I was watching a youtube video by an artist who calls herself 'The Unexpected Gypsy' this morning and she mentioned a book she was reading called 'Goddesses Never Age' by Christiane Northrup. Apparently the writer suggested an interesting approach to journaling which was to take a 'trinity approach' by writing down a 'brag', something you feel 'gratitude' for and something you are 'wishing' for in your daily journal. This was my inspiration for today's blog!
So first the brag! On the last day of term before the Xmas break I received a nice surprise. I received a letter which said I was one of the winners of the Mary Elizabeth Barrow Award! Apparently I had won it for my work during the 2019/20 year. So now I can call myself an 'award winning artist'. Wow!
Next, what I am grateful for. At the start of the autumn term we were all advised to book ourselves in for an appointment with the HELMs team at college (Higher Education Learners Mentors). I was in two minds about this because I already receive terrific, one-to-one help from Karen Heaney who is my study skills helper for dyslexia, but decided to give HELMs a try. As it turned out this is how I met (online) Dr Jenny Hillman and I was lucky to meet her. Jenny specializes in womens' studies and womens' history, so found my dissertation subject particularly interesting. I really enjoyed discussing my research with her and took her advice on some further reading material. I thought how lucky the timing was that we had met at all (as she left the college just before Xmas). When I was saying goodbye and good luck to her I mentioned my recent award and consequently she took a look at my website. To my delight she decided to buy a couple of pictures! These were her choices, one for herself and one for a friend who had got married at Whitby Abbey.
Guardian Angel' mixed media and encaustic artwork.
Whitby Abbey, a mixed media and encaustic artwork.
Finally my wish, I wish that 2021 brings more freedom for everyone, myself included. The restrictions of the last year have caused me to reflect on how many great people there are in my life and has reminded me how lucky I am. I hope to spend more time with the quality people in my life in 2021, not just on zoom but in person too!
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