Posted By:Cover me! I'm going in! | At:Friday, June 20, 2014
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A few months ago I visited the local Education Campus, as I have done many times before, only to find this....
I'd heard of yarn bombing before but this was the first time I've seen it first hand. And can I tell you, I totally love it! How can you not smile when such beautiful craft work just pops up overnight somewhere completely unexpected.
Check out some of these gorgeous yarn bombs from all around the globe.
What an amazing way to spread joy around the community. Have you seen any gorgeous yarn bombing in your area?
Posted By:Cover me! I'm going in! | At:Thursday, August 08, 2013
1 Comment so far
When you first laid
eyes on your first born child did you get that overwhelming sense of undeniable
love and adoration? Did you feel that you were suddenly made whole and that
nothing could ever be as perfect as that little person they placed on your chest?
When you brought them home from the hospital did you spend hours watching them,
holding them, not wanting to let them out of your sight? Did you, despite the
sleepless nights, just know that motherhood was the most amazing thing you had
ever experienced in your whole entire life?
No, me neither.
This is how
motherhood was sold to me. And to you too I bet. It's natural, it's beautiful.
Yes, it's hard, but it's so rewarding and as soon as you meet your baby you
will fall in such deep love that it will all be worth it. And the 3 am
screaming, the pooplosions, the vomiting would all be forgotten every time you
see your baby smile.
Well nearly 7 years on, I'm still waiting to experience
this promised euphoria. And I don't think I'm the only one.
It is such a taboo
in our culture to admit you don't readily take to being a mother. From such a
young age we are bombarded with romantic
ideas that Motherhood comes naturally to you simply because you happen
to be born a woman. That once the baby arrives, you will instinctively know
what to do and how to handle every surreal parenting situation that should
arise.
And who are the
worst perpetrators of perpetuating this fallacy?
Other women.
I call this the
Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows Effect.
Men don't talk up
parenthood. You don't hear new dads saying to their friends "Mate, you so
have to have baby. Seriously dude, it's the most amazing thing you'll ever do
with your life. Just get her pregnant, don't worry about it man. When the baby comes,
you'll just instinctively know how to be a good dad."
It doesn't happen.
But women, they will
crap on until they are blue in the face about how wonderfully blissful it is to
be a mother. How fulfilled their life is now. How they were nothing until they
had that baby.
But have you ever
tried admitting to another woman that you are struggling as a mum? That you
haven't bonded with your baby? That you don't particularly draw any fulfilment
out of this Motherhood caper? Well I have. And with the exception of my village
(see this post), the response I generally get is that of shock, disapproval and
such looks that I wondered if I had sprouted horns and a tail that I hadn't
noticed.
You can't say that.
You just don't talk about those kinds of things. Motherhood is Sunshine,
Lollipops and Rainbows remember? Everyone else says so. Everyone else loves
being a mother. Everyone else must be right. And I must be doing something
wrong.
And even if someone
feels the same way, chances are, she'll be too scared to admit it.
So ladies, we need
to start talking about this. To each other. We need to stop perpetuating the
fallacy and start having honest dialogue. Motherhood is hard. There was a 16th
Century English Philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, who said that life is "solitary,
poor, nasty, brutish and short". I think we can apply that to Motherhood…
minus the short part :-) Yes, there are
many women who relish Motherhood and roll around in it like the proverbial pig
in you-know-what. But I think there would be equal numbers of women who feel
lost, lonely, regretful, overwhelmed and very detached from the screaming
bundle of 'joy' writhing around in front of them. And if they dare speak up about how they are
feeling, instead of receiving the support they are so desperately crying out
for, they are treated like lepers and cast out by their own kind.
The sisterhood
really needs to step it up on this issue. Let's start talking about the good and the bad. The easy and the difficult. The fun and
the heartbreaking. Let's be equally open about our mistakes, our downfalls, our
fears and failures when it comes to Motherhood . Not to focus on the negative
but to bring the balance back to realistic. If a woman is struggling with being
a mother, she shouldn't need to feel ashamed or embarrassed, she should feel
empowered to share her worries with a fellow mum. She shouldn't be treated as
though she is unfeeling or unworthy, rather guided with compassion and
understanding.
