Exploring Nature in Art with Hannah Clare

‘Totem’ & ‘Dart’ by Hannah Clare

I sometimes think the demands and distraction that go hand in hand with adulthood cause us to navigate far away from many of the creative endeavours often enjoyed in our earlier days. In my youth I adored drawing and painting but as I grew older and began to focus my education towards a particular career pathway (shoot production), I unintentionally drifted away from the other creative practices with which I was once so absorbed. Now, in trying to adopt a slower, more mindful way of life, I can see the importance in committing a little time to create something.

For a while, my partner and I have been talking about making our own pigments from natural materials (something far outside our wheelhouse). With this in mind, I was delighted to learn that artist, Hannah Clare -who’s work I have admired for some time- had begun exploring with natural ink. Collecting and interacting with the natural landscape is an important part of Hannah’s work which communicates organic forms, patterns and textures using a beautiful, calming tonal palette. With a view to encouraging others to reengage with the creative outlets of their earlier days, and to learn more about the process of working with nature in art, I spent a little time speaking with Hannah to explore her approach and practice.

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Hello, Hannah – Thank you so much for spending some time with me and Letters of Ara. For anyone new to your work, please tell us a little about yourself and how you found your path as an artist?

Hello all! Thanks very much for having me Lauren, I'm so glad to be part of this beautiful project. 

I am Hannah, I am an artist, I live in sunny, blustery Brighton. I have loved making for art as long as I can remember but I suppose it became a really significant part of my life as a teenager, I loved art at school and creativity was how I expressed myself in my own time too. After leaving school I took a BTEC in Art & Design for 2 years, It felt like a dream to go straight into studying art full time. Then I fell in love with Brighton and got a place to study illustration at the University of Brighton 2006. I chose illustration because my work always fell somewhere between fine art and design, and I liked the idea of developing my own visual language and being able to respond to anything in this way. These were an amazing, immersive and playful few years but I struggled with where my work fit in the illustration world and being an introverted person, I ended up feeling a bit burnt out by education by the end. So I've spent the years since then slowly finding my voice and confidence as an artist, realising my love for abstract work and honing a practice which combines my love of art and nature. 

How would you summarise your work? 

My works are mixed-media collages, arrangements of mark-making, drawing, printed and found material, and more recently, natural inks. I have always thought of these pieces as visual poems or microcosms. They are culminations of time spent walking, gathering, reading, making marks, creating colours, printmaking, responding to an experience or something I've collected. The final piece captures a place, season, time and memory. My work has always been informed by the natural world; since I was a child I have loved immersing myself in nature and I have always found joy in gathering things, noticing small creatures, textures, colours and being aware of the changes each season brings.

I start by working freely on making marks, shapes, colours and patterns, working intuitively. Then I create carefully considered compositions, thinking about how the elements communicate with each other, how they balance as a whole, this process can be meditative for me, it's like finding order in the chaos.

I really like that you described my pieces as using a calming palette, as people have often considered me to be a calming influence as a person, and spending time in nature has always had a calming affect on me, so it's nice to think of my artwork as being a continuation of that and having that affect on others too. 

From where do you find yourself taking influence and inspiration? 

I collect and gather things from my walks; grasses, lichen, seed pods, shells, pebbles, feathers... I might physically use these in mark-making, printing or making ink, or they might find their way into my work in some abstract form, the shape, colour or texture. 

I've always loved the work of the land artists, contemporary artists and sculptors working with nature and landscape, I love the aesthetics of working with natural materials, as well as the ephemeral nature of some of their work. 

I also find inspiration in poetry, nature-writing, folklore and music, I'm drawn to things that balance beauty, poetry and darkness. I love the duality of things, nature can be beautiful and terrifying, life is funny and tragic, a person can be wonderful and awful. Firm favourites have been Tove Jansson, Alice Oswald, Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes. I make lists of words that I like when reading, these often end up being used as titles for my pieces too. 

