Hello 2022! Life Updates.

Greetings from a new home, a new year, and (hopefully) a fresh start to the Springtime! I haven’t written in quite some time, and to be honest, I didn’t have a lot of inspiration these last months. My mind and energy was elsewhere, and in order to create I need to be in a very specific mindset. Relaxed, connected, awake….and I haven’t felt that way for some time. A lot of that was due to things happening in my personal life, and moving to a new part of the country, and a great deal of it had to do with all that is happening in the world right now. I am not someone who is capable of watching the news on a daily basis and not feeling absolutely crushed for days afterwards! However, these last weeks, I made a point of tuning in to what is happening to our friends in Ukraine as I didn’t feel like it was right to turn away. However, as important as it is to bear witness to the suffering of other beings, and NOT turn away from it, I needed to look after myself. Therefore, I am checking on things in a VERY limited way. It has taken about two weeks to feel mentally balanced again, and the positive thing that has come out of this is that when I made the decision to save my head, I ‘randomly’ met three new friends in my new community and each day I meet them to do Qi Gong on the beach and get into the sea after. These women are wonderful, they ‘speak my language’, and I am so grateful to have a new little circle of people to enjoy. Just taking that hour out each morning to move my body so gently but effectively, and then dipping into the sea after has made such a difference. I nearly feel like picking up my camera again! For the first time in about a year.
A little update: I have moved to the ‘Sunny South-East’ of Ireland. And the name is accurate; this was the mildest winter I’ve had in my 16 years of living in Ireland. It made such a difference to my energy levels.
New things since my last post back in June of last year:

1) I have a garden outside that I have permission to whatever I like with. The house belonged to my landlord’s Uncle who passed away two years ago. As I was reviving the garden beds and doing a tidy up (I’m doing them as no-dig beds … shout-out to Charles Dowding whose course I am doing at the moment!) I was finding little forgotten carrots and radishes in the earth. It was really touching to know that the man who planted these has since passed on. The soil was so healthy – biggest earthworms I’ve ever seen! – and I can tell he treated his gardens with a lot of love. His name was Bob. So I have officially taken over as garden steward for Uncle Bob!

I’ve inherited a beautiful little Nebelung cat named Tony – I was officially bonded to him as his Human a few weeks ago when I had him microchipped with my name and number, a big moment! 🙂 I am super allergic to cats normally so when I was connected to this cat through my partner who had just taken him in (he turned up on the farm where he was working as a stray) and it transpired he is a hypoallergenic breed, I was skeptical. However, it appears we can co-habit fairly easily. He doesn’t shed at all, and the small amount of allergen he gives off I can handle more or less, but I did have some uncomfortable asthma-type allergies happening these last months which I am hopefully will adjust eventually. When I am at home he is my little shadow. This means endless cuddles and being followed around by what is basically a hot water bottle on legs. No complaints from me!

I have joined a choir in the city nearby, and each week is like a bit of medicine. You simply cannot leave a choir practice NOT feeling great! We had our first little street performance last week and it went super well.

Let’s see, what else….between the garden outside and telling everyone I meet that I am a plant maniac, I have made three new connections to volunteer some time at a nearby community garden, a flower farm, and a garden centre.
So, there are a lot of new opportunities and connections occurring after a relatively quiet and somewhat isolated winter. It is tempting to fill my calendar with all of this but a large part of me is patiently (and some days not so patiently!) waiting for my creativity to wake up. I miss MAKING. I feel like these last two years of COVID, and especially in the winters, I have taken / consumed / self-comforted and the urge now to give / make / and share is coming on so strongly. It may be a good time to take another look at The Artist’s Way….I’m an artist, and yet I am looking through the photos I have taken these last months and only one really stands out. So here it is.

I will keep you posted on the happenings in my life in the coming days!

With Love,

Flora