Day 30 - Transformation - 30 Days of Inspiration

Hello Friends

Thank you for being part of my blog journey over the last 30 days.  I hope you will take away some inspiration!  I have found writing the blog truly transformational and it has given me inspiration for my next blog series "Creating with the Angels".  

Today is the Aquarius Blue Moon - an exciting time to take a leap of faith and create change for the positive in our lives - read more here http://www.mysticmamma.com/full-moon-blue-moon-in-aquarius-july-31st-2015/

I am reading an excellent book at the moment "Visionary Shamanism - activating the imaginal cells of the human energy field" by Linda Star Wolf & Anne Dillon.  Linda writes beautifully about the transformation of the caterpillar into the butterfly and relates it to human transformation.

Transformation is not to be feared  - it is to be embraced as an exciting new journey of possibilities for self discovery.  The next angel I will be painting is Azrael and he is connected to transformation.
I was in my mother's lovely wild garden a week or so ago and spotted at least 6 varieties of butterflies.  I attach photos of a couple that sat still long enough for me to photograph.

I'm embracing the exciting changes in my life.

Change one small thing today.

See you soon with "Creating with the Angels" about my creative journey painting the angels and my insights from connecting with them.

Blessings

Claire x

Day 29 - Childhood - 30 Days of Inspiration

Hello Friends today I'm sharing some of my childhood art. I drew and painted all the time as a child. Favourite subjects were my garden, my gran's garden, my cat and people. I'm so glad I saved my childhood artwork. I love to look back at it and it still inspires me and makes me smile. In the same way I cherish my children's art and they inspire me.

Creativity is to be cherished and encouraged.

Love your creativity.

Blessings Claire x

Day 28 - In Beauty May I Walk - 30 Days of Inspiration

This morning I have completed painting Archangel Jophiel as part of my commission of 20 Angels for Caroline Palmy www.palmyhealing.com
Each painting has been a journey of heart and soul. I will be starting a new blog "Creative Journey with the Angels" after I have had my summer holidays - September.
I feel very emotional when I complete a painting. Today I shed tears of joy when I completed Jophiel. She is the Angel of beauty and I feel I have done her proud! When I completed the painting the words "I walk in beauty" and came to me. I Googled it and my search came up with the most stunning Navajo prayer 'May I walk in beauty' which to me celebrates both my creative journey with Archangel Jophiel as well as life's journey 💖

A Navajo Prayer
In beauty may I walk
All day long may I walk
Through the returning seasons may I walk
Beautifully will I possess again
Beautifully birds,
Beautifully joyful birds
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk
With dew about my feet may I walk
With beauty may I walk
With beauty before me may I walk
With beauty behind me may I walk
With beauty above me may I walk
With beauty all around me may I walk
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk
It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.

Day 27 - The flowers' lesson of time and patience - 30 Days of Inspiration

Hello Friends

I have always been incredibly impatient - apparently my Moon being in Aries has something to do with it according to my birthchart reading recently!  I always want to be onto the next thing, sometimes my mind is flooded with so many ideas that I don't know where to start.  I have a tendency to go into "headless chicken" mode if I am not mindful - running around trying to do lots of things and then collapsing in burn out.

Meditation has been a life saver for me and my poor mind and body!  Recently in a guided meditation facilitated by the wonderful Maggie Kay www.maggiekaywisdom.com  - I had the image of a flower and the message was something like this - "the flower's petals open very slowly to reveal its full beauty, we cannot see the petals opening, but it is happening none the less".  I now keep this image in mind whenever I feel frustrated because I feel "things are moving too slowly"  or "I need to do this more quickly".  Time is a subjective experience - notice when on holiday how time appears to slow down and yet when the pressure is on to get something done it speeds up!

Take a lesson from the flowers, they are in no rush to bloom and grow, enjoy the journey.

See you tomorrow

Blessings Claire x

Day 26 - Creating Creative Space - 30 Days of Inspiration

Hello Friends

Today I'm sharing how I created a creative space and how that inspires my creativity!

