*blinks in the sunlight*
Well HELLO there! It HAS been a while!
I'd really like to report back that I've been super busy making and selling and being uber-productive. But the truth is that I've been stepping down, having a ponder, making things for me and learning to simply 'be'.
More on that later.
Fair warning as Mental Health Awareness Week draws to a close this post WILL actually touch on mental health. Mine. So if that makes you a little uncomfortable then now's the time to go and make a cuppa.
Still here? Oh. Good!
A few months ago a respected friend, Momtaz aka @TheCraftcafe , asked me to guest on her, then new, weekly show on One Harmony Radio who are a community internet radio station based in Brockley, SE London. At the time I was in, shall we say, a 'difficult place'. I had been off work for months and the doctors had been chucking scary words like 'Anxiety' and 'Depression' in my direction. Frankly I was in a bit of a state about it all. Talking sense? To an actual person? Over the airwaves? Not uppermost in my thoughts.
But I had HOPE (wonderful stuff. I highly recommend). So we made a flexible plan and, several weeks later, I found myself sitting in front of a microphone at an unheard of hour on a Saturday morning.
Momtaz introduced me as her 'Best Dressed guest ever!' thereby cleverly ensuring that I would be putty in her hands for the duration of her show. Good one, Momtaz. Although it was nerve-racking, (watching Momtaz in action was like an masterclass in Radio to me. So effortless!), the topic is so close to my heart that I found it easy to chat and open up. The hardest part was shutting up when the little coloured lights were on/off/whatever they do. Flash?
Me being all 'Best dressed' and sh*t.
I learned to sew in my teens thanks to the patience and expertise of my mum. Newly single and working to a tight budget she would turn her creative hand to most things out of necessity. I liked it. Loved it, in fact. Now my mum 'persuades' me to sew everything for her. Fair enough.
Throughout my life the Arts, in a variety of forms, have always been my place of solace. My natural home. I became a kick-ass (not literally. Illegal apparently) dance teacher and always marveled at my students ability to create and express themselves regardless of ability, age or gender. When, after a pesky injury, I began to focus more on my sewing skillset it never occurred to me that the same wouldn't apply. People are often surprised that I taught boys to sew. 'SACRE BLEU!!' they exclaim. (French-speaking of course....with a flair for melodrama). Craft knows no gender. Fact. It's SO much more than the activity. It's that feeling of pride, of making something from practically nothing. Learning a new skill or perfecting a new one. That feeling of worth and achievement. It can't be beaten! One of my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE things is to show others how and then watch them run away with it. (not literally because that's dangerous) To those of you who say 'Oh I'm no good at *insert suitably creative activity here*" I say 'Pah'! And 'Try!'. And other (clean) one syllable expressions.
The advice for the millions (yep. Worth keeping in mind next time you feel like you're on your own) of people out there experiencing Anxiety or Depression is well documented. And a great deal of it involves getting out and 'doing' things. In the spirit of 'doing' you can't go far wrong with trying a new skill. Can you see where I'm going here? My experience has always been that when the going got tough (seriously resisting the urge to embed THAT Billy Ocean tune into this post) if I could get to my sewing machine, or pick up a crochet hook or teach myself to knit half a sock *glances feebly at half knitted sock* then I'd be moving in the right direction. UP (in case you hadn't figured it out).
Sock-in-waiting...
It might work for you.
Back to Radioland. So Momtaz and I chatted and I made a bit of sense (allegedly) and we how we laughed and Momtaz played some FAB-ulous music (what happened to PM Dawn? Anyone?) and before we knew it the show was over! *sniff*
At time of writing I am still a Work in Progress. But aren't we all? I've made some positive and life-shifting changes (to put it mildly). But I know I won't be giving up sewing (or teaching others to sew) anytime soon.
Of course now I also want to be a DJ....