monday musings: on creativity

I dipped my toe in the water late last year beginning an occasional series on a monday venturing sideways from wholefood. It began with a post on blogging, then on birth and today the series returns with this post on creativity.

We are all creative beings. It is easy though for life to get in the way of exploring and nurturing our creative heart. Unfortunately it falls to the bottom of the priority list because making our art is often deemed self-indulgent or not as important as tending to washing, cooking, cleaning, relationships and so on. Yes all those things are important but when was the last time you set aside an hour to paint or write or sing for no other reason than to be creative? And not felt guilty about it.

Just hearing the word 'creative' or 'artistic' can make people recoil from it thinking "that's not me, I'm not creative and I'm definitely not artistic." Well I don't think that's true. It is so important to fill your creative cup so that you can rise the challenges and opportunities presented to you each day. If you nourish your creative heart you will find this lifts your energy and will overflow into all that has become mundane. There is opportunity to express and explore our artistry in everything we do from the way we dress to the way we cook.

Here's a story about my journey with creativity. Thirteen years ago I found myself stranded in Vancouver, Canada. I discovered many things about myself during this time and a book that became a friend was Julia Cameron's 'The Artist's Way'. I had traveled to Vancouver from Houston, Texas to renew my visa and re-enter America. Or so I thought that's what I was going to do. My visa application was denied. I spent a week in Vancouver before flying home to Australia, leaving a long time boyfriend in Texas. This was the end of our relationship and the beginning of a very big next chapter of my life including stepping deeper into my creativity, not only in my writing but also in various mediums as a way of getting to know myself better (which sounds corny when I read that but it's true!)

For those unfamiliar with Julia's book it is written as a 12 week course to 'discover and recover your creative self'. It's a wonderful book that will challenge and rattle any fixed beliefs you have about creativity and what you allow or don't allow yourself to do. For instance if you usually paint but think you might like to sing but don't consider yourself a singer, Julia encourages you to bringing singing into your day anyway. Julia provides great strategies to overcome obstacles to being creative, obstacle such as fear and the perception of having no time to tend to our creative longings.

I really believe that tapping into our creative well is a way of feeling fulfilled. If it is something you have let slide to the bottom of your list I hope this post inspires you to dive into your creative world or set about finding what makes your heart sing. The world could do with a little more colour and song.

Happy Monday :)

Share your story in the comments of finding your creative passion or if you're feeling stuck share that too, someone reading may have just the answer for you.

live the dream

Nothing to eat in this post. Sorry. Plenty of food for thought though :)

I am veering off topic today to share my excitement about having a story published in this month's edition of Australian Yoga Journal (out now in newsagents). On page 36 you will find 'Light after Loss' a story written by me about the healing power of yoga during times of grief.

I am SO excited to have this story published because it is one that is close to my heart and one that I have been wanting to write for oh 12 years! I am very thankful to editor Molly Furzer for being so receptive to this story and presenting it in the way that she has which is so true to the story I wanted to tell.

In this post the story I want to tell is to encourage anyone reading this, if you are holding a secret desire or dream to write or paint or draw or sing or photograph or change jobs or lose weight or have a conversation you know you should have, whatever your dream may be - to go forward in any way you can and live what is in your heart.

I consider myself so blessed to not only have found writing as my way of making sense of the world but also to have admitted to myself that writing is the way I want to earn my living and then to have taken the steps to make that happen. Sure the steps are not always clear and not without bumps in the road but to live life wondering and wishing is not an easy path either.

My path to having this story published began with reading Allison Tait's posts about pitching stories and making a living freelance writing. I enjoy Allison's blog and value her posts on writing immeasurably, to anyone wanting to follow the writing path I highly recommend reading Allison's posts about writing.

After reading Allison's posts I realised I had been hiding in my food niche, hanging out in my comfort zone doing the work that came my way easily. So with the knowledge that even an experienced long time freelancer like Allison still deals with rejection, a well of courage and inspiration opened up within me and I pitched my idea to Molly, an editor I had never had any contact with before.

