I'm arriving fresh into 2016 grateful and ready and full of ideas, aspirations, hopes, goals... things I want to achieve, share and bring to life, and am in the process of breaking it all down and planning out the steps to see how it might actually all happen... at times it feels so huge! How do I get from here to there...??
But then as I was up early this morning and thinking about the crafts I might do with the children this week, month, year... and I began reflecting on how my daughter has played with a hand-made paper crown litterally all Christmas. The crown was made at one of our 'Rainbows' meetings, at the start of the Autumn term for a craft project related to the Royal Babies. They are very simply made from silver card and decorated with gems and glitter pens. And I'm simply amazed at the amount of imaginary play it has already managed to withstand!
It's been lovely to see her bring to life something so simple and hand-made; no expense or even really much time involved in the making, yet hours of fun and free-play enjoyed.
Reflecting on this brings me back to my core values when it comes to crafting and making; it doesn't have to be complicated! Or perfect, or expensive, or time-consuming! Saying this doesn't necessarily mean compromising on quality, attention to detail, or scale or ambition in craft projects in general - those the qualities can certainly be very rewarding and have their own process and outcome...
But it is so freeing to be able to value the simple.
And the intrinsic value of simple crafts is no less meaningful or rewarding, to my mind at least, than those of a more complicated nature.
So that's where I will begin again for 2016! Start where we are, with what we have to hand, and nurture all the tiny, simple steps along the way...
Indeed, my word for 2016 is 'Nurture'. With its gentle quality implying patience, presence, wisdom... I hope to cultivate all my ideas mindfully, with some amount of ambition and focus, but also with the intention not to rush or over-complicate things. I hope to embrace the simple act, of really nurturing each moment - knowing that whilst everything may still be growing and not there yet, I can enjoy tending, protecting and cultivating all these tiny seeds... ♥ ♥ ♥