One aspect to which I am particularly drawn is the presence of natural ink in your work, ink that you make yourself. Please can you explain a little about how you were drawn to this method, and what this process involves? 

I became interested in the process of natural dyeing a couple of years ago, I loved the idea of foraging or growing your own colours and physically linking a piece back to a place, time and a part of nature. After experimenting together with my Mum (who also makes plant dyed textiles) we took a course with Jane Meredith in Herefordshire and spent a weekend at her cottage on the beautiful riverbanks of the Wye, picking plants from her garden, dyeing, felting and weaving, surrounded by willows and kingfishers. I was really taken with the process but it took me until the last few months really to turn this knowledge into ink making and work similar processes into my own practice. I also recently discovered the work of Jason Logan of The Toronto Ink Company and his book 'Make Ink' which has been a huge inspiration, and in turn led me to discover lots of other artists creating really beautiful things with natural inks and pigments. 

There are a few ways to make ink, but it's hard to go wrong as it's an experimental process. Simply put, you can steep or boil plant matter in water for as long as it takes to get a colour you are happy with, you can use a fixative to help preserve the colour, and if needed, a thickener to create a good texture for drawing or writing. If you are foraging you need to know about what you are handling, if things are poisonous, do your research and remember the golden rules of foraging: if you can't name it, don't pick it and only pick what you need. There are also lots of things you can use to create natural colour which you'll find in your own kitchen - coffee, red cabbage, avocado pits, onion skins, this is a good place to start, and a great way to use waste!

Do you find that there are challenges to working with natural materials?

The blessings can also be a curse, but that's what makes it exciting. Most natural inks are fugitive, which means they will change and fade over time and they can go off, it's part of working with something that is organic. You also have to be aware that if you find a plant that works or makes a colour you really love, it might only be available for a couple of weeks of the year, so you have to be in tune with what is in season or you might miss it! This is all still an ongoing learning process for me but I have always enjoyed that element of serendipity. I love that you don't quite know what you're going to get, and that you might never make the same colour twice. 

‘Flint’ & ‘Nacre’ by Hannah Clare

What can we look forward to seeing from Hannah Clare in the future, and is there a particular direction in which you might like to see your practice develop or take you? 

I am excited about spending the forthcoming year exploring natural ink-making and seeing what the seasons bring me. I've just decided to create a series of seasonal prints over the next year so I'm working on that at the moment. I’d love to bring more printmaking elements into my work, so maybe I’ll make than an aim for the next year or so!

What do you do to invite slower, more mindful practice into your life and work? 

Spending time outdoors and time by myself is a big part of my creative process and important to me in general, as doing these things also help me to recharge and keep balanced. I've learnt that as an introverted person, I function better in all aspects of my life when I have given myself the time to just walk and think, or sit and write. I live by writing lists and journalling, I have found for a long time that this practice helps me organise my thoughts, focus on what I want to achieve, visualise my ideas and reflect on things I've done or things I've learnt about myself. I also keep a 'good things' list for every month, to take moments to acknowledge little things I have found joy in, my version of the gratitude journal. 

Finally, do you have any advice for anyone thinking of trying or revisiting a creative outlet? 

Just enjoy the doing, trust your instincts and try not to compare yourself to others. The more you 'do' the more you learn, build momentum and confidence.

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I am so grateful to Hannah for sharing this insight into her practice. You can find Hannah’s beautiful artwork here and follow more of Hannah’s ink making process via Instagram.

Slow Tea

Slow living, whilst embracing a simpler approach, shouldn’t mean denying ourselves that which brings us joy. For me, slowing down is about allowing myself time to make my experiences more meaningful. To choose more consciously, and to appreciate the beauty and benefit of something, with respect for people and the planet along the way.

Probably my favourite way to incorporate a little slowness into my everyday is through the process of preparing tea. Looking for less impactful ways to consume tea, I moved to teabags free from bleach & plastic (Clipper is a good place to start) and for a while now I’ve been in the habit of enjoying loose leaf. Not only does it eliminate the need for unnecessary plastic, but it can also be purchased in bulk to further minimise waste and, ultimately, you’re more aware of what you’re consuming.

My personal go-to teas are earl grey first thing (I don’t consume dairy so I don’t take milk but my preference is to have it black) and then usually a light green throughout the day. What I particularly love about loose leaf tea is how it naturally encourages you to take your time and focus purely on the simple task in hand. 

There’s something of a ritual about the process of measuring out what you need for your cup or pot, pouring the water over and not straying too far whilst it brews to just the right amount. It’s a full sensory experience: the aroma; feeling the warmth of the tea through the ceramic of the cup in my hands; sipping and savouring the tea, all of which allows me to connect to the present moment and experience what I have made, mindfully. 

If you are looking to minimise your waste at work as well as at home, it’s easier to make the switch than you might think once you are in the habit as there are lots of tea strainer options on the market intended for single-cup use rather than a pot. I personally find it a real pleasure to use natural or tactile materials in the process. This bamboo tea strainer and organic tea are from the lovely Parigotte, a beautiful company selling responsibly sourced and packaged loose leaf tea.

I hope this inspires you to invite a little slowness into your everyday.

Lauren

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Recommended listening: If you’re looking for audio inspiration to accompany your time with your tea, I highly recommend the dreamy Opium Tea by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Pictured

Bar Pendants I & II

Bamboo tea strainer & wooden spoon | Parigotte

Stoneware mug | Consall Forge Pottery from Form Lifestyle Store

Navigating a Low Waste Lifestyle with Elsa Lindholm

Images by Elsa Lindholm

Attempting to navigate your way through a low waste lifestyle can be a little daunting and even overwhelming. For me, Instagram has been a great resource for knowledge, encouragement and support and I find it to be an invaluable place via which to share experiences and learn from others who are taking steps in their daily lives to live in a less impactful way. To support my own low-impact approach, I follow a number of inspiring individuals, one of whom, is the lovely @elsaannukka

With an MSc in Environmental Entrepreneurship, Elsa is passionate about the notion of a circular economy. I was particularly drawn to the hands on, DIY approach adopted by Elsa. As well as documenting her own low waste approach with beautiful imagery, Elsa also manages a social media campaign #roamresponsibly, raising awareness to preserve Scotland’s stunning and unique landscapes, something that is of great interest to me, particularly given my own infatuation with the Scottish highlands.

Elsa and I initially connected over an affection for bar soap, having both left behind liquid shampoo, and more recently we shared some thoughts over our mutual disheartened response to the October 2018 IPCC report, within which the world’s leading climate scientists warned that we have only 12 years left to limit the climate change catastrophe ahead. 

I was really interested to learn more about Elsa’s approach to low waste living and to gain a little insight from her unique perspective, for anyone thinking of taking steps to lessen their environmental impact. 

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Elsa – thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me for Letters of Ara. In the first instance, please can you tell us a little about yourself and what led you to embark on your low waste lifestyle. 

Lauren, thank you! I am very honoured to get to be a part of Letters of Ara. I admire what you and your business stand for - so much thought has gone into everything you produce and share!

Originally from Finland, I moved to Glasgow six and a half years ago to study Earth Science and then continued to do my masters in Environmental Entrepreneurship. Quite early on in my life, I came to realise how strongly we depend on our environment and became concerned about our impact on the environment. My dream was to study and work in the environmental field and that’s where it all started. At university I worked on a couple of sustainability projects with local businesses and organisations and loved the hands-on approach and helping these businesses and organisations to get a step closer to sustainability. 

When my partner got a job offer in Birmingham and we moved into our own place, I was inspired to really start thinking about the way I (and we) live, how I could change my lifestyle and lower my impact on the environment. Sharing my journey with family, friends and followers felt like a great idea and a chance to perhaps inspire, help and encourage others to make a change too. I now work in a digital start-up and spend my free time sharing about my journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle. 

