GRATITUDE + CONSCIOUS LIVING Page 25 of 26

Say it with a card…

Having recently been overwhelmed by kindness I have many thank yous to say right now. There are many ways to say thank you, but I like the hand made way…

Here are some of the cards I have been making in my new studio this week, using gorgeous ribbons from East of India, Tim Holtz’s Distress Inks and hand made paper from Southern India, recycled from cotton rag.

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postcards
Say it with a card... ty+card+25%25Say it with a card... ty+detail+25%25

How do you like to say thank you?

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Learning to paint Jesse Reno style + 6 month blogiversary

 paint pots

Anyone else signed up for An Artful Journey in California in February next year? For Jesse Reno’s class? It is going to be awesome, I just know it.  More energising days of organised creative chaos in those beautiful mountains, in the shadow of that magical redwood forest, with old friends and new. So exciting!

california  The Presentation Center, home to all sorts of creative magic at An Artful Journey

I started this blog after attending An Artful Journey last year, and it was a really important moment for me.  I began listening to my own creative whispers, and so many great things have happened as a result. 

And this is just the beginning…

In fact, today marks six months since my first ever blog post, which talked about the importance of doing what you love. And signing up to An Artful Journey again is one of the ways I am trying to stay true to that. With Squam coming up next month it is fast become a twice-yearly creative pilgrimage to the US, but I know it is going to be important again, for different reasons, as next year is going to be HUGE (you’ll have to wait a while to hear more about that…)

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For now, I just want to take a moment to thank you all for making this blogging experience so special, for leaving comments, sharing your stories, and hearing mine. To think that I knew nothing about this whole world of lovely creative souls just six months ago. 

What a precious thing this is, really.

Overwhelmed by kindness

Housewarming gifts and cards have been pouring in before we have even had the chance to send out our new address to most of our friends. We have been overwhelmed by the kindness.

Here are a few of the things which have made my heart leap in the past couple of weeks, and which are indeed warming our new place:

  • A bay tree by the back door (I have dreamed of this ever since doing postgraduate study in the beautiful Roman city of Bath several years ago, where all the houses are honey coloured stone and many have bay trees outside).
kindness_baytree

 

  • A gorgeous original painting all the way from Spain, created especially for my new studio by the lovely Judit of Pilgrim of the Moon – so kind!  Thank you Judit – how did you know the colours would be perfect?
kindness_pilgrim
  • Flowers, flowers, flowers – these are now all over our house!
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  • A hand-stitched picture of the Chinese character for love
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We were also showered with welcomes (and vital rubbish-disposal information!) from our new neighbours, a new bird feeder for the garden and cards and messages galore…  I feel full of love for the world today!

Thank you everyone!

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Photos of the house to follow shortly I promise…

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Exploring

When you move somewhere new, you start each journey from a different place.  We only moved 10 minutes from where we lived before, but I have started to see things I never noticed before.  Like this gorgeous stretch of river.

river
What have you discovered near your home recently?

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This month I am joining in Susannah Conway’s August Break, sharing daily photos of my life this August. Why not check out who else is joining in, or have a go yourself?

Paradoxes

Paradoxes shells
 

I love to travel yet I love to nest (especially right now!)

I love to be surrounded by people yet I love to be alone

I love extremes and excitement, yet I love calm

I love to dive in, yet I love to sit back and watch

I love crooked old houses, yet I love zen minimalism

I love adventure, yet I love the comfort of what I know

I think we need to appreciate our own paradoxes to be true to all parts of our selves

What about you?

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This month I am joining in Susannah Conway’s August Break, sharing daily photos of my life this August. Why not check out who else is joining in, or have a go yourself?

Pottering about

Thinking about our new garden today, and realising how little I know about how to care for it. My gardening history to date has revolved around pots of basil and the odd tomato plant on many an apartment windowsill. Our house was empty for a few months before we moved in as the previous owners had emigrated to Australia. As a result the garden has gone a bit wild.  It has lots of tropical plants in it and I kind of like it that way, all a bit crazy, but it seems a shame not to be able to even see the sunken table, never mind eat dinner at it! Time to get green fingers…

feet and pot
Photo from recent island travels in Greece – photos of our new garden coming soon!

