouraged to step up in my creativity, to let go of those things that I can't change, and to make room for the blessings that come when you treat yourself and others with kindness.

Time to recharge those batteries!

So many thoughts have come out of sharing, and so many ideas.  I hope at some point to provide suggestion of creative activities that you can do for relaxation for yourself and with the person you care for all very easy to organize and can fit into your daily schedule.  As a mixed media artist I love making things and have been sharing my art and creativity throughout the posts.  

In writing the posts as part of the challenge, I have gained new insights, grown, shed a few tears and dusted myself off and got up again.  The main thing that stands out for me is about choice we always have a choice in the way we respond, whether we accept things the way they are, or if we take steps for a change.

We can choose to be upset about the one we are caring for and what they can’t do and how much they have changed, or we can choose to celebrate that they have a life, they can breathe or that they woke up this morning and are living life the best possible way with a circle of people that love them and only want the best.

Gratitudes and Celebration Journal - Dream

I choose to be true to myself to love myself and give myself space, to know when I need a break and time out, and to know when I need to go at full throttle, to ask for help when I need it and be open about my role as a carer.  I choose to love my mum a best I can and not feel guilty about not being perfect, and I choose to love me and show love to others by trying to be a blessing in their lives.  

You Are....

For now, take a look back over your past week, or month, what lessons, moments for reflection and insights have you come away with.  If you can put it down in a journal, create a piece of art and be encouraged!

Bless you for stopping by, do leave a comment on how the posts have informed and encouraged you.

You can also click on the 'Celebrating life' image to be taken to the rest of the posts from the Journey of a Carer.

UBC - Day 7 - Encourage - Tips for Carers

Welcome to day 7 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge, 

Tips for Carers

It can be very easy at times to loose your cool, you get frustrated and then annoyed at something that you need them to do that they are not doing, or appear to be sabotaging.  I must admit at times I have got angry at mum thinking that she is doing something on purpose, and I think that these things stem from fear, when you think about the thing that they were quite alright doing, suddenly the next day they don't have a clue how to do it.

I remember the day mum couldn't work out how to get out of her bed room.  This was in the early days and I had gone round there and my key wouldn't open the door as she had put the chain on the door.  I rang the bell and couldn't understand why she hadn't come to the door yet, I knew she was in, I kept calling through the door but didn't hear anything, so I started looking through the bedrooms thinking something must have happened.  

I was shocked when saw her through her bedroom window trying to find the door which was directly in front of her, there wasn't anything wrong with her vision but she just couldn't work it out, she kept feeling the walls and muttering to herself.  I was scared, for her and what it meant for me, as there would have to be things implemented to cope with this new change.  I called to her through the window and directed her to the door, and then when she got to it she came straight to the front door and opened it for me.

Over the years, I had to keep reminding myself that if we focused on what she could do for herself and encourage her along the way this took the anxiety out of the situation that was changing.  I am not saying that I don't get frustrated at times, but I have to  put it in perspective and celebrate all thing things that she can still do, and today being able to feed herself is something to celebrate.

For now, think about all the things that they can do and celebrate no matter how small.  The encouragement that you can give will mean so much to them, and help you put things into perspective as well!

Check out some of my A-Z posts on my journey as a carer, click on the links below

You can also click on the 'Celebrating life' image to be taken to the rest of the posts about my A-Z experience as a carer.

UBC - Day 6 - Tips for Carers - Family and Friends

Caring for a loved one can be such an isolating experience with dementia unlike say a broken leg, the leg gets better people can see that the leg is broken and so there are certain expectations about things that you are unable to do.  With dementia there isn't necessarily any outward sign, as it gets worse and ravages the memory and leaves its after effects on its unwilling participants

As the carer I have found that your relationships with family and friends can suffer, as you try and navigate your way around the changes to your routines and additional things that you need to do in order to manage the caring role, you can end up drifting from your social life, too tired to call friends when you've been up all night trying to get your loved one back in bed cause they think it is day time.  

This is the same for those with dementia, people don't know what to say, they feel awkward with the silences and stop calling or passing by.  Where possible if you can have a few people that you can call on and will call you every now and again even if it is just to say hi, it is important that you keep the connections going, and for your loved one hearing a familiar voice of someone they know can help both of you.  

You could ask friends and family to make a voice recording of things they have been doing that week and play it back.  It is a way that they can feel included in things that are going on around them. There is lots of technology that you can use to facilitate this and it is also good for those people whose family live abroad.

For now, get together with family members and a few friends and ask them to be part of a schedule where they call once a week to see how things are going, or even come round and give you a much needed break!

UBC - Day 5 Independence - Tips for Carers

Welcome to day 5 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge - Independence - Tips for Carers

In 2001 we had a family holiday to Florida with my mum, sister and my husbands side of the family, and mum was in the early stages of dementia, living on her own and pretty much independent.  When we decided to go to one of the theme parks with mum I suggested that we get a wheel chair as there was quite a bit of walking, mum point blankly refused to even consider using it.  While I saw it as a means of convenience and getting around quickly, mum saw it as taking away her independence, and she remarked to a family friend that she needed to hold on to her independence for as long as possible as when there is no one around she is going going to have to take care of her self.  On hearing this I saw how much I needed to at times step back and let her take her own time to do things. 