Two weeks later I was checking my emails and to my delight there was a reply from Molly commissioning me to write the story. I don't intend to 'make it sound so easy' because it isn't always, as Allison writes in her post rejection of ideas is a big part of the job when you are freelancing however the key is not to give up. You may rest my friends, but never give up.

Here are 12 of my humble thoughts on making dreams come true:

1. Read Shakti Gawain's book 'Creative Visualisation'. I read this book when I was 14 and practicing what was in the pages taught me at a young age the power of the mind and the magic of the universe.
Here we are 24 years after I first read the book and it is now available in digital and audio form.

2. To quote Goethe - 'Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.' And don't think that boldness has to be a giant step, boldness may be writing your idea down or telling a friend. It is the beginning, the action, the doing that is important.

3. Learn what you need to learn to go where you want to go. Learn online, find books at the library, talk to people who are already doing what you want to do, sign up for a course.

4. Remember and honor the seasons of life. This is paramount for us mamas. Consider the season you are in and remember the seasons change, keep your expectations in check relevant to the season you are in. If you have a newborn, two children under three, have children starting school, are recently divorced, are moving house, are recovering from illness, then remember to be kind and gentle to yourself. Your dream will not fade. After the birth of my first son River as blissed as I was about becoming a mother I was feeling anxious that my writing life would slip away. A wise friend and mother of 3 said to me 'Enjoy this time, it will enrich you and your writing in ways you can't know yet'. I relaxed on hearing her words and she was right.

5. Keep your eyes on your own dream not on someone else's. Comparison can feed self-doubt which we are all susceptible to. You are your own perfect you and they are their own perfect them.

6. On your road you will inevitably meet critics, knockers, rotten tomato chuckers and naysayers. Think of them as a prickle in your barefoot, pluck them out toss them aside and keep on walking. Don't look back. Oh and say a quiet thank you to them for reminding you how important your dream is to you.

7. Ask for help. This has been a VERY difficult one for me. For many years I tried to do everything myself, asking for help in my mind equated to burdening people or inconveniencing them. I am much better at this and my life is better for it. Giving and receiving is the balance, if you have always been a giver it is time to do some receiving.

8. Share what you know. As you progress along the path and learn some things and have some successes you will meet people at the start of their path, it is a great feeling to encourage them even just listening to where they are at can be incredibly helpful.

9. Aim for progress not perfection. Perfection can be crippling. You must make progress first and then refine what you have done. You can't edit a blank page.

10. Rest but don't give up. Some days the road will seem long, don't chuck the teatowel in. Make a cup of tea instead, put your feet up, phone a friend. When the words aren't flowing for me taking a walk is the best remedy.

11. Make it happen. Ever see those bumper stickers written in rainbow colours with the words 'Magic Happens'? I always think they need a tagline underneath 'if you make it happen'. I believe in magic truly I do, but the dream won't happen without action to match it. Baby steps are fine, but whiling away the precious hours on social media, watching tv etc; do not helpeth to maketh thy dreams come true.

12. Celebrate your successes. Whether you have just spoken your dream out loud for the first time or landed your first big gig - celebrate. Give yourself credit and give thanks to those around you who supported you to make it happen.

Go for it! xx

the art and craft of Christmas

Like most things in life, Christmas is what you make of it. It needn't be about mindless consumption, - be that of food or gifts. Each year the feeling around Christmas is different based on how the year has panned out, the people in your life, or those missing from your life. Christmas for me is a time of reflection, sharing, nurturing, remembering and celebrating being together.

On Sunday, River, Sol and I spent a good part of the day making our Christmas tree. Last year Sol slept while River and I created our cut + paste tree. This year he was old enough and interested enough to do some cutting and pasting of his own. Last year our tree was a collage tree. This year I pondered what we could do differently and I came up with the idea to create a Christmas family tree. So we went through a pile of photos that were already printed and picked out what would become our framed 'ornaments' to stick on the tree. In these times of digital photography, most of us take more photos than we'll ever know what to do with (or how to organise!) so having photos on the tree is a great way to actually enjoy the photos each time I walk past.

