Living and loving my simple summer manifesto

It feels odd to not have shared the beautiful summer season with you here but taking time to focus on personal projects was something I really wanted to do. I needed space to get creative offline for wedding projects and time to focus on my studies, which I'm very delighted to let you know I have passed both qualifications I have taken! I really wanted to continue my manifesto project through the year, however full life became.

For me each season brings with it something new, a new chapter. I take real pleasure from noticing the changes and love the blurry edges to the seasons as they move to the next. My word of the year is Awaken and with this in mind I decided that I wanted to awaken more of a connection to the seasons than I have done before. I want to awaken more awareness and I want to awaken my senses.

To help me achieve this I've been writing a manifesto for each season of the year. A manifesto for me is a statement that pulls together my thoughts and the key things that what I want to get out of the season ahead and to help act as a guide. For me it's about thinking of the simple pleasures I love during the season, celebrating what the season brings, creating direction, actions, and practical and achievable intentions, with the outcome of connecting more to each season in an intentional and focused way. Life is full and creating a practice to allow myself to intentionally become more mindful is a such a good thing. Living with and observing the seasons is something that I do unconsciously, I adore it, but I want to awaken more of an awareness.

Over the past few months I've been connecting with my summer manifesto. With the signs of autumn making a real appearance this week and the time flying by (I'm now just 18 days away from getting married). I wanted to share with you what I have brought into my life recently during the summer months.

My summer manifesto was very simple and purposefully so. To help me navigate an incredibly full  summer I decided to keep it so true to me and what I believed I may have needed to bring into my life. You'll notice that it can probably apply to any season, there's no connecting to nature as such, it has all been about keeping a gentle focus on myself. I knew that this really was what I needed. Taking time away at the Sisterhood Camp in May enabled me to breathe, think and plan. I knew that bringing this into the summer season, that would be full of making and creating, would help me to really be able to take the right decisions and best path through the months ahead.

These three phrases, 'breathe', 'plan ahead' and 'listen to my body' have been a focus and as much as possible I have tried to live these three elements of my manifesto...

Breathe

Breathing during yoga, breathing through the tricky moments, breathing in the scents of the season for me were all part of Breathe. Breathing delicious scents of summer food, plants and the materials I was working with will solidify my experience of this summer. Taking a moment to just breathe through it would help me calm any feelings and thoughts I felt and would help me relax. When doing yoga really breathing and listening to the breath helped take my mind off thoughts I had.

Plan ahead

Plan ahead was all about how I wanted myself to be and act during the summer. Planning small steps to the final outcome and setting personal deadlines helped me complete large projects that I wanted to achieve. As a lover of lists and plans I created detailed lists and spreadsheet plans for each element of the wedding planning. I tracked what I could in my Get to Workbook, putting pen to paper was sometimes all I needed to feel calm.

Listen to my body

I knew that with so much going on that I had decided to do for both the wedding planning and the two qualifications, that I would potentially be pushing myself hard and not looking after myself as much as I could have done. I knew that listening to my body would be a solution and enable me to tap into my intuition.

During the time of studying I took time away to reflect and gave myself regular breaks. I stopped if I felt tired, knowing it could be done with the help of the plans I had made. I listened to my body and ate salads and drank smoothies to ensure that I was having plenty of fruit and vegetables but I treated myself to chocolate or sweet snacks when I wanted to.  

Having this simple seasonal manifesto became really powerful for me. For this season it wasn't about listing everything I wanted out of the summer, in terms of capturing the season and everything I wanted to do. Instead I've sculpted a season of my life and have given myself the freedom of choice in how I continue to want to feel during a season, how I want to play and grow with the manifesto idea, and the simple element of awakening something new in me. This summer I've awakened a sense of resourcefulness through the three elements of the manifesto, I've awakened an inner confidence of my skills, and I've awakened my creativity. It's been truly wonderful!

A moment in bloom :: my summer

I look back at my last blog post from June, my manifesto, and where I was at that point in the year. It feels like such a long time ago and an extended summer break from this space that I love. I'm gradually heading back as I come out of a full few months of completing once in a lifetime experiences that I will treasure...

As I sit here writing this in our attic room I can see evidence of what the summer has been for me this year. There are beautiful origami cranes, delicately strung on fishing line waiting to be packaged up ready to be hung in our marquee. I see a pile of bunting triangles ready to be packed up into the box in an array of colours. I see a list of ideas and tasks that I thought would barely be touched and see it getting shorter every week. I see my planner documenting all that I am doing as my way of motivating myself and keeping myself on track. I see a copy of our wedding invitation that took time to make and concept. I see other small handmade projects and the supplies waiting to be assembled and their final visions accomplished. I see a pile of books on my shelf that helped me learn all that I needed for the courses I've taken, enabling me to complete and pass both elements...It's been a wonderful ride through creativity, thought and personal growth...