 

What do you feel most positive about having taken steps in your life to minimise your environmental impact?

What I find the most rewarding is seeing people around me start thinking about lowering their environmental impact. I sometimes get messages from friends telling me that they have made such and such zero waste swap after seeing my Instagram or blog posts - that is incredibly heartwarming. I used to be quite sceptical about the amount of power one person’s actions can have, but now strongly believe the old cheesy saying to be true: ‘Many small streams make one big river’. If I can make one person think or even change their lifestyle with one of my posts, that is a positive change. There are so many wonderful entrepreneurs and small businesses, like yourself and Ara the altar, driving change and promoting more sustainable values. I feel we can and already have made a change togeth

Whilst you manage to make it look effortless (!) what have you found the most challenging aspect of adopting a low waste approach? 

Having grown up and lived a quarter of a century in a highly consumerist society, it is sometimes really difficult to make the right decisions. Taking a low waste approach has required me to change many of my habits and really fundamentally change the way that I think. It can be time consuming and expensive to find the right kind of products and frustrating when you realise that often the perfectly sustainable alternatives just don’t exist yet. I am not saying this to put anyone off, but many times I have come to realise how sustainability is not at all black and white - it is mostly grey, and with every decision I make, I try to weigh the different types of impact that my decision has. It can be hard work sometimes but it does get easier and helps you to be more mindful about everything that you do.

 

What would be your advice for anyone wanting to lessen their impact?

When you have lived a good bit of your life with certain habits, it can be tough to break them or to be open to trying something different. I laugh at this now, but at the start of my zero waste journey I was certain that I would absolutely hate using bar soaps and shampoos and that they would not work. However, I decided to give it a go and try for a couple of months before making my mind up - turns out bar soaps are fantastic! I love them now. So, leave aside your prejudices and give it a go!

I would also recommend tackling one thing at a time. You want to be able to make changes in your lifestyle that will last and I think the more stable and sustainable way to make these changes is to slowly ease yourself into it. I did the Marine Conservation Society’s #GoPlasticFree challenge last July and noticed that even though I had a lot of time on my hands, I could not change everything all at once. I decided to go about it step by step and that has been really helpful. A good example would be trying to minimise plastic food packaging: I started with buying loose veg and fruit and once I got into the habit of that I started buying my dry cupboard foods plastic free, then meat etc. 

 

Given your passion for a circular economy, do you think that we are seeing a change in supplier behaviour or consumer demand towards a more circular economy mindset? 

I think we are moving towards the right direction, but at the moment we seem to be stuck in a recycling-focused mindset. Recycling is a great way to keep a material circulating and to minimise the amount of virgin materials needed in production, but recycling also requires energy (although usually less energy than using virgin materials) and most of the materials that we use cannot be recycled indefinitely. 

If we want to be more circular, we of course need to consider recycling as an important part of the whole circular system, but we also need to consider the other steps of circular economy, like sharing, reusing (second-hand as an example of this is luckily becoming more and more popular), repairing, remanufacturing, refurbishing and, most importantly, circular design and offering products that will last and can be repaired and remanufactured. A good example of this is my recent search for a food processor. I have been putting off buying one, because I don’t really want to buy something that works for a year and then breaks. Repairing it would probably cost more than buying a new one or, even worse, it could be impossible and I would be left a piece of junk that I now need to try to recycle in one way or another (if I have the correct services and facilities accessible to me to do that).

I believe we will get there but circular economy requires rather drastic changes to be made, so it will take time.

Following the release of the critical IPCC report what, if anything, do you think that we as individuals can do?

That is an excellent question. As I discussed with you at the time, when the report came out, I felt and still feel quite powerless in this situation. Our climate is changing scarily fast: according to the IPCC report, it is likely that we will reach 1.5 C warming between years 2030 and 2052 - that is potentially just 11 years away! The report also emphasised how limiting global warming to 1.5 C, instead of 2 C mentioned by the Paris agreement, would have significantly more manageable impact worldwide. Still a huge impact, but not quite as devastating. 

