Go slow, gratitude and Mindfulness resolutions

A Happy (Belated) New Year to you all my lovelies wherever you may be! I have rather neglected this wee corner of the world and have missed being here and the connections it brings.

Last year was a good year in lots of ways, with a whirlwind of activity: a trip to India, a new studio, exhibitions galore, workshops a plenty and lots of projects on the go, all very good. Yet as Winter descended and  the days of the year were numbered I realised my feet had hardly touched the ground and I was feeling decidedly frayed at the edges.

So I have spent my time since the new year in a state of hibernation, finding time to recuperate, time to ruminate, lighting candles, sitting watching the sunset, taking moments to stop what I'm doing and just breathe. Looking back, I realised that last year I simply hadn't allowed myself much time out at all. No time for mindfulness, for treasuring the moments, no time for the blog writing that I love to do, no time for my sketch-a-day,  no time to just sit and be. I hadn't even heard my body telling me to slow down!
It is so easy to get caught up in our frantically paced world and I knew I had to take action to re-claim the balance that had been missing last year. So I made just one New Year resolution -  To go slower, to savour the moments. After all that is why my blog is named '5 Precious Things', a reminder to self to slow down and find 5 precious things each day in my life to be thankful for.

I needed something visual and visible  so I made myself a huge wall planner and had great fun in the process using lots of my HeART Journaling techniques and included my words to live by for the year -  Mindfulness,  Gratitude, Courage and Peaceful.  I will pin my planner up on the wall of my studio  and it will be a a daily reminder to keep my resolution, and to live by my chosen words.

I have made space in my weeks for work projects and for play, for heath and happiness, for family, friends and for myself. It is so important to try and keep a balance and fulfil all the areas that we need to find harmony in our lives.

It amazes me just how often, when I am looking for answers, the universe drops the perfect solution into my lap, for look what I found in the local shop, this beautiful new publication called 'Breathe', filled with lots of interesting articles based on well being, mindfulness and creativity, including one on listening to your body clock. I also found a lovely wee journal in the sale section in which to record  '100 days of Gratitude'. Once you start to look for those precious moments in your day, you begin to find more and more. I  am already reaping the rewards of spending a few moments at the end of my day to pause and be grateful.

I set myself one more task to do daily, to help with my new resolution and that is to take a daily gratitude photograph. Today's subject just had to be this cheeky visitor to our garden, he was scampering about all over the lawn burying nuts and frisking his tail in the air, and made me smile with his antics. I got carried away trying to capture his antics.

I can't wait to look back at the end of the year and see my 365 photo's.

Easing into the day, gently . . .

Do you rush into your day headlong?

Setting a Morning routine to ease gently into the day

Oh my, I used to do just that, my mornings would be such a jumble & a rush

 1. Diving straight into the studio deal with my e-mails  

2. Going off on tangents, being distracted by a piece of work or research

3. Forgetting to drink my morning coffee

4.  Rushing about feeling stressed and out of sorts

5. Surfacing several hours later having not done half of the things I had meant to!

 So I decided no more, "what would I really like my morning to feel like?"

Relaxed, waking up to the day slowly,  taking time to ease into my day.

 So I set about making it happen, and now I start my day with a lovely studio morning routine

I make sure I take an hour out of my morning to

1. Put on some calming, music from my You-Tube channel

2. Light one of my homemade candles

3. Drink my coffee from one of my fave little mugs I have collected

4. Light one of my favourite incense sticks a "Nag Champa"

5. Spend just half an hour with my sketchbook doodling or writing in my journal.

What a difference! By making just a little gentle "me" time in the morning,

it allows me to settle into the day, find my feet and  relax.

My whole day takes on a different feel and I'm ready to go.

Do you have a morning routine that eases you into your day, I'd love to know what others do!

A January go slow & stirrings . . .

Catching up on news & happenings, where did January go . . .

