Creative joy

I don’t blog about my life on a a day to day path like many of the bloggers I follow and so (strangely enough) I don’t share many things with you, including what I am making on an ongoing basis and I think that maybe this is because creativity has become a lot more part of my life.

When I was working as a marketing manager (see my story) I was always so jealous of my best friend for her amazing creativity, artistry and her talent.  I just kept moaning that I wasn’t creative and I wanted to be more so.  She kept telling me (repeatedly) that I was a creative person, I needed to leave my job as it was bad for me, I should just start creating and I never believed her.

A few months before I lost my job I was crossing Westminster Brigde in London and I had this overwhelming feeling that I was being crushed and suffocated by my corporate suit, that my laptop was weighing me down to the extent that it was going to break me in half and I had an feeling I should spining around, faster and faster and let go of the case so it would arch up and then plummet into the Thames.  I had a moment of sanity and didn’t do it, although to be honest it really was touch and go.

When I lost my job I cried and was devestated, but when I was crossed  London Bridge (London’s bridges have a massive power for me) to get to the station, ‘Song of Awen’ by Damh the Bard (lyrics here), came onto my iPod and I was filled with happiness and joy, I laughed out loud, played it on loop the whole way home and grinned. I got home, played all of his albums and danced.

Since then my creativity has just blossomed and bloomed.  I guess I have found the Awen Damh sings about.

I grow food, make jewellery, bake, cook, play music, sing, dance, knit, crochet, sew, make soap, make skincare products, write,  draw and many other things. Tomorrow I am starting Tribal Belly Dancing, (inspired by Verdant’s World), partly because I have always thought it sounds great fun and partly to help build and strengthen a new friendship.

I love my life and all of the creativity that flows in it now. Quite a large part of this is because I have changed my life to be more congruent with my values and a large part is down to my wonderful other half, Gavin.

He has supported me in so many ways which I cannot express and has become an integral part of my new life, a joyous, happy one which I never imagined would belong to me.  I love him deeply. On Christmas day he asked me to marry him,  so I am now engaged and overjoyed.

Hmm, I really hadn’t intended to say all that when I set out writing this post, I was just going to say I will be sharing some photos of all of the presents I made for Christmas very soon, as well as more regular updates about my crafting. I guess I just got carried away by the creative joy of writing!

Letter to a daughter

I don’t know if I want children. Some days I think it would be great and I really would want to bring up a child, some days the whole idea of reproduction freaks me out (not the actual sex bit, but the part of it about from 28 days after sex onwards for 30+ years). I have said if we did have a child I would want a girl and not a boy. However, its my understanding that I don’t get any choice in this matter.

So, it was with mixed feelings that I read the chapter in Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver entitled “Letter to a Daughter at Thirteen”.

It really summed up for me a lot of what scares me about having children and what makes me think I would like to have a child.

If you have a daughter I recommend reading this, Barbara talks about raising her honestly, to help her deal with life, morally and ethically, along with all sorts of other issues.

It bought a strange lump to my throat.

I highly recommend the book (recommended to me by Marmalade Kiss) it really is astounding. I felt so moved by it for many different reasons and it inspired me to write many posts about it, but I won’t – this really is the last one – but do read it for yourself.

Love is the new religion

Photo from creative commons licence, creator: "D Sharon Pruitt"

I found this beautiful manifesto via Phillip Carr Gomm’s blog, Phillip is the head of the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids.

Apparently the original version of this had a lot of ‘I’ in it and somewhere along the line of the many rounds of emails and internet memes it has been through, someone has edited it to ‘we’. And made it a lot better in my opinion.

Enough waffling – here it is.

LOVE IS THE NEW RELIGION/ A SPIRITUAL CONSPIRACY

On the surface of the world right now there is
war and violence and things seem dark.
But calmly and quietly, at the same time,
something else is happening underground
An inner revolution is taking place
and certain individuals are being called to a higher light.

It is a silent revolution.
From the inside out. From the ground up.
This is a Global operation.
A Spiritual Conspiracy.

There are sleeper cells in every nation on the planet.
You won’t see us on the T.V.
You won’t read about us in the newspaper
You won’t hear about us on the radio
We don’t seek any glory
We don’t wear any uniform
We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles

Most of us work anonymously
We are quietly working behind the scenes
in every country and culture of the world
Cities big and small, mountains and valleys,
in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands
You could pass by one of us on the street
and not even notice

We go undercover
We remain behind the scenes
It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit
But simply that the work gets done
Occasionally we spot each other in the street
We give a quiet nod and continue on our way

During the day many of us pretend we have normal jobs
But behind the false storefront at night
is where the real work takes a place
Some call us the Conscious Army
We are slowly creating a new world
with the power of our minds and hearts

We follow, with passion and joy
Our orders come from from the Central Spiritual Intelligence
We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking
Poems — Hugs — Music — Photography — Movies — Kind words —
Smiles — Meditation and prayer — Dance — Social activism — Websites – Blogs — Random acts of kindness…

We each express ourselves in our own unique ways
with our own unique gifts and talents
Be the change you want to see in the world
That is the motto that fills our hearts
We know it is the only way real transformation takes place
We know that quietly and humbly we have
the power of all the oceans combined

Our work is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains
It is not even visible at first glance
And yet with it entire tectonic plates
shall be moved in the centuries to come

Love is the new religion of the 21st century
You dont have to be a highly educated person
Or have any exceptional knowledge to understand it
It comes from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings

Be the change you want to see in the world
Nobody else can do it for you
We are now recruiting
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have.
All are welcome
The door is open.

(Anon edited version of Brian Piergrossi original)

I think it is amazing and really sums up what many of us do. We create art (in the widest sense of the word) for no reason other than we have to. Something in us makes us want to create – baking, sewing, writing, drawing, singing, playing for no reason. And the scary thing is…we are not getting paid. We are not making money from it. It gives us pleasure, which we control, we rely on no-one else for it. Can you see how radical that is and how it scares people who seek to control us via the television, football, patriarchy, shopping and everything else?

And many of us share our joy in the things we create and do, all for free. I’m not charging you to read this, you wouldn’t think to pay for it. My blog is my gift to me and to you. And your gift to me is to comment, or just to take something from it – a smile, a thought or a radical need to over throw the shackles of oppression!