Spring, Daffodils and Dollhouses

I am sharing this week’s “Letters for Creatives” here on the blog. If you have been thinking of subscribing to my no more than weekly newsletter to receive more content like this directly in your inbox you can do that here.

The daffodils have buds.

I noticed today. The front yard is freshly melted, the snowman left behind his hat, gloves and scarf. The crocus in my backyard has shown flowers and spring is slowly trying to emerge.

I don’t feel quite ready for it just yet.

I love spring. Normally January has me pouring over seed catalogs and February is filled with the rearranging of furniture to make room for greenhouses and grow lights.

This year things are feeling different. In some ways I want to fly away rather than set down roots where I am. Like the seasons I am in this state of transition. A long pause where I wait for what I am being called to next.

I am very good with change. I crave it to be honest. Routines are something I admire in others but have never found the beauty of in my own life. In many ways I would be happy for making changes daily. Rearranging furniture, going to different places and just all around randomness is something I love.

Waiting however, I do not love. I love planning and dreaming about next steps and yet for now, I feel that I am just meant to wait. To see what bubbles up and to move when it is time to move and to sit when it’s time to sit.

To simplify. To do things more slowly. To be open and listen to the guidance when it’s ready to reveal itself.

I have decided to embrace some slow projects. Projects that will be on-going for as long as they need to be until they are done. One is a the renovation of my childhood dollhouse. I shared about this new adventure on my blog and have already started the renovation. One of the things I love most about this project is all the time I am spending just thinking about it. I imagine handmade roof shingles and paint colors. Windows that open up to miniature breezes and cozy little chairs waiting for a good book. Tables awaiting flowers and a cup of tea.

I am embracing making little things. Using up bits that have been collected over years and years of papercrafting. Tiny bits that can be added to a journal page or tucked in a book. Paper clusters & altered paper clips tucked in a little cup ready for a new home filled quite a few studio hours this week.

In all my plans and dreaming I do have one that has come true-the dream to be published. My first magazine article is coming out next month in Strawberry Moon and I cannot tell you how exciting it is. This also lead me to rejoin Instagram-something I left behind 3 years ago along with all other social media. Instagram was always my favorite, following poets, and artists of all types and being inspired by their creations. I’m starting off slowly and keeping things intentional, excited to see where this journey might lead.

I recorded this week’s podcast with a young helper in my studio. My son asked to join me this week and he and I spent some quality one-on-one time in the coziness of my studio space. He came over when I was recording my podcast interested in how you can have confidence in yourself as an artist. He told me after that he always judges his own work and thinks it’s not good enough. It was sweet to see him listening intently as I recorded and sad to think that even at just 8 years old he doubts his own validity as an artist. As moments do it gave us a chance to talk where I shared all the things I love about his art and creativity and my own insecurities about my own.

I think in many ways, spring, like me, is testing the waters. Wondering if she’s ready to come into full bloom or maybe she wants just a bit more time to stay cozy indoors. Nap, drink tea and dream of dollhouses and daffodils.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante