Can you hear me?

Can You Hear Me? Returning to Your Creativity with Beth and Jules | Kelly Saward

• Kelly Saward • Season 2 • Episode 2

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When did you last let yourself be creative just for the joy of it?

In today's episode of Can You Hear Me? Kelly is joined by two incredible women from her local community, Beth and Jules.

Beth, a women's circle facilitator and retreat host, has built a life around creating space for people to pause, reconnect with themselves and rediscover what truly lights them up from the inside out. Jules, founder of creative arts community Inspiration Blooms, has spent nine years helping people return to their creativity through textiles, art and handmaking, because she knows that when we create, we heal. Together they weave a conversation full of warmth, wisdom and gentle invitations to slow down, pick something up and remember who you were before life got loud.

Give yourself permission to let your body love what it loves. 

Who is Kelly Saward?

Kelly has been presenting radio shows for a while, and has often been asked if these shows can be heard again many months after the show has aired, listeners wanting to listen again. She heard what was being asked and now brings to you …

'Conversations with Kelly'

Can you hear me?

She wants to hear you, and shares here what's been heard so far. We all have a story, we all have something of value to share, we just need a safe space, the right ears, and a deep trust in what is felt. I'm beginning to understand the rest speaks for itself.

I invite you to listen in, get in touch, and if you'd like … be curious to live the question!

Do you want to be heard?

Do you need an interviewer or host, just get in touch.

#Creativity #Wellness #Womens #Community #Healing #Connection #Mindfulness #Handmaking #Storytelling #Selfcare

Kelly Saward in Conversation with ...

SPEAKER_01

You've just tuned in, you're listening to Good Morning Marlowe, and I've got my wonderful guests with me live in the studio. Good morning, Jules and Beth.

SPEAKER_00

Morning.

SPEAKER_01

Good morning.

SPEAKER_00

It's so nice to be here.

SPEAKER_01

It's so lovely to have you here. I'm really excited to have this conversation. We've started the show with lots of lovely music all about the love, haven't we? And I think actually, Beth, we're going to start with you. So, Beth, your business is love-led. It is. And there's so much encompassed in that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um, which we're going to come to. But first of all, just tell me a little bit about you. Have you always lived in the area and grown up around here?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah. My whole extended family were in High Wickham. My grandparents, aunts, uncles. Um, I moved away to go to university and then came back. Didn't expect to, but here I am. Um, and it's actually really nice to have roots somewhere, you know, familiar that you know, that I have like my childhood roots here, and um, and that feels really comforting actually, the older I get.

SPEAKER_01

So you didn't essentially plan to come back here, but just life brought you back anyway.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

What did you do at uni?

SPEAKER_03

I did psychology. Um, I wasn't the best student. Um I had a lot of life experience at university, I would say. Um I came good in the end. But yes, I did psychology, um, which I hadn't done at school, but I was just really fascinated by people and what makes them tick, and that's what drove me to choose that as a course.

SPEAKER_01

That's lovely. See, I'm l I know you re relatively well, and I didn't know that myself. That's fascinating, isn't it? So, did you plan to go out and be a psychologist from that degree? Was that the plan, or was there no plan? There was no plan.

SPEAKER_03

There was no plan, no. I um I don't know what I wanted to do after. I just knew that it had to be related to people. So I just was following those breadcrumbs throughout, and then um what I've learnt since is that I'm not the kind of person that does the planning. I'm more the person that life just brings opportunities, and then I go, Oh, yeah, that that feels right, and um, and that's kind of how everything has ended up kind of unfolding in my life. Um, so yeah, there's no plan, just um just following the breadcrumbs.

SPEAKER_01

But life is for living, so what an example! That's lovely, isn't it? Really, in itself, that you've just sort of on this love-led path to where you are now, and here we are, here we sit. Yes, yeah, that's true. Thank you. Which is and it's so lovely to just um be here with you. And you've arrived at a point in your life now where from uni a lot has happened since then. Um, what did your working life begin like? What sort of what was the first career that you stepped into after uni?