This summer I know that I have really pushed myself beyond my comfort zone, with volumes of challenging tasks and projects accomplished. It has taken a level of determination and drive that I haven't tapped into for very many years, but this time I have paced myself and savoured them. I've tried out new crafts, aimed high with the assignments I have written for the courses taken, and spent time really thinking deeply about our upcoming wedding day and how we would like it to be.

Today is the last day of August, and I am close to the stage that I had envisaged I'd be with our wedding plans, having completed the 'big' projects and having time now to focus on the small details and touches for the day. It's now also a time I was hoping to savour, remembering the moments on the run up to our day, listening to my body and having time to relax...there are just over five weeks left before our wedding day, the countdown really has begun!

I feel quite emotional as I write this and take a moment to look back at the summer and all that it has been. This time last year I wouldn't have thought I'd have been through so many positive life changing moments, made the changes in my life and mindset that I have done, and achieved all that I have. For me the biggest of those are the many personal achievements and my mindset change for the next stage of my life, it really is starting to shape itself into something that I really want and that I am excited by. I'm so pleased to have awakened an unknown level of resourcefulness in me and I'm so proud of the personal challenges I've set myself and worked through in the way that I have done.

...Today I walked past these scented roses, wafting their beautiful scent, looking so delicate and pretty. I brush past them twice a day on my walk to work as they hang over a path. My walk is my thinking time, a time to reflect, to listen to podcasts, to catch up regularly with my family on phone calls, and a time to soak in the sounds and sights of the city I live in. It's a journey and a transition from one space to another, from a wedding planning and personal space, to the work place and all that it brings...Over the summer months I have enjoyed watching this rose bush bloom again and again, taking a moment to stop and smell it from time to time. Much like the projects I've been working on, they have kept blooming, awakening a feeling in me, and making me smile. I've been breathing in all that they are, all that they are bring, and watching them grow.

Photography :: my summer photo collage

I take a camera everywhere I go, whether it's my iPhone, my trusty compact Canon S95, the more beefy Nikon D80 or my newest addition my Diana F+, I am always looking to capture photos to document what I have been up to. I have photo albums full of photos I took at university with my Pentax film camera and have thousands of digital photos stored on my external hard drive from the years since graduating. I love looking back at the trips I've taken, special times with friends and sometimes those odd days out where I've spotted something I like and snapped a quick photo. I'm a real amateur when it comes to taking photos, sometimes I follow the 'rules' and sometimes I don't, I just love capturing the moment.

I struggle to find the time and the desire to upload all my images to Flickr or print out my favourite photos to display at home. I find it so hard to choose what to photos to use, but I know I need to start printing out special photos and putting them on display at home soon. To kick start displaying my photos more regularly I've decided to create a monthly round up of a few photos I've taken. Here are a few Instagram photos taken this summer that I haven't yet shared with you. It's just a little insight into things that make me tick and what I've been up to. I plan to do this each month as a record of some of my adventures during the year and remind myself what I've been doing! I hope you enjoy...

Photos taken in July (above, clockwise from top left) -

A trip to a farm for a small festival. Armed with a brand new tent, we went to a chilled out festival that had plenty of cider and great music. It was my first time camping for over 10 years and really enjoyed it. This friendly goat wandered round the farm enjoying the bands as well as taking in the atmosphere near the cider tent!

Time for tea! July was a month of having afternoon tea with special friends. We were delighted by these tea cups and saucers and a tea brewing timer at a trip to Cordial and Grace.  

Weekend breakfast somewhere new...The Galley, a small cafe near us was a welcoming stop on a rainy Saturday morning. We stopped for a pot of tea, cup of coffee and a yummy breakfast of pancakes, local bacon and maple syrup with strawberries on the side.

Our local pub has started a buzz about chess. We played a few games of chess over a few ciders one Saturday afternoon with friends. I haven't played in a very long time and managed to keep the game going for about half and hour...that may be a record!

Photos taken in August (above, clockwise from top left) - 

Walking along the river and having the rare chance to capture a blue sky with Bristol's distinctive rows of colourful painted houses.

Zip purse success! A crafty project for my best friend Bekka that I gave to her as a present before she jetted off to Singapore to live. I used my favourite fabrics from my stash, followed some instructions for adding a zip and a lining. It was a crafty experiment making a zip purse that went surprisingly well.

A frothy coffee fix with brown sugar lumps to warm me up on a rainy Saturday.

Saturday lunch, a colourful homemade quiche! Well, I bought the pastry, but the rest I decided on myself! I used courgettes, asparagus, yellow and red cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, and peas and chives picked from our garden. It was then topped with eggs and milk and baked for about 25 mins. I served it warm with salad leaves from the garden and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Mmm mmm!

What photos have you been taking this summer?