 As a kid I used to use the dining table at home to  create my art on - however it was so frustrating having to pack everything away at meal times!  I longed for my own creative space.  Later on after I had my own children I found myself in same frustrating situation where I was confined to creating my art on the family meal table and having to pack all away.  Then I read the "Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron and I learnt to attach more importance to my creativity and in particular a space for it. So I cleared a couple of shelves of old dusty ornaments and books that had been read and that's where my art materials lived which could be transported to the table very quickly and creativity could begin.  I cleared a cupboard for more art materials - soon I had created a space for my art to grow and evolve.  Some meals were eaten on knees in front of the TV  - after negotiation - it was a small inconvenience to pay for having some space for creative self expression - after all my partner had his photography studio in the attic!

Now as a single parent, I must admit it is easier to claim some space all to myself - yippeee!! ;)

My lovely rented home has a big kitchen diner.  I have claimed the diner as my art studio.  The kids eat on the island in the kitchen.  Myself and any family who visit have to eat our meals in amongst my paints and brushes - a great new dining experience!

A couple of other books which have inspired me with regards to clearing space and creating new space in the home are "Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui" by Karen Kingston and "Peaceful Spaces" by Alice Whately.

Make space for your creativity today and see what gifts the Universe brings you in return!

Blessings Claire x

Day 25 - Sketchbooks - 30 Days of Inspiration

Hello friends

My sketchbooks offer me a playground to explore my imagination. Here I can be imperfect, exploratory, reflective and have fun. I often revisit them to gain inspiration. I work in mixed media which means that I use a variety of art mediums and techniques together - ink, acrylic, pencil, pen, watercolour, collage, pastel etc. I like to create a visual feast for the eyes.
I use my creativity to transform mood and wellbeing.

Have a vibrant day!
Blessings Claire x

Day 24 - Peace of Mind - 30 Days of Inspiration

Hello Friends,

The most valuable thing I possess is peace of mind.
At my lowest ebb two years ago when I'd left my job due to ill health and I was scraping by on benefits feeling full of fear at losing my home I discovered meditation. Through meditation I realised that the most valuable thing I could possess was peace of mind. I am still learning how to guard it and retain it. Self sabotage can easily creep in as can the stresses of others and being a giver I listen and if I'm not careful give, give, give to the detriment of my own health. Being honest with myself (never easy) and setting up strong boundaries has been essential to maintain my mental and physical balance. I embrace the peace of early mornings as time to reflect, meditate and plan my day ahead. Peace of mind affords me creative energy and space for imagination and playfulness.

Have a peaceful day

Blessings Claire x

Day 23 - Freedom - 30 Days of Inspiration

Freedom is a state of mind. This I am gradually learning. Today I took myself off on a pilgrimage to Score Hill circle. I needed a day in nature and also wanted to go somewhere ancient and mysterious. I've been a single parent for four years and I've learnt to like my own company. It's a case of either "imprisoning" myself with worries about doing things under my own steam, or "oh my goodness the washing up needs doing and this and that" or just going for it and getting out there. My kids are with their dad and I'm doing something for me. It was beautiful up there today and I even braved a dip in the North Teign river. So glad I left the chores behind today. Batteries are charged and I'm inspired with creative ideas and energy. Tomorrow its forecast rain, plenty of washing up time.

See you tomorrow!

Have a great day :-)

Blessings

Claire x

Day 22 - Healing - 30 Days of Inspiration

I have created art all my life.  However, in 2013, when I became ill, my art creating took on a new purpose - I did it to help me to feel better, to heal. I discovered art journaling and the work of Tamara Laporte. I took her free online art journaling class and found it to be so inspiring that I signed up for Life Book 2014. Which took me on a journey of creative and self discovery which I continue. http://www.willowing.org
The artwork I've included here are some of the projects I completed on Tamara's 'Art, Heart and Healing' course. See her website for info.

I am writing about my healing journey and I may share in a future blog series.
Have a great day!
Blessings
Claire

Day 21 - Ancestry - 30 Days of Inspiraton

Welcome friends to Day 21 of my 30 days of Inspiration.  The original purpose and intention of this blog was so that you could get to know me a little better, to be able to 'see' the person behind the artwork a bit more clearly and also to inspire by sharing some of my inspirations.

Today I'm sharing some of the ways in which researching my ancestry has inspired me.

