I'm just back from an exquisitely and beautifully relaxing holiday in Scotland and I feel like I have pressed RESET. We were lucky enough to be staying in the same fantastic holiday cottage overlooking the white sands of Morar for two whole weeks. While I always feel it's great to get away for a week and fully appreciate how fortunate I am to be able to do this, I never fully switch off and properly chill out like I do when I'm away for longer. I always feel I have to make the most of the limited time if it's a weekend or a week, and it sometimes feels like I've just got settled and it's time to go home. I've got into the (bad) habit of trying to visit ALL the places and see ALL the sights and as a result often have that feeling that time is running out and there never seems to be enough of it to just stop and breathe because I wanna cram EVERYTHING in and not miss out. Dies this sound familiar to anyone else?
Coming away for two weeks and staying the same place seems to have made ALL the difference. I really feel as though I have had time and space away from every day real life, time to stare out of the window at the ever-changing view, and we literally have seen all weathers from blue skies to thunder storms, time to watch the birds and wildlife, everything from otters and seals to a huge variety of bird life and even a couple of stags, time to savour a cup of tea, to read a book, have an afternoon nap, time to go to the beach looking for shells and beach combing. Just time to enjoy the experience of being in a beautiful wild place,
I haven't thought much about work but I have been soaking up creative inspiration like a sponge, making sketches, colour swatches, shapes, lines and notes, immersing myself in the landscape and really enjoying engaging all of my senses, noticing what I can see, hear, touch and feel, smell and taste. Engaging all of the senses while making art seems to help us to mentally log the experience in a different way. Looking back at my sketchbook I can recall vividly the space and time i was in when I made the image.
It was also my birthday while we were away and I found myself feeling a bit retrospective and looking back over my creative journey at what I have achieved and thinking about what I would still like to achieve. I don't feel a rush to write a huge long list of 'to-dos' like I usually do when I come back from holidays, I suppose I'm feeling quite comtemplative and I'm being more mindful of the approach I am taking to life. I'm really hoping this lasts. I do have one small change that I would like to make though, and that is to start meditation. I've heard so much about the many benefits of a regular meditation practice and I'm curious as to whether it's all it's cracked up to be. Watch this space....
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