Starting again.
How should one go about building a new way of life ? Gone is the comfort blanket of familiarity that I treasured back in the UK and instead is a clean sheet of opportunity, spread before me, here in Sweden.
In England I had my own business as a holistic therapist. I treated wonderful ladies from all walks of life, created bonds and friendships and I loved it. I also had a small side business selling handmade crafts and artwork that saw me through the many months of covid lockdowns that we experienced, when I could no longer treat my clients. It kept me sane.
After spending 20 years as a therapist I made a conscious decision that I wanted to take the opportunity of moving somewhere new to create a life full of something new. For me that meant putting down my essential oils and folding up my treatment couch one last time.
I did not want to simply replicate what I had left behind, what is the point of that?
When I thought about how I want life in Sweden to look I decided that I need to make my new life one that is abundant with creation and artistic freedom. Lucky then that we moved to a place so infinitely beautiful that one cannot help but be amazed, inspired and awestruck on a daily basis … My muse is around me constantly.
A big part of that vision is to build a career centred around my artwork and writing. I know it will take time and with no formal training or education in either of these things beyond High school, naturally my default setting has been reluctance, procrastination and self doubt.
However, I tell myself often, If I can emigrate in the midst of a pandemic to a country I have never visited, where I do not speak the language… then I can do this. And I am slowly but surely heading in the right direction.
I have the passion to make my life as an artist, illustrator and writer work… it has to, it is what I envisage myself doing forever. I cannot imagine ever wanting to stop. And so, alongside writing this right now I have just published my first artwork to sell, a calendar, that not only holds within it’s pages my artwork, but more importantly my dreams, my hope for the future, my new roots and my example to my daughters that you can do anything you put your mind to.
I offer this train of thought to you too. If you have something that fills your heart with joy, something you think about constantly and spend hours a day dreaming of then why not start making steps towards making it become a reality ? You won’t ever regret trying but you will regret ignoring your calling.
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