Steps

Not all steps are equal. Catch your breath on the plateaus. 

Most of us are familiar with the concept of getting in our 10,000 steps a day, or whatever the recommended number is this week. But not all steps are equal. I live in the Adelaide Hills, and unless I walk along the ridge line down the main road, I have to cope with a very steep incline/decline. My phone, which is my chosen step-counter, doesn't take into account whether I am walking on the flat or climbing up a 60 degree incline. My body can definitely tell the difference, though!

In life's rollercoaster often we think that when we are on a plateau that we aren't going anywhere. Unless we are climbing, or heading downhill, it can feel that we are just passing time. However, my walks this week have shown me how the occasional plateau has allowed for the catching of breath before the next climb or descent. The plateau allows us to take time, to ponder, to build up our energy for whatever is coming next. 

So remember, not all steps are equal, and catch your breath when the path evens out.

Making a mark

How will you make your mark in the final days of the year?

There aren't that many days left until the end of 2025. What would you like to achieve before year's end? They say it takes about 28 days to start a new habit, so there's still time. Who says you have to wait until the new year to start new things?

Threads

The threads come together.

Often we don't see how things are linked until afterwards. This is why it is good to pursue many threads and see where they join up. I have tried many different arts and crafts over the years. They come in useful when my husband says, "Can you..." for Christmas or Easter projects. I can look at all the things I know how to do and work out a way to produce what is required. Things that seem not to be connected can be pulled together to make something completely new. 

Ebbs and flows

 

Ebb and flow - the sea smoothes the sand and gives a clean surface to mark again. 

With most things, we have the chance to start again. It may take a few waves to remove all the marks from the sand, but eventually there is a clean canvas to start again. With art, it is possible to just turn the page/white or black out the canvas/unravel the knitting and make a new start. 

Do better!

Inform yourself.  

"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." Maya Angelou.

I'm reading Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad at the moment. It's challenging, in your face, and a completely necessary read. As a white cis woman I have a lot of privilege that is not always easy to see when you were born with it and live surrounded by it. I do my best to be informed, reading widely and learning how to do better. I fail a lot, but I try to learn from it. 

The more you know, the more you can see. The better informed you are, the better equipped you are to speak out and do the work of antiracism. It's hard, uncomfortable work, and it will take a lifetime, but it is worth it to give dignity, a listening ear, and love to our brothers and sisters. 

Are you prepared to inform yourself?

Halfway

 

When the job is half done, look at how far you've come, not just how far you have to go.

It is so easy, when we are in the middle of something, to only see how much more there is to do. This is how I feel about our garden at the moment. We have had the perfect weather to make the weeds proliferate like I've never seen before. Anyone seeing our garden would think it is a complete mess (which it is!). What they can't see is that I filled two green bins this week clearing the 'lawn' of weeds. It is better than it was. There is only so much time (and so much space in the bin) to get on with the job. But I have made significant progress. And once the bins have been emptied, I'll be able to make some more. 

Take the time to see how far you have come, and celebrate it. You've done the work. Yes, there's more work to be done, but you're in it, doing it, making progress.

Fly!

 

Don't rest so long that you forget how to fly.

There are times when we need to step back from something and rest. Rest is good and necessary. But it can be easy then to never step back up again. The longer we stay away from something the more our 'muscles' for it weaken. We can be aware of that weakening and that can make us more nervous of stepping up again. We get used to walking around instead of flying the way we were born to.

So enjoy your rest, but don't forget to stretch those wings and take to the sky again. 

Overwintering or dead?

 

Overwintering or dead?

It's not always easy to tell in the middle of winter. It isn't until spring comes along and everything starts to sprout again that we see where the leaves aren't coming through. Which ideas, after a hiatus, just aren't alive anymore? Sometimes things come to an end, and that's okay. Knowing when to let go of an idea, a project, even a friendship, helps us to move on and not put energy into something that is never going to bear fruit.

So when the winter is over, check everything over and make sure it is worth the water, the time, the weeding, and the fertiliser that it will need to assure that it is fruitful.

Are you prickly?

Are you prickly to deal with? What is someone else's experience of you?

That latter question was one I read in a blog post this week. When these cacti turned up on my page, I knew that the question had been going round in my head. 

So, when someone else encounters you, do they have a pleasant experience? Are you a delight or a monster to deal with? Are you kind and polite to those who serve you? As someone who works in retail, I work really hard to be understanding if someone who is serving me has to deliver news that is not really what I want to hear. Generally it is not their fault and they don't necessarily have the power or authority to do anything about it. 

Are you making excuses for your bad behaviour? If you're having a bad day, there is no excuse to visit it on other people. And if you do find that your prickliness has leaked out, be quick to apologise. Most people are understanding, but not if you let things fester!

New paintings

I've been working on a new set of pieces - mainly acrylic, but also with some collage (in the deep, deep layers!) acrylic paint pens, and water-soluble oil pastel. They are about transition, waiting, and getting through things. This is my artist statement:

"My work has its basis in abstract expressionism, using acrylics, collage, and water-soluble pastels to investigate the way we count our way down to - or through - everyday, dreaded, or looked-forward-to experiences. My canvases explore how we mark our days, whether literally on our calendars, or emotionally, as we approach those things we are dreading or waiting for with anticipation. Whether we are counting the days of a year to mark menopause, tallying chemo doses, or marking time until we can leave a situation we’re not happy about, as humans we are aware that our days are numbered."

The piece above is called Breathe. The one below Overwhelm, and the one below that Unsettled. There are a few close-ups further down.