Creativity....Pass it on.....

Welcome to Week Three of the month-long Carnival of Creative Mothers to celebrate the launch of The Rainbow Way: Cultivating Creativity in the Midst of Motherhood
by Lucy H. Pearce. 

Today's topic is Creative Inheritance. Do read to the end of this post for a full list of carnival participants. 

Join the Carnival and be in with a chance to win a free e-copy of The Rainbow Way! Next week is our final week!
December 11th: The Creative Process.

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Creativity.... Pass it on......

(The arts) "are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practising an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possible can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.” ― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

Creativity to me isn't about being able to create something that others like; it is about creating something that touches your own core regardless of the end product.

When we do this, when we really allow a piece of ourselves into our work, others will see that beauty and resonate with it and that is why creativity for so many people is so scary because we have to give a part of ourselves to it.  Which means you have to own it, take responsibility for it, put yourself out there, make yourself vulnerable to attack......

We spend so much time worrying about what others think of us or what we have done that we miss the whole delight of doing it! And this is what we feed our children. Their inheritance is the desire for other people's approval, to follow what others have done, to never take a risk or test their theory or embrace change because it might not work or other people might not like it.....

In education we are conditioned to believe that we should only do something if we can succeed in it, do it well or win, particularly in creative subjects.  For example, how many of us were told at school or by our families 'You can't sing' and so for the rest of our lives we suppress our voices because we don't think we should sing simply for the joy of it?   I taught art after school to a group of 8 year olds and to my great sadness when asked to listen to a piece of music and simply draw to its flow and rhythm, they all felt it had been a waste of time because it didn't 'look like something'.

This conditioning is a great disservice to our children because creative activities are often the reason human hearts feel alive, connected, inspired, contented - regardless of how 'well' they do them.

I was blessed to have a family that encouraged and supported me in failure!

 This was perhaps one of the greatest gifts my parents gave to me.

We were taught to do things that we enjoyed not what we were necessarily good at... which is why I did ballet even though I was not blessed with dancers feet and why we sung at the top of our lungs in the car and in the home whenever the urge took us and why I wrote poetry to express my thoughts and acted out plays and drew pictures to celebrate the day's events....

All this experience has given me a creative outlook on life which means I can see things from different angles, put problems into different perspectives. Liberate, understand and own my emotions (and take responsibility for them) through sound, written word or pictures..celebrate the small things and delight in the beauty of everyday.

So my gift to my beautiful daughter will be to encourage her to do what makes her heart sing, her soul soar and her face smile.  Because the skill to understanding and expressing ourselves and what we truly need to be at peace in our hearts is the greatest of inheritances.

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25% off ALL Lucy's books, 4th Dec only. Use code RAINBOW25.

ORDER YOUR SIGNED COPY of 

The Rainbow Way direct from the author and receive:

• exclusive access to a private Facebook group for creative mothers
• a vibrant greetings card and book-mark of one of the author's paintings.

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Or order from your local bookshop.

