The Great Overwhelm...

I’m calling this time The Overwhelm. But since everything is Great these days, it’s The Great Overwhelm. Are you feeling it? I’ve written a little about it on my Patreon page, The Everyday Alchemists, here is an except from the latest post…

Sunday
July 10, 2022

I feel like this period of time should be called The Great Overwhelm…

One of the collective feelings I picked up on the most while being back in Sydney was overwhelm.  I felt it before the pandemic, particularly in the area we were living in, in the Inner West, and then after the first lock down was lifted, the overwhelm was heightened. I still feel it in myself too but when I met with others while in Sydney who described their situations, I could feel the intensity of it. I don’t feel that intensity in me but I think it’s only because I have been able to keep it in check  - as soon as things get overwhelming – like this year during the time of the floods, and when Romain was so sick and needed emergency surgery, I have learnt - and am able to  - drop everything that creates overwhelm during these times. For everyone it’s different. In our case, not having the capacity to outsource support with Laly means I don’t have family to call on or a babysitter when times get tough, but I can drop other things to ensure I have the energy to attend to her and our needs. Socialising in large groups for example, is something that adds to overwhelm for me at the moment, so I often say no, and I’ve been able (and lucky enough) to not take on too much work since 2020, I only do what I can manage.  I learnt all this from the burn out I had after self-publishing Little Treasures: Made by Hand.

Part of my personal overwhelm – or what I call being ‘at capacity’ – is that it seems like I have less and less time to do things other than the everyday necessities – washing  the clothes, feeding the family, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, feeding and caring for the bunny, communicating and organising tradespeople and the landlord about house repairs from the storm damage, sorting, being emotionally present, and going for walks for exercise. And that’s just a sampling of what’s needed to be done in my every day.  Self-help gurus and life coaches will tell us that in this scenario, I’m not prioritising my time ‘properly’, that I need to set myself/simplify my goal (ie more exercise, more writing, more work time, etc) and focus on this, put it at the top of the list and let the other chips fall as they may. I’ve tried this, many times, in many eras of my life, and I can say with conviction that it’s bullshit. It’s one of those capitalist/colonialist/patriarchal idealisms that doesn’t work at all in practice, unless you’re a white privileged man. I know there are plenty of female life coaches and self help gurus around at the moment who sell this idea too, but they’re only keeping up the same illusion. They do not reveal the amount of support they have around them in order to achieve their work goals. And it is simply not sustainable (it doesn’t last).

Since the pandemic first began, I have felt at capacity. And it’s not easing. I know I’m not alone. Even being able to write and publish a post here on Patreon feels epic for me these days – I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve started posts over the past 2 months and have not been able to finish them, even though I’ve made time to come back to them day after day. Today, I am determined. I’ve been here writing this for 3 hours now, and I’m managing this chunk of time because everyone is exhausted from our trip and happy to do their own things in quiet peace. Although it’s 12:30pm, I’ll need to make lunch for everyone soon, so my time is running out.

Why is it like this? Are you feeling this too or are you feeling like you have time on your hands? I’d really love to know. Is everyone overworked – whether it’s an outside job or the job of managing a household, or both  - is this a collective experience or is it because I’m a mum to a ten year old, or is it health related? I’d love to learn about your life right now.

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To read more, and about an idea I’m running by everyone in the collective that might help with the overwhelm, you can join the collective, The Everyday Alchemists.

Pia xx

PS Also, I made a new playlist the other day - I do love this new way of creating mixed tapes for like-hearted souls around the world! This one will be added to along the way, I hope you enjoy it. X

School Holidays...

I love seeing the aftermath of painting as much as I love the process and final creation.

I seem to recall a few months ago I said somewhere on the socials that if there was enough interest, I’d post about what we get up to during the school holidays, and I do recall there being quite some interest but then life got busy and here we are at the end of another school holiday! So here I am, better late than never, offering a brief recap of some of the activities we enjoy during the holidays, to spark you if you’re feeling like you need some ideas…

Firstly, I thought I’d share what my intentions are during the school holidays. As you know, I am passionate about arts, music and nature education for kids, and the public school system here in Australia (and I’m guessing everywhere else in the world judging by the state of affairs and the current interests of the nations!) does not cut it. The kids spend a lot of time and focus on reading and maths and although I too feel those subjects are important, to me they come second to arts & music. In that art is the beginning of reading and writing, and music is the beginning of maths - which is guided by our intuition, so imagine if we learnt the skills of reading and maths through art & music! All the kids who struggle due to thinking expansively rather than linearly would benefit and those who are linear thinkers experience a new perspective. I feel everyone’s life skills would be much improved! I have much to say on this topic and will save it for another time.