After my morning walk I came home grinning from ear to ear, for I discovered there are stirrings in the forest, the beginnings of bluebells and there are snowdrops down the lane. Spring is on its way & things are slowly starting to come out of their sleepy hibernation.

 

The darkness of January, I always find the hardest months to bear, when the light is gone & the skies are grey.  It is my "Go Slow" month, I have always fought that & it has made things so much worse.  So it was my personal challenge this year to be kind to myself & to wake to the year at my own pace. This year I have been hibernating too.

I have worked moments into my days when I take time out, go slow, curl by the crackling fire with cups of tea to sip, I have hunted for adventure in the delicious stories & books gifted to me at Christmas.

I have sat & watched sunlight flow into the stillness of my studio setting a myriad of sparkles dancing about the walls.

Then as February loomed, knowing my struggles with the darkness of the days, my Mr O whisked me of on a magical trip, away over sea, mountains & desert to an oasis of sunlight & colour & warmth.

Normally i choose to fill every minute of a holiday dashing about & exploring going home almost as tired as when we arrived. Apparently this was not on the list of to do's for this break!

By day three I was beginning to wonder how I would last a week.  Then as if by magic something clicked & I suddenly discovered its wonderful just to sit all day, every day, to watch, read, listen to music, doodle & well just relax. Well who knew! 

And loveliest of all, the creative block that has been lurking for oh so long, decided it needed a holiday too and my pencil just flew, I came home with  pages filled with ideas & doodles.

 I felt the stirrings of ideas beginning to form, plans starting to hatch.  Those sunshiney days where just the thing to give me the boost I needed and I came home with boundless energy, a full sketchbook & plenty of mosquito bites !

The images above are the workings for an upcoming exhibition, but more of that another time.

Autumn reflections & creations

As Autumn has drawn in I have found myself distracted from my work, so many other bits & pieces to start & finish, never enough hours in the day.  One such "other" project I had in mind was to make a book for all my favorite poems & sayings saved & lost in the depths of the computer. I printed them out and collected them together in a wee book, whose margins & gaps shall be filled with scraps of collected favorite images from magazines etc & scribbles of mine too. A work in progress me thinks, but such fun and a joy to look through .Earlier this year a school in South Africa contacted me asking if they could use my thistle image for a project the pupils were doing about Scotland. Of course I said yes! They divided the image up and each pupil had to interpret their section in their own way. The result a beautiful collage that they then used on the cover of their school year book.

I had forgotten all about the project, then months later a copy of the book popped through my letter box, a lovely surprise, they even included a wee thank you inside. I love the different interpretations, and think the students have done a grand job.

 I have had a bowl sat on my desk filled with petals from my Moms Bourgenvilla bush all Summer waiting patiently for some attention.  They have now been threaded onto string and hung at my studio window where they catch these last Autumn rays of sunlight through their delicate petals.

I took time out to go foraging in the forest during these beautiful Autumn tinged days and lost myself amongst the quiet of the trees, and the beauty of patchwork fallen leaves.  We found goodies a plenty and my new favourite makes  are  blackberry & apple chilli chutney &  Elderberry liqueur!

 I am endlessly fascinated by shadows & silhouette where light is chased into corners & things take on an ethereal quality.  The clear skied evenings have given us such spectacular Autumn sunsets this year, casting magical shadow puppet shows through the windows, edging all with gold and tinting with pink. 

 

On a visit to the local neolithic site of Cairnholy, one such sunset inspired me to begin work on a new painting. I wanted to capture the mystery & essence of times long past that I felt at this ancient burial cairn.  It is a Clyde chambered neolithic Cairn, meaning it has upright stones on either side of the entrance and is thought to be one of the earliest type. Finds from the site included a leaf shaped arrowhead and an axe with jadeite, a rare green stone that came from the Alps. The axe is now in the Royal Museum of Scotland In Edinburgh. More info on the cairn here & here.

