What inspired me in April

Wow, already all the way through April and into May! April felt like it was mainly about Easter and pre-school being on holiday. With two active 4 year olds it can be challenging in to get in time for me and my projects. I've started to realise that this will be something I need to work with and flex around more, especially as the long holiday will be coming up soon. This mama is definitely one that still needs to do things to soothe and fill her own soul up, so that she can be the best mama that she can be. Emily over at Makelight has a good blog on her take on being a working mama over the holidays.

I purposely took a bit of a step back in April. Partly because of the holidays, and partly because I've been thinking about what art I create and what I want to get out there. I went to a fabulous mentoring session with Helen Hallows, that I thought was mainly some practical elements to my work and ended up being so much more! It's made me think much wider about what I am putting out in the world. In case you don't know, I've done lots of different things but one of the things I've done in the past is coaching, and it's something I'm thinking fits so well with the direction I feel my artwork moving into. And it feels good, and right to think about how I bring them together. Sometime working with someone else can bring to light something that you just can't see for yourself. Others tend to see your light and talent without the miasma of doubt that we put on it ourselves!

The themes that bring them together are creating messages that are uplifting, encouraging and inspiring. Words that bring a light into the eye. A hug for the soul. A pause and a break. I've come to this after much of the political shifts that we have had over the last couple of years, and how it feels that there can be so much anxiety, and negativity and "fake" in the world. I want to live in a world that is authentic and true. I want to bring my children up that one of the biggest things that's important to them is kindness and believing they can.

I've been so not good at believing I can. It's probably my biggest challenge I constantly fall down on. I'm hoping part of this message out into the world whether it is art, or coaching, is about me moving past this, and maybe bringing some tips and tools and resources for others who find this hard too. Let's be stronger together.

This month the two main tools I have been using are meditation and visioning.
Meditation and mindfulness is something I've dipped in and out of in the past. This month I've been inspired by the idea that calming my mind can help keep me focused and out of the doubt mindset I can fall into so easily. Recognising this and  breathing past it, and out of it, has been very inspiring for me this month. I believe it's helped me to move fasster out of "I can't do this, I'm not good enough" mode and back into a place of seeing how things go. I've been enjoying meditations from Danny Penman's site Frantic World. The great thing is that some of these are very short, so fit in well with my lifestyle.

Visioning and vision boarding is something I am very interested in, and I've been doing some work on what's important to me. This month I've been reading The Vision Board by Joyce Schwarz, and I also went to a workshop with Lifeclubs all about moving ourselves forwards by visioning and the shape we see our lives now and the shape we want it to be. The good stuff of course, is in finding a way to move from one to the other.

Until next time, friends.