Adventure awaits...

Yesterday I dropped my little girl off for her first day of school. Her very first day. As we walked together toward our destination, hand in hand, I asked her, "So what can you think about when you're at school and I'm at home working?" She answered confidently, "our invisible string"*. "Yes!" I said,  "And don't forget about the rainbow that goes from my heart to yours".*  We contemplated out loud what she might do on her first day, our conversation was filled with lots of unanswered questions, lots of unknowns. We know that lots of unknowns simply means that an adventure awaits. I told her how excited I was for her, and that I would be so excited to see her at the end of the day and to hear all about it. When I left her she was drawing in her new classroom. We kissed, both of us quiet & courageous. I saw her pick up a pale pink pencil and draw a small circle in the top left corner of the paper, and then with the same pencil, begin to colour it in.

As I walked home, feeling emotion course through my body, I saw her as a baby in my memory: Swaddled, snug and safe in her cotton wrap like a caterpillar in its cocoon falling asleep in my arms. I only now fully grasp the meaning of the words spoken to me by the many wonderful wise souls who crossed our path in those early days. They would smile at me and my baby and say, "precious and fleeting times, enjoy this moment". And I did, I did enjoy those many moments.  And naturally yearned for the frustrating, helpless and hopeless moments to hurry up and pass as sleep deprivation took hold week in and week out. 

Although five years on as parents we both feel we are still catching up on sleep, and there are still frustrating and hopeless moments...it feels so different now. And being only at the beginning of this part of the journey, I'm just catching glimpses of how it will be different. I understand it's still precious and fleeting - oh to see those little ones in their uniforms, the little fish in the big sea! - as is every moment in life we connect with others: precious and fleeting.

In the afternoon as I walked to meet her, I thought about how proud and filled with wonder I was to see her brush her teeth all by herself with such gusto that morning. I realised she is so ready for this, and I am happy for her.

When I picked her up, she was tired but beaming. She showed me the picture she drew that morning at school, her very first drawing at school. Starting with that small pink circle in the top left corner, she had filled every part of the paper. It was our rainbow. 

xx

*These are in reference to two books we love and have been so helpful in dealing with separation anxiety. I'll be talking about them in my next newsletter, which will be sent out early next week...

The Everyday Alchemy Seasonal Guide, Festive Edition is here!

This time last year I wrote a post on Instagram about how I'd been working toward reinventing this time of year for our family - creating what we want without family pressure, social or religious conformity, hype, consumerism, drama or stress.

I wrote, "Rather than focus on Christmas, it will be about reflection and slowing down toward the end of the year (rather than speeding up), with attention to journey (rather than destination), giving (rather than taking, including care to self), and a time to strengthen connection to earth." I ended the post opening to others if they were interested to know more about what this time of year will be like in our home, and that if there was interest I'd write a longer journal post about it. I got quite a lot of interest as it turned out ! And many people stated how much they resonated with this idea of reinventing this time of year.

Here were some of the comments:

"After a really stressful and exhausting trip to Toys R Us, you have inspired me." Melinda. 

"Please write more - love this and am wanting to move toward more of this..." Johanna

"I know what you mean, Pia. I lost my Mum this year, and am attempting to create some new traditions around Christmas, to help with my sense of loss". Jan

So, in my usual fashion, my heart heard all, took hold and over the past year I've been creating  a very special ebook that transforms this time of year from stressful to nurturing, all the while retaining the enchantment and wonder that we all love...

The ebook is 40 pages and highly illustrated - each page is full colour. Written in the style of My Heart Wanders, it is peppered with personal stories and transformative ideas that can be integrated into your current festive season traditions to bring the deeper meaning and nurturing that so many of us crave at this time of year.

There is so much within the pages, it's a guide that will open itself up to you in layers, over time, like My Heart Wanders, it can become a reference, something to come back to over time to unearth new layers as you grow and learn on your own personal journey...

This is the image of my festive table garland I posted on this day, December 6, in 2015, on Instagram that sparked so much interest. Within the The Everyday Alchemy Festive Guide, I've added my illustrated butterflies. Butterflies have been fluttering around me for the past few months... a sign of my own transformation. 

To see more and purchase your copy of The Everyday Alchemy Festive Guide, please click here. It will be one of the best gifts you can give yourself at this time of year! And if you'd like to purchase a copy for a friend, you can add their email address in the order details, and it will be sent straight to their inbox.  

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send me an email or comment below. 

With Love, 

Pia xx

What is Everyday Alchemy?

——-Are you looking for The Everyday Alchemists?

read on or start here. ——-

It's been a week or so since my new website went live and it's been wonderful to receive daily feedback and appreciation, thank you! For those who have had a chance to wander and leaf through the pages, you may have noticed I've changed the name of my journal. It used to be called 'enhance the everyday'. But a few years ago as I began journeying deeper, I realised this concept wasn't resonating with me so much anymore. I realised my interest was no longer so much on the beauty but on the making. And that's when the term Everyday Alchemy came to mind. So what is it? This is the description I came up with...

Everyday Alchemy is the process of transforming an everyday object, story or experience into something extraordinary with seemingly little effort, as if magically. 

I feel like this aptly describes the 'making' component of living as a creative being. Because for me it's not just about the end result, it's not about the beauty or the 'happy', it's about the alchemy. And that's what I've always been most interested in. Not only do I love making but I love learning about how things are made, connecting with other creative beings, talking about our creative processes, and sharing the processes with others. 

I'm excited to finally share this new phase of my creative journey with you. It's something I've been working on quietly for a few years and it's a beautiful feeling to be able to open up and let it evolve and grow into the world. There are a number of everyday alchemy projects in the works, including a highly-illustrated hard cover book. While I work on that rather large project I'll be creating and sharing little ebooks and seasonal guides, and sharing ideas and fellow everyday alchemists here in my journal. My first ebook in the 'little everyday alchemists' series is called Jewel of the Sea and is out now... 

Jewel Of The Sea is a simple & beautiful story about a mother and her child playing by the seaside.  It was inspired by one of my recent trips with Laly to one of our favourite beaches. These little everyday alchemist ebooks are created for readers of all ages. They are designed to encourage the exploration of living life guided by intuition. I'm looking forward to sharing more about the creation of the book and series in my next post. Have a lovely weekend! xx

PS for those who have been asking me to make an album of my piano compositions, I finally did it! It's here for your listening pleasure. There are a few more piano pieces that have been added to the playlist which I'll reveal more about in coming weeks. 

——- learn more here. ——-