It’s been a busy week and there are a lot of thoughts. This week I had a work meeting in real life, it’s the first one in 15 months. I have to admit I was slightly terrified the night before, all kinds of thoughts were running through my head; what if I’d forgotten how to speak to people, what if the new people didn’t like me, how on earth was I going to get a pair of trousers on that weren’t elasticated! You get the drift.
Of course I’d built it up into a big deal, as I have a tendency to do, and of course it wasn’t at all like I imagined it to be. Everyone was lovely, it was easy to chat, and yes I did get the trousers on (which to be honest is nothing short of a miracle).
What I’d forgotten is how much talking with people sparks ideas off in me. I like hearing what they are working on and finding an interesting angle to approach a topic. Some topics are harder to write about than others but there is always a way in, a way to make things sound interesting and a way for others to understand. I really enjoyed that part of the meeting, I hadn’t realised how stagnant I’d become, that I’d lost a bit of my fire. Zoom meetings are grand but they aren’t the same as real life interaction.
I also got to see a couple of art exhibitions, and much like the interaction with people, looking at art is another way to spark ideas in me. There are so many talented artists out there and I’d love to be able to paint like they do, my paintings seem very flat, but when I look at their work I feel like I’m actually in the painting. I also got chatting to a couple of artists and it was refreshing to talk to them. One artist in particular was saying he just tries different things and if they don’t work out they don’t work out. I need to try to stop myself being so structured.
As life begins to reopen so have the requests to do things for others. I’m all about helping people but I need to learn to say no. There aren’t enough hours in the day for me to do other work, and that’s what it is, work. The requests usually involve a good deal of my time and not only time but also expertise in writing or photography, and this kind of thing kills my creativity. From now on I’ve decided I will only be working on my day job and just writing about and photographing the things that I love.
So there you have it, some of my thoughts from the past week. I hope you are all keeping well, and thanks for reading.
Magnumlady Blog 
Sending loads of love and good vibes to the artist and friend that you are.
thank you