So during the school holidays I focus this time on art, music and nature. While I do my best to not book in any work during this time so that I spend most of it with Laly, sometimes it doesn’t happen that way - this school holidays I had a week long shoot (of a two week break! with Easter in between!) but since I used my backyard as the set, and as the producer & photographer I create the shooting schedule, I made the shoot times short to fit in while Laly was occupied elsewhere. She also assisted me during the times she was around and she was fantastic, being my hand model and assistant set builder - this will be her first paid job at the ripe age of 7, and what a wonderful introduction to the working world, knowing you can make money from doing something fun that inspires thousands of people. I’ll share more about this particular shoot when the photographs are published in a couple of months.

A couple of afternoons spent like this, working on her bedroom painting, read on for more details…

This school holidays, I invited Laly to make her own bedroom painting. I bought a large artist’s board, and talked about where this painting would hang in her room, that is would be something she would wake up to every morning so she could think about painting something that would spark joy for her. Not surprisingly, she immediately chose to paint a rainbow! So away we went with this idea. For me it’s a lot to do with the process and not just the final piece so I use these ideas as a way to show her what’s involved in making art. First we needed to prime the board and then paint the background colour. She chose blue. But instead of just using the paints straight from the tubes, I suggested she make her own colours - to make her own blue. I helped her with this. The next day once the background was dry, it was time to paint the rainbow. I let her know that the rainbow doesn’t have to be the colours you see in other pictures, they can be whatever colours you like - in fact, it can be a rainbow of colours that you love, what colours do you love? I said colours out loud that weren’t the normal colours (ie turquoise, acqua, rose, indigo, etc) and she lit up with ones that she loved, so her intuition was well ignited. Then we set out creating the colours. It’s not as easy as it seems it would be, which is why I love this experience because it gives them an understanding of what’s really involved in art making. Once she decided she was finished I offered her some special gold paint to finish it with. And then I encouraged her to sign her name at the bottom. Her art work now resides in her bedroom and I also get to see it every morning, sparking my joy. I will add, it’s also a great experience as a parent to go through this, as you really need to let go of your control and let them make their own intuitive decisions here - this was by no means what I thought she’d paint, but I didn’t interfere. It takes practice.

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I’ve noticed we’ve created a few traditions and rituals over school holidays now, here they are…

1. She loves being active, she has bundles of energy which when she was younger I found rather exhausting but now she is older this energy can be directed into things she loves doing…oh how I remember the hundreds of hours spent at all the local parks and how frustrated she was when she couldn’t reach the monkey bars or climb onto the roofed play equipment! Now she climbs up there and takes a book to read, as if she’s in a treehouse. So during the holidays, she has been enrolling in the wonderful Active Arts, run by beautiful Elena from Dance Domain in St. Peters. Active Arts runs for 4 days, 9-3pm, and the kids get to try everything from rock climbing, trapeze, dance, drama, martial arts, and clay making with local clay artist Agatha who I’ve done a few mother & daughter workshops with as well, and have absolutely loved it, Agatha is a wonderful teacher.

2. MCA school holiday workshops - this is something we’ve been doing for two years and it’s the most wonderful experience. Laly and I make it a date, we set off from my studio in Balmain and walk to the ferry, and take it under the harbour bridge into Circular Quay, then walk the five minutes to the MCA (Museum of Contemporary Art). We love watching the buskers along the way and Laly brings some of her money from her donate jar to pop into musicians hats she likes (there’s some music appreciation right there!). We head up to the kids area to buy the tickets and then find out what we get to do! As an adult I find it a fabulous way to experience the art in the galleries, from the perspective of a child who is encouraged to interact with the work and find ways of connecting with it. The kids (and adults!) then get to make things in the atelier space which is always the most fun, this holiday it was about making sound with art, using all sorts of found materials and objects. Laly made three, she was very inspired by this project! After that we head up to the restaurant for lunch which is always a treat, the menu is fantastic. Laly and I have been invited to be part of the kids committee this year which means we help the creators of the workshops design them and figure out ways to connect kids to art. Which means more dates to the MCA for us two! Happy days.