• Carnival host and author of The Rainbow Way, Lucy at Dreaming Aloud celebrates her creative fairy godmothers, and gives thanks for the creative blessings that each has gifted her.
• In 'From Trash To Treasure: Christmas Decoration' Laura from Authentic Parenting shares fond memories crafting with her mom and a little project her mom did recently. 
• Lucy Pierce from Soulskin Musings celebrates the rich creative inheritance of her mother's poetic soul and artful ways. 
• Is thinking differently a curse or a gift? Zoie at TouchstoneZ susses out whether her family legacy might hinder or encourage creativity.
• Dawn Collins at TheBarefootHome Dawn thinks we're all born with a creative inheritance from the mother we all share…Mother Nature.
• Licia Berry at Illumined Arts looks at the creative inheritance passed on by our ancestral lineage, discovered through sexuality and the Sacred Feminine within in "Sexuality and the Sacred Feminine"
• Alex at The Art of Birth explores the nature of creativity. 
• Handcrafts are prayers, that's what Corina from PatchScrap learned from grandmother.
• Jennifer at Let Your Soul Shine retraces her creative inheritance from her childhood and all the way back to the 19^th Century.  
• Kirstin at Listening to the Squeak says "I have always known my creative inheritance and it is so very important for my children to know theirs."
• Becky at Raising Loveliness reflects on her experiences of creativity.
• Creative Inheritance is a Beautiful Thing, says Aimee at Creativeflutters and discusses where her creativity comes from and what influences in her family have helped her on her artistic journey. 
• Georgie at Visual Toast shares her creative inheritance.
• Esther at Nurture Workshop expresses the gift of a creative mind and the doors that are waiting to be opened for those who are willing to explore.
• Whitney Freya at Creatively Fit is inspired by the sacred spark within each of us, a spark that transcends time and is infinitely creative.
• Denise at It Begins with a Verse  looks back at her family's creative inheritance.
• Womansart shares her reflections on creative inheritance.
• Lys at Stars and Spirals looks at the creative inheritance as described by the astrological chart, drawing on her personal journey into motherhood and reawakened creativity.
• Biromums wrote poems about their creative inheritance.
• Kae at The Wilde Womb reflects on the various artists within her family and how it has shaped her identity and what impression she wishes to leave her own children. 
• Marit's Paper World shares her creative inheritance.
• Lucy at Capture by Lucy  reflects on her experiences of creativity.
• Knitting blankets and the inner landscape--my mother's life's work, writes Nicki from Just Like Play. 
• Something Sacred - Sadhbh at Where Wishes Come From writes about how the creativity of the women in her family has influenced her.
• Mamma Bloom at Breathe and Bloom writes about her creative inheritance.
• Mama is Inspired shares how she loved to make holiday ornaments as a child, and now is continuing that tradition with her own child.
• Ali Baker is a creative mama to twin girls who reignited her creative energy and sense of who she used to be by just doing it and creating whatever needs to be created in an imperfect way. 
• KatyStuff hopes inheritance is a long way off, but, when the day comes her woodworker father has already said he is comforted by knowing his work is in so many homes.
• Jasmine at Brown Eyed Girl realizes that the creativity she craves for so deeply may actually be something that runs deeper than just her imagination.
• Darcel at The Mahogany Way shares her creative journey.
• Rising on the Road shares her experiences at Finding Life in a Death.
  
  

The power of sound

When we are born our only method of expressing ourselves is through sound.  Then as we grow we learn to communicate through language, through words…

But words aren’t always enough.

How many times have you heard or said “I can’t express how I feel”  “No words can describe how I’m feeling”  “I’m lost for words” or you are simply mute with emotion.

Sound goes back to those primal roots before significant conditioning, before language, before words, before culture, class, habit and social patterns…. Back to that clear, unmistakable connection with your true self.  With what you really need.

Sound can not be misunderstood or miscommunicated, there can never be crossed wires or offence.

There are layers, someone described it as an onion, outer “performance” layers of conditioning, habit, judgements, ego.  “I can’t sing!” “What will people think of me?”  “I shouldn’t make so much noise” “I don’t need to do this” And this ego keeps us small, keeps us contained and repressed and unfulfilled so that our lives are only partly lived. 

It’s only when we go deeper through the layers to our authentic sound that the joyous magic of this work is released.

And then comes the realisation that this terrific and visceral power is INSIDE you!  Waiting, every second, every hour, every decade, every breath, waiting to be heard.

We can never truly be ourselves if we deny our connection to our inner voice/our spirit/our soul song (it doesn’t matter what we call it – again words are not enough to sum this up).

We need to listen to it, hear it, acknowledge it, give it permission to take flight.

 

There is a river of sound inside you, looking for a place to flow…. So open your mouth and let the sound wash over you, let it carry away your fear, anxiety, grief, anger and bring in a new and glorious light of joy and internal peace.

 "When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”  Rumi

Further reading: The Naked Voice, The College of Sound Healing.

Imagination ignites the ordinary

Welcome to Week One of the month-long Carnival of Creative Mothers to celebrate the launch of The Rainbow Way: Cultivating Creativity in the Midst of Motherhood
by Lucy H. Pearce. 

Today's topic is Nurturing a Culture of Creativity at Home. Be sure to read to the end of this post to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

Join the Carnival and be in with a chance to win a free e-copy of The Rainbow Way!
November 27th: Creative Heroines.
December 4th: Creative Inheritance.
December 11th: The Creative Process.

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Creativity isn't just art it's about looking at the world with different eyes, new perspectives and approaches. Which encourages you to see the beauty and joy in all the ordinary things that are happening everyday.  

So here are a few ideas of how to ignite your imagination and unleash your creativity!

