Taking time to reflect

My holidays are coming to an end and I'm glad to say I found a couple of hours to reflect. I have to admit sometimes I overplan!! So in the second week I reminded myself to let go a little, which meant planning less and enjoying more, allowing imperfection. And it helped a lot.

The second Tuesday of the holidays I got to stay at home.  I tidied up the house first thing that morning and then gave myself "time out" to stop and reflect a while. I knew if I left it to later in the day it might not happen so I made it a priority to do it before lunch.

I had already decided what I wanted to focus on. One of my goals this year - in fact, for many years - is to listen well. When I was younger I did this really well, probably because I was usually too anxious to speak! Anyway, nowadays I often find myself speaking over people. Sometimes I forget I am doing it while at other times I find it hard to stop. I had planned to use reflection time each week to focus on this sort of thing but it hasn't been happening. 

My aim on Tuesday morning was to brainstorm my thoughts on listening and draw out one aspect which I could display as a reminder each day. As I started to brainstorm, I felt compelled to note all that was good rather than thinking about listening. There was much that morning that was beautiful in my immediate surroundings. It was a warm, sunshiny day and Mr S and I had been doing some work in the garden. So I jotted some of those thoughts on paper. I was surprised my mind went that way when clearly the time was meant for reflecting on listening. I'm glad I allowed myself to be open to any random thoughts. In the end,  I still managed to come away with a few ideas for a small poster on listening.

There's a little girl who sits on top of a hill at some distance from the rest of the world. She contemplates life as she sits on that hill.  She often appears in my doodling and, as you can see, she made an appearance on Tuesday.

I remember reading a few years ago how much easier it is to be creative when you remove expectations ("Vein of Gold" by Julia Cameron ). Expectations to be the best. Expectations to impress. I'm no artist but I often procrastinate because I think too much about achieving a particular outcome. Really, it's important that I just take time to create and express my ideas. The final result is not so important and it helped to keep that in mind  the other morning.

 It was great to be able to take time out this week to think about things. It did take more than half an hour but there was certainly a pay-off as I felt nourished and motivated to move along with the rest of the day.  I think it also helped me to set a rhythm for this week: some time for working, some for the family, a little for friends, some for me, some for relaxing, and much to be enjoyed.

A Simple Celebration

I haven’t blogged for a while. In the last few weeks we’ve had 5.30am starts, holiday sleep-ins and now we’re looking at a possible 3.30am start each day if all goes well on the job front this week for Mr S.

My duties at school have changed again and I find myself working with a different group of young people. This also means a new timetable. Last term my schedule was “light” on Thursday mornings so I treated myself to a chai latte before work each week. At the moment I’m still trying to see where I can squeeze it into my timetable.

On top of all that I was busy preparing for a milestone birthday.  

Originally I had really wanted to mark the occasion by going away for the weekend. Parties are not my thing so I didn’t see why that would change now. But then a friend commented that parties can provide what are often rare opportunities for people to come together. I thought about this and decided that it would be lovely to have friends and family gathering together here in our home.

I wanted to keep things fairly simple. If you read about the invitations you’ll know that I was also looking forward to the chance to get creative. I had a loose theme of tea party vintage and hoped to bring about a warm, cosy atmosphere.

My list of guests was around 50 and my SA mind imagined unrealistically how grand it all might be – even though I wanted it all to be simple!  As the day grew closer, the guestlist dwindled to 30ish. For a brief moment I was disappointed and I found I had to remind myself why I was doing the party and what I hoped to achieve.

How I kept it simple:

·        I invited my nieces over for lunch and then we set about making some bunting. I had envisaged nicely sewn triangular bunting but then I returned to reality. It was not easy to hang our paper hearts but keeping calm meant I still worked out a way to display it.

·        We made most of the food. We made finger-sized foods such as sandwiches, sausage rolls, scones and pizza slices. We had peanut butter balls and Mum made a sponge cake for the birthday cake.

·        We had material napkins. I used what I already had and borrowed the rest from Mum.

·        The “fancy” tablecloths were from Mum. The cloth on the main table was the one my mum got from her own mum for her engagement. It was really lovely to be able to put out family heirloom pieces.

·        I was so fortunate to have daphne and camellias in bloom. A friend cut the flowers and decorated the rooms. The rooms tend to be dull brown but the pop of colour from the flowers transformed the feel of the whole area.

·        Mr S knew I liked flowers. In the morning when I got up there was a lovely arrangement in the teapot made up of flowers from our garden.

·        Even though it was a tea party I had on offer coffee and hot chocolate as well as soft drinks.

·        I did spend a little extra on paper plates that were made from recycled pulp (?). I had the wonderful idea of keeping the plates and using them in the garden to block out weeds or as compost. In any case, I was preoccupied that evening and all plates ended up in the bin.