SPEAKER_03

Um, so after university, I came back and I was temping for an agency that I'd done a lot of work for. Um, and my brief to them was, I don't mind how, you know, I I don't mind exactly what it is, but I know that it has to be related to people. So I originally thought I was gonna go into generalist HR. Um, but as it happened, the agency who I was temping through um asked me if I'd like to apply for a job with them. Um, and I stumbled into the world of recruitment. So my first job straight out of uni was a recruitment consultant, and I was like, okay, it ticks the box. I'm gonna be helping people, I'm gonna be matching people to opportunities, um, hopefully, you know, giving them things that will be helpful for their lives. Um and I was like, and it will you know grow me because I'll have to learn how to do sales, which was not something I felt came naturally to me. Um, and it actually was a really good place to start. Um, and then that led to the next thing that led to the next thing. Um, but that's where I began. And what did you enjoy most about that work, the people? Oh, yeah, definitely. I absolutely loved that sense of well, what I loved the most was phoning people up and telling them that other people had seen in them what I'd seen in them. That was the thing that I loved the most. Um, I went later on to work in-house in in um uh as a recruiter for companies, and it was exactly the same thing. I felt like um I just fell in love with the candidates. And I I um I just would love it when they would have that moment of affirmation that something, you know, somebody had seen in them something really special, and um and just those phone calls where people were really wanting something, and you could say, Yeah, like they've seen that in you, and this is this is your next you know, part of your path. And um, I really enjoyed that side of it.

SPEAKER_01

That's so special though, isn't it? That they had the chance to have their path touched by the work that you're doing. Because so often I speak to people in here, and the the story begins that at school we're told no, you can't do that, you're not capable of doing that, or I don't think that's for you, you'd be better suited and boxed in.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Whereas going into that world and being connected to people, and then in turn matching the opportunity to the person and seeing that little light inside, I mean, that's probably changed someone's whole course of life, having that affirmation, like you say, because it's so important, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03

I really hope so. Yeah, I think um I always thought that my role was to create the space for people to be as relaxed as possible so that they could just show up as themselves. Because I think it is it's that it's all the voices of other people um that have kind of layered on top that can really impact how somebody feels about themselves. And yeah, I just was like, the more relaxed people are, the more open they are, and the more you just let the light shine out, and um, and that yeah, that was um that's always been something I've really enjoyed. And and for some people you just knew it was gonna make a difference. And I the reason I went into an in-house role eventually was because I wanted to see then what people did next, and and I still I still stalk people that I recruited on LinkedIn, and I'm like, oh my god, they're doing this now, and it's really exciting. Um, and that sounds a bit yeah, random actually, but I think yeah, you never know like one opportunity can make such a difference to somebody's life, and you never know what what it will then lead to next. Um, and I think yeah, that's quite a fun thing to be a part of for somebody.

SPEAKER_01

It really is. So anyone listening that you might have recruited now is now aware that you might know what they're doing. Oh dear. Oh, thank you, Beth. We'll come on to a bit more what you're doing now shortly, but Jules, morning. Morning. Oh, it's this is just such a nourishing experience for me. Um, tell me a little bit about you.

SPEAKER_00

That's a bit of an open question.

SPEAKER_01

It is, you can say whatever you like in here as long as we do not swear.

SPEAKER_00

No, I'm I'm remembering that all the time. I've been told a lot this morning not to swear. Um I'm local as well, uh brought up in Chesham, went to local grammar school, went to London to seek my fortune, um, worked in PR Media Relations for my career in London, and then came back out in my mid to late 30s. Uh my mum was still out here and she got ill, and I decided to come back out and live out this way. Um, and have been here ever since.

SPEAKER_01

And do you like so both of you really have gone out and come back in? And did it feel natural, like a natural, lovely thing to do, and just to put your roots down here as well?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think um I'd always known I would come back. Um I loved being in London, it was great, it was like some of the best years of my life, but there's no seasons in London. And I remember having a conversation with my aunt who lives in the Hebrides, and saying to her, and she was saying, you know, well it's spring, and I was like, Is it? I haven't even noticed, there's no trees and nothing's happening on the trees. And that's when I realised, I think I was probably about 33 then, and I realised that I needed to be outside a bit more and seeing the seasons. I mean, you knew when it got really, really hot in London, but that was about it. And then I wanted to, yeah, I wanted to come somewhere and come coming back home was the natural place to come home to, just to have seasons and have nature again, and I missed it.

SPEAKER_01

Prior to that calling back to nature, did you enjoy the London busyness life for a while in PR and media and what what did you love about it?

SPEAKER_00

It was very exciting. It was a really exciting time from probably the age of about 22 to 32. I worked in a I worked in two agencies, and this was at a time when PR was kind of starting out, so there weren't that many agencies, and there weren't that many people doing it. And we worked on some, you know, we used to go to the National Television Awards and the BAFTA Awards because we were doing the PR for them. So you'd be on the front desk, you'd be meeting the journalists, you'd be chatting to all the celebs, escorting them up and down the red carpet. And I my main accounts were things like children's television, so I spent a lot of time with Thomas the Tank Engine and Sooty and people like that. Um but it was you know what we set a hot air balloon. We were standing on we were by Tower Bridge one day, we had a Thomas the Tank Engine, hot air balloon, and it went up. You know, it it flew above London, tethered, but it flew. And those kind of, you know, they're my memories in my mind of the Halcyon kind of media days in London. It was great fun, it was really good.