For me, crafting with small children is a great meditation on patience, surrender and delight. Ok, there's a pinch or two of frustration or exasperation at times. Patience while small fingers grapple with scissors and glue, surrender to their creative ideas as they burst over my own grand vision, and delight when we all become lost in the making and then stand back to admire the finished piece.

This weekend we also made very simple Christmas cards from white, green and red card cut with a guillotine (which was the exciting part for the boys) and decorated with trees and stars cut from foil. This year River was able to write the messages in the cards. Seeing his almost-in-grade-one handwriting will bring as much joy to the family and friends receiving the cards as it did to me as I watched him carefully form each letter and ask me how to spell certain words along the way.

I know for some craft and baking are not their 'thing'. Creativity though is core to the human spirit. Whatever way you spend creative time with your children, family or friends I hope that you are finding time to do so in these pre Christmas days, for me it feels so nurturing to step away from the daily demands and do a little making.

What are you making? Or not making. Do you love or loathe Christmas? How is it for you this year?

Linking up with Em at The BeetleShack

double happiness

We are counting the sleeps til we board a plane and fly to Coolangatta next Tuesday. On landing we will drive south a little way down the highway to the Northern Rivers Shire and stay with our friends at Tyagarah, just outside of Byron Bay. This 'vintage' photo of River and Sol was taken two years ago on the very lawn at our friends house where we stay each year. (Look at the rolls on Sol's arms!)

It is a journey we have been making annually for the last seven years; Byron Shire has become our second home where we spend time with our other family of friends and walk, swim and surf our other favorite beaches. Well, Pete, River and Sol do the surfing.

How lucky are we to have double happiness?! Not one but two beautiful coastlines we feel connected to in so many ways.

This weekend will be a quiet one spent at home list checking and packing, and resting River and Sol up who are both suffering with ear troubles which is so not ideal with a flight happening in a few days. Hmmm wish me luck.

Some links just for you:

- If you are feeling crafty or just like to fantasise about being crafty pop into Wisecraft

- Another crafty mama who provides endless inspiration, yes Amanda Blake Soule of Soulemama has me dreaming of creating my own one of these

- I'm adding this wholefood cookbook to my wish-list, and

- A blog I've enjoyed discovering is one small kitchen

What are you up to this weekend? What remedies do you use when your children have earaches or ear infections? How is the spring cleansing going? The weekend seems like a good time to add a touch of spring air to cleaning my car inside and out. There seems to be more toys, books, children's clothes and scraps of food in there at the moment than in the house! 
Thanks for visiting x

my (not so) wholefood superheroes

Six years ago today I gave birth to my very own little superhero, named River. He is fun and funny, thoughtful, curious, observant, insightful, musical, beach loving and life loving. Today we had a party to celebrate him. 

I remember taking River home from the hospital and being so enraptured with him (still am). After loving other people's babies all my life since I was a little girl, at age 31 I was thrilled to have a baby of my very own that I didn't have to give back to parents.

River's birth was also the birth of Pete and I as parents. Still so much to learn but I feel so blessed to be parenting with Pete and to have our beautiful boys.

Happy Birthday sweet River.

I had been wanting to start a birthday tradition that went beyond cake and presents. This year the idea came to me to make a birthday 'flag' (see below) I have sewn six hearts on this one, one for each of River's years and I plan to bring it out each birthday and add another heart or a star or some other symbol from that year, a drawing or treasure. And by the time he is a teenager perhaps me and my birthday flag will become embarrassing and I will love that part of the tradition and parenting too.

The cake. This year River requested a spiderman cake. Despite not watching commercial television and being part of a Steiner community from his birth, those 'outside' influences are creeping in. I was very happy to create his dream birthday cake, though it meant breaking the wholefood rules and using wait for it...red food coloring! Beetroot juice colouring would just not give this brilliant red result:

I cut the whites of the eyes out of paper, spun a licorice web and it was done. Simple but effective, yes? Beneath that scarlet red buttercream icing is a dense and decadent chocolate cake that Pete and I tussled over the timing of when it should be removed from the oven. No one likes a dry cake agreed. But my dear Pete, raw cake does not really make for good eating either. I'm happy to say that between us we got the timing right and the cake was fudgy in the centre without being raw.

