Being More Mindful - You can make a change

mind·ful·ness

• 1.the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something:"their mindfulness of the wider cinematic tradition"
• 2.a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

I see Me - Mixed media Art Journal Page - Amanda Trought

It is funny how the simple small things we do can get us taking action, and I had reached what felt like a slump - I knew what I wanted to do, but couldn't seem to move myself into taking action.  The feeling seem to linger and no matter what I tried nothing seem to work long term.

It only takes a slice of cake

After eating a slice of fruit cake one evening, I was met with the usual feelings of aching joints and lethargy which quickly followed by irritated skin.  I vowed not to eat anymore cake, I was done!  I thought of the pain I was feeling and I didn't want to feel it anymore, I wanted to finally take my decisions and life into my own hands.  My family looked at me with amusement as they had heard it all before, they said they would believe it when the see it, but this felt different.  I went further and told my son that if he were to see me eating cake he should rip it out of my hands, and then after thinking about how messy it would be I offered to pay him. My husband decided that he wanted to get in on what he saw as free money and they both rubbed their hands with glee mentally calculating how much they would make off me as I succumbed to the cake.  

I listened to their voices telling me that I couldn't do it and made a decision that I was going to do it, this time would be different!

Making the decision

They laughed and joked about it, but the way I was feeling I felt for sure that I would stick to it.  The more and more I thought about it I felt if I could give up cake then there were other habits that I wanted to address, it was more than just about the cake, and I was up for this challenge!  

After thinking about it for a while I realized that by paying them I was putting the responsibility of not eating cake onto them catching me.  Rather than punish myself for doing wrong I needed to celebrate looking after my body and getting on with the things I wanted to do.  I reasoned that if I really wanted to give up cake then I could, equally whatever other changes that I wanted to make I could put these in place as well.  It all had to do with a mindset change that I needed to just go for it!

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage - Anais Nin

Flipping the switch

A switch flipped and I immediately felt different about how I wanted to treat myself.  If I could change my mind about eating things that were physically affecting me then what else could I do.  I decided that I needed to really look after 'me' rather than just talking about it, but I also had to support myself by gaining wisdom from others who had achieved their goals, and also create a little cheer leading team for myself. 

Wisdom is like the baobab tree; no one individual can embrace it ...

When you are not feeling yourself other things are impacted as well, my creativity suffered the ideas that I would normally work on in my studio couldn't find me as I was dulled by inactivity and I really didn't feel like getting on with the very things that made me feel good or needed to get done.  

As I thought of all these things I knew that change and taking care of myself meant that I needed to really see who I was, wanted to be, do, and all the rest of it.

I SEE ME - Mixed media art

So my mindful acts are a way of getting to know myself, what I want to do, spend time doing the things that nurture and encourage, and included the following:

• Daily morning walks
• Getting to bed by 11.30pm - or as close to
• Daily reading 15 mins minimum
• Improve Diet -Wheat and dairy free diet, lots of fruit and veg and whole foods, no processed foods
• Daily Art & Journal writing
• Listening to motivational and inspiring daily recordings
• Daily family time
• End of day review and scheduling work and goals 

All of these things on the list are to get me kick started to change, and to achieve the things that I have been saying I don't have time for, and get me back to the me that I wanted.  When I focus on these things I am reminding myself that I do matter, that showing up for myself reaffirms my own value.

Problems are only opportunities with thorns on them - Hugh Miller

Making a Commitment

When I am feeling tired I remind myself that I made a commitment and that seems to propel me into action, I get my walking gear and within minutes I am out the door.  I have been constantly reminding myself that each action is about showing up for me, and the time is much better spent.  Even reading and committing to doing some reading every day means all the books that I have promising to read I can make time for them now because they are part of my schedule.

Every day that passes I am being shown new insights and ideas and I am learning to value the time that I do have and make the most of the things that I want to do, and celebrating my achievements!  We are all given the same amount of time it depends how we use it, and the value that we place on on our lives.  There is no replay button or do over, so we need to be getting on with these things today!

Walking in your blessings.....

I would love to hear about any changes that you have decided to make in your day to day activities, 

What is it that you have always wanted to do but convinced yourself that you don't have time?

What ways are you going to nurture yourself today?

Review of 2016 - It is good to see how far you have come!!

I can't quite believe that we are here already and there has been so much happening that I have hardly had time to keep up.  And now we are here again launching ourselves into the new year, new beginnings, fruit, challenges, changes and more.

This month we were visited by relatives from England and the States, and some are still here as we see the new year in.  I thought I would share some of the moments and highlights that made 2016 for me and I hope to fulfill more dreams and be more of a blessing...

Relatives visiting from abroad, great to see them and spend some time

Say 'flying fish', or Barbados

 Friday night fish fry

You can never get tired of this view!

Chilling and making the most of the time

Birthday outing for Josh in Oistins

Out and about in Bridgetown

Teacher on an online Class

Winning Awards at NIFCA Art Exhibition, Barbados

Meeting up with fellow Artist Ron Cumberbatch .... (Phil you are included!)

Trip to Montserrat - Amazing time will share soon 

Fellow conference speakers in Montserrat

The plane ride to Montserrat in a 7 Seater !

Plane ride over Antigua on the way to Montserrat 

 Barbados 50th Independence Celebrations kicked off in Independence square

 Working on New Art Work and sculptures

Made the decision to get a compost bin to really begin to grow my own

Collecting seeds - got quite a collection now!

