Saturday 16 March 2024

The small things

The smallest acts can make the biggest impact. 

When someone needs some help, a little kindness, just to know that they are seen, the smallest things can have a big impact. Don't think that the tiny act you can do, that thought that occurs to you, are too small. Small deeds are often the most thoughtful. 

So when someone you know is moving house, they may not need help with moving boxes, but you could take them some food. You can drop it off and then get out of their way, because let's face it, sometimes you just need the space when you're doing a big job. 

That new mum you know - take her some bath salts, because everyone buys for the baby, but mum and dad need caring for, too. Someone did that for me, and I remember it all these years later, but I can't remember most of the gifts that were given for the baby. 

That couple who are going through a tough time financially - drop off a gift card for the supermarket. It's quick and easy to do, they get to make their own choices, and it avoids the discomfort that can sometimes come from receiving a food parcel. 





Monday 11 March 2024

Failure

'Failure can mess with your head. That's primarily because it is only ever in your head.' Questlove.

I have now finished reading Creative Quest. I liked this quote because it is so true. How do you measure success? What do you count as a failure? 

How often do you carry a 'failure' round in your head for ages, whereas a 'success' is quickly forgotten? We tend to dwell on things we consider as failures, and that's when it messes with your head. How about instead of dwelling on it, we look for the lesson to be learned. If we learn something, is it really a failure?




Wednesday 6 March 2024

What you're not

 

Knowing what you're not as well as what you are. 

Still working my way through Questlove's Creative Quest. One of the things he talks about is knowing what you're not - as an artist - as well as what you are (inspired by David Byrne). Knowing that I am not an oil painter or a sculptor or a watercolourist helps me to focus in on what I am which is a mixed-media artist. I've tried those other things, but they're not for me. They don't spark excitement and pleasure and contentment in me like mixed-media does. 

In general life it's good to know what you're for just as much as what you're against. It's easy for people to tell me, as a Christian, what (they say) I am against. I prefer to define myself more by what I am for: I am for love. I am for caring for people and understanding that they are individuals. I am for giving dignity and respect, even if I don't fully understand. I am for including rather than excluding. I am for forgiving and giving second chances where appropriate. 

Know what you are and what you're not.





Monday 4 March 2024

Suggestions

Suggestions can lead to whole stories.  

This page suggests a landscape to me, even though it is nothing like a realistic landscape. The colours aren't even correct. But my brain takes a few shapes and the composition and says, 'landscape'. 

It can be the same when we only have a few of the facts in a situation. We take them and make a whole story out of it. For example, my husband is a vicar and he has a lot of ear piercings. When he turned up at church without any of his earrings in for a couple of weeks, stories started to go around that 'someone' had told him to take them out. The 'someone' changed, depending on who was airing the opinion. For the few who actually asked rather than putting together their own story, he had an X-ray at the dentist's and needed to take out his earrings. He just hadn't got round to putting them back in. 

This is a fairly innocent example, but the result isn't always so innocent. Reputations can be harmed by gossip, so let's not take a few scraps and make a whole garment out of them.





Friday 1 March 2024

Patchwork

The patchwork of life. 

A few of the marks on this page made me think of stitching, which led me to think of patchwork. All our lives are a patchwork of pieces. Although our life fabric may contain some pieces with the same pattern - when we have some similar experiences - the size and shape and the way they are put together is unique to us. There might be parts of your life that you wish didn't happen, but each piece adds to the overall cloth, and the dark parts only serve to contrast with the light parts. When you look at a piece of art, it is the play of contrasts that brings interest, so don't regret those dark parts, but also remember to celebrate the light.

 





Wednesday 28 February 2024

Glimpses of light

 

This page started out with lots of colour, not that you would believe that now. Everything I put on there only made it worse. So I covered it up and went for monotone instead. Sometimes you have to go outside of your usual pattern to get back into the groove. The glimpses of light on this page are the patterns - circles, squiggles, dots, and the high contrast between black and white. Reminding myself what elements make me happy, ready to use on my next page. 

Monday 26 February 2024

Knowing where you're going

It's okay to not know where you're going. 

Sometimes you just have a direction to head in, and it takes a bit of faith to just keep going. It's okay to not have a step-by-step plan for achieving a goal - the way you get there may not be the same as the path as someone else takes. The thing is to keep going, even if the steps are small. 

 



Wednesday 21 February 2024

Happiness


"Happiness depends more on how life strikes you than on what happens." Andy Rooney.

Attitude is so important. It doesn't mean that we don't take things seriously, but that we have a mindset that means our joy is not dependent on our circumstances. 




Thursday 15 February 2024

Adjusting

Trying to adjust to the changes.

When anything in life changes, we have to adjust, and that can be difficult. As a woman, I had to adjust to a 'new' body at puberty, when I was pregnant, as a new mother, and now in menopause. I'm hoping to settle in to the 'new normal' eventually. In the meantime, I'll struggle a bit, just as we all do when we face changes, but I'll also try to be gentle with myself. 





Monday 12 February 2024

Perspectives

 


"Be a tourist in other perspectives." Questlove

I'm reading Creative Quest by Questlove at the moment and this line stuck in my head. We can look at perspectives - or opinions - other than our own and try them on for size without packing up all our belongings and moving there. But if we don't 'visit' in them, how will we expand our understanding or change our minds?

Yes, I suggested we might sometimes change our minds. It's not a sign of weakness to change your mind or your thinking. Only fools hold on to views and opinions that have been shown to be on very shaky ground without at least considering a different way. If we 'tourist' in varying perspectives we can round out our thinking and make considered decisions. We may end up back where we started, but at least we've looked at other ways of thinking and made a choice rather than just landing somewhere by default. Plus we grow in empathy if we look at other perspectives.