The recipe comes from a friend's mum who makes the cake each year for her grandson's birthday. It is so simple and a winner every time. This is the recipe as I received it:

1 cup of drinking chocolate
1.5 cups of caster sugar
2 cups self raising flour
1.5 cups milk
2 eggs
125 grams butter melted
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat all together.

I amended it because most drinking chocolate has sugar in it, the one I used is sweetened with stevia, so I reduced the sugar to half a cup (I used golden unrefined caster sugar). I added 2 tablespoons of cocoa and I also chopped up 100 grams of dark chocolate and through the chips into the mix. I wanted to make a bigger cake to I added another egg, 1 more cup of flour, took the butter up to 200g and added another half cup of milk. And then yes, mixed it all together. Poured into a greased and lined tin and baked at 180C for around 45 minutes.

We set the guest list at six children, one for each year and it was perfect. They played in the treehouse, played with musical instruments, enjoyed a treasure hunt and pinata, ate home made dips, spinach and ricotta pies, mini beef pies followed by cake and jelly orange quarters, washed down with homemade lemonade. Two hours of excitement and fun with his new school buddies. Part of me felt sad that his 'old' friends weren't there, his kinder buddies whose mums are my closest friends here on the Peninsula. But hey, he's growing up and I have to move with that.

And as the last 'lolly' bag (containing yoghurt frog, carob licorice and honey lollipop) was handed out and River's guests were all waved goodbye, the rain that had held off began to fall and I savoured the day as I washed dishes, picked up balloons and sorted gifts of magic kits, paints and games. Quiet fell on the house. River and Sol settled in to watch a movie and when I had happily restored our surrounds to order I sat down to a sweet moment of my first piece of birthday cake and a cup of tea with Pete feeling completely satisfied with the day. As evening neared River's words, "I never want this day to end" said it all. Blissfully he is six :)

textiles

Before committing myself to one true love - writing - I flirted with many creative pursuits/enterprises, sewing vintage fabric bags being one of them. It all started with a set of bamboo handles purchased at a garage sale and a piece of vintage turquoise silk from my nana's fabric cupboard. My nan is exceptional at sewing and pattern making and in my mid twenties I decided it was high time I learnt some of her craft and asked her to teach me to sew, starting with bags. I learnt a lot and together we created many one of a kind bags that I sold at various markets around Melbourne.

There came a point though where I felt I was spreading myself a little too thin and that I wasn't allowing myself to be really good at one thing, so I decided while the writing work was coming in it was time to put my energy into that and I'm glad I did because a string of experiences and opportunities came my way that may not have if I hadn't been fully focused.

Now however there's a new sewing project/enterprise calling and while I'm not quite ready to reveal what that is I just had to share something of where the research has taken me. I have revisited one of my favorite suppliers from my bag making days The Dancing Queen .

Lisa who owns The Dancing Queen has been helping me out with some research for my new sewing venture and sent me the links below, even if you don't sew but you have a thing for textiles as I know some people do, enjoy taking a browse...

Bima Wear traditional hand printed designs - fabrics, clothing and linen - by the women of Bathurst Island Tiwi Islands.

At Ink & Spindle hand screen printed textiles, ethical, sustainable and organic printed in Melbourne.

Earthgirl Fabrics check out the tea towels (I have a penchant for screen printed tea towels I have to keep in check)

And while I'm on about all things textiles I do enjoy peeking in to see what's happening at Harvest Textiles in Melbourne so enjoy that too! I haven't visited there for a while and tonight I see my friend's cousin appearing in the Harvest Workroom - nice work Fran. Hi Lucy if you're reading :)

This one too, I found via Soulemama, Mona Luna fabrics. I think the description of the designer, Jennifer Moore's life "...where her work and home are both informed by her love of beauty, nature, art and creative projects' are words many women can relate to, that either they are living this or would like to be living this. 

More food words soon. Happy dreaming, creating, cooking.

(disclosure - since buying fabric from The Dancing Queen I have also done some paid PR work for the store. I am not however being paid in any way shape or form to mention them here).