SPEAKER_01

That's amazing, isn't it? And did so do did you have your children after the City and Sweet days? Way after, yes. I bet you told them all about it though, didn't you?

SPEAKER_00

No, they've not really told them much about it at all, I don't think.

SPEAKER_01

Um do they know who City and Sweet are?

SPEAKER_00

I don't think they know City and Sweet. They certainly know Thomas Tank Engine because there were a lot of products that were still in our house by the time the first child came along. Um and the boys have loved Thomas Tank Engine when they were little. But um yeah. Yeah, it was a different time. So tell me a little bit about your family, Jules. Uh I have three children. Uh my eldest is sixteen, girl, and then I have two boys. Uh Sam is thirteen and Alfie is just turned nine. So we've got quite a wide range of um different temperaments in the house.

SPEAKER_01

But it's nice to be rooted somewhere like this where you've got access to the seasons and that style of living rather than bringing a family up in London, I imagine. Would feel very, very different, wouldn't it?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think we have a very we have a very s I've very proactively kind of focused on having a simple life for us and the children. Um yeah, they're very the boys know they know a lot about nature, they know a lot about I think the important things in life sustainability, environment, um, being kind to people, looking out for each other. They have good manners, they're you know, we've tried to keep things as unscreeny and digital as possible, although we do have screens in the house, but everything in moderation and everything rooted in nature.

SPEAKER_01

And it's so important, isn't it? I mean, I love hearing a bit more about both of you. We're gonna play another track, but then when we come back, I really want to talk about your lives, your families and your businesses and where that's led you today, because although you very much lived in London in the PR world and Beth with you, you know, in recruitment, things have definitely changed, and those, you know, allowing things to come to you and just following the breadcrumbs or the the little pieces of gold, maybe, you know, it's led you both to this point in time, which we're going to talk about. Now, we've got a whole collection of music lined up, and we haven't chosen one. So, shall we choose one now live in the moment? If not, we're going with Abba and Eagle.

unknown

Oh, I love that song.

SPEAKER_01

So for that.

SPEAKER_00

Why this song, George? Oh, because we go to Scotland. My mum was from Scotland. We go to Scotland every year. I've gone to Scotland several times a year since I was tiny, to the West Coast, to Oban and Tennalt and that area. And this song would be we had an eight-track, because I'm that old. We had eight-track cassettes in the car when I was young. We had an old Ford and it had an eight-track, and this was an album. So we would listen to this track going up Loch Loamond along the side of Loch Lomond on the Rickety Road. And I used to really focus on listening to this song to not be sick because it was the kind of days when cars made you feel sick. Um, yeah, it's just a beautiful track. Love it, love it.

SPEAKER_01

So we're gonna take you back to that time now. We've been having a lovely conversation this morning, and you can listen again if you've missed any of it. But we're just gonna come back to where we where we left off. So, Beth and Jules, we were talking a little bit about you know where you've been, what experiences you've had, and what's led you to today. And it's what I'm quite interested in. Beth will come to you first, is thinking back on your journey and what's important, and we'll share a bit about your family as well. But what parts of those early days have woven through and are still really instilled in the heart of what you're doing now?

SPEAKER_03

Ooh, that's a really good question. Because it feels on the surface like everything's different. Um, you know, I've kind of left that, you know, the corporate career and I'm now doing something completely different. Um, but actually I think that thread of wanting to see that kind of wanting to see people light up that still exists. And um and actually I get really excited about people um you know creating what they want to create, or um, you know, when life just delivers an opportunity and it's like, oh, this is it. Um I get really excited about that. Um and just people having that awareness of like who they are and what it is that really gets that fire within them going. Um, so that's that still does exist. Um I think it's just that I'm creating spaces where people can reflect and do that. Um and ideally, rather than having a recruiter, you know, telling them what greatness they see in themselves, I the ideal is that people start to do that within themselves a little bit, you know, start to recognise um the parts of them that are really great. Um so I yeah, I kind of feel like it's that that thread does kind of weave in, and I've never really I've never really factored that. So thank you. That's a good connection to make.

SPEAKER_01

You're welcome. Thank you for sharing that. And Jules, what about you thinking back to where you began and that sort of like heart-centred piece that you've carried forward with you into where you are now? What what is it that stands out?