 

 At last it is done “At the end of the day ~Cairnholy” and now available as prints here in my Etsy store.     For some reason on my laptop it looks much lighter than the original & prints.

As Autumn rolls by and peaceful evenings descend upon our wee cottage it is always a time of reflection for me.  This year for a goodly while I have felt off balance & out of sorts, I realised my work & my art had all got a little too serious & un~enjoyable, something I hear happens to so many creative folk. 

After much reflection my solution is to take a chunk of time out.   I am hoping I can learn to play & get messy & be imperfect again with my creativity, to feel inspired again.  So with that in mind I have signed up to try one of  Jani Franc's  e~courses, exciting & scary, but already proving to be great fun.  So I am settling in for Autumn here in our wee cottage, looking forward to log fires, cosy evenings,  and  much getting messy & playing. 

 I wonder what does Autumn mean for you, do you find it a time of reflection, feel the need for a re-charge, If so what practices or rituals do you find help you ?

Keeping a Happiness Book . . .

Many folks have asked me in times gone by, about my happiness book

so today,  I thought I would share snippets of the things it holds.

The hows & whys & wherefores of what makes it tick for me.

Kept in a jotter form, with the cover & inside pages decorated in collage,

for which I use delicious images I have collected over the years, 

 my precious happiness book is filled with much loveliness.

 Divided into sections, spirit, mind & body, it is an exciting place to go

& fills me with joy ~ my book of dreams & hopes & wishes.

Being a Virgo of course there are plenty of lists to peruse throughout.

Lists of  . . .

 "Things I love to do" & "Things I hope to do one day"

 "Films I want to see" & "Books I long to read"

"Things I hope to make" & "Places i can't wait to explore"

I have different sections for various things

for healthy living, for calm & peacefulness

for inspiring ideas for my own personal style.

It is filled too with favourite images & things

quotes & sayings & inspirational words.

I love my book!

A "Happiness Book" can remind you of hopes & dreams & possibilities

it can keep you on track when life gets so busy, hectic & difficult.
It is a book you can add to, a place to keep your deepest desires
and if nothing else it is at the very least a delightful "LookBook"!

Maybe you keep a Happy book, or something similar I would love to hear what,

perhaps you are inspired to give one a try? Do let me know if you do.

Of course, that isn't the only book I keep, I also have my delicious Journal

but I shall share the hows & whys of that another day.

Here's to making today a beautiful, happy day x

An allergy & a magical cure . . .

Hello treasures ~ I am back at last, with such a happy sigh.

for this last long while I have felt just like rip van winkle!

or frodo baggins in the sleeping grove!

Now i'm back with a tale . . .

Silently & slowly over many moons a great weariness, heaviness, 

a bone deep tiredness had crept up and settled upon me,
I had other odd & annoying symptoms too.

I thought, for a long while,  it was just me ~ getting older ;-)

 Then by chance my  knight in shining armour (my Mr O)

 consulted with a wise man who pronounced a magical cure.

My ailment ~ foods that really shouldn't be passing my lips

things that did daily ~ wheat & dairy, sugar & caffeine!

 So i set too and (though often tempted) I have banished those baddies

and at last miracle of miracles ~ after months and months

I feel I have woken up from the longest  hibernation, 

I have energy again, which in turn means I can do things again, yay!

A huge change from a just a few short weeks ago.

I was exhausted by the slightest of things, all i felt i could manage was

to read, pottet in the quiet garden, look at loveliness on Pinterest

and sleep on and on and on lol

Who would have thought it had so much to do with diet! 

What brings you Peace, for heart & soul

Thank you everyone who shared your beautiful “deep peace" thoughts,

each and every word you left touched me so deeply.

I felt the connections strongly, read words that moved me,

Found writings written from the heart that bought tears to my eyes 

and peaceful thoughts that filled my heart to bursting.

Far to many words to share all here,
so I have gathered together a few of my most favourite
 I hope that they bring you as much joy as they did me.
*     *     * 

Here they are, some of your thoughts on what brings you Peace . . .

