New painting

I finished a new piece this week. I'm particularly pleased with it because I was inspired by a smaller piece that I did in one of my journals. Usually if I try to do a larger piece from something sketchier, I lose all the life out of it because it is no longer so spontaneous, but here I feel like I kept the energy. Maybe because I asked myself what I liked about the small piece, and put that on the canvas, rather than trying to make a direct copy. We can all learn new things, no matter our age :)

The original small piece is below, along with some close-ups. That little white patch on the right is one of my favourites. 

A giant improv sketch

Life is a giant improv sketch - you're responsible for your own lines and how you respond to others.

I read a blog post this week that talked about our lines in life. It made me think about how life is an improv sketch - none of us are given specific lines, we just wing it. Every. Single. Day. Our lines are said in response to what goes on around us. We can choose how to react, what to say, in any given situation. So let's choose our lines carefully because this is not a rehearsal. 

Ride it out

So we're having a late little heatwave here.  Things had cooled, and now it's warm again. Not much fun for a woman of a certain age, but, as with many things in life I'll just have to ride it out. 

And in other creative pursuits, I was asked to make a kangaroo cake:

Isn't it fun to work creatively in a different medium now and again?

Roots and shoots

 

Roots and shoots - both grow, but one is more obvious than the other. 

When your roots are growing, you're getting stronger, more deeply embedded, more stable. But it may not be showing on the surface. This is an inner growing, going within yourself.

When the shoots are growing, they can be seen. It's more obvious to you and to others. But without the roots, more 'upper' growth would eventually make the whole plant topple. 

Don't neglect your roots. 

Brain fog

 

It's not the first time I've blogged about brain fog, and I'm sure it won't be the last. It's just so frustrating to reach for a word and it's just not there, even though you can give a full description of what you are thinking of ('alpaca' was the last instance - I could see it, I could tell you what animals it was related to, but I couldn't think of the word itself). 

I encourage myself by looking at all the older-than-me ladies around me who are flourishing. There is hope!

Jaded?

Don't become so jaded that you can no longer be surprised. 

I recently went through a situation where I was expecting some pushback, but it didn't come. It was pleasantly surprising. As a vicar's wife, there isn't a lot that will shock me, but it is nice to be surprised on occasion.

Influence

What exerts influence on you? 

What do you allow to move you one way or another? Are you easily swayed by the opinions of others?

If you're aware of what influences you, you can make sure to make allowances, to ask questions, to resist when you need to. If those influences are for the good, then listen. If they're not, move as far away as you can. 

And here are a couple of things I've worked on in the last week.

Grow or die

 

Change is inevitable - grow or die.

It sounds harsh, but all growth is change.  It may be slow or it may be fast, depending on the season we are in, but wherever we're at, we don't stay the same. We can't. If we stop changing we're stagnant or dead. So embrace change.

Forest of emotion

Can't see the wood for the trees. Emotions swirl and get in the way.

This page was so busy and felt quite emotional, but I really felt the pull to put some trees on there. When emotions are high we don't always think clearly. It may be necessary to put aside our feelings to see things as they really are and make better decisions. Not that emotions are bad, and we should definitely realise what our feelings are and acknowledge them, but in the heat of the moment we don't think clearly.

On distant shores

On distant shores.

I've been away for a bit because family have been visiting - for four weeks - and I needed some time to recuperate afterwards!

Getting older and seeing parents getting older is always confronting, especially when you've only seen them over a screen for a couple of years. Lives carry on miles apart, on distant shores, but the bond of family holds.