I had fun preparing the party. The best part was the buzz throughout the night. Our life here is sweet but very quiet. Mr S said he couldn’t believe that our home could be like that. I must say my mind was going in a hundred directions as everyone arrived and I realised that I hadn’t whipped the cream and the sausage rolls were not ready. I also had my mind on a few people who didn’t know anyone and were a bit shy. Some good friends kept reminding me that it was OK and I didn’t have to worry about them…. And gradually I accepted this. It truly was a lovely evening and it delighted my heart to see our home filled with laughter and chatter.

A lazy Sunday,

It's a crispy, cold Sunday morning but the sun is shining and deceivingly inviting. It's a lazy Sunday for us, but that's OK. 
I came down with another bad cold a couple of days ago so I am happy to take the time to recuperate. We're getting to the tail end of the term so holidays are just around the corner. Together with today's sunshine it's made me feel OK that I'm not doing a lot. I'm hoping that in a day or two I will be back to running around and getting more done. 

One of the highlights of the last week was making some invitations for a small party we're having next month. Of course, I didn't need to do them. A text would suffice but it was an opportunity to get creative, and so I did. In line with the vibe of the party, the design and materials were kept simple. I really want the focus to be about friends coming together. 
I found making the invitations quite relaxing. I think this was because, I had come up with a design that was so simple and the element of repetition meant I didn't have to overthink it. 
It also helped that all of the materials could be contained to one shoe box. I was able to work on the project over three nights without having to make a big mess and stress about cleaning it up each time.
The only downside was that I had wanted to keep costs down and I probably ended up paying a little more than necessary. When I got to the big supplies store there was very little choice available in the sort of paper that I wanted. In fact, had I done a trial run earlier I would probably have been able to adapt the design to materials I already had.
The photos I have do not show the final product. I ran out of the right-sized doilies but the idea is to wrap the invitation in a doiley and tie it with ribbon.

Again, I found that taking time to create was rewarding. I'm glad I listened to my gut feeling. Normally, parties and the like make me nervous. I really want to keep perspective on this event, keep it simple and ensure the occasion is warm and welcoming. I'm not a fancy cook but I am hoping to make it a lovely evening by focussing on what I can do rather than what I can't.
So back to my lazy Sunday. I'll put some washing on, check my weekly planner and tidy up a little. I've got  schoolwork to do and I'd like to declutter another spot in the front room-soon-to-be-office. 
I hope the sun shines your way today.

Need to create! Housework can wait!

Need to create...can't wait...don't hesitate....

I've been busy the last few months trying to focus on what needs to be done, instead of getting caught up in what I enjoy doing. I haven't done any craft for a long time but I've felt the need to create. I've been missing it. I really believe in making time for the soul but I've been  waiting for a free moment.

Something was telling me I needed to get back to it, whether I had time or not. I know my soul feels nourished after time spent doing what I love so I could justify choosing it even when there were many other things to do. I was also encouraged after reading organisingqueen.com who was challenging readers to make time to do something they love.

Last Friday night I began. My goal had been to make gift tags for some small, thank-you gifts for those who helped me out when my car wasn't working. I wanted to use up what was already in the craft box and it had to be easy to do in one sitting.

On Thursday night - in a reckless moment of time-wasting on Pinterest- I was inspired to do an Easter vignette.  It was clearly a sign that my expressive side was needing attention. Or perhaps just another indication of my wonderful procrastination skills. 

Tags or bunny? 

My main goal was to paint a bunny to frame for Easter. As I painted, there was no doubt in my mind that it was really soothing creating something beautiful from the gentle brushstrokes on the crisp, clean page. It was peaceful and therapeutic. I felt rested. There was focus as I found myself being in the moment, lost in the swirl of the soft, pastel colours. 

While the bunny silhouette dried, I decided to get on with the gift tags and leave the housework for the next day. I rummaged around for pretty paper and offcuts, and used the hanging loops I've been snipping off clothes for ribbon. I cut and glued, then threaded the ribbon through a hole at the top of the tag. The most difficult part was shaping the cardboard to look like a gift tag.

The next day I bought some eggs and two ceramic birds from the el cheapo shop. Back at home, I grabbed a few minutes of my cleaning time to arrange the Easter display in the lounge room. I didn't have any green material but came across a bright and cheery, green scarf when I was putting away my clothes (I did make time for some housework!!).

I had a wonderful time reconnecting with my creative side. A few days later I still feel good about it and I'm keen to get back home and experience some more domestic bliss, which is the opposite of how I had been feeling the weeks before. The experience has cemented even further how important I think it is to listen to your soul. I feel nourished and energised. 

I hope you have some time this week to do something you love.