19th March 2020

This is one of my latest paintings, entitled ‘Little Match Girl is Burning Herself Out’. I think it perfectly encapsulates how I’ve been feeling lately. My creative output was really high last year. I wrote three new scripts and produced a 25 painting card deck for my work as a creativity coach and workshop facilitator. Essentially, I was breathing out for almost an entire year and nearly passed out!

I often talk about the importance of breathing in AND out. When you breathe in, you take in from the world. You are absorbing new information and being inspired. When you breathe out, you create. You take all of that information, knowledge, insight and curiosity and you send it back out into the world in a new form. This takes energy, time and work. Sometimes it’s important to stop making, to stop doing, to stop directing and forcing and trying, and to simply breathe in for a while and be inspired.

The enforced quarantine many of us will experience over the next few weeks is a perfect time to do just that. Is there anything new you would like to learn? A recipe you would like to try? A book you would like to read? Now is the time to open your eyes to the world. To be inspired, to explore, research, watch and admire. And to engage with yourself and others with an open and curious mind.