SINGING
We sing regularly... there's a song for every activity if you want to find it!  I don't have the space to tell you how important singing is for all of us but suffice to say that there are a great number of reasons to express yourself through sound so have a go!   (There are some links on this page for you to look at if you wish)

 The Genius of Natural Childhood by Sally Goddard Blyth

Music in our bones research

The Music Bus

I've also written a little song book which were all inspired by Eartha and our trips walking in the countryside and being at home in the garden....
Here's one of them....

There's a tree on the hill and it's standing very still
There's a tree on a hill near the wood
There's a tree on the hill and it's standing very still
There's a tree on a hill near the wood
In the Spring the flowers come
Then the Summer brings the sun
The Autumn takes its leaves
And the winter makes it freeze... brrrrrr...
There's a tree on the hill and it's standing very still
There's a tree on a hill near the wood.

You can buy my song book and CD for just £10.  Please get in touch with me at nurtureworkshop@gmail.com 

THE ART OF SEEING
If you spend a little moment everyday just watching.... stop and stand for just a few moments and you will start to notice all the things that you've been missing in the rush.  First look with your eyes open, then try with them shut, What differences do you notice with each experience?

• The cloud formation in the sky... can you imagine what it behind them?  
• The way the light hits an object and the shadows it creates.... if you move the object what happens to the shadow?  
• What's the smell in the air...... can you describe it... can you write a poem about it?
• The colour of the apple skin..... can you see all the colours.... can you paint it?
• The sound of the birds tweeting... can you make that sound too?
• What happens if we put this object in paint and roll it or squash it on paper?

In an art club I ran at school the most fun the children had was an Autumn day when we collected berries, fruit, leaves, twigs and mud and made pictures by squashing  and smearing them onto the paper!  Have a go - it's great!

DON'T GET HUNG-UP ON THE END PRODUCT
No matter how we try we often become incredibly judgmental about our creations.... but the key to getting the most out of anything and indeed making activities fun is not to worry about what it looks like in the end - This is the death knoll for the creative spirits in all of us!

There is no right or wrong.  Test things out, try it and see what happens.  The process of all that creation was fun, educational, inspiring and playful.... which is all you want - lots of smiles!  Enjoy!


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ORDER YOUR SIGNED COPY of  The Rainbow Way! and grab your free extras  (first 200 orders only!): - exclusive access to a private Facebook group for creative mothers - a vibrant greetings card and book-mark of one of the author's paintings. Kindle and paperback editions from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble or order it from your local bookshop!

• Carnival host and author of The Rainbow Way, Lucy at Dreaming Aloud shares an extract from the chapter Nurturing a Family Culture of Creativity.
• Lilly Higgins is a passionate food writer. Now a mother of two boys, she's discovered a new calling: to instil in them a love of food and creativity in the kitchen.
• DeAnna L'am shares how visioning the New Year with your child is an invitation to be inspired: use creativity and resolutions to create a fun road map for the year ahead.
• Molly at Talk Birth on Releasing Our Butterflies - balancing motherhood with creativity.
• Laura shares some of the creativity happening at Nestled Under Rainbows and a few thoughts about creativity.
• Georgie at Visual Toast celebrates her own unique culture of creativity at home.
• Esther at Nurtureworkshop spreads the love of the ordinary, the delights of everyday things that can be an adventure of the imagination.
• For Dawn at The Barefoot Home creativity is always a free form expression to be shared by all in a supportive environment where anything can be an art material.
• Naomi at Poetic Aperture is a mother, artist and photographer who tries to keep her daughter away from the expensive pens and paints.
• Aimee at Creativeflutters writes about keeping your sanity and creativity intact with small kids in the house in her post: Mother + Creativity - They Must Coexist.
• Amelia at My Grandest Adventure embarks on a 30 Days of Creativity challenge...you can too!
• Becky at Raising Loveliness explores creating with her smaller family members.
• Jennifer at Let Your Soul Shine reveals how children help us connect to our souls, through music and movement.
• Mary at The Turquoise Paintbrush shares her experiences of creating with kids.
• Joanna at Musings of a Hostage Mother explains why creativity at home is important to her in her post "I nurture a creative culture."
• It took until Amy at Mama Dynamite was pregnant aged 35 to discover her dormant creative streak - she has found lovely ways of tuning into it every since.
• Emily at The Nest explores how creativity runs through her family's life together.
• Jennifer at OurMuddyBoots sees that encouraging creativity in children is as simple as appreciating them for who they are: it just means overriding everything we know!
• Lisa from Mama.ie has discovered that a combination of writing and traditional crafts can provide a creative outlet during those busy early years of new motherhood.
• Anna at Biromums shares what nurturing a culture of creativity means to her.
• Zoie at TouchstoneZ argues that the less they are interfered with, the more creative children become as they grow up.
• Darcel at The Mahogany Way celebrates creating with her kids.
• Sally (aka The Ginger Ninja) of The Ginger Chronicles is continually inspired by her own mum and grandmother.
• Just being creative is enough, says Nicki at Just Like Play, as she ponders her journey of nurturing a creative family.
• Allurynn shares her creative family's musings in her post "Creativity... at the Heart of it" on Moonlight Muse.
• Laura at Authentic Parenting explores how being creative saves her sanity.
• Mama is Inspired talks about how she puts an emphasis on the handmade in her home, especially in the holiday season.
• Kirstin at Listen to the Squeak Inside shares with you several easy ways for busy mamas and dads to encourage their children to be creative every day.
• Mila at Art Play Day always lived in her dreams, sleepwalking through life ... now she is finding out what creativity is all about.... her inner child!
• Sadhbh at Where Wishes Come From describes how picture books can nurture creativity in young children.
• On womansart blog this week - nurturing a creative culture at home.