I began my ancestry research journey in 2002.  A colleague at the time was passionate about family research and her passion was infectious - I became hooked!  Through using the Scotland's People website I began to find out about my Scottish origins.  My maternal grandmother, Robina, was Scottish.  She was small in stature, 5'1" but had a fiesty temperament.  My mother told me about  an incident where my mother had had her heartbroken by a boyfriend.  He ended up getting an earful down the phone from my grandmother!  Robina came from a long line of crofters living in far north east Scotland, a wild and windswept landscape which made the people very hardy, no-nonsense types.  Work was scarce and many women, including Robina and her mother (my great grandmother) Jean, worked in service as there were several private Stately homes in the area. 

Prior to my grandmother's passing she dictated a few of her stories of her days in service to my father, they make an interesting insight:

1925 - Mountblairy House near Turrif (now demolished).  My grandmother was 17 years old.  "There was no heating, all stone floors, no carpets, lots of passages."

1926 - Dess House on Deeside,  owned by Col. and Mrs Davidson. Robina worked here for 18 months.  "Three servants worked in the kitchen, there was much entertaining.  Queen Mary visited and the housemaid brought in Mary's fur coat and all the staff stroked it."

1927 - Rothsay Terrace Edinburgh.  "There were many steps (which gran had to clean)...it was a dreadful place".  My grandmother stayed here for four months.  There were six staff ro cater for three kids and the parents.  The staff included a nanny, a cook, palour maid, housemaid and Robina.  Every Tuesday she had to scrub and whiten the 12-18 steps from the back door.  She scrubbed the long passage way twice a week.  Gran scrubbed the front steps at 6am and did all the washing up for the household.  The housemaid who "was a wicked woman" washed the tea dishes.  There were more stairs to scrub that went up to their rooms with a large cupboard at the foot of the stairs which gran had to regularly dust.

In 1931, after working for several families more families in Scotland, my grandmother took her chance to escape to a better life by advertising to find work in England through an agency in Baker Street, London.  She found work at a house in Newbury, Berkshire.  Around 1934 my grandmother had an on off relationship with an Irish Groom "Jimmy"during this time (with one day off a month it was hard to develop relationships).  During a break from Jimmy she met and became engaged to Frederick, my grandfather.  One day Robina went by train to see her future sister in law in Hillingdon, leaving her bike at the train station.  On her way back to the station she saw Jimmy and had to explain she was now engaged to Frederick.  She said that Jimmy wrote to her after that meeting.  My grandmother also revealed that if she was at the altar with Frederick she would change her mind for Jimmy.  Later prior to her wedding to Frederick my grandmother had an intuitive urge to jump on a train back to Scotland.  Her marriage was not a happy one.  I like to think of her dressed in her best hat and coat, suitcase at in the luggage rack above her, smiling out of the window as the Scottish landscape comes into view.  But then I would not be here to tell this tale.

In discovering my ancestral roots I feel I am discovering myself - and there is an abundance of stories of learning and self discovery I could share that go beyond the space and focus of this blog.

I recommend reading the Ancestral Continuum:
 "An inspirational book about who we are and where we come from. Written by Natalia O'Sullivan and Nicola Graydon. Published by Simon and Schuster. Feb 2013" which has helped to give me a deeper insight into myself through the lives of my ancestors https://www.facebook.com/AncestralContinuum

I hope you will find inspiration in your ancestral stories.

Have a great day.

Blessings Claire

Day 20 - Poetry - 30 Days of Inspiration

Hello friends welcome to Day 20 already!  Today I'm sharing my love of poetry.  I have been inspired by poetry since a child.  I am going to share some of my poetry.  My poems are inspired by relationships, nature, animals, love, spirit:

Deer

We knew they would wait for us,

Along our winding way,

They sensed our approach

And so would not stay.

Faith in their presence,

At the edge of their world and ours,

Drove us to search them out

In the late-evening hours.

At certain times we were too early

And from the woods they did not appear,

Though as we passed by,

We knew they were near.

And every time anticipation

In the number next we’d see,

The deer are still waiting,

As we drive on, you and me.

Evening light

If God created the world

Then he built my home.

With bare hands

Chaffed in cold-harsh

Hillside winds;

I see him now, stooping

To place each limestone brick,

Atop the other

‘til another row is made.

Gradually the doorways

And windows take form

And a heavy stone

Shoulder–carried lintel placed above each.

How long has this house stood here?

Since before the pine woods;

The roof timbers and eaves are of oak

Names of past distant dwellers

Carved in the beams,

My home is my ship

A sacred vessel that carries me

Through slate-rattling storms

Of winter into spring.

