A bit of Headspace and my first Artist’s Date

Over the last few weeks I felt more and more as if I was getting burnt out by my daily tasks.

I know that I chose this lifestyle of being with my kids all the time and being responsible not only for their well being but also for their education. And even though I deeply believe that self-education is the best kind of learning and my children are getting more independent all the time, there still is a lot to decide, discuss and navigate every day.

For a long time I’ve wanted to start creating something again. However, it felt like my mental space was completely taken up with all the every day stuff and supporting my children on their paths.

Seven and a half years ago, when I found out that I was pregnant with our third child, I knew that I had to take a break from blogging and working on bigger projects because I couldn’t do it all. I knew I couldn’t work and look after my three young children at the same time.

So I told my inner artist to take a back seat for a few years and that I’ll be back some day. My youngest is nearly 7 now. I tried a few times to get back into writing, drawing, painting, singing, or creating in some other way but always gave up again after a short time.

I wanted to ignore all the little messages that told me I needed a new project because it just seemed too difficult to get started and worse – to keep going and finish something.

But then my back started hurting and has been hurting for the whole winter. Maybe another sign that can’t be ignored?! It’s possible. Looking back most physical symptoms I ever had could be traced back to some emotional issues.

Finding Julia Cameron’s book helped me to take small creative steps again without being so scary that I want to give up straight away.

So I began writing morning pages and yesterday I went on my first artist’s date.

I went for a long walk, had lunch all by myself (how scary and exciting!) and I went to visit an island where lots of heron’s are nesting at the moment. Heron’s are my lucky birds. It was beautiful to watch them feeding their big fluffy chicks.

So we’ll see how the second week goes. Small creative steps. Seemingly insignificant.