images in this post from the fab workshop I took with Philippa Stanton (@5ftinf on Instagram)
I woke up at 5am on Sunday morning stressed about one of the projects I am working on. I couldn’t get back to sleep, as one particular problem kept going round and round in my head like a siren. Mr K got up and made me a cup of tea, we talked through it and I felt better. But I still felt like I needed to do something about it, to spend the day working on it, even though it was Sunday. And not just any Sunday, but Mothering Sunday.
The ever-thoughtful Mr K was planning to have Sienna for the day while I took a workshop with Philippa Stanton, known on Instagram to her nearly-half-a-million followers as @5ftinf, famous for sharing stunning still life photos of flowers and objects laid out on her wooden kitchen table. This was to be my first creative workshop in months, and I had been looking forward to it for ages. But as I sat there eating my toast and giving Sienna her breakfast I nearly cancelled the workshop, feeling guilty about wasting money if I cancelled, feeling guilty about wanting to work on Mother’s Day, and so it goes on. I am sure you know the feeling.
But Mr K encouraged me to go anyway, to forget about everything else and have a nice time. It felt very indulgent – six whole hours arranging objects into pretty configurations, when I had other pressing things to do – but I went, and I am so glad that I did. Those six hours disappeared in a dreamy haze of colour exploration, meditative composition, nosing around Philippa’s lovely house, picking flowers from the garden and sharing stories over tea and cake with the five other mothers at the workshop.
It made me remember how important it is to create for no reason other than because it’s fun, and inspiring, and beautiful, and it works a different part of your brain so your busy brain can rest. It also reminded me that it’s even more important to do this when you think you can’t afford the time. I came back home happier, more relaxed, and completely inspired, to be greeted by a shower of kisses from my little girl.
The issue that had woken me up at 5am hadn’t gone away, but it wasn’t stressing me out any more, and I realised it could be dealt with on Monday.
It was a simple but very special Mother’s Day, and I am grateful to Mr K, Philippa and my sweet little girl for making it that way.
This week I’d like to challenge you to carve out the time to do something nice for yourself just because it’s a nice thing to do, and you deserve it. And because, if truth be told, you probably need it.
Let us know what you get up to on Facebook or Twitter. And if you want to nurture yourself a little more in amongst the chaos of everyday life, have a read of these two recent posts from our blog on yoga for busy people and on energy-boosting snacks for busy people.
Beth
