I can do hard things. 

Ideas percolate for me at random times. When I am out walking, or jogging, or during the wishful white noise of the shower. My previous housemate wondered why I had such long showers, I think the answer is this is some of my best thinking time. Lots of problems have been solved and new ideas come out of thin air, or between droplets of joyous water, trickling through my mind, out pops a fresh new idea. I have always loved water. Once I lived in a place far from the ocean and it just felt wrong. That is the beauty of ageing, we begin to understand ourselves a little better, although we all know how much of a work in progress this can be too. 

In life we all have to do hard things at times. Some of us more than others. But it is the human condition that many hard things come up in life and we have to face them, deal with them, and keep marching forward to the beat of our own drums. Some drums beat fast, like real fast, and those people seem to squash problems like orange juice for breakfast. Easy as. I guess the truth is, what may appear easy for one person is hard for another. Right? We all have our challenges and way of dealing with things, but for me personally, the simplest of things can sometimes throw me, and make me want to run away in an anxious panic!

But what I have learnt, most recently after doing some hard things, is that overcoming these obstacles and challenges, and proving to yourself that you can do them, brings a new level of joy and achievement. I guess it’s also that bell curve of challenge, too hard and you don’t perform, but just the right amount of challenge and resolution brings the right amount of joy and satisfaction. This is my pearl of wisdom I am sharing with you today. Nothing new really, but a realisation I like to remind myself that I really can do hard things. And so can you. 

In other news. I am really excited to start my new mosaic totem poles soon. I have the PVC pipe all ready to go. I just need the lids. I have plenty of new tiles to bring in all the colours. Its going to be fun. Maybe hard to stick things on round things but I guess I will soon find out! I am still obsessed with my pot lid mosaics too, and I am hunting furiously for more pot lids every op shop I go to. The trick is they need a hook handle and not to be excessively concave. I have 13 on my fence currently. Yes the degree of madness as I age intensifies I do believe! As I sit here topless in the sun and write in my garden, I am pretty sure that adds to it. It’s one of my favourite things to do!!! Catching sun on your chest in the mornings feels like I am rebooting my batteries. The sun is warm but not hot, energising not scorching. If you have your own space and privacy I highly recommend it. My last housemate was exposed to random acts of partial nudity at times, so funny. Well I thought so. I would be like “ I am just going to have a garden shower” she would be like “what (ya flaming weirdo)?” then I would reply, “well don’t come outside for a bit, I am just going to have a cold shower under the garden hose.” Completely normal behaviour. Hey, if you haven’t tried it, it’s great. Cold rush of water in the garden is exhilarating and an immediate mood booster. I love it. Next step is to actually install an outdoor shower, but honestly the benefits of a cold shower are pretty damn good. 

It is the weekend again for me here at time of writing, so great. Those Saturday morning feels, when you have the whole weekend ahead of you, ahhh bliss. I am off to the farmers market this morning, then to the beach for a swim, and maybe a jog along the coast if the mood strikes. Although one can never rely on mood to exercise right? Mood lies!! Then tonight I am off to an art exhibition then a comedy night. Good to have some fun plans. 

Hope all is well with you. And I hope you are continuing to enjoy my bloggity blog as much as I enjoy writing it. I hope you liked the various art works I have added here, all found on Pinterest, except the last one which was an alcohol ink artwork I did just recently. So fun making them!

Anita xx