The unknown

 

There is always an unknown. 

It is good to hold that in mind.

With people - what don't we know when we enter a situation? What don't we know when someone reacts in a way that seems over the top? What don't we know about someone's past that may be a trigger in their present?

With projects - We can plan for as much as possible, but there will always be things that will make us throw out the old plan and have to make a new one. There will always be things that may cause us to pivot halfway through. 

Knowing that we don't know it all is a good place to start.

The clouds part

 

The clouds always part eventually.

The fog lifts.

The dawn comes.

Nothing lasts forever, even though it feels as if it does when you're in the middle of it. 

So keep breathing and hold on. 

Landscape

 I put the trees on this page and then realised that they are very Australian. You may think that isn't really surprising as I am living in Australia, but for quite a while after moving here, I was still drawing very European-looking trees because that is what came to mind when I thought 'tree'. It can take a while for our inner landscape to match our outer one. For some of us it never changes, or maybe there are areas in which it doesn't change. It just makes me realise how ingrained some things can be, and realising that, I know that I have to make sure that I don't assume things, especially about other people who have grown up in a different culture from my own.

What goes around...

If you keep coming back to the same place, make a different decision. 

Sometimes we find ourselves going round in circles. It's like we go down the road, make a few left turns, and find ourselves back at the same crossroads or roundabout. If we only ever turn left when we reach that point of decision, things won't change. 

Change can be hard. It's easier to follow the same routes, but then we make ruts. When we make ruts, it's even harder to go in a different direction. We have to put energy in to jump out of those ruts and go by a different route, but it's what we have to do if we want a different outcome. 

Barriers

 

Most of the barriers are in your own head.

It is so easy for us to talk ourselves out of doing those things we dream of, new things, hard things, exciting things. A lot of what stands in our way is ourselves - our fear, our lack of belief in our own abilities, our inertia. Yes, there are times where time or money may be big barriers. But way too often we find excuses because doing something new is scary and we might fail. 

The thing to ask yourself is: will you be more upset that you didn't try than that you failed?

You are an artist. Your art has value because it is an expression of you. And just as with the rest of life, not everyone will like it, but that doesn't take anything away from who you are. 

Brain fog

Those frustrating days when you reach for a word and it just isn't there. You can come up with a description of it, several words that mean the same, but the word itself is just not there.  Until two hours later when you don't need it, of course :) I know it's my age, and it will pass, but goodness, it's frustrating in the meantime!

Inside my head

The mess of my thoughts. 

Just having one of those brain fog days.

Remember

 

It is good to remember.

Sewing

 

So, it's been a while since I posted. Not a deliberate thing, but I've been busy at the sewing machine making clerical stoles for a dear friend. When the fabrics are out, the paints have to go away, because I'm not particularly careful when I fling the paint around :) 

The symbols are made with interfacing that I painted, and then sewn on with a simple running stitch to keep the style all the way through the set. The only one that doesn't follow that is the Christmas/Easter white stole, which is done with beads, but then that is suitable for the festival seasons. The stripes at the bottom are in those colours because my friend has Jamaican origins and these are the colours of the Jamaican flag, plus some Kente fabric as requested. 

So, back to the journal after this textile break.