So, we need to move fast and in order for that to happen we need to get our governments to act. How can we do this? I am going to be honest: I am not at all sure. Talking about climate change more would certainly make a difference. We humans have the ability to forget things quickly - both blessing and a curse. We tend to joke or mention climate change in passing, when we encounter symptoms of it, but the next day we have moved on. The current world politics really don’t help much either. 

I would encourage everyone to talk about it with your friends and family, make decisions in your own life to lower your carbon footprint and maybe even get involved with a relevant organisation. Make sure that whenever you have a chance, you try and affect decision making. The 15-year-old, Swedish Greta Thonberg is a great example of how just a regular person can have a voice and make a difference by speaking up and demanding more to be done to protect the planet that we all depend on.

 

I love the notion of #roamresponsibly, please can you tell us a little more about this. What can people do if they want to get involved?

Scotland is one of the handful of countries in the world that has such wide Outdoor Access Rights, which means that everyone has the right to enjoy nature in Scotland. About two years ago, Scotland’s Instagrammer community was becoming increasingly concerned about degradation of natural sites. An increased amount of visitors and traffic had already caused visible erosion, damage to nature and increased the amount of waste that is left behind. Instagram is a powerful trend setter and there is no doubt that it also helped to increase tourism in Scotland. I felt that the community clearly had power to influence people’s choices, so why not use that for something good and promote how we can enjoy Scotland’s beauty it in a more responsible manner.  That’s when I put the campaign together with the help of a couple of fellow Instagrammers. I put together a charter, which many Scotland’s Instagrammers signed and also put up a website and Instagram account for our campaign. We managed to partner up with some great businesses and organisations and I am hoping that we get to partner up with many more this coming year. 

I am currently in the process of planning a new campaign for the summer and if you are a business or organisation and want to be involved, please contact us through www.roamresponsibly.com. If you are an individual, I would love to hear your stories about how to enjoy time outdoors and travel in Scotland more responsibly and sustainably. You can get in touch with us either through the Roam Responsibly website or Instagram and use the hashtag #RoamResponsibly.

 

Is there anything that we can bear in mind to ensure that we remain responsible wherever we roam? 

Every action we take has an impact. Understanding how important nature and the environment are to us is key. Never leave a trace, is probably the most effective piece of advice to bear in mind. Don’t leave rubbish behind and don’t disturb or hurt nature or wildlife. Also, respect people around you, those who live in the area that you may be visiting and get their livelihoods from the land that you are walking on. Perhaps, you could set yourself a goal of doing a 2-minute beach/pathway/roadside clean everywhere you go, even in a park near you. We get so much good from nature and we really ought to also give something back and not take it for granted.

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Thank you so much to Elsa for sharing her time with me and Letters of Ara. You can follow Elsa’s journey via her Instagram and website.

Exploring the Practice of Gratitude with Krissie of This Grateful Now

Image by This Grateful Now

Coming from an earth-aware, slow living approach, one thing of which I am very much an advocate is allowing ourselves time to slow down and appreciate that which helps us gain perspective. For me, personally, this is often heading outdoors and exploring the beauty of the natural world. But it could be as simple as taking time over making a pot of loose-leaf tea or dipping into a book - essentially, creating time for a little self-care. Whilst I also recognise the importance in allowing time specifically for gratitude, I rarely ask myself the all-important question, what am I grateful for?

I discovered Krissie and This Grateful Now on Instagram around a year or so ago. I was instantly drawn to Krissie’s positive yet honest approach to finding balance. Towards the end of last year, I had the pleasure of collaborating with Krissie to offer what we named our ‘Giveaway of Gratitude and Release’, inviting individuals to share for what or whom they had been most grateful in 2018. Krissie very kindly gifted me one of her gratitude journals – a beautiful linen bound journal containing inviting space for writing amongst quotes, essays and gratitude inspired artwork. Yet, when the time came, for me, the idea of putting pen to paper felt a little daunting.  