My home grows with nature

It matures like a good wine

Sprightly green mosses and lichens

Fill the cracks.

The birds nest in the chimney pots

And fill the hearth with song

On summer days.

I sit on summer nights on

A seat-worn, warm-wood chair

A twisting shrub climbs my doorway,

Golden as the walls

In the evening light;

Here we make our music and our love.

If God created the world

Then he built my home.

I Never Liked Dogs

I never liked dogs,

Until I met you.

At first we shunned

One another

So used were you

To all his attention

Affection

Selfishly lavished and lapped.

Jealousy

Then little by little,

We learnt to share him

And abide

Each other’s presence.

You walked me

Through the woods

And fields.

He had not seen with you;

That only you and I knew.

You were our conversation,

Our sofa companion;

Uninvited mealtime guest;

Sometimes unwelcome.

Hiding your eyes

Submissively between

Two huge furry paws,

Waiting for my fork

And knife to chink

Against my plate.

And then you ate.

After I left the first time

I knew I would be back,

Did you?

By the second time

You were my shadow.

I knew I would be back,

Did you?

I thought about you often;

Who was tickling your ears

In my place on the sofa?

When I returned for the third time

You were so thin

No wag to greet me.

How conceited I was

To believe that you

Had pined for me.

I tickled your ears

And you looked at me

Through unfocussed,

Milky eyes.

And I knew then

You were dying.

I only came back for you

To hold your heart.

Have a great day.  See you tomorrow.

blessings Claire 

Day 19 - Friendship - 30 Days of Inspiration

Hello friends - today I'm exploring how friendship inspires me.  I've changed the names* of some of the people I mention.

I still have memories of being with my first friend, Lucy*, when I started infant school aged 5 way back in 1978.  My memories are mostly of the fun, security and love that came from that first friendship.  I remember holding hands with my friend in the playground and feeling like the world was a lighter, brighter and happier place because I had a friend.

Amazingly we recently bumped into each other again and are now friends on social media.  Its incredible to think that she has known me for almost as long as my sister and parents!  We were close until secondary school and then we drifted into different social groups. 

Secondary school was an even scarier time and it took me a while to find my feet.  Eventually I become close friends with Jemma*.  We were both tall and slim with blond hair and similar goofy hairstyles - we weren't part of the cool and popular set!  What we both shared was a difficult relationship with our parents at that time and therefore were born survivors.  Jemma had a wonderful acerbic wit and together with my observational sense of humour and being able to flip the negative into the positive we made it through our GCSEs and then A-levels.  At university we wrote to each other regularly and I loved receiving her witty letters.  Then we lost touch a few times over the years but she always found me via my mother's address.  The last time we met was 6 years ago and then she just dropped off the radar and I miss her. However, I know that if we ever meet again we will pick up where we started and it will be like we only saw each other yesterday.  That is the marvellous, and miraculous thing with close friends. 

When I moved back to my hometown in South Devon a year ago my close friend Margaret* that I have known since I studied my A-levels was there waiting for me with open arms.  She and her husband helped me with setting up furniture in my new home and we have reignited our friendship meeting as regularly as we can.

Friendship constantly amazes me.  I have made some wonderful close friends from a wide variety of social situations since leaving University twenty years ago.  I've been lucky that wherever I've worked, whichever group I have belonged to and whichever school my children have gone to I have made good friends.  I value the friendships I have and tend to them like a beautiful garden of flowers as much as I can within the context of being a working parent.  I love my new friends and old.

Of course some friendships move on as life changes, leaving school, jobs, etc.  When my relationship broke up in 2011 I prepared myself for my friendships changing.  My mother had pre-warned me that some friends would drift away.  Even so I was surprised to see which friends stepped back and which came forward with open arms.  Being a single woman I was no longer part of the 'couples set'.  Another single mother friend said to me "don't be surprised about no longer being invited to dinner parties and BBQs by your married friends" which is true for most but not all of my friends.

My closest friends stuck with me on this new path and I am so thankful!  During the rough times when my partner and I could no longer live in our home together and friends put me up in their spare room or on their airbed.  After I'd moved out of the family home, with my children and was living with my mother, because life was too unbearable living with my ex,  a friend generously loaned us her lovely home for a few weeks while her and her husband were away.  Another close friend listened, laughed and cried with me regularly over many glasses of wine.