The world was not going to end if she took an extra 15 minutes to do something and I had to work around her time whenever possible.  I found that while and in the midst of her loosing her independence it actually gave her a sense of being independent, and so impacted on her health and well-being and how she felt.  You have to help the ones that you are caring for feel as if they are holding on to a part of themselves especially, in an environment where nothing is the same and constantly changes as the memory decreases.

For today, give yourself that extra bit of time to get through the days activities, in doing so you create less stress and impact greatly on your overall heath and well-being.

UBC - Day 4 - Remember their story - Tips for Carers

Remember their story........

  

  

Welcome to Day 4 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. 

In the early days of mums dementia we would find that she would repeat herself a lot of the time.  We didn’t know or expect to be where we are now and the decline over the years rapidly increased.  Mum would talk a lot about my father who had pass many years previously and she would recount the story of them meeting and how she had her eye on him.  She told us that when he saw her he called to her – she played hard to get for a while and then the rest resulted in 3 children and many years of happy marriage.  I didn’t understand how important those stories would be to me as time when on and these are the same stories that I repeat back to her hoping to spark a memory or bring a smile to her face.

The decline in memory even with medication is inevitable but one of the things that I have found helped greatly was putting together a book filled with photographs and a little bit of information.  It is just an A5 book and I printing out some of the pictures, if you want to create something bigger you can.. 

I also created this folder with information that anyone who is with mum can go through with her and get her to talk about some of the images and interact This means that even if you don’t know her you can engage her and help her to recapture her story, sometimes she just listens and sometimes you get a smile from her as she has taken the information in. 

This is also a good exercise to do with the younger generation; if you have photographs of when you were younger get them out and start talking about those times.  There is so much about our stories that are lost and don’t get handed down and end up in a box as old photographs.  I encourage you to spend some time capturing the stories and keeping the memories alive, you can never underestimate the power of those times spent sharing.

For today, take one photo at a time, and remember and record the memories.  Do leave a comment and tell me what you do with the photographs that you have in your collection....Blessings!

UBC - Day 2 Tips for Carers - Organised

Ultimate Blog Challenge - Day 2

I don't think that anyone gets up and decides that they want to be a carer, and it was never anything that ever crossed my mind that one day I would be looking after my mother.  You grow with expectations that you will see your parents live to a ripe age in relatively good health, and in turn see your children and your children's children grow up, but when your parent gets ill you realise that it is not going to happen like that.  There was no manual, no preparation, no guidance only fear, loss and sadness.

Mum when we were kids

In the beginning I didn't want to ask for help thinking that I should know how to look after my mum, and thought that asking for help would be seen as a sign of weakness.  The very thought of admitting that there was even something wrong in my mind reflected on who I was as a person.

Mum spending time with me at my home when I was 25

I found that being organised in your feelings and emotions is a way to take some of the stress out of what is needed.  This revelation came quite by chance.  I began to separate the functional needs from the emotional ones and this made it easier to deal with what had to be done, and it allowed me time to deal with how I felt about the situation.

Organised

When I allowed myself to just think about what had to be done practically, like taking mum in her wheelchair to the doctors for a check up, all I allowed myself to do was walk through all the practicalities, and give myself enough time to get there.  I didn't think about how I felt about doing it, or how sad I felt about her having to use the wheelchair, all I focused on was that the wheelchair gave us flexibility and we were able to get where we needed quicker than if she had to walk, it also took some of the strain and stress off her as I then didn't become frustrated with thinking about whether we would be on time or not.

Emotional

Mum and Robert at a family sports day

I know that at some point I am going to get emotional about the fact that mum cannot do what she used to.  If you are a carer you will have shed tears of frustration, loss, sorrow, or sobbed when tired and just wanted it all to stop.  I questioned how much longer I would have to care for her, and the lost of time that will not be refunded when I couldn't be with my son in the early days.  All these emotions need to be addressed and need to be heard and dealt with.  In later posts I will share some of the ways in which you can use creative activities. 

For today try and organise the tasks that you need to do and find a gentle way of dealing with the emotional issues that come up

                         

You can also click on the 'Celebrating life' image to be taken to the rest of the posts

Yesterday was International Day of Older Persons, what did you managed to do to celebrate the life of an elderly person. You don't have to wait for one special day but can do a little something every day, hear their stories, pass these stories onto the young and continue to celebrate their contribution to your lives and your communities. 

Also check out Silver Sunday which is an annual day of fun and free activities for older people across the UK. Led by The Sir Simon Milton Foundation, it celebrates older people and their contribution to our communities while combating loneliness and isolation. Everyone can get involved, and you can organise your own event, spread the word, or simply attending an activity. Silver Sunday will take place on 5th October 2014!