On the cusp of a new year, a natural prompt to set new intentions, I wondered if there were others out there for whom this practice of gratitude is intriguing yet unchartered territory. I thought this would be a timely opportunity to seek and share a little encouragement and knowledge from Krissie, the better to understand the purpose behind this practice, and to gain a little advice on how to incorporate it in a way that complements our individual lives. 

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Krissie – thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. First of all, for anyone yet to discover you or your work, please tell us a little about yourself and This Grateful Now. 

Hello Lauren – thank you so much to you too for letting me be a part of your Letters of Ara! I feel truly blessed to join you in this new beginning!

I am Krissie and I’m a graphic designer based near Hamburg, Germany. After 12 years of studying and working in London, I decided in 2014 to relocate back to my roots. I can now see clearer how I was in total need to get away from the city rush and also connect to myself again in more solitude and calm. Being in my early 30s then, I was looking for more sense in life – more soul and more purpose… The calmer village time has been a true gift for discovering myself and my life path. A big part in this has absolutely been my gratitude practice. It’s now my goal to share this experience and hopefully help bring some light into a rather unsettled world.

I like how you speak about finding newness in everyday life on your website, how would you summarise the practice of gratitude and its purpose?

I love how a gratitude practice can give us fresh eyes again to see our lives from new and different angles. For us adults, the novelty of most things has simply worn off. ‘We know it all.’ And to a certain degree that is healthy for us to live a ‘functioning’ life. Yet, we tend to take a lot of things for granted and overlook a lot of blessings, as we rush through our days on autopilot.

To step out of this autopilot we set aside 10–15 min per day (or as much as you like of course) to ponder upon and write down the things, events, people that we are grateful for. Morning or evening – by consciously taking the time to reflect on the good stuff in our lives, we open our eyes (and hearts!) again for all the small and large blessings that actually surround us 24/7.

This rather simple gratitude practice has been proven to lower stress/anxiety levels, strengthen the immune system, improve sleep quality, help us feel more optimism, compassion and happiness (see a more comprehensive list of benefits here). Keeping awareness of our gratitude can also support us through difficult times. It’s not about denying the difficulties in life, yet it helps us create a balanced and calm mindset to tackle them. 

Image by This Grateful Now

With the This Grateful Now journal itself, you have created a beautiful piece of work. Please tell us a little more about the journal, how it came to be, and how you intend for it to be used. 

Thank you so much, Lauren! 

About 3 years ago, articles and info about practicing gratitude kept popping up almost miraculously and somehow they felt like such a revelation in my life at that point. I was anxious, a bit lost, questioning the sense of my job and looking for a purpose in life. So starting a gratitude practice, I quickly began to see and feel all the benefits it brought to me – finding an inner calm by really appreciating the nature that I have around me, simply feeling a deep gratitude for the present moment, my heart beating, my lungs filling with air, a cup of tea when work gets stressful… all the daily gifts that we easily forget…

With the idea developing, I also saw my job getting more of a purpose again – using my graphic design skills for something I feel really passionate about and I can see as part of my path in life. I want to share my experience and give people the opportunity to experience the same wellbeing and shift in perspective as well. There is so much that gratitude can change for each single one of us and also in a bigger perspective. I think it absolutely creates a ripple effect that I’d love to help spread worldwide. 

The This Grateful Now Journal has been created to become a treasured companion to collect your precious memories and moments of gratitude. I really wanted its design to represent the quality yet simplicity and humbleness of gratitude. With its 365 sections to write down 3 things daily that you are grateful for, it can be started at any day of the year. 

