A small change can make all the difference #1

UPDATE: I just had to put this image in as I am so excited about it!! I just finished it early this evening and it is called Come and play with me and it is now residing in my etsy shop! I feel as if I have cracked a code and am just feeling so inspired! I really do like her even if she is a dark and haunted wee soul.

PS the piece below - The memory of Annabel Lee has already sold, however the last few pieces I have shown and sold will be available as prints soon - I shall keep you updated here. Have a wonderful evening!

Hello my dears! I hope this wonderful day finds you well and happy.

Thank you all for your kind comments regarding my last blog post. I wrote it all feeling a kind of sense of wonder and relief tinged with uncertainty as it all felt very honest and revealing - all along thinking 'should I delete this bit....or this' but it just needed to be out of my mind and somewhere else I guess. Isn't that the strange thing about blogging....I feel so much that I am talking to friends (I mean really 'talking' - as in lounging around on sofa's chatting and giggling as we always do) that it often feels as if I can say anything....then I remember that I am for all intents and purpose's talking to the world and all at once I feel terribly self conscious and exposed. As if I may have revealed too much. Am I the only one?

I am not sure what the correct balance would be...between art and personal and life all in a blog. Who is all this really for? Is it because I think people would be interested?..... certainly no..... I lead a far from interesting life! Is it an act of purging, of emptying my muddled thoughts so that I can move on with my day's activities?......but surely that is what journals are for!!....private ones! Well I have to admit to being defeated on understanding the reasoning behind it all...only that I know I do enjoy it so.....I enjoy reading about and meeting new characters.....being inspired by art and creativity and thoughts and homes and crafts and clothes..............things that I would never really see in my small enclosed world. It is a way of escaping, just for a short time....feeling as if I have been and travelled to somewhere new, discovering new things, an adventure if you will.

And on that note I will reveal my wee plan for a blogging theme. It has been on my mind for a while, as a way of broadening my blogging repertoire and as a way of encouraging small changes in my life. And that is exactly what I want to do.

You see....although I am for the most part...happy and content..there are small things that I am dissatisfied with and that I would like to change. Actually maybe they are big things, maybe they are substantial things but every-time I make that attempt to make a difference I fail at the first hurdle. New changes last for a week and then I lose the will and the motivation.

So my plan is to begin a once a week blog post in which I will pledge to make one small change in my life. Can you imagine that in a year if I made fifty two small changes with all the niggles and dissatisfactions in my life - how much I could change and develop and grow!!

Now I really am not talking big things and I hate to make this the first one but needs must. Over the last few years (I would say bout 7 or 8 years) my weight has gradually been creeping up and up and up. Fifteen years of back problems, a gradual decline in my active life (I used to quite sporty many years ago!!) a love and over indulgence in cake (especially coffee and walnut) thyroid problems and a gradual and mostly positive acceptance of myself (this is me, I am a curvy girl and that is OK) has led me to be more than a little curvy. But now is the time to do something about it. My back problems dictate that I must. The fact that many of the female relatives in my family have suffered from weight problems, arthritis and general deterioration in health means that I have to make the changes now.

So there we have it, I have begun with an issue that means the most to me this week. I have to say that in a way I hate starting with this one as there are so many ways I want to develop - in my art, in my home-life, family, travel, inspirations - that in a way I wish I didn't have to begin with the weight issue but needs must. Ughh, but there we have it.

I guess that actually I unofficially started this last week. I love coffee and I love it sweet. Two sugars. Nothing less. Well last week I made the small change to only having one sugar. And you see because it was just wee thing I have hardly noticed the difference! But hopefully over time my hips and my waist will.

So my change for this week (and I will call this #1) is to get out walking every day. We have a beautiful nature reserve only a 10 minute drive away - a disused quarry which has now been filled in and there are 2 smallish lakes and paths and woods. It really is lovely. So my plan is as many times a week as possible to go for a walk there first thing in the morning and also to make sure I am getting out for a walk every day. As I work from home for the most part I sometimes find that shockingly 3 or 4 days have gone past and the furthest I have been is to go to the local store for milk - just a hop skip and a jump from the apartment.

