It’s been a while since I have shared my creative pursuits. I mean sure; anyone who follows me on Instagram may have seen the interesting results of a recent dog life drawing class I attended, not to mention the multiple reels of photographs accompanied by carefully selected songs that took hours to create, only for them to be ever so slightly out of sync with the beat once it has all uploaded.
But in general, the majority of content I have shared has just been photographs of my cat. The plan was to take a brief creative hiatus and then somehow 2 years passed and as it turns out I am too old to have a career recreating tik tok dance routines but not old enough to amalgamate all the various pensions I have contributed to and spend the rest of my days in a chateau in the south of France.
So what have I been up to?
Well, I’ll keep it relatively brief as it’s a bit like hearing about the dream someone else had last night, isn’t it? Unless it directly involves you, then interest tends to wane at a certain point. So let's stick to the highlights:
I completed a TEFL course in Barcelona!
It was an intense but amazing experience that I cannot recommend enough. Especially the part about being in Barcelona where the sun does shine quite a lot of the time and it always feels perfectly acceptable to sit outside with a glass of something refreshing and daydream about another life in which you are Penelope Cruz.
As it turns out - I am a good teacher (reflected in my final grade for the course) however what I really enjoy is talking to and connecting with others. I loved chatting to the students about their lives, discussing differences and similarities in cultures and learning more about the places that they all lived. I also realised that whilst these conversations may have appeared like trivial small talk (in comparison to the grammar lessons I spent the majority of the time teaching in class) - they were a far more effective way of building student confidence and giving them the motivation to continue to learn how to express themselves in another language.
Following this I had to return to the UK because it turns out that Brexit was a terrible idea that made it very difficult to get a job in Spain and continue my fantasy of waking up as Penelope Cruz.
I then worked within the Pastoral team within a big Secondary school!
A job that was in equal measures rewarding as it was stressful but that left me feeling in awe of how hard teachers and TA’s work to ensure that the younger generation can achieve every opportunity available to them regardless of their circumstances. It was a real privilege to be able to support the students and to know that hopefully their time in school was made a little bit easier by having someone to talk to about the challenges they were facing.
I lived my life!
Outside of work, I have continued to immerse myself in Bristol’s weird and wonderful creative events and offerings. Light displays in caves, open mic nights, tarot reading evenings, story slams… there is always something going on and whether it is good or skin crawlingly awful - I always leave feeling inspired in one way or another. Recently I went to an open mic night and a man got up on stage and sang a song about road signs with such passion and confidence that it motivated me to get out my keyboard and teach myself the chords to a song I currently love so I can perform at an open mic myself in the near future, because really what or who is stopping me? Apparently no one.
And what's next?
Well, my main takeaway from the last 2 years is that in spite of trying to run away from pursuing a creative career, I find myself, once again running back towards it. I have realised that I am at my happiest both personally and professionally when I feel part of a community that is focused on encouraging each other to express themselves - and usually through some sort of creative means - whether that is art, music or performance.
I love to provide spaces for others to find the confidence to pursue their creative goals, to play around and experiment and to come to the realisation that really, as cheesy as it sounds it is true that the end result isn’t nearly as enjoyable as the process and experience of making something.
So that’s what’s next! Hosting art and craft workshops, ideally collaborating with other wonderful creatives to put on new and exciting events and hopefully one day (putting this out in to the universe cos you know - manifesting is a thing now) having my own venue as a space to bring this all together in.
Think First Wives Club (if you know that film reference) except for the fact I have never been a wife and the venue will be for anyone who needs a break from the woes of life and wants to come and let loose with the gals with some paintbrushes or a microphone.
Until then I will be doing my best to provide regular updates on upcoming workshops and other creative adventures and pursuits!
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