Look after your inner animal this Autumn...

“You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen" Ernest Hemmingway.

I found this quote and thought how beautiful it was. There is a sense of death in Autumn but there is a positive aspect because it's not final it's just part of the circle of life.

We are all animals, in our primal centres, getting ready for hybernation aren't we.  So it's time to slow down and look at what we have reaped over the summer.  Nurture ourselves and give ourselves rest.  

Are we so disconnected from the natural world that we forget how the seasons have a profound effect on us?

If anything, the message in this blog is to remember your animal inside.  Give yourself some space to look back and reflect.  Be gentle with yourself and accept that this is the time to welcome sadness with a positive heart.  Fighting this natural instinct is detrimental to your health, you need to feel it.

Here are a few ideas for Autumn sadness...

Write a list of gratitude for all the things you have in your life that are positive and say thank you from your heart.  This is a simple task but is incredibly rewarding - have a go!

Spend just five minuites (time yourself!) outdoors quiet and still.  You can get enormous sense of peace just sitting next to nature.

Write yourself a list of things that you're proud of for this year and give yourself a few goals for the next few months.  Listen to your heart and dreams... they can come true if you want them to.

Imagine your inner animal this Autumn - what is it? what does it look like?  how does it feel? Write or draw a picture.... what does it need to be nurtured this Autumn?

Beauty is everywhere just start noticing it and you'll fill your heart with happiness in moments.

Blessings.  

Apple Cake - Yum!

Well, it's that time of year again.... Apples galore and so here's something to try out. It's lovely and moist and will last about 3-4 days in an air tight container.   

Ingredients

225g self-raising flour

2 tsp mixed spice

Grinding of fresh nutmeg

115g unsalted butter, diced and chilled, plus extra for greasing

115g light brown sugar

1 large egg, beaten

6-8 tbsp milk

225g apples, peeled, cored and diced

100g sultanas and rasins

2 tbsp demerara sugar

How to do it

1.Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Grease and line a deep 20cm cake tin with baking parchment.

2.Mix the flour and spices together in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour using your fingers, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the light brown sugar. Beat in the egg followed by 6 - 8 tbsp of milk – you want to achieve a smooth, thick batter.

3.Add the apples, sultanas and rasins and mix to combine. Scrape the batter into your prepared tin and gently level out. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar and bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

4.Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes and then carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool further. Yummmmy....

An Autumn Meditation

Stand with your eyes closed and take three gentle breaths in from the base of your spine - visualise the breath coming in from that point (this encourages you to breathe from a deeper place and really use your lung capacity which gets optimum oxygen into your blood stream - great news for your body!)

Visualise roots pushing down into the soil from your feet - each breath out they push further into the cool dark earth.
Gently breathe into your lower back
Visualise yourself as a tree - strong trunk lengthening to the sky
Gently breathe into your lower back

Arms as branches with long elegant fingers stretching to the sun
Gently breathe into your lower back
Visualise the leaves on your branches, fluttering gently in the breeze, beautiful shades of gold, brown, yellow, orange, green
Gently breathe into your lower back
Your roots are strong and grounded in the earth, your trunk is tall and lengthened to the sky, your branches are relaxed taking in the sounds and smells of the day

Now visualise your leaves dropping, one by one they gently float down onto the ground and  as each one falls you feel lighter, calmer, stronger.