I needed to adjust to my new situation as a lone parent and find like minded souls so I created a single parent friendship group.  I put allot of time and energy into it, secured some funding which paid for us all to have some day trips and experiences.  Most importantly I made mutually friendships  - the closest of which have blossomed and grown.

Friendships, like flowers, come in many forms  - all our miraculous and truly inspirational.

Thank you to my friends.

Have a great day

blessings Claire

Day 18 - Angels - 30 Days of Inspiration

Hello friend, today I'm sharing my personal journey with the angels which I love to paint and draw, along with their fellows the fairies.  This is the first time I have widely shared these stories, apart from with close like-minded friends and close family.  I hope they inspire.

My first experience of, what I believe to be, angelic intervention came when I was travelling in Australia.  I was camping with fellow travellers on Fraser Island (Aboriginal name K'gari - which means 'heavenly' or 'paradise') near to Lake Boomanjin.  Here is the Aboriginal legend about Fraser Island:

When humans were created and needed a place to live, the mighty god Beiral sent his messenger Yendingie with the goddess K’gari down from heaven to create the land and mountains, rivers and sea. K’gari fell in love with the earth’s beauty and did not want to leave it. So Yendingie changed her into a heavenly island – Fraser Island.

I awoke, bleary eyed, early one morning and took myself off for a dip in the nearby lake.  I walked to the far shore of the lake which was bright, sparkling white sand.  It was pure white like sugar.  The lake itself is coloured by the tannin of the tea tree leaves that surround it and has a pleasantly minty odour.  The water was inviting and warm and I enjoyed my swim.  After dressing I started to navigate my way back up the lake shore to where I thought I had entered through the thick woodland.  However, the doorway and pathway back to my camp mates availed me.  I walked up and down the lake shore for what seemed to be an eternity with only Dingo and bird tracks to accompany me.  I was truly lost and no one knew where I was.  I sat down on a log, picked up a stick and wrote 'Help!' in the sand.  Within seconds I heard my name being called in the distance, I looked up the shore to see my travelling companions shouting and waving.  I was so relieved and felt very foolish.  I had simply not walked far enough up the lake shore as I had forgotten in my dazed, early morning state how far I had walked.  I knew instinctively this was more than just coincidence, as also the night before I had dreamt vividly of a spirit being made of multi-coloured lights.  Later, after my return to the UK, in reading and learning about angels I discovered that when we ask for help the angels step forward. 

I stayed in Australia for 8 months of my 12 month visa, I was becoming homesick, had run out of money and importantly there was a family crisis at home that I felt I needed to get back to help and support with.  My time in Australia had definitely been one of self discovery with a mixture of pleasant and not so pleasant experiences - it wasn't all paradise!  However, the natural beauty and power of its awesome landscape had seeped into my soul.  The red earth that I remember seeing seeping out into the sea, like the lifeblood of the land as I first flew over the northern coast, was now running in my veins.  On my last night in Australia I had the most incredible dream.  In my dream I heard a female voice singing exquisitely in what sounded like Arabic.  I saw, floating above me, a beautiful, shining angel.  She was golden-orange light and stretching her arms out to me in a gesture that suggested she was reaching out to communicate with me.  She looked middle-Eastern, totally stunning in beauty, her face the gentlest and most loving expression and her hair and 'clothing' floated around her. I instinctively knew what she was singing  - roughly translated it was "we are celebrating your homecoming to your family".  When I awoke I could still here her song and it stayed with me and reverberated around my body for the whole journey home.  I have to say that I was grief-stricken to leave Australia too - I was leaving a boyfriend as well as a mountain of experience - I sobbed under my blanket for hours on the flight back to the UK.  Funnily enough one of the things that my Turkish, Muslim, boyfriend had discussed was angels and how they appear in Islam and Christianity (and across many other faiths and beliefs). Ultimately, it was the right thing to do and without realising it I was on a new path.

Back in the UK I found some temp work at a bank.  It was boring, unfriendly staff and soul-destroying data-entry work.  The blessing was that an old school friend worked their and the office was right next to Exeter Cathedral and its green which I escaped to in my lunch hours.  The frontage of the Cathedral has many angels carved from stone.  It was at this time I began to make cards onto which I'd collaged coloured angel feathers made from paper.  I decided to take them to a gift shop which was tucked behind the Cathedral one lunchtime.  As I set off on my route I noticed tiny white feathers along my path, I kept thinking 'well it must be birds', however the feathers led me all the way to the shop.  Happily they put my cards on sale!  I also started making fairy and angel dolls which I sold at craft fairs.