* Walking in the woods

* Hearing an owl call on a dark night

* Observing nature, looking, seeing, smelling, touching and feeling inside of bliss.

* Watching the sky, stars, clouds, falling stars, foxes.

* Standing on a cliff top, looking out over a wide expanse of blue.

* On a stormy night I lie in my cosy bed and listen to the sounds outside.

* Listening to the dawn chorus.

* Blowing kisses to the moon 

* Writing Small Stones, daily writing that capture a moment of focused noticing.

* Working in the garden, no thought beyond this plant, these roots, this branch.

* Walking, feeling the earth beneath my feet and a breeze on my face.

* My life at 65, freedom and time to pursue my loves.

* Moving tinkling silvery ripples of the many springs, streams and brooks.

* Being alone with my own thoughts.

* A good night's sleep - to wake up in the morning and all's right with the world.

* Knowing tomorrow will come, somewhere, for someone.

* The beauty of the music & the chance encounter of the starlings' ballet in the sky

 

*Knowing your place in the universe, realizing that the atoms and molecules that comprise of you're being were once the fiery guts of a star, the teeth of a T-rex, and the leaves of a Cyprus tree. 

 

* That feeling of being near someone without needing to impress them or fill the moment with much more than just being together. ~ by Mickie x

Are you feeling at peace now after all your wonderful words?

I do hope so.  Thank you all so very much for taking the time to share.

* 

I keep a little book filled with inspiring quotes & lovely images, it is my happiness book.  Maybe you do something similar, or perhaps it is a thing you could begin, if so, please do share your thoughts & ideas, we would love to know  . . . .

*

In the near future I will be blogging about my wee book & its contents, sharing some ideas & inspirations too,  so do watch this space x

 

The tea is made, the cakes are waiting, so do pull up a chair  
and I will reveal the winner of my give-away.

My boy kindly did the deed & picked out a name . . . .

so without more ado I am happy to announce the winner is . . .
 . . . .  Mickie Mueller!    Yay, congratulatios!

Mickie is a wonderful fantasy artist who paints magical beings,
do take a look at her lovely blog "Tales from the old wooden table".

What brings you peace, part 1

 As a thank you to all you precious & lovely followers.

I have here sat in my studio an A4 print of my newest creation

"Celtic Blessing Tree"  to give to some lovely reader.

Written around the tree is the Celtic Irish blessing "Deep Peace"

 So, to enter I thought it would be lovely to hear 

your thoughts on what brings you "Peace". . . .

For me is is being out in Mother nature,

walking in quiet woods, listening to the song of birds or 

standing on a sandy shore, the tang of the sea on my tongue.

  I do ask that you be either a follower of this blog, 

my inspiration blog "A faerietale of Inspiration"  or
my Ruthie Redden Artworks Facebook page to take part.

To enter please leave your "Deep Peace" thoughts below.

Open for comments until Saturday 31st March midnight.
( a special date for me as it was the day Mr O & I 1st met).
X

I so look forward to hearing what brings you Peace . . .

and thought it might be lovely to compile some of them

in a later post -  if you dont mind that is ;-)

x x x 

 (ps: The print is also for sale in my shop Mythweaver )

Waking up to a new year . . .

As the tired old year drew to its last few quiet hours

It was time to remember & to say fond farewells,

to be thankful for the many magical moments we had shared.

 

 Time to reminisce over different paths my feet had wandered, 

here and there and back again!  Paths that led to  . . .

my becoming fully self employed & my very own boss!

To a new wee cottage tucked amongst the Galloway hills.

To discovering so many wonderful & new like minded souls

who taught me how to grow and led me off on new adventures.

To my finding at long last, my quiet space within.

A year filled with many lessons learnt. 

I woke sleepy eyed into 2012, wanting to savour this new beginning,

this year in which i am 50, I never thought I would look forward to that!