Allow all your leaves to fall as you gently breath into your lower back

When they are all gone - just enjoy the feeling of being light and calm and refreshed

Then when you are ready gently notice your breath.... notice your feet...... notice your arms and your head.  Notice the space around you and gently open your eyes.

Lovely.

Freezable Courgette Cake - it's my Birthday!

It's my birthday so I have made a cake... what have I got to put in it????  Courgettes of course - ruddy loads of them so I found a rather fantastic recipe and I thought I would share it with you.......

This makes two 2lb loaves so make one and freeze one - apparently it will last in the fridge for a week.... I think mine lasted about 3 hours....

Ingredients
3 eggs (from happy outdoor, organic chickens!)
275ml sunflower oil
350g caster sugar (fair trade)
350g courgettes (or small marrows), grated
165g plain flour
165g wholemeal flour (I used bread flour and it was fine)
1 tsp baking powder
2tsp bicarbonate of soda
1.5 tbsp ground cinnamon (fairtrade)
175g raisins and sultanas (fairtrade)
150g mixed nuts (I used them whole but you could chop if you like)


Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and base line two 2lb loaf tins with greaseproof paper. 
2. Measure all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix well to make a thick batter. Pour into the prepared tins. 
3. Bake in the preheated oven for about one hour or until the loaves are firm and a fine skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool the cakes a little before turning out and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack. 
4. Store in the fridge and use within a week or freeze and defrost when needed.

You could ice it with a bit of soft cheese and icing sugar but I don't think it needs it.

ENJOY!

Looking in the mirror... drawing a self portrait.

So this weekend I have been looking at self portraits and drawing myself for the first time. 

Looking into a mirror it could be very easy to get hung up on what you are seeing…but in fact I found it liberating for me to look at my face and see that my proportions are OK, my nose is nowhere near as big as I had thought all these years.  I was so interested in the effects and shapes, the lines and the colouration.  There was a softness to my mouth that I had never looked at before and the colours in my iris were so much more than ‘greeny’.  I really enjoyed indulging in my own face for a day, getting to know me again and what I look like now since having my daughter.

What was my face showing me?  What did I see reflected in the mirror?  Who is this person?

It was a delight to sit and stare, search, scribble and express myself in different ways.

I'd encourage you all to have a go!  Or does the idea of looking at yourself fill you with dread?

I was so saddened by how many of the rest of the group of women sharing this experience with me were so judgmental  so aggressive, so disgusted with their own faces.  Noticing everything that was negative, horrified by their own skin.

Why do we do that? 

If you really can’t bare to look at your face and spend so much energy verbally attacking yourself, what is that doing to you? 

So the thing that I’ve been pondering is …. How could I tell those other women that they were beautiful and that they should be kind, accepting themselves, celebrating their uniqueness and delighting in who they are?

Do people really want to spend their whole life hating themselves?  Noticing all the imperfections?  Envious of anyone or thing that appears to have what you haven’t got?  Is that easier than taking responsibility for yourself and your life?

Shouldn't we all at some point stop and really look at yourself in the mirror – warts and all!?  Look at who you really are and don’t hide from it .  Meet yourself as you really are and be truthful, frank, open.  

Send yourself some love… look in the mirror and give yourself a kiss….I know you will feel better for it. 

The gifts of motherhood

So I'm thinking today that having my daughter has given me an opportunity to look at myself very closely and question everything I thought I knew and what I believed in and who I thought I was.   That's a great gift.

I'm not saying it's an easy thing or a happy thing all the time - I've been to some dark places since having my baby but I do think now that I am stronger and more connected to life.

One of the 'awakenings' I have had is just how much love my own Mother gave to me. How many hours she must have spent watching, nurturing, worrying, loving me.... and although I can't remember those initial hours, months even years of my own life I do have the subconscious awareness that I am loved and that must have impacted my whole life.

To give your child the gift of a deep sense of worth and security in their own skin has to be the best thing you can do - isn't it?  Because all the material/physical gifts in the world, can't ever make you feel whole.

I miss my Mum so very much.  I wish I could tell her how much I appreciate what she did for me because although we had a great relationship while she was alive, I never realised just how special this bond is until I had my own baby.

So this is another unexpected gift of motherhood.... the understanding that life is very short and we must ensure that we don't waste our time on things that really aren't important.   We can look with new eyes on our habits, routines, values, conditioning, beliefs.