So this morning I walked in the park, gathered my thoughts for the day, breathed in the fresh air, listened to the birds and just generally felt refreshed and as if I had done something reasonably active. Clearly this is dependant on my back on any given day - walking can make it worse on bad days but as and when I can this is my pledge to myself.

I am going to make this a weekly blog post documenting my small change for the week. It will act as a pledge to myself (and you!!) that this is the change that will make my life that wee bit better. That will help me grow, develop, become more satisfied and accumulatively will bring about positive changes in my life. I would love you to join me!!! Maybe you are wonderfully content or maybe this is something that you have already done for years. I would love to know.

As Monday seems the perfect day to begin afresh then my next 'small change' will be for next Monday. Oh and if you can think of a more exciting title for it then please tell me!!!

Okay - time to get back to work. But just to let you know that the piece above I completed yesterday. It was inspired by the wonderful poet Edgar Allan Poe and his poem Annabel Lee and is for sale in my etsy shop.

Enjoy the rest of your day!!

Comments

[Izabella]

your writings are always so inspiring my dear~ I wish you grand luck with your new weekly "small changes".

just wanted to let you know that you & Jennifer have inspired me to get some of my art uploaded in my etsy store that has sat vacant for so long....thanx!!

xo ~Bella
http://izabellah.etsy.com

[Craftymoose]

Oh, I have often wondered if I am saying too much, not enough, not interesting, too revealing AND then, I just decided to be me!

I really enjoy reading your blog and am glad I found it through Stiletto & Jewel.

I am always fighting the weight battle, too. I try to do 20 minutes on the elliptical everyday, as well as floor exercises for my back. Maybe we can inspire each other to continue?!

[Ulla]

What a wonderful idea! Wish I could come walk with you - we'd have so much to talk about!!! Love your new work, especially the sold one (darn!). I am really excited for you and can't wait to see what you will create next!

[lou]

good luck with your plans, and especially the latest one - you seem entirely positive, so i cannot see it failing!

the works are amazing, by the way. i love them both:)

[Vanessa V]

Oh Gillian my darling. I adore your idea. Small changes that will make an overall huge difference. Oh, I have sooo many things to change. Where would I begin? I have the mentality of a 5 yeard old about taking my toys out and not putting them back for up to a year. It is overwhemling and hinders the creative process. Perhaps I should try little changes with you? I adore you. I have told you, you are so honest and real. Special and wonderful! xxo, Vanessa

[stilettoheights]

I am in love with the Annabelle Lee piece!!!!

I missed you!!!

[jungle dream pagoda]

I am loving Annabell Lee,and your wee dark one. Annabell Lee always makes me think of Maryann Faithful,and her BEAUTIFUL recitation of that poem. Have you heard it? I love you wee small changes idea. I feel to disorganized to implement it in my blog,as I am trying to organize!
I wanted to share onelast idea. My hub and I began practicing the SouthBeach principle almost 2 years ago. The book (the Southbeach Diet) is a great read,an the diet is super easy to follow,and truly heathy. I think you could even treat yourself with your beloved walnut cake.I do think the small changes you have made are wonderful! They will add up.

[Karen Beth]

Hello,

I've read your blog off and on before but linked here today from Steph's blog.

I love this post and the concept of making small but significant changes. How is your endeavor going? Are you still walking? Still keeping only one sugar in your coffee? I plan to pop over to your main page after posting this comment to look for updates.

I, too, have back problems. (I have scoliosis and had a reconstructive spinal fusion in 1994.) I find that yoga helps me more than ANYTHING and has literally been a lifesaver for my back. Have you ever tried it? Just a thought...

Wishing you all the best and excited to follow your progresses!

Karen Beth :)