Puddles and other important stuff

Recently we have had great downpours (raining cats and dogs, my mum would say) after a long, delicious run of warmly warm days that stretched long past the rim of summer and into the leafy autumn days and gave us such a gooey goodness feeling (well in our house at least where we LOVE the sun and all her magic). It really has been a fabulous thing….and now winter has swiftly jumped the fence, biting our ankles and fingertips with her frosty mornings and ‘better put a cardy on’ evenings. Well, fair enough too.

Anyways, back to rain. And puddles.

So, as partial as I am to all the light, warm and expansiveness feelings of summer I tend to find the shiny in any season and winters gifts for me are big pots of soup and homemade sourdough, long nature walks with my darling, lighting the wood fire in my studio, deep candlelit baths and… puddles.

What simple JOY there is in donning my wellies, gumboots, rainboots or whatever you call them in your part of the world (Our Isabella called them BumGoots when she was 3 and that’s my favourite word for them) and heading out with all your rainy gear layers on and literally sploshing in puddles.

As adults we can get so caught in our heads, the seriousness of it all, the winy ‘stay small’ voice, the nonsense tea it brews from nothing (sometimes my mind makes up the craziest of rubbish) and the pressure to be, DOOOO and have more, more, more. Personally, I’ve had enough of it, and you can’t make me subscribe to it anymore! I am letting the divine buzz run the show from now on. Yep. I have seen the light, baby.

This comes after a trip to New Zealand to visit my 91-year-old mumsy, where my soul intention was to ‘be’ with her. At her ripe and sensational age even though she’s pretty spritely you just have to make the most of every visit, so I did. We laughed at so many simple things, had cups of tea and did some gardening, went to a wool festival and a botanic garden. And at every turn I was just ‘being’ there with her. No agenda. Just soaking in the present moments as they were. And it was BLISS. No pushing, or striving or struggles, so much laughter and silliness. And being with my mum reminded me deeply that I can trust life more, that my essence is joy, the truth is we are here for the fun, the play and the connections and they reside in the slowwww the quiet and the still bits.

So returning to Melbs, I have consciously been slowing down more to see what happens, (so far I haven’t broken) in fact life has come quite specifically in and shown me support. I am not rushing to figure out my next creative move, fuck the Instagram marketing plans that “YOU HAVE TO DO or you’ll be left behind”…to be quite honest it can gleefully leave me behind. I’ll be out back in the studio puddling with ceramics or paint. Ha! I surrender my struggle with ‘success’, with pushing harder and competing to be seen more. Sloshng in great swampy puddles is my new jam. Slow is my new black (not that I ever wore much black anyways) and I think this is way more important to the human experience (or experiment?) more than ever. I believe we are given opportunities to see what’s real and what’s truly important many times through our life. For me losing Nino 10 years ago was a side swiper, Isabella getting meningitis, losing my dad, and undoubtedly you have some similar moments or chapters when life has knocked you off your perch (even Co-vid did that) and opened your eyes to what is truly a priority in your world. I say let’s not wait for those moments and get on with the biz of really living our most joyous creative (whatever that means to you) life, tell your people you love them, give away the hurts and grudges, forgive and be merry…

Make space for puddles and sunrises, wear all the necklaces together, hold hands in public, high five strangers and simply let all the goodness come find you.

Delicious wintry puddle sploshing pleasures...

Puddles

Ticklish mohair socks

Tucked well inside

Big green rubber boots

Sploshes greet knees

Glorious puddles

Sun spread smiles

And a joy that stays forever...

Photos of wintry pleasures

Photos: Mumsy and me, monarch butterflies in her garden, the beach where she lives, the botanical gardens all in New Zealand...and Daryle and I at Phillip Island Koala sanctuary, bonfire night winter adventures, my art postcards for the Inognito Art show and latest mosaic-ed sculptural pieces coming out of the studio. Yipeee