Life moved on and I met a new boyfriend.  I'd spend weekends with him at his home on the edge of Bodmin Moor, in Cornwall.  The village was near the Minions moor which has ancient Neolithic stone circles 'The Hurlers', a giant stone called the 'Cheesewring' and 'Rillaton Barrow'.  I couldn't sleep one night and I could hear something high-pitched in the distance.  I realised it was like a choir singing.  I nudged my boyfriend but he wouldn't awake.  So I tiptoed around the house checking what I was hearing wasn't air trapped in the heating system or some other noise in the house.  I could still hear the choir in the distance coming from the direction of Moor.  It was a still night.  It was 3am a bit late for a choir to be in the middle of Bodmin moor.  As I tuned in the clearer the singing became, in the end I just had to accept that I couldn't explain it and went back to bed.  I later read about angelic singing and thought about my dream on my last night of Australia also.

During this time I read allot about angels and continued to create angel and fairy art.  After a few years of losing touch with them I have in the last couple of years started to work with the angels again.  I'm painting a series of angels for Caroline Palmy of www.palmyhealing.com which is a blessing that has led me deeper into researching and creatively expressing the angels.  I have collected several angel oracle decks which I enjoy reading for myself, friends and family and looking at the how other artists express angels.  As I have been creating the artwork I intuit the essence of the particular angel I am working on.  I am finding that the energy of that angel manifests in my life as I work with it.  For example, whilst I was painting Archangel Gabriel, who's associations include communication, lots of lessons around communication and sorting out my communication in different media came up for me.  I've had a big frustrating challenge with my ADSL Broadband connection and after several phone calls to the technical team decided to go straight to the sales team who offered me fibre Broadband at a competitive price.

The angels can work with us in many ways, all we have to do is ask.

Have a wonderful day!

Blessings Claire x

Archangel Haniel

Fraser Island

Fraser Island

Day 17 - Spirituality - 30 Days of Inspiration

Hello friend, here we are on day 17 already and over half way through my blog.  I hope that you are finding some inspiration in my posts.  I am finding that this journey is inspiring me in many ways as its bringing into consciousness those many facets of myself and sprarking new personal insights.  So far I have shared how nature, fashion, fairies, gratitude, books, Dartmoor, music, meditation, movies, humour, acceptance, prayer, spontaneity and home all inspire me in different ways.

Today I want to share how embracing my spirituality inspired me.  Since a child I have had an awareness that this physical existance is not all there is, however none of my family were open to the spirit world and I closed down that side of me.  Up until my late 20's the only angels I'd heard about or seen were those on the stain glass windows of the churches I'd been to as a school girl.  I'm not a church goer these days but I remember really enjoying the contact with the spiritual side of life in those early years at my Church of England primary school. 

Moving up to secondary school my favourite subject next to art was Religious Education and I went on to take it as a GCSE and an A-Level.  My A-Level Religious Studies teacher was incredibly inspiring.  We read the whole of the bible in the two years of the course and I was fascinated by the roots and origins of the stories, the people who had collated the stories and who appeared in them - like the prophets who all seemed to live for many hundreds of years - as well as the messages contained within them.  We also experienced other religions on trips and residences.  I did not realise at the time how my spiritual and cultural awareness soared during this period of my life and I honour and treasure that time now.

When I went to university and then worked in London I lost my way with a sense of my inner spiritual life.  A boyfriend at university introduced me to esoteric books and taught me how to read tarot and runes and this gave me a link back to the non-physical world which I welcomed.  London left me depressed, lost, exhausted and wanting for an adventure back to myself.  So I left with a friend and travelled and worked our way around some of Australia.  In Cairns I secured an amazing temping job working for 'Reconciliation' https://www.reconciliation.org.au/

From the Reconciliation Website:

"Reconciliation is about building better relationships between the wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for the benefit of all Australians.
To create positive change we need more people talking about the issues and coming up with innovative ideas and actions that make a difference."

