This video is super inspiring. Reminds me so much of my story.
Have a go and do something that you never thought you ever could.
Love it
Lisa is much further along the journey than me but I have just downloaded her book and can’t wait to get into her creative discovery process.
Amanda
When I am mentoring people in events and creative direction, often they say ‘I am not sure you can help us, we have a very low budget.’
There is a quick assumption that event management and creative consultancy is all about them spending lots of money.
The assumption is low budget equals little or restricted creativity.
In fact the exact opposite is true.
I believe the less the budget the more creative the client.
When you are placed in a space of tension, you come up with the most amazing solutions.
Lots of money equals less struggle to achieve the end result. Therefore quick decisions happen, especially when we have the budget to throw money at it. I find this often results in no problem solving and stretch, struggle or tension, therefore a less innovative approach.
Enter my husband and I, married 3 years, a one and a half year old and lots of big ideas.
Our home right now, is a 1970’s beach flat. It is tiny. It is adorable. It is restrictive.
We live 20 steps from the ocean, but we have no front yard, no backyard and we are existing on one wage.
We would love to renovate our kitchen tomorrow, but we don’t have the money for it.
Therefore we have talked and talked, we have searched Gumtree and thought more carefully about our renovations because we don’t have thousands to throw at it.
Today as I sat and watched my son roll down the driveway, with the ocean in the background, I thought that one day we will look back at these days and say they were the best.
Those days when we had a date on the couch rather than buying tickets to an expensive show, when we made lamps out of mason jars, when we dreamed about our kitchen and more.
The times when we made flower boxes out of recycled wood, the days we scrimped and saved to get a couch, those days.
Money never equals happiness.
Money never equals creativity.
I like collecting ocean scrub as my flowers those days when Lillies cost too much.
I love making my sons sleep suits in those seasons where spending a hundred dollars on a sleeping bag is out of reach.
I love crocheted goods for my friends presents, they carry so much more intention than a quick thoughtless present.
These are the days.
The days that collecting jars and making my own candles and brewing my own yoghurt, will in the future make me smile with delight.
Some days I get to a point where I feel like I cannot come up with another idea.
No more.
I’m done.
I’m tired, I am parched, I have seen too much, done too little with my ideas and I feel overwhelmed.
A consumer generation has convinced my heart that there is no new idea under the sun.
Then I walk, twenty metres out my front door, at about 5.25pm at the moment and watch the sun go down.
The pelicans fly back to their island home in formation.
The penguins flurry.
The seals huff.
Everyone gets ready for the night to settle and peace to reign again once more.
Every sunset is different.
There is never one that is exactly the same.
It doesn’t matter how many times I have watched it, I am still bedazzled at the colours, the quiet, the potential and the beauty.
You don’t need to be at the beach to experience its call.
You could be sitting in traffic on the freeway and watch its colours pique and declare the presence of one greater.
There are millions however that don’t see the designers artwork that is fleeting.
Look up and look beyond.
Allow inspiration to arise again.
There are new ideas, there are new opportunities, the creator of the whole universe avails them to us every evening and then again in the morning tide.
He is a designer
He is a creator
He is unique and we are created in his indelible image
Amanda
I’m not sure whats happening to me, but all of a sudden I am finding joy in the very ordinary.
This adrenaline junkie has needed some time to come off my driven highway and I am really starting to like it.
Simplicity.
The feel of the hot water on my hands and the bubbles as I wash the dishes.
The satisfaction of making my own presents for my friends.
Riding my bike to the post office and sending a letter, rather than the quick fix of facebook and insta craziness.
Meeting new friends at the playground as my son rips his shoes off and flings sand everywhere.
Cooking a roast.
Listening late night in bed to the ocean and the rain.
Watching my son attempt to play the guitar.
Making lunches for my husband so he can work overtime so we can holiday.
Calling my friends with no reason than just to check they are okay.
Dreaming about summer and new seasons and new days.
The seemingly ordinary moments, that we so often scoff at in pursuit of bigger lives.
Finding joy in the ordinary is just as important as stretching your capacity for those once in a life time/ dreams are made of moments.
When we find joy in the ordinary moments, somehow we find a wide open inspired place, that we never knew was available.
We are released.
It is not circumstance or possessions or status or titles that consume our thoughts.
It is shalom.
It is peace.
Momentary
Fleeting
Simplicity
Revolutionary
Till we meet again
Amanda
I sat in the midst of our overgrown lawn today, enjoying the depth of its green chards. Spring is so close to being here and taking a moment to just be, helped me discover a moment of inspiration.
It is easy to produce perfection if you have a big budget and a staff of many.
There is much to be said, for the organic, the momentary, the raw, the urban and all that brews.
I sat reading my frankie magazine and its been a long time since I have bought one. Nappies and all things toddler have been a higher priority on my shopping list.
I decided I needed a little inspiration kick today, after a big month of giving out, I needed to refill again.
A magazine, a coffee and an appointment booked for this afternoon for a massage.
Not a normal day in the life of this novice mum, but one necessary if I am to continue to embrace the chaos of this new season.
I turned up a new playlist on my spotify account and I breathed deep.
What I discovered from Frankie this afternoon though, was that its lost its edge. Yes, it is inspiring…
Yes, it is filled with many things I love and I want…
but I found myself surprised that the first few pages were full of adverts and not ones that were organic, edgy and made me want to go and discover more.
Frankie has sold out.
I was discussing a project with a couple this week in a mentoring forum and I found myself saying ‘Don’t sell out to the corporate opportunities’.
A different way of describing it is ‘Stay wild’.
Creative people, stay wild.
Don’t allow the crowd to domesticate you.
One of my favourite books to read to my little man Maximus, is ‘Where the Wild Things are’.
Imagine if we remained wild in our thinking, our imagination and our pursuits.
Don’t sell out to the crowd, creative ones.
Find your song and sing it.
Refine your song and play it.
Find your place and own it.
Don’t let the big boys tell you how you should ride.
Amanda