Throughout the 365 sections and also blank pages to write, you find quotes from health and gratitude experts, writers, philosophers, old and young. Also included are illustrations and photography by 14 international artists such as Jean Jullien, Karolin Schnoor or Clara Terne. With 5 essays you can explore the theme of gratitude in health, spirituality and culture. 

To me it has been really important to create a journal that encompasses as many aspects of life as possible. Gratitude shouldn’t be limited to a certain spectrum – it really can be applied to everything! So I wanted to give it a modern context that makes it relevant and intriguing in many different areas. I like to see the journal as well as the Instagram as a meeting point of all of life’s connections to gratitude – health, mindfulness, mental health, science, art, culture, relationships, spirituality, and more…

In a recent interview I gave for This Grateful Now, you put beautifully that one of your biggest influences is ‘Mother Earth, nature and the wellbeing of all’ and we spoke about a connection between a slower, more considered way of living, and making time for self-care and gratitude – why do you think this is such an important relationship? 

I think that a lot of our learned behaviour, thinking and also consume patterns are rather fear-based… from FOMO to not feeling like we are/do enough to different-scale worries about our future and that of the planet. 

But we are absolutely waking up and realising that what we truly require (as individuals and as a collective) is to move back into a natural state of love and connectedness – connected to ourselves, our inner knowing and also connected to each other and Mother Earth. We choose (self) love and kindness, gratitude, slow and conscious living as a way of redefining our values – and this choice (and acknowledgement of choice) is simply so empowering!

The wellbeing of all starts with the wellbeing of self. Even if at first sight, this wakes an idea of separateness – self care and love is not selfish nor does it separate us from others… It’s the beginning and the stepping stone for the wellbeing as a collective. 

Anita Moorjani says it so beautifully: “…unless I love myself, nothing else in my life can function at its best. The depth, meaning and joy I experience every day – and the amount of love, kindness and patience I have for others – is in direct proportion to how much love I have for myself.”

Our growing love and gratitude for ourselves will affect the way we live, consume, treat others and our planet. I strongly believe that through this we will collectively create such change to peace and health.

What does a typical day look like for you and how do you incorporate self-care or gratitude practice into your own life?

I’d say I wake up naturally quite early and like to start my days without any rush or stress, which I know is a luxury and I’m very grateful for that! I do a short Reiki session or meditation in bed and often say my thanks to this new day. After breakfast, coffee and getting ready for the day I either drive to my studio or work from my little attic home office – it’s a daily mix of my main graphic design job and creating content for This Grateful Now, packing journal orders and sipping coffee. 

As any job, it can get quite hectic, but I try to incorporate little rituals throughout my day, so I‘m being reminded of staying in balance and calm. I just got an old Tibetan sound bowl, so I love practicing with it and letting the humming sound calm me. There’s probably a ‘Selfcare Co’ candle burning (I know you have them too, Lauren :-) ) and I like to take time to cook and eat lunch as a break of the work day. I’ve made it a habit to thank my food before I eat it (which has such a religious connotation and might not suit everyone) yet I find it such a good way to start eating gratefully and mindfully. As with Reiki I do believe in energy work and I like the idea of giving thanks to the food I nourish my body / energy with.

Then it’s work and if time allows going for a walk with my dad. I really treasure this time with him to talk and connect with him. As I’ve lived away for so long, it’s great to be closer to the family again. I’m getting more and more grateful for the time spent together, as the realisation that we don’t have forever becomes more present. 

I think gratitude has become such a big part of me (and my neural structures), that it automatically appears throughout my day. Often I just stop, take a deep breath and say/feel my thanks to the present moment. 

I’m all for self care and love! I really don’t think it’s a selfish act! As the saying goes ‘We can’t pour from an empty vessel’ and the love we have for ourselves will affect the love, balance and compassion we then shine outwards. One way of connecting with my self is through a gratitude meditation I try to do a few evenings a week. It varies in length and how I do it, but basically I start breathing in deeply into my heart area and imagine filling that space with gratitude for my body, my being and my life. It’s a warm light that I then send through my body thanking every organ, cell of me (well, I’m sure some mitochondria will feel left out, too many :-) ) Being grateful for who we are and our bodies that carry us through this life, working non-stop to repair, heal, keeping us alive… we truly deserve our deepest gratitude! 