I know there will be
ladies reading this who feel the same way as me. To you I say, you are not
alone. You are not heartless. You are not less of a woman. You are not a bad
mother. What you are doing is bloody hard. And if reading my post makes you
feel just a little less lonely, a little less overwhelmed or a little more
confident, then that is Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows to me!
Casting my mind back
to high school science I am reminded of the Law of Conservation of Energy.
Energy may neither created nor
destroyed.
Humans can't make
energy. We can't conjure it, fashion it, build it, construct it or formulate
it. And much unlike a vast number of other naturally occurring phenomena, we
can't destroy it either. Though I'm sure the human race would give it a red hot
go given half a chance.
But what does this
mean for all the negative, nervous, anxious energy I carry around with me on a
daily basis? When I get tired of carrying it, but can't destroy it or put it
down, what can I do with it?
The answer is
channelling.
I'm having a
particularly difficult time with the First Mate at the moment and I am one big
walking, talking ball of tightly knotted negative energy. And it's heavy. And
I'm getting tired of lugging it around with me.
Then this afternoon,
in a stroke of luck/ coincidence/ blessing from the universe, I stumbled across
the most stunningly beautiful magazine. I mean, without a word of a lie, spying
the cover caused me to let out a little gasp of pleasure right there in my
local news agent.
Flow. Magazine for paper
lovers. That's me. I'm a paper lover. For as long as I can remember, the sight,
touch and smell of gorgeous papers, pretty ribbons and various adhesive
products has caused somewhat of a Pavlovian response in me.
Walking into Kikki K
or the Kaisercraft store fills me with far more excitement than I should
probably admit to.
Sitting at my craft
desk mulling over my latest work for PaperCuts Cards and Creations is probably
the closest I will ever come to a divine experience.
As I reached over to
caress this new gift from Magazine heaven, I felt a shift in energy.
As if this other
worldly experience weren't enough, I came home to find baby, harp playing
cherubs flitting charmingly around my letter box.
Could it be?? Oh my goodness!
Another gift from
the heavens! (Or at least a very lovely friend who unknowingly had impeccable
timing). The Stampin! Up 2013 catalogue. Yay!
Slowly, as I paw
over these two splendid publications, my negative energy is being channelled
into creative energy. I'm being inspired and oddly fulfilled in a way that only
textured cardstock and clear acrylic stamps can do.
Tomorrow will still
be there. As will all the stressors that feed my anxiety and make me feel that
all is utterly futile. But tonight, at least for a few hours, I feel lighter.
And maybe it will make tomorrows load of energy a little easier to carry.
emotional or mental condition with respect to cheerfulness, confidence, zeal, etc., especially in the face of
opposition, hardship, etc.: the morale of the troops.
Dwight
D. Eisenhower once said “Morale is the greatest
single factor in successful wars”. Now, of course, in its literal sense
we could certainly argue there is no such thing as a successful war. However,
figuratively, this statement can be
accurately applied to the battle
against the daily grind.
Taking
time to boost morale can be the difference between facing opposition with a
calm, cool head or racing in with guns a-blazing. And we all know the later
rarely ends well.
Here's
a few things that have boosted my morale lately.
Coffee
with my BFF, Queen J.
A kitchen table, multiple cups of coffee, chocolate cake
and two containers full of almonds (natural for her and oven roasted for
those of us who like food with flavour) is the perfect way to spend an
afternoon if you ask me.
There's nothing like being able to spill your guts in
a judgement-free cone of silence to relieve some of the emotional weight we tend
to carry.
Writing
the shopping list.
I actually really enjoy this. I love trawling through all my
recipes (of which I have many!) and
planning the weekly meals. Doing the
grocery shopping without a list is a sure fire way to spend too much money!
The manuscript.
The
First Mate has decided he wants to have a book published and spent the morning
drafting the first chapter on the laptop.
For a boy struggling with his literacy skills at school, it warms my
heart to see him engaged in such an activity.
Comfort food!
Speaking of heart warming… I'm loving winter
cooking right now. Rich, hearty, delicious.
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