We won't necessarily be remembered for the amount of money we had or the value of the physical gifts we gave but, if we choose to give ourselves the time and the freedom to really embody motherhood and indeed our true selves through that process, we will be carried in the hearts of our children and in turn that gift will continue throughout the generations.

Dealing with yourself after you’ve had a baby! Melt down moments and how to cope with them

I’m useless

I should be able to cope

All other mothers can do it

I’m useless – I’m getting nothing done

I resent this crying, sleep depriving thing!… I want my old life back when I was in control.

When a child is born a mother is born – the woman may have existed before but not the mother. 

We live in a very controlled world.  We like things to be ordered, sorted, boxed and most importantly completed.

Society and our collective thought patterns are focused on working toward goals…. I bet all of you have been thinking, about getting through the birth….but have any of you considered what it will be like after the labour and the hours and days and weeks afterwards?

Have you considered it?

Acceptance of the new situation – the new you!

This is a big challenge for some, because you probably have such high expectations of yourself that you don’t even know you have yet!

Creating and giving birth to a baby – being a mother (and father) is going to be the most mind bending change your body and mind will ever go through.  You will never be the same again.

You are broken down, and you will learn a whole new you, a whole new way of being…. YOU WILL BE REBORN and you will learn and develop as your baby grows. It will be a crazy, fantastic, scary, unsettling, completely insane but utterly liberating experience.

But you have to let it happen …. You have to accept the new you or you will forever fight it and that is a burden you just don’t need to carry.

This is very easy to say but in reality it is very hard to do.

Society doesn't encourage it.  “What have you done today?”  Inevitably your mind will say “nothing, I’ve done nothing”… and this will be the beginning of your struggle with what you think you SHOULD have done.  But I want to unpick that with you….

Parenting is a job…. Changing nappies, smiling, cooing, singing, holding, sleeping with your baby is doing something.  You are mothering your baby, you are making it feel loved, you are bonding, learning, understanding, growing with your baby and that is the most important and urgent thing for you to do.  Your role as a mother is the thing you need to focus on.

Baby time – baby’s generally don’t have a set list of things to do in a day or a schedule to fulfill  they just live each moment as it comes, enjoy (or not) each experience as it comes, they aren't planning the next moment or worrying about the last one and this is a great lesson that you can learn from your baby.  

All things must change – Everything changes moment by moment, for better or worse but NOTHING IS CONSTANT so you won’t have this moment continuously, it will go.  This is a great thing to keep in mind when things are tough…. ALL THINGS MUST CHANGE…. Nothing is the same forever so no matter how bad it gets (or indeed how good it gets) it will change.

This is just a short time relative to your whole life that you have been given to enjoy and live through…. So grow, be in it don’t fight it because you will waste your precious energy on something you can’t change and it won’t be here forever.

Babbling, Squeaking and Roaring....

It's amazing to watch my daughter making her first sounds... babbles, raspberry blowing, squeaking  shouting, roaring....... and indeed I realise just how cathartic and enjoyable it is to repeat them after her!  And so this makes me think about why I don't use this sort of communication and release in my adult life.

The amount of things we don't say... what we don't release....  How we are conditioned to keep our mouths shut and not get overly emotional about things.  "Hold your tongue", "swallow it", "speechless with rage" and so on.

I realise that over dramatising one's life is not a productive or useful thing to do but there needs to be a point of release where we are able to express ourselves freely and explore what comes up.  So I started looking into Sound Healing and the importance of sound in our lives..... oh my, let me tell you there is so much information and amazing facts about it all - I think I'm the only one who's been considering this stuff and then I find that there are millions of people who are on that path too... it's great.

So what is the point of this little blog today? - I just wanted to remind you all to let go... enjoy a good ROAR if you need one.... Blow raspberries at your inhibitions and shriek at your 'must do list'!

Life is far too short to miss out on the smiles and happiness - find the joy inside and ROAR it out!

I'm back..... where have I been?
I've been pregnant and have become a mother....... what a beautiful, tortuous, liberating, soul enriching, tumultuous, break you down and build you back up again experience!

I've so much to add that it's impossible to know where to start..... so lets be practical.  The most exciting thing (apart from the baby) is singing..... I've started a singing group for bumps and babies - Little Birds Singing Group.  And I'm soon to record the songs I've been writing and publish my songbook!  Exciting times indeed.  More on that in my next blog.....