At the MCA this school holidays, playing on a handmade ping pong machine. So.Much.Joy.

…from a kids workshop at the MCA in January. The idea was to think of a place that is special and create a textural collaged ‘map’. Laly chose her Mamy’s (her grandmother in France) garden and got busy picking out fabric swatches that made her think of playing with Mamy in her garden. Heart-melt.

…from a past kids workshop at the MCA making posters with their own messages. This was Laly’s message to the world: LOVE YOURSELF.

3. Beach days or nature walks. I try to get a few of these in if we are not planning a holiday away, then I make sure we do a few local day trips.

And plenty of playdates with friends, where there is always some magic potion making happening in the backyard…

…Laly and her friend made this wonderful array of mud treats yesterday!

And a number of nothing days in between! I’m not a big planner as I like days to flow naturally/intuitively especially when school is so scheduled, however, I found this particular break busier than usual which happened because I had the shoot as well as my regular mentoring connections.

Also, during this school holiday I’ve also set a great screen time intention that incorporates art & music, I think it might be of interest to some of you, let me know if you’d like more information and I’ll write it up a separate post. Today was the first day I implemented it and it worked so well.

Oh and I nearly forgot, Tiny Doors! This was one of the highlights of our last school holidays, Laly and I had an absolute ball treasure hunting these all around the Northern Beaches. I’m not sure if it’s still on but here is the link, and you can start at Manly Library to get a map and go from there (call the library first to check the maps are still available and that the doors are still around) - we’ve almost found every door, there are only a few we haven’t been on the search for yet. I highly recommend it. And I hope every council picks up this idea and runs with it!

So, school holidays: art, music, and nature. I feel these ideas can be adapted to wherever you live, as there are always art galleries, nature and music venues around. I tend not to do the expected school holiday activities as, if I’m honest, I find them boring, exhausting and some things are torturous - like kids concerts and some kids movies (the exception being Moana, I will happily see that at the cinema a dozen times!). My idea is to make it joyful for both of us, so it’s not just about her but us together, to find experiences that ignite us both, as these will create ideas and memories for her forever. Let me know what you get up to and please do share your ideas here so others can find out, or link to any posts you’ve written about too for others to find you.

Vivent les petites artistes! xx

Sweet Nourishment: a tasting workshop for kids...

A few months ago, I was having a chat with my daughter Laly about the amount of sugar in snack foods, and what she calls “treats”. She loves to snack, and I’m fine with that as long as the snacks are nourishing. We got talking about why there is so much sugar in these packaged snack foods, and what the difference is between a nourishing treat and one that is, well, the complete opposite.

It’s a hard concept to explain to a 6 year old! That’s when I got an idea: Children (and us too!) learn so much through experience, so I suggested we make time on a weekend to create a nourishing treat tasting platter and she was so excited, she began brainstorming about all the foods we could put together! It went from being a ‘boring’ conversation to planning a visual feast!

Soon after, I attended one of my friend Emma’s events, which was in collaboration with a beautiful new local waterside café called The Galley. Emma is a renown naturopath with a passion for food. The Galley team was celebrating their arrival into the neighbourhood and wanted to share some of the wonderful dishes they offer on the menu, their focus being on fresh, seasonal ingredients. It was a beautiful sampling experience, with Emma sharing her incredible knowledge and passion for nutritious, delicious food, introducing us through our senses to the 5 best foods for cleansing during the spring season.

That’s when the next idea struck me: in collaboration with Emma, we could share the nourishing treat tasting with other children, creating a fun, interactive workshop! She loved the idea, and within an hour discussion we had nutted (perfect pun!) out the details. So here there are!

If you have a child between 6-10 years old and live in the Inner West of Sydney or beyond, and want to empower your child to make healthy eating choices, we would love you to join us!

It will be on Saturday November 24, from 3-4:30pm at Emma’s beautiful clinic, Studio You, in Balmain. 