I like to end my days writing in my gratitude journal; depending how I feel, I write a little or a lot. The calm I find through my gratitude practice is something I really don’t want to miss anymore.

Image by This Grateful Now

What would be your advice for anyone thinking of beginning or revisiting gratitude practice for 2019? 

First of all, I’d say to find a way that works for YOU. That can be a journal, bullet points, a page or more of writing, photos, an app, morning or evening… be light and playful with it and don’t feel pressured or think of it as a chore to tick off your daily to-do list. If you integrate it into your day with ease, it’ll become a practice to stay that will bring you calm, optimism and joy.

It is said that it takes 21 days to form a habit, so ideally you do get stuck in in the beginning though ;) But if that habit is daily or twice a week, that is your way! It’s ok to start with the ‘easy’ (yet big!) things like family, friends, sunshine… after a while you’ll be invited to dig deeper and deeper and this is when you’ll really start (re)discovering all the abundance that is actually already present in your life. Your eyes will open again to the often overlooked or taken for granted things/events. And I think this is when the ‘magic’ happens and we really start to FEEL the blessings surrounding us.

This is also the fun part, when we almost are on the look-out for the good stuff. Our gratitude practice then doesn’t ‘just’ happen those 15min in bed or before the shower… we take it into our day and start seeing more things that we can really feel grateful for.

That feeling truly is the main component. When we really feel the gratitude (instead of thinking about it), that’s when all the benefits will start manifesting. Your body will feel the calm, your sleep will improve, your mind will stop rotating with fears and you’ll feel more optimistic, compassionate and at balance. So allow yourself the time to move from that thinking state into the feeling state. Close your eyes, smile, meditate and simple BE in your feeling of gratitude.

But as mentioned, make it YOU! If you’re a very rational person, then of course, it’s totally ok to write it down, enjoy the thoughts of the good things in your life! 

Another aspect can be the ‘reframing’ of things. We can try and not judge things and situations as good or bad. They simply ARE. How can we know that not getting this job might not lead to something much more fitting for us? How can we try and see the end of a relationship as a starting point for stepping more into our own and opening new doors? And how can we still be grateful for the lessons and love that have been present nevertheless? This is not to be confused with being delusional or denying the challenges of life – to me it’s always key to allow in ALL feelings, they all have their right to be felt. Yet gratitude will help us heal and actively create a life of balance and wellbeing.

I’d also say, please don’t forget YOURSELF! Even if it might feel uncomfortable to shower yourself with gratitude, you DESERVE just that! Your body healing, breathing, your heart beating and your mind creating, thinking with all the quirks and ‘imperfections’ are so worthy of your gratitude!

Lastly, what three things are you grateful for today? 

Without a doubt, I am very grateful and humbled that I can be a part of your Letters of Ara and having connected with you, Lauren! Seeing how you work and live so thoughtfully with the earth’s resources is such an inspiration. I am very grateful you are spreading that message through your journal now too!

I am grateful for the feeling of new energy and opportunities the beginning of a new year brings. I’m learning to also be grateful for things and events that I like to draw into my life – like they are not there but with openness I invite them in (does that sound woowoo?).

Today, I am simply grateful for good coffee, finding moments of calm and ease in my day, the health of my family, friends and myself, for having just booked some nice workshops to look forward to (Eckhart Tolle and Kyle Gray)… and all in all I’m simply grateful for this very moment, my grateful Now – breathing and being. 

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I am so grateful to Krissie for sharing her time with me and Letters of Ara. You can explore more of This Grateful Now and Krissie’s work here. You can also find the recent interview I gave to This Grateful Now, exploring slow living and Ara’s ethical approach here