But I do and I am. I have planned out my years goals for home, work & play.

I have happily polished up my business plan, until it almost glows!

 Finally I am ready, fingers itching, to tumble back into my studio.

So, I'm here, I'm ready as I will ever be.  Its good morning to you 2012!

I look forward to getting to know you so very much better.

May we become the best of friends. I am hopeful & excited too!

I wonder what magic you will begin to reveal!

Oh, i almost forgot, but however could I!

A very new wee soul came into our lives just before Christmas

a tiny pup who we already adore. Here to meet you, is Poppy!

(Can you imagine my delight when I discovered her 

pedigree kennel name is Lady of Magic! It was meant to be)

Here's to filling each & every day with love & hope & happiness.

*  *  * 

Do you remember my mentioning the Essence of Wild 

 bare foot breathing course I loved? Just in case some of you may be interested

there is a a new course starting very soon,  you can find the details here

Time well spent . . .

Moments in time.  Where do they go those seconds, minutes, hours & days?

I lift my eyes & see that they have tiptoed past whilst i was busy elsewhere.

Rainy August slid into September, a richly hued October fell into November

Like old friends, the seasons pass by, say hello and then go on their way again.

I seemed to miss so much, spending hours tired & frustrated, running in circles.

Too much to do, too little time.  Knowing something was missing, but what?

Then in mid September, oh lovely synchronicity . . .(do you ever experience it?)

 . . .  one day, I chanced upon two intriguing e-courses that just called out to me.

Essence of Wild’s “Barefoot breathing” run by Jackie Stewart & Jason Smalley

and the “Relation-ships” course run by the lovely Jackie Walker.

I knew I had to sign up for both, feeling excited & hopeful & nervous

 unsure of what I would unearth, but instinct telling me to give it a try.
I made a decision & took 6 weeks out, to emerse myself in all I found!

 I’m so glad I did, with such inspirational words & guidance, I have learnt so much!  

I slowly unravelled myself, found better understanding, new direction & purpose.

I was taught to re-connect with myself & Mother Nature, for I had forgotten how.

I learnt to build calmness & balance into my days, the very things I saw I had lost.

The courses were such a wonderful gift &  I feel I look at the world with fresh eyes.

I can’t say a big enough thank you to the wonderful folk who guided me on this path!

  After I finished the courses I set out to find ways to keep this new found balance.

Being a Virgo I loved doing this, designing a personalised monthly, weekly & daily planner.

Making slots in my day for the important things; home, family, business, creative & me time.

I sorted & organised & tidied my life, my head, my studio, my computer, our home and us!

 Then I found  Julia Cameron's "The Artists way" & am working through her course now!

I write morning pages (as Julia suggests), loving the flow of words, finding answers & insight. 

 I am learning new habits to ensure I don’t “forget” the lessons I have learnt.

Meditation brings me peace & calm and I am back to yoga, after years away.

I write down my "5 precious things" a day, remembering to be thankful.

Make time for 100 deep breathes in nature, soaking up the beauty of it all.  

I spied a weasel playing under a bramble, a delicate deer in the early morning

 and i woke extra early to watch the pink hues of a sunrise light up the world.

I am now so much more aware of the passing of the season & the days.

 I am looking forward & planning, with lots of new projects in the pipeline.

   An idea that in the future I hope to share, creating ways & means to enable folk 

to find the time to fulfill  “all” the parts of themselves as much as possible.

We are getting ready for long winters evenings snuggling by the fire and Christmas too!

I have a kitchen to finish decorating, mood boards to make for our garden & living room . 

Bulbs to plant, an art doll to start & . . . . oh but time enough to share these things another day.

And there was me thinking i hadn't been up to so very much lol!

Just remember my lovelies,

take time out to slow down & notice the small precious things every once in a while

x x x

Time is a brisk wind,  for each hour it brings something new... 

but who can understand and measure its sharp breath, its mystery and its design?  

~Paracelsus