In between Halloween and Christmas, this is a great time to teach them what it means to nourish their mind & body through food, and to learn the difference between healthy sweets and damaging ones. They will be sampling all sorts of delicious treats, and you will both come away with your senses filled, empowered and ready to enjoy the approaching festive season in a nourishing way!

 You’ll find all the details here, please click to find out more and place your booking.

Here’s a little more info about Emma & I:

Emma Sutherland - Founder and director of Studio You, an integrated clinic supporting kids to thrive and grow into healthy adults. With over 15 years clinical experience working with families, Emma is a wealth of knowledge and inspiration. Emma is mum to 6 year old Sophia.

Pia Jane Bijkerk - As well as being a published author and photographer, Pia has worked as a food stylist for publications around the world, focusing on taste, colour, texture and nourishment. Her passion is to connect people to their creativity and intuition through her work. She loves working with children, creating interactive workshops that ignite creativity through play. Pia is mum to 6 year old Laly. 

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I LOVE creating interactive, intuitive workshops for kids, and I can’t wait to host this one with Emma. Hope to see you there! Let us know if you have any questions.

With Love,

Pia xx

Social media hiatus: RECOMMENDED...

Three weeks ago I decided to delete my instagram and facebook apps off my phone, to see how I would feel and if it would help to create space and clarity and focus. The affect was IMMEDIATE. And I knew in that moment more than ever how addictive these platforms have become and how much energy I’ve given them. Within hours I felt the shift, and in these three weeks I’ve been able to focus on all my projects, including a new podcast as well as writing new content for my first mini book, Festive Season Reimagined, which will be ready to print next week! It will be available for signing & purchase at Turn Out - a fete for growns up in Sydney which I’ll be speaking at on Saturday October 27, 2018. If you’d like to come along and hear me talk (passionately!!) about the power & importance of intuition in our everyday lives, you can register here, it’s free and I’ll have the Festive Season Reimagined hot off the press. This book will be a limited edition - it will only be available through me - either in person at Turn Out, or to purchase online through my website after the event.

During these past weeks, I’ve gained so much clarity about how I want to move forward with connecting with you, and I’ve come full circle back to this point - writing in my journal & emailing it to you. It may take some practice to get back into writing longer posts, and perhaps it will take time for you to get used to me writing in length again as I know thanks to social media we have all developed a much shorter attention span, so you may just tend to skip through to find bits that interest you (I do it too).

I’ll make a little diagram to show you how I’ll be communicating from now on. In short, the Patreon collective will hear from me first, receiving a 10% discount off everything I release, including this new book. Through my Everyday Alchemy Journal which I’ll be sending as emails here to you, I have so many incredible things ready to share - places, books, collaborations and projects I’m working on - I’ve been limiting myself to instagram, trying to fit it all in to those tiny squares that most of us scroll by most of the time (I was doing that too).

This is just a brief post to let you know where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to, but I’ll send more info about the events and projects coming up as they come to light - for now please put October 27, 4:30-6pm at Australian Technology Park Locomotive Workshop 
Henderson Road, Eveleigh in your diary to meet up for a heart to heart (don’t forget you need to register to be able to come along), and buy your copy of the book (pre-order here so you know you’ll be able to pick up your copy at the event).

Laly took this photo for me today, not sure if she meant to cut of my head?!

Oh, and my bullshit free zone t-shirt arrived and I love it! Did you get yours? Let me know, I hope you like it as much as I do. Apparently it’s still for sale if you want to order one but only for the next 16 hours - I’m confused as I thought the campaign only lasted 12 days - perhaps someone can explain this to me? I wore mine food shopping today, I felt like a rebel, it was totally empowering. Laly thinks it’s the coolest thing ever (I had to explain what it meant, she totally understood and now wants to make her own version “Bull Dust Free Zone” so we can be matching!)

Not sure if you can sense my energy resurgence through this email, but if so I put it down to all of the above, triggered by deleting the apps. I am not keen to re-install them, but I will need to as I want to keep them as places people can find me and know that I’ve posted in my journal and on Patreon, but will I be able to not look at them throughout the day?! I’ll only know if I give it a try. And if I can’t, then I’ll have to consider a permanent removal.

Sending love through the ether,

Pia xx