Planting some beans - growing quite nicely, will be harvesting soon

Did a talk with Kiala Givehand

Open house - Alzheimer's Association - Arts Exhibition

Barbados Alzheimer's Association - 'Remember Me' Conference

National Union of Public Workers, Barbados talk

Spending time with my mum

Picturesque Hideaway in Norbury

There are so many more moments that were special that I haven't yet written about, but I will be sharing during the New Year.

What ever you do to see the old year out and the new year in, stay safe and remember that within you have a multitude of gifts waiting to be birthed, go be a blessing, use your gifts and see what amazing opportunities come back when you take that step!

Taking time out

I've taken time out, so it seems, well, its pretty evident.  Not sure what happened, felt stuck, as if I were in a fog and could only see a hands width in front of me.  I didn't know when it started, but it felt like the moment that I had resolved to make changes that there would be some resistance.

I think I had taken to much on my plate, as well as posting I am taking part in the courses - Soul Food and Life book, as well as dealing with the day to day.  I think the challenge would have been fine if I didn't try and do a vlog and edit and post. Keeping it real via the video is what I wanted but it seem to take forever and a day to load a 15 minute ramble, and then the fog came, and I stopped.

On top of all this as a family we have mourned the loss of my brother - Robert, there is no preparation to how you will feel, or how to deal with it all, .  The year has gone quickly, it's weird, and then again feels like forever, the loss still raw in our hearts and minds.  We remember his joy, his sense of humor, his love, warmth, his strength.

I paint, I draw, I create, as a way through.  I remember my conversations with Robert and the things I said I would explore, so many things that I don't want to let anymore time pass before I get to do them, and so I change.  Change is good.  I am still going to make the healthy changes that I said I would, I just won't worry about giving you a blow by blow video update, because essentially I want to pour all of that time into creating. I want to paint, I need to paint, it has become as essential to my heart as breathing is to my lungs, and a way to allow the heart to heal from the loss of the past few years.  Perhaps this is another lesson learnt from the challenge.

I will share with you some of the pieces as I finish them, and I am quite excited by the some of them. This painting is called Together...it is about our relationships

Together - Mixed media

Together - Though time and dimensions may separate, you will always be in my heart. Came from the same source to lead different lives, you were a strength and a support from the start.

We have to invest in our relationships and make the most of every opportunity, and knowing our purpose live as if it were our last day on the earth. 

Blessings always!

We have raised £1530 for Myeloma UK, if you want to donate you can do so HERE

Cereal Bag Art Journal - Recycled Projects

Art Journaling – Upcycled Cereal bag journal

My Cereal Bag Journal with tags

 I was inspired by Kristen Robinsons work who appeared in Cloth Paper Scissors Pages magazine Summer 2013.  She had made an upcycled Cereal bag journal, and I thought I would give it a try and  to make my own.  I am in a Journal making phase and will share with you some of the others that I have been trying my hand at.

I had always wanted to try and be more creative with recycled material and here was the perfect opportunity..  My journal measures 4 x 6 inches and is a working journal.  I have written some prompts and encouragements around the theme of time and there is still room to add more journaling when the mood takes me.

Love - she did it anyway - Cereal Bag Journal

Time is something that we all are given the same amount but it is how we choose to use it.  As I get older it feels as if time is moving faster, we are not sure how long we really have.  For my brother Robert he lived for 45 years of his life, my mother has lived for 90 years and is still going strong.  I increasing feel that I need to make sure that I utilise my time wisely as we have no promises of seeing tomorrow. 

postcards, travel and time - Cereal Bag Journal

My journal is about how we treasure the time, with the things we do for ourselves and to the relationships we have with those both near and far, some separated by land others by sea, and this is symbolised with the mini tag postcards, the images of clocks and the reminder to cherish the time we have.

Cherish the time - Cereal Bag Journal

We can often put of until tomorrow those things we know we have to do today and I soon found yesterday when I made the effort to complete an important piece of work only to find the next day my computer played up and wouldn't allow me to access any of the files, reminding me if I had waited I would have missed the deadline. I remind myself in the journal that time will not wait for us, so we have to act when the opportunity comes along, and then we can look back on our lives and truely feel that we lived a life worth living

A life worth living - Cereal Bag Journal

I also made some tags from the cereal bags that have sentiments of family, travel – postcard and a reminder of what love is taken from 1 Corinthians 13:4-9

Tags - Cereal Bag Journal

We have to be gentle yet firm with ourselves, there are so many who are encouraged by those things that you do, the ideas you come up with and share.  Who would have thought that out of something that served its purpose as a cereal bag and would have been discarded can lead to something that with a little bit of imagination and a dose of creativity produce something so meaningful.   I do hope you have a blessed day. 

Creativity

Creativity for me is an important part of maintaining my health and well-being. It doesn’t matter what you choose to do whether painting, dancing, and writing or a range of other creative pursuits, what really counts is that you participate on a daily basis. Showing up even if it’s for just 5 minutes. Disciplining yourself despite what’s going on around you allows you to spend that time on you, showing up for you, then you can work on spending longer over time.

It’s been widely recognised for many years that art and creative activities can affect our health, and hospitals and more and more private and public sector organisations are looking at how their environment can make an impact not only on their clients, but their staff as well.

Many health authorities are looking at ‘Art on Prescription’ schemes where individuals are encouraged to take part in art activities over a 10 week period in an attempt to reduce the amount of time they visit their doctors and this has been rolled out initially for depression and other mental health related conditions. If you’re ever anywhere near north London check out Creative Health Lab who run art, dance/movement, and horticulture sessions and are based in Kentish Town City Farm.

Finally, when you get a moment, check out this very inspiring video by Jan Phillips You are Worth the Time