Unpacking

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How come the things which make us happiest often stress us most along the way?  

I am exhausted from the move,

from all the unpacking,

from the decorating, 

from trying to make it all perfect

from day one.   

But today,

we just stopped,

dropped the boxes,

and shut the door. 

We left the paintings unhung,

the books unshelved,

the shoes un-put-away. 

And flopped.  

Given the small inconvenience of not having a sofa until September,

that actually meant we flopped onto the floor.  

Still, the icecream tasted just as good sat leaning against the wall.

And as we sat laughing,

surveying our new home,

the aches started to fade, the excitement returned

and we remembered what it was all about.

I think we’re going to like it here

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This month I am going to aim for more photos, less words, so keep a look out for a peek into my August (including some shots of our new house, once we have unpacked a little more!)

Are you living your best life?

Friends are so precious, and losing one is so painful. An old university friend of mine was killed in a hit and run accident on holiday last week.  I wanted to take a moment and use this space to honour his memory. Part of me feels this is too personal to share, part of me thinks it is too important not to. I hope you don’t mind.

Matt was one of life’s good people. I hate it that I have written that in the past tense. He should have had much much more time.

He was a big strong rugby player with a heart to match. I have been reminiscing about a big adventure we shared several years ago when I joined him and two other guys on a crazy road trip around New Zealand. We were three strapping lads and a wandering girl with a rucksack bigger than herself packed into a tiny car. We got stuck (in a ford), got drunk (on cheap beer), got lost (in the mountains), and I even got a shoulder ride into town. Those boys gave me the courage to do my first terrifying bungee jump, and wisely advised me not to look down as we sped around narrow mountain paths. We traversed a glacier, ate mooncake at a stranger’s party and hung out on a kiwi farm. But more than anything, we laughed. A lot.

Along with the gripping shock and hollow sadness of losing a friend to a freak accident comes a deep questioning and reflection on our own lives.

  • Do we tell those we love that we love them enough (and do we love them enough?)
  • Do we really spend our precious moments doing what we love, making ourselves happier and bringing more happiness to others as a result?
  • Do we pick up the phone, write that letter, get on that plane, live that adventure, follow that dream?
  • As Oprah would say, are we living our best lives?

I’ve been here before (in my very first post on this blog), but I am back again.

It shouldn’t take a tragedy for us to do just that, but often, sadly, it does. There is nothing anyone can do or say to make loss any easier to handle or understand. There is no fairness, and no reason. Three are many questions, but no answers.

To honour and celebrate the big life of my friend, I want to revisit that question and commit to making a few small changes (and maybe a couple of big ones) that will allow me to completely and absolutely say YES, I am living my best life, every day, every hour, every minute.

Won’t you join me?

Are you living your best life? feet

Goodbye MD, you will be missed so very much

Do What You Love interview – Kathy Heslop (Part 1)

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Today’s Do What You Love interview is with Kathy Heslop, an incredible woman who has lived many lives already, as professional musician, nautical globetrotter and serial entrepreneur who has seen multi-million dollar success for her creative businesses. She also happens to be one of the funniest women I know.

Kathy H

British by passport, half Scandinavian and a NYC/London girl by heart, Kathy was once a professional violinist, working with UK orchestras, theatre and opera companies. She was the first female electric violinist to perform at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club and co-wrote the trailer music for the movie Notting Hill. In 1998 Kathy co founded the digital recording studio Serious in London with her polymathic husband David. Within a year it had morphed into a digital publishing company and by the summer of 2000 they had moved to New York City to open a sister office.

Serious went on to win multiple awards and employ over seventy staff with three offices worldwide, (London, NYC & Singapore). In late 2007, Kathy and her husband sold their stake in the company and moved back to the UK. They have since founded a boutique management consultancy in London and also operate a software development company. They consult to clients across the entertainment, sports, technology, food and beverage, celebrity and lifestyle sectors, and Kathy specialises in helping companies establish brand identity and market position.

Here Kathy shares some very valuable insight and practical commercial advice for those of you trying to start or grow your creative business … (more…)