I was working for the Chairwoman of Reconciliation and assisting her PA to set up their new office from scratch - which is where my secretarial experience in London came in handy!  I was naive about the issues facing the Aboriginal people and received an education in at the deep end.  I also learnt about more about their culture and fell in love with their art.  It was a wonderful few weeks and I was sad to leave my new friends.  They have been the kindest, wisest and most welcoming people I have ever had the pleasure to work with.  I only scratched a tiny bit of the surface of their story and circumstance in my time with them.  I did take away with me a new understanding about the land and how everything in nature  - even the rocks are brimming with life and spirit.  I walked a few times from our rented 'Queenslander' house to Mount Whitfield Conservation Park.  The scenery, wildlife and views are simply breathtaking and I wrote several poems inspired walks there; I felt everything was brimming with spirit.

Leaving Australia I felt I'd left part of my heart and soul in the red earth forever.  It was a traumatic time resettling into life in my home town.  Everything seemed greyer even the people.  I got depressed, something had intangible changed in me.  I wanted to retrieve whatever I was missing.  I expected something awesome to happen but instead my life, without realising it, had gently shifted onto a new path and the people and circumstances which entered my life from that point gradually took me deeper into the forest of becoming conscious of my spirituality.  I started to read more and more metaphysical books.  A boyfriend I met during that period of readjustment introduced me to some tape recordings of Stuart Wilde http://www.stuartwilde.com/.  We would listen to them in his car whilst driving crazily along narrow country lanes.  This whole experience, like the relationship, in retrospect, was like some labrinthine initiation into conscious awareness.  At this time I was also introduced to the angels and several things began to click into place as I welcomed them into my life

Tomorrow I will talk about how angels inspire me.

Have a great day!

Blessings Claire x

Day 16 - Home - 30 Days of Inspiration

Hello dear friends :-) 

"Home is where the heart is" so the saying goes. 

I love my home and where ever I live I'm like a little birdy feathering her nest with glittery, pretty things. My sun sign is practical Capricorn but my ascending sign is Libra so like to pretty things up whereever I am - beautiful and harmonious surroundings are the order of my day!  I've been known to paint a kitchen turquoise,  my bedroom floor rose pink, to decorate the walls of my loo with postcards, and to chalk paint vintage furniture.  I like the unconventional and the quirky, the wild and the natural, the sparkly and eye-catching.

Since my early twenties I've moved 18 times or so, 5 times in the last 4 years.  Most of those moves have been directed by necessity - University in Wales; work in London; travelling around Australia for work; moving in with boyfriends; finding a home after seperating from my children's father that was close to the school they were attending. 

My most recent move was a year ago last May.  I looked around me and realised that my reason for living in Exeter had been for a job I no longer had and my ex.  I had the choice to try to stay put to keep my children at their lovely, sought after, primary school and to keep their father happy or to make a move.  My home area was calling me where all my family live in South Devon.  I asked the universe for a house near my chosen school with a garden and lots of space inside, bright and airy, and my wish was granted, which I am so very grateful for beyond words...then an inner voice started calling.  

An urge has been growing recently more and more that I need to live my truth, beyond the conventional and what is is expected.  I've started to question who I am living my life for.  I've ticked all the boxes and crossed all the t's, dotted all the i's - but who for?  Am I playing the role of "the good girl", "the obedient daughter",  "the responsible and honourable mother" "the respectful woman" and losing something far greater?  In moving to our lovely rental home, 5 mins walk to school, easy access for my children's father (although he despises driving the 15 miles from Exeter and constantly reminds me of that shameful woman that I am ;-) ) I've realised how much I yearn to be surrounded by wild open countryside and - I will sound ungrateful now  - I'm not - how much I detest living on an estate with a square patch of grass of lawn at the back devoid of flowers and plant life (which I have no desire to invest time and money in as its not ours) that is overlooked at the back by the windows of houses, every pedestrian and dog walker who passes on the pavement, and at the front by blocks of flats. 

I yearn for trees, wild flowers, streams and rivers and wide open spaces to run and shout and throw all my clothes off if the urge takes me.  The wild woman in me is awakening.  I'm following the wild path and I have no idea where I will end up.  Its a new, heart-driven, exciting journey.

I was very inspired today reading Leonie Dawson's blog about her move from Tasmania back to Canberra.  http://leoniedawson.com/were-moving/

 Today it's just me and my son, my daughter is on a sleepover.  We are off on an adventure to find a wild beach for our picnic and a swim.

Have a beautiful day!

