Gratitude takes nothing for granted, it is never unresponsive, it is constantly awakening to new wonder…
Thomas Merton
The sun is streaming into my studio window but there is a crisp chill in the air. I’m wrapped up in an oversized hoodie and sipping my second cup of decaf coffee.
We may not notice the hours and days whizzing by, or feel the earth turning under our feet, but one day we look up from our to-do lists and notice that the trees are turning colour.
This is the time to turn over a new leaf, so to speak.
Ever since school, I've taken time to make a few personal resolutions in the autumn. These resolutions always seem more spiritually motivated and positive than the resolutions made in the thinness of January (when I'm feeling worn out and slightly desperate). Autumnal resolutions hold the lushness of harvest festivals in their heart.
If January resolutions are about conquering our wills; October resolutions are about nurturing our authentic needs.
I am between illustration jobs at the moment, which means I have time to focus on my personal creative development. I have re-dedicated myself to writing 500 words per day (they can be crappy, ungrammatical and misspelled, but I have to get them down), and doing daily drawings. I'm hoping that sticking to this routine will prime my mind for new ideas, rather like doing scales on the piano makes the fingers nimble enough to play the most difficult notes. Creative inspiration is a habit; it is the pen moving across the page that creates ideas, not bright flashes from above.
Are you making any resolutions for the changing of the seasons? What are they?
And, here is a small list of the things I’m grateful for this very moment:
1. The bouquets of coloured pencils brightening the corner of my desk.
2. A bookshelf full of books (all old friends).
3. Illustration work that is exciting, challenging and fulfilling.
4. My husband and daughter, who fill every day with joy and laughter.
5. And a few frivolous things: new night cream, freshly polished winter boots, warm flannel blankets, my iphone (how could I survive without it?)
What are you grateful for?
