Heather is a noticer-of-details, a mama, a crafter of lovely things and a woman on the verge of an adventure! I'm so glad she took the time to share some thoughts with us.
You seem to aim for simplicity. I know, in my life I seem to
be battling an ever-encroaching chaos! How do you steer your life back
towards simplicity and keep the chaos at bay?
I love your expression "ever-encroaching chaos." Indeed, I feel it
too. A few years ago our homeopath wisely told us that he firmly
believes "some people just need a low-stimulus environment." His words
were so comforting and spoke to what my intuition already knew. Lately
on my blog I've been writing about the busyness of my life right now,
and while it does feel quite busy to me, sometimes I have to laugh at
myself knowing it's all relative. "Busy" for me can happen rather
quickly... while another person might still be running strong, checking
things off their list well into the night, my own cup runneth over much
sooner and I find myself feeling desperate for a cup of tea, some
quiet, and a few deep breaths.
So how do I maintain simplicity? It's a constant practice, one
that I try to stay very mindful of. I don't say yes to every
invitation, we don't run around on the weekends to the mall or other
busy places, we don't watch television (which frees up an incredible
amount of time), we don't participate in excessive consumerism (which
aside from keeping a lot of stuff out of our lives and helping to
reduce our ever-depleting resources... it also, like forgoing
television, gives us a lot of physical and mental free space to just
be).
We do make time to connect with nature, each other, and other like
minded people regularly. We cook from scratch and find the entire
process of collecting/gathering/hunting, preparing and serving food to
be a fulfilling spiritual practice. Family meals at the table are a
daily occurrence. We choose a very small, progressive school for our
daughter to attend, the size and quality of the community there is a
perfect fit for us. We hang out for extended periods of time at the
library. I could go on and on... I love simplicity, quiet, and a good
measure of solitude.
You do a lot of creating; sewing projects that end up in your
lovely shop, projects for friends and family and handmade things for
yourself. What inspires you to create?
This is a tough one for me. Creativity is not something I'm able
to channel or conjure up on demand. I don't think of myself as an
artist, just a person who, like anyone, has lucid, spontaneous moments
of creativity.
Thinking about what inspires me... sometimes the right balance
just falls into place and inspiration strikes. Other times, if I feel
stuck, I'll go for a hike, get on my mat, spend time in the kitchen
cooking, or straighten my studio space. An organized studio space is
always motivating!
Creatively, I am at my peak 45 minutes into a deep yoga
practice, or when I'm in the kitchen cooking for my family. Everything
seems to flow freely, organically, in both of these spaces. At the end
of my practice, or at the end of a meal I've offered, there is nothing
to hold or look at, yet I've expressed and felt a million things.
Balancing the various incarnations we as mothers can be
(chef, puppeteer, gardener, teacher...) and the additional hats you
wear (photographer, shop owner, crafter, blogger...), how do you move
from one role into another and maintain a continuity in your day(s) and
family life?
Some days quite gracefully, others it's a disastrous sight to behold I am sure.
Honestly, I have an amazing husband. We are a good team and try
really hard to look out for, and support one another When I am
over-extended, he reminds me that I need to take care of myself. He has
been known to demand I go to yoga (either to a class or
upstairs in our yoga room) while he cleans the house, washes the
dishes, takes care of business. And don't tell him I told you, but he's
also been known to step behind the sewing machine on occasion to help
out when I'm in over my head. He will of course deny this if confronted.
I don't really think it's possible to do it all, all of the time.
But I do believe that whatever "hat" we are wearing at any
given moment can be worn with great focus, priority and intention. I
also try to practice
choosing my attitude, which means if I'm
feeling busy and off-balance, I check in with myself and really decide
how I'm going to navigate the stress. The
work will be there like it or not, but the attitude I choose to handle it can make all the difference.
To me you seem like a progressive pioneer; do you think so too? In what way?
Oh goodness Amy, I do love the idea of being a progressive
pioneer! Homebirthing, babywearing, extended breastfeeding, attachment
parenting, co-sleeping, vaccination awareness, alternative education
seeking... these are all things that are on my mama/life resume.
Currently, we are gearing up for a big move from the city to the
country, two states away. There we plan to live a quiet, simpler and
more sustainable life. My husband recently wrote, "It has always
been our plan to move to Vermont because we find the overall community
subscribes to cognizant and responsible stewardship and independence.
It is not a move to the backwoods so we can still moonshine and wear
overalls, shutting out the horrors of modern society. We are going
there to effect change in our lives and ultimately others as well." Well said, I think.
Tell us about a favorite project you've made (or one of your favorites; I would have trouble picking only one, too!).
As soon as I read this I thought of a project immediately. It was
a collaboration of sorts, my part in it actually being quite small.
Last winter my husband made a beautiful
wooden fairy tree house
as a donation to my daughter's school auction. These houses are very
personal works of art that he spends hours and hours making. I had a
rather last minute idea to accessorize his tree house and boldly
invited myself into his creative process. To be honest, I'm not so sure
how accommodating I would have been if the roles were reversed, but he
was sweet and cool with me adding whatever I wanted. I had so many
"themes" tossing around... a fairy kitchen set... a fairy birthday
party set... a cozy living room... in the end I decided to make a
little fairy camping set.
It's such a small thing, but for so many reasons behind it, I'm calling it my favorite right now! ;)
Thank you Amy, what a pleasure to chat with you today!
Thank you so much for sharing some lovely pieces of your life with us, Heather. I loved your thoughts about simplicity and about choosing how we respond to different situations. I hope you'll keep in touch!