Reflections and Image - Amanda Trought, Realityarts

Word for the Week - Psalm 34:8

Taste and see that the LORD is good; 

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 

Psalm 34:8

He is good, all the time and all the time he is good. Take a moment to ponder on your life, the breath that you take, how everything is formed, working together without your interference or collaboration.

Word and image for the week, to bless, encourage and inspire you to be all that you have been called to be.  

As you meditate on the scripture and enjoy the image ask and think about the many gifts you have been given, the many challenges you face, and the fruit that will come from the work of your hands.  

What will you do with what you have been given today?

Stay blessed and be a blessing

Word for the Week - Psalm 119:50

My comfort in my suffering is this: 

Your promise preserves my life. 

Psalm 119:50

Word for the Week

We look at situations as they are and forget that this is not the end of our lives, we are constantly being changed, renewed and transformed and we will make it through.

 

Word and image for the week, to bless, encourage and inspire you to be all that you have been called to be.  

As you meditate on the scripture and enjoy the image ask and think about the many gifts you have been given, the many challenges you face, and the fruit that will come from the work of your hands.  

What will you do with what you have been given today?

Stay blessed and be a blessing

Word for the Week - Psalm 119:25

I am laid low in the dust, preserve my life according to your Word....Psalm 119:25

Where ever we find ourselves he has promised that he will never leave or forsake us... we have to hold on to his word and know that a way will be made!

The Word and image for the week, to bless, encourage and inspire you to be all that you have been called to be.  

As you meditate on the scripture and enjoy the image ask and think about the many gifts you have been given, the many challenges you face, and the fruit that will come from the work of your hands.  

What will you do with what you have been given today?

Stay blessed and be a blessing

Word for the Week - Psalm 119:14

You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word...Psalm 119:114

The Word and image for the week, to bless, encourage and inspire you to be all that you have been called to be.  

As you meditate on the scripture and enjoy the image ask and think about the many gifts you have been given, the many challenges you face, and the fruit that will come from the work of your hands.  What will you do with what you have been given today?

Stay blessed and be a blessing

29 Faces - End of the Challenge

I made it through the challenge for the 29 faces, and it has been a great way to practice new faces, try new techniques and hone skills.  

Lots of sketches done that can form the basis of new paintings.

I thought I would share some of the images with you here and if you want to go and see the rest of them you can visit my other blog Mixed Media Art

Did some painting and experimenting with collage

The 29 Faces challenge coincided with my 'I love you today because' challenge and a couple of the images overlap but I tried to ensure that I did for the majority new images, and this was a great way for me to stretch my techniques and improve.

A great way to play with equipment and techniques!

I really enjoyed taking part and visiting some of the other participants, there is some amazing work for you to check out.  If you want to see the rest of the images I did for the challenge, do check out my mixed media art blog HERE. Blessings for now!

I Love you today because - Reflections

Well I made it to the end of the series, and gain many insights, more understanding and honed my sketching skills at the same time.

The ‘I love you today’ series was a way to show 'self love' and look for ways to show love to others.  It can be hard to appreciate how far you have come as you continue to busy yourself with ‘getting on with it’, and you are not able to find the room to celebrate these qualities that lay within as they often go overlooked.  It is easier to give encouragement to others and to cheer them on, but we can think of 100 reasons why we are not up to scratch and we end up speaking about ourselves negatively, or underplay the big leap that we actually make.

The journey for me in February fulfilled three purposes, one was to appreciate and value myself more and encourage myself to recognise when I had done a good job, recognising how far I had come, to be able to look in the mirror and not see 100 faults, but to appreciate the reflection staring back.  We all need to be able to be comfortable in our own skin and be confident with who we are and our abilities.  Some are able to do it with greater ease than others, it can feel uncomfortable saying to yourself what a good job you have done, but you have to recognise that your growth is determined by how you can see, reflect and acknowledge your growth without being self conscious or fearful.

Secondly, I included a self portrait, and a few from my imagination.  We have a perception of what we think that other people see, but the exercise in self-love is about how God sees us with unconditional love, without any strings, not governed by what we look like, latest clothes, or skin colour, so either looking in the mirror or looking at a photograph forced me to see me.  I experimented with techniques, starting out with coloured markers, adding promarker pens which I really enjoyed using.

Thirdly - it is not only about me – when you can love yourself you will find it easy to love others in a more genuine way....the commandment is ‘Love your neighbours as you love yourself’....we have got to be able to demonstrate that love for ourselves to be able to express and show love to others.  

This was why I had the section ‘share some love’, calling us to do something for someone, thinking how we can help someone else and be a blessing in their lives, however small.  What we consider small could be the miracle that someone else was praying for.

So I’ve come through enlightened, with a great set of sketches and drawings that can be used for other projects and new way of looking at myself and where I fit in the world, alongside 28 ideas for blessing others.  I am excited for the changes and challenges that will take place this month.  

What challenges have you got ready for yourself this month? The focus for me will be health and I will be sharing some of the delicious smoothies I intend to make to improve my health and well-being. Blessings!