Inspirations

There's something about being a parent of a small child that inspires you to do more in your life than you ever thought possible.

Maybe it's a bit of their energy and passion for life that rubs off on you.

Maybe it's a reminder of how magical the world is, when they slow you down and force you to really stop to look at things you've seen before, but never noticed.

Maybe it's even that parenting is so all-encompassing, that it forces you out of your comfort zone to ensure you maintain your own identity, beyond only being 'Mum' or 'Dad'.

Whatever the reason, it's simply awe-inspiring to see people develop as a person alongside their children.

And when it's your husband who has stepped out of his shell, and finally pursued a long-suppressed passion for photography, you can't help but be more than a little proud, and want to share his achievements with the world.

Here are some of his latest photos, and you can also follow his journey on the 365 Project here.

Conflicted

What I'm reading at the moment.

Because sometimes life's just like that.

Today

One of the often-discussed issues people have with the online world, is the ability to censor, and edit, and present only the good.  It’s natural - we want to show our best side to the world.  But it can also lead to expectations, and guilt, and twitter-envy, and one-up-man-ship, and all sorts of other emotions that are generally counter-productive to getting on with life.

So I will be honest.

Today (despite my best intentions to be a good mother), I am tired, and don’t quite have the patience to deal with my beautiful (but snotty) toddler with the attention he deserves.

Today (despite my best intentions to embrace the seasons), it is dreary and grey, and I’m not feeling at one with nature.

Today (despite my best intentions to look after myself more), my clothes are crumpled and worn-out; my socks don’t match; my skin is dry; and I haven’t brushed my teeth or my hair.  And to be honest, I don’t think I could even be bothered caring if someone came to the door and saw me like this.

Today (despite my best intentions to be productive with my time), I am procrastinating, and putting things off, and taking 3 times as long to finish things - because everything else seems more enticing and more important than the work that actually has to get done.

Today (despite my best intentions to be healthy), I have already had 2 cups of coffee, fried eggs and cheese on toast, and am thinking about making chocolate cookies and sticky date pudding, and all sorts of other things that may feed my soul, but will certainly not help my body.

Today is not perfect.  

Today is life. Just the way it is sometimes.

Beginnings

I love blank pages. 

Whether it is a new document on the computer, or a new notebook, or sketchbook.  There’s something about all that white space that just fills me with hope.  

Because in it, there is so much promise of what could be.  A beautiful drawing.  A heartbreaking story.  A life-changing observation.

So I spend a lot of time looking at it, getting ready.  Smoothing the paper and sharpening my pencils. Or - depending on the medium - scrolling through templates and selecting fonts. 

In fact, I spend so much time preparing, that I often stagnate.  Because I get terrified that I will ruin those pages with a creation that is less than perfect.  

I’m telling you this, because I have this shiny new blog. 

And I don’t want to post until it’s ready. Until I have the perfect design and layout. Until I’ve written what this blog is about, and set up all my pages. Until I’ve come up with the perfect ‘first post’ with the perfect ‘first picture’.

But if I did that, it might never happen.

So I’m just going to jump in.  The other stuff will happen. In time.