When you’re busy, whether working; spending time with family or friends, or just generally going about day-to-day life, it can be easy to let the day get away from you and not really having time for the things you want to do for yourself. Of course spending time with people is amazing, but at least for me, I need some time to myself also. I used to take piano lessons and only stopped early last year. Whilst I loved that hobby, I wasn’t really spending any time practicing outside of my lessons. This was largely due to my job at the time. I worked a mixture of shifts, and generally just didn’t enjoy the job by the end, which meant after work I wasn’t really in the mood for much else besides switching off. When I was younger, I always loved being creative and I think as we get older we can sometimes overlook just doing things for enjoyment! It’s tiring just thinking about all the things you need to do in a day or week, and aim to do as well. Work, exercise, cooking, shopping, washing…it’s endless. Don’t get me wrong, it’s also easy to put it all off and be lazy as well. I am an all or nothing girl, so I’m either go-go-go or laying on the couch after work every night.
But after starting my book club with Vanille (who is the genius who suggested it), I’ve really enjoyed taking the time to read more whether on my lunch break or at home. It motivates me to do more things that I enjoy or want to try. Recently we both attended a beginners Calligraphy class, something I have always wanted to try, it was lovely and quite relaxing! The class was relatively short, but we got the hang of tracing over letters, heard tips from our lovely teacher Claire and we just had fun! Both of us left wanting to carry on, agreeing to attempt to write letters to each other in order to practice. After the class I decided to purchase some ink online from Claire, and in the meantime I explored an art shop in search of calligraphy paper.
Being in the art shop made me feel instantly excited to get back into other forms of art too. I know I’m no Bob Ross (hero), but being surrounded by paints, tools and everything else you can think of I just wanted to instantly get creative. I ended up getting my calligraphy paper and some unplanned water colours and paint brushes. I know I can’t exactly paint after work every night, but it’s exciting just putting some paint on paper even if it ends up looking awful. I forgot how calming it can be to just doodle, paint, draw, anything!
So don’t forget to take some time, doing something you enjoy.
Love
