Who/what is inspiring you this week?
Toddlers, artists and revisiting a post from May 2024
Sometimes a post will fly off my fingers and sometimes it takes some nurturing to encourage it into bloom. This is one of those times when a post is germinating but not yet ready to flower so I’ll keep watering it and when it is ready, I will share it with you.
In the meantime, I had a spark of inspiration to look back to this time last year and see what I was writing about then. This was my post a year ago, give or take a few days:
Who do you want to be...
“If you’ve yet to be called an incorrigible, defiant woman, don’t worry there is still time.” Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes
In a way, the post I am nurturing has some resonance with this one. My still germinating post is on the subject of purpose. I am pondering what ‘purpose’ is and where we find it (I’m definitely thinking it’s an inside job not an external discovery).
The question I posed a year ago was: Who do you want to be when you grow up? Who is your inspiration?
A year on from asking this question, I would still choose this woman - whoever she is - with her vibrant sparkle and apparent love of life. Vitality and aliveness is also something I’ve been thinking about recently as I head out of my 50s. There is nothing like a change of decade - especially one that heralds the toddler-hood of old age - to make you reflect on what you want from the years you have left.
And what I want is ‘aliveness’. A rebirth. The return of a vibrant sparkle.
My 50s seem to have been defined by death. Death of family, friends, our beloved pets. Death of an old self. Death of the sluggish, brain-fogged, tired, overwhelmed, menopausal caterpillar. It was a decade of goodbyes. A decade in the desert wilderness, stripping me back to my quintessential bones. And now something is shifting. It’s time for life again; time for hello!
Last weekend I went to Oxford to visit a friend. On the train I sat next to a woman with a toddler. She and her husband were in the midst of three months of travelling Europe, with a ton of luggage and the little one (I admired their spirit and energy for such an undertaking). I’m not someone who coos over babies and young children, but this happy little chap had a sparkly smile and was so full of life. The first thing he did when they sat down was reach over and grab my finger, with a grin that lit up his whole face. I grinned right back.
I realised I was ready to have that toddler spirit again. That cheeky grin. That curiosity about life and the joy in small moments of aliveness.
It was Artsweek in Oxford, when artists open their studios, so my friend and I did some visiting. It is always interesting to see how and where other artists work, and nosy around their gardens for ideas. The gardens were as lovely as the art.
One artist really stood out for me. The human-form wire sculptures of Rachel Ducker were just full of that vibrant sparkle. From tiny to life-size figures, Rachel has captured something about what it means to be a human reaching out to life (check out her work on Instagram at rachelducker98). Or perhaps that was just what I was seeing.
The sculptures have a palpable exuberance about them. If money was no object I’d fill my garden with them to remind me of my own aliveness (especially on the days when I feel anything but!). I’m not surprised that her work sells all over the world.
I’m adding Rachel Ducker to my list of inspirational women. She has a vitality about her; she is clearly sustained through her art for which she expressed deep gratitude. I would guess she is in her 50s or 60s, a maverick soul, and most certainly she is living her purpose.
Maybe that is a good start point for contemplating what ‘purpose’ really is - an essence rather than a ‘thing’.
Until next time… who or what is inspiring you this week? Where do you find your ‘aliveness’. And what are your thoughts on finding or living your ‘purpose’.
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On my desk I still have the postcard you gave me with the image of the incorrigible defiant woman! What has inspired me this month? I attended a Celebrant conference and met a truly extraordinary young artist Lanson Moore who has been inspired to offer a way of immortalising loved ones by incorporating their cremated ashes into an artwork created especially for them and their bereaved family. Her presentation was truly engaging; authentic, heartfelt and sincere, her artwork had a sensitivity, soul and character that I am sure would deeply touch those who had commissioned the work. At the end of the presentation she requested that any artists out there who felt inspired by her work should contact her, as she can't do everything and sometimes people need a style that she cannot deliver. We had a good chat afterwards, and I feel my own signature expression of angels could well suit this sacred purpose . I'm going to practice with crushed whelk shells (intended for the garden to keep slugs off) which look and feel remarkably like cremated remains. I feel inspired to let my angels guide the process and see where we end up!