Slow

 

When you're always looking forward you have to be deliberate about appreciating today.

Many walks of life require us to constantly plan ahead. As a clergy wife I know we are constantly looking at the next big festival season. It's almost November and we've been planning for Christmas for a little while now. As soon as Christmas is over we'll be thinking of Easter. 

When we constantly look ahead it can be difficult to appreciate the season we're in. We have to be deliberate about it. We have to make room to slow down and just be where and when we are. Otherwise life passes us by

Flowers fade

 

Flowers might fade, but it's then that they produce fruit.

As I head into the autumn of my life I realise that youth might fade, but it is in the later years that we really start to see the fruit of life. There is more to look back on and learn from. Ideally there should be a better character because we have had the rough edges smoothed off (though that isn't the case with everyone, of course). 

The flowers look lovely and smell great as well, but the fruit nourishes us and contains the seed for further growth. And the thing is, you have to go through the flower stage to reach the fruit, even if something produces fruit quickly. There is no shortcut, so don't feel sad as you move into autumn - it is a new season with new joys.

Entangled

 

Entangled - although the rules may be relaxing, we are still responsible for how we impact on others.

The half-circles on the left that are joined with shall lines and the squiggles on this page made me think about how we are linked. Here in South Australia we no longer have to isolate if we test positive for Covid-19. As a naturally cautious person who spends time with elderly people regularly, I am still wearing a  mask in shops and crowded outdoor areas. The responsibility to keep others around me as safe as possible weighs heavily on me. My actions do not happen in a vacuum - they are entangled in the lives of others.

planting and harvesting

 

The time between planting the seed and harvesting the fruit differs depending on what you plant.

There are some things where you see a quick harvest, like planting cress seeds. Other things take a lot longer before you can reap the rewards, like pineapples, that take three years to yield fruit. The same can be said of those things that we plant in our own lives, whether that is patience, weight loss, increasing fitness, learning a new language, building resilience or whatever it is that you want to grow the fruit of. And those things take different amounts of time in different people as well. The trick is to keep your expectations at a reasonable level for the goal you're aiming for. 

Fading

 

That fading feeling.

I drew the face on this page and then just kept wanting to cover it up. It made me think about how it feels being a woman in your 50s - invisible to a lot of people. I take comfort from the way that what is covering the face is colourful, not black and grey. I still feel vibrant inside (most days 😊) and I think that is what comes out on the page.

So no matter your age, keep making your colourful mark as the world needs it.

Sojourner Truth

"I will not allow my life's light to be determined by the darkness around me." Sojourner Truth

Shine your light and don't allow those around you to dim it. Your light pushes back the darkness for everyone in the room.

Lost for words

 

Feeling like some days it's difficult to string a sentence together.

I know it will pass, but gee, it's a pain in this phase of life to reach for a word and it not be there. I'm finding it harder to put words on my pages and canvases at the moment as well. Maybe they're connected. In the meantime I'm getting used to losing the thread in the middle of a conversation and just letting people know that it's menopause brain.

Finished canvas?

 

Still working on my canvases for a possible SALA (South Australian Living Artists) exhibition next year. This one had been sitting for a while and I knew it wasn't done. I turned it upside down and piled on some larger areas of colour. The way the marks from underneath showed through made it a lot more exciting to me. It may not be to everyone's taste, but for me it brought the canvas alive. Suddenly it was coming together. The black lines at the top left are made with an interdental toothbrush. I love the way you can't control them very well and they make some really interesting marks with twists and thick and thin line. They're one of my favourite brushes for mark-making at the moment.

I think that simplifying the colour patches - making fewer of them - and blending them a bit more, but still allowing the history of the canvas to show through worked for me. I guess it just reflects the way that I like to simplify my life but am aware that all the things I have lived through still show in one way or another, as they do for all of us. Also, turning the canvas upside-down gave me a new perspective on it, just as we need with life from time to time.

Leading or following?

 

Not everyone can be the leader - without followers, there is no leading happening. We all lead or follow in different aspects of our lives, and that is just fine. Some people naturally rise to leadership positions, no matter where they start out. Others spend their whole lives in supporting roles. Both are required and, although we accord status to leadership, without those supporting people - the executive assistants, the administrators, the people who provide childcare - the leaders would have a harder time doing their job. 

So lead where you're called to lead, and follow and support in those other roles. Both are necessary and both are worthy.