Blessings Claire x

Day 15 - Spontaneity - 30 Days of Inspiration

Yesterday I drew an Angel card "Spontaneity" a sign for me to embrace my spontaneous urges and ideas! So I blew out the school-night schedule and took my kids out last eve. We paddled along a stream and watched baby frogs emerging and hopping off on their way. Magical.  We arrived home after 9pm tired and happy.

Be spontaneous today and see what happens.

Have a great day

Blessings Claire

Day 14 - Prayer - 30 Days of Inspiration

The St Francis prayer really inspires me:

I am continually inspired by the power of prayer. Blessings, have a great day.

Claire x

Day 13 - Acceptance - 30 Days of Inspiration

Welcome to Day 13 of  my "30 days of inspiration".  In my last blog post I shared how humour inspires me and has helped me to accept situations by shining a postive light on them.  This led me to think about acceptance and how it continues to inspire me.  Like forgiveness (to be discussed in a future blog post) its a tough one to get a handle on.  For me, as many of us, self acceptance and acceptance of life circumstance and other people's choices or behaviour etc is an ongoing life project.

I want to focus on self acceptance today though as its currently to the forefront of my mind.  I have come to a point in my life after 42 years on the planet of starting to accept myself more.  However, its still a challenge.  The most challenging thing I am trying to make peace with is my health - especially since becoming self employed and all that entails.  I was diagnosed with ME 2 years ago, however I'd had progressively worsening symptoms of the illness for severl years prior to that and I feel the seeds of the illness began bakc in early childhood. Two years ago I could barely get out of bed some days and spent most of them housebound.  Yet through learning how to manage my energy and doing lots of work on my health and wellbeing - here I am doing what I always dreamed of doing  - making an income from my creativity and having the job title of 'Artist'.  The contrast to this wonderful personal achievement being that I have entered a whole new arena of challenge to my self acceptance of who and where I am with myself.  So I'm choosing to see it as an opportunity to shape and form my own paradigm of how I can be in the world of business.

Its easy to become overwhelmed.  I look around me and see people who seem to be power houses of energy, brimming with wonderful and seemingly ceaseless media campaigns and a permanent and omnipresent fixture on social media.  We all make comparisons with others its human nature. I used to have non stop energy before I burnt out. My mum used to say I ran around like a "headless chicken".  In my twenties following University I used my fiery determination to get some work experience with a Film and Television production company.  Went back to study two evenings a week at Chelsea College of Art and Design to learn set design for film and televison whilst holding down a full time job and evening work experience in the art department for TV shows.  Ultimately, I found that I was trying to mould myself into a career that was soul destroying and was surrounded by many people who were cut throat ambitious to the point of ugliness. It didn't suit my sensitive and gentle  nature, so it served in a learning curve (which I went on for several years and is still ongoing) of who I was in the world.  At first I cursed myself for not being 'thick-skinned' enough to see it through, not having this qualification or that experience.  In the end I saw it as a lucky escape and if I'd stuck on that road I probably would have burnt out much sooner.

I am now starting my journey into embracing my unique qualities and the contrast (read Abraham Hicks) in my life.  Having M.E., on the whole, I see now as a blessing (I still have my days when I curse it I'm only human).  Instead of running wild "like a headless chicken" and expelling energy in every which way it is teaching me to focus and to live a gentler and kinder to myself life. I can't match those with "powerhouse" energy so I'm not going to try. That means doing things my way to fit my current life situation as a single parent of 2 children (one of whom required extra care due to additional needs) with ME.  I am learning to accept that I have to live gently and simply and I'm learning to trust that the clients and audience for my business will be attracted to a "gentler" business model.

Here are some of the things I get frustrated with and I'm trying to learn to accept:

Being a single parent
Having a limited energy for XYZ
Having limited time for XYZ
My weight, looks, ageing, hair etc you name it!

Now I think of some positive words or "affirmations" I can associate with those:

I am brave, courageous and a wise and loving parent.
I am being kinder to myself and cherish my own unique way of being in the world.
I am enjoying the moment; there is plenty of time.
I am beautiful inside and out.

The serenity prayer helps me in times when I need a reminder of the need to accept:

God grant me the Serenity
To accept the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can
And Wisdom to know the difference.

If you like do this exercise for yourself with by turning something you find difficult accepting into a postive sentence or "affirmation".

Have a great day.  See you tomorrow :-)