SPEAKER_00

I think what I was doing back then is completely different to what I was doing now, but it taught me skills that I brought into life now. Like the media world, especially then, was so um shiny, I describe it as shiny and corporate and and quite hard and cutthroat. And I was quite a sensitive person in a very um unforgiving environment. These were the days where you know stories were on the front page of the paper and people's careers were made or broken by those stories. And um it was a hard time to be a sensitive woman, especially in that world. It was a it was a harsh world. So I think I did a lot of toughening up very quickly. I certainly remember being told by countless bosses that I needed to toughen up. And I think it's now as I'm um a more mature woman that I'm looking back on those times and thinking, thank goodness the world has moved on. Thank goodness we don't say that to people anymore. Thank goodness we allow people to be individuals in the workplace and their sensitivities are not seen as weaknesses. Um but I think that the the main strand for me in the hot my whole career has been communication. So you know, all you're doing in in those kind of jobs is taking messages, repackaging them and and distilling them to different audiences, and I think communication and words have been a theme that have come with me all the way through up to up to today, really.

SPEAKER_01

That's interesting, isn't it? Because so in that career you would have had to have learned to toughen up and become very consciously aware of what didn't feel safe for you. So now in the work that you're doing, you're delivering those safe spaces also, so people don't have to do that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think I'm unpacking it in reverse. So you know, I was constantly told I was on the board of a company and I was constantly told you need to toughen up, you need to be more c corporate effective, you need to be more masculine, basically. And um I didn't want to, and I was masking and fighting against it. And I think it taught me uh how to I know now how to make people feel comfortable. I know now how to spot when someone feels uncomfortable because I've probably experienced it myself. So um flipping that and m the the main thing I tried to do whenever we're doing anything at work is to make the people that are in those classes, in those workshops, feel comfortable, feel safe, and then then they're free to kind of be creative and flourish.

SPEAKER_01

And that's what it's all about, isn't it? You know, coming out of that mindset, that thinking world into feeling what your body's trying to tell you all along, and you're fighting against it. So somatically, you've got all the answers there, you know, and holding these spaces where people can connect to that in the work that both of you are doing, actually, is to create these spaces where people can thrive and glow and you know really connect with what's important, and that's so so special because, like you said right at the very start, Beth, about experiences, and you've had a lot of life experiences that you know might have looked when you were at uni. You there are a lot of things, but lived experience now is something that all places need and are actually asking for the actual lived experience rather than just the degrees or the tick boxes. There's so much in what we actually go through, and then that unique stamp you can put on the world, which is what you're both doing. So, Jules, what is it now that you do? Because you're a founder of a business.

SPEAKER_00

Tell us about that. So I um have a business partner and we run uh Wear Inspiration Blooms. Hello to Caroline. Um, Where Inspiration Blooms is uh we have two venues. We run arts, crafts, and ceramics workshops. Um we do corporates, we do private classes, but we should our main business is running classes that the public are welcome to come to. And for me, the most exciting part about that is holding that space, creating that environment where people come, often people who are retired or who've had things that have been difficult in their lives and they are looking to do something to take them out of their own minds, um, for them to come into the room and say, you know, I haven't painted or sewn for 20 years, but I want to I'm gonna have a go at this today and I hope I can do it. And I get a lot of pleasure from creating an environment where they feel safe, they feel relaxed, they feel comfortable enough to be creative, and then to leave with something that they've made with their own hands in their own time that they can look back at when they're at home and say, I did that, I made that. Um and I think it's that leaving with something that they can remind themselves of what they're capable of that feels really special. That's quite a gift to be able to give that to someone else.

SPEAKER_01

I think it is because I think we have a lot of lack in our own capabilities and what we truly can achieve because of that lack of safety, because of the lack of opportunity. And what you're saying there is that you're creating these spaces where so just say for example, if someone is thinking, I'd really love to try something new, I'd love to try a new skill, or years ago they might have experienced textiles at school, loved it, lost that, got sucked into this corporate world of you know burning out, and actually, really what they want to do is like you with your lovely embroidery that no one can actually see except for Beth and I, but they just want to sit down, they want to just absorb into something creative. Where would they where would they begin if they didn't start? What would you suggest? What can you offer?

SPEAKER_00

I think it depends what they're good at at school. I think at school lots of people do art, they do pottery, they do craft, and they either get told they need to go and do academic GCSEs or A levels or degrees, and so that kind of gets pushed out, or they're told by a teacher that their work isn't very good, or they're encouraged by a teacher that their work is good, but they don't then know where to go. And then so they, you know, fall into the rat race, go on a corporate path or whatever path they choose, like the rest of us have done. And then at some point something happens. In my case, it was loss of a well losing my mum, um, where you kind of question everything around you and you need something new. And that's when it feels safe to return to something old. And that's when a lot of people appear at our door and say, you know, I haven't done pottery for 30 years, but I'd like to have a go. Um and at that point, I think we create classes and introduction classes for lots of different arts and crafts that people can come and and make something, and it and there's no pressure for it to have to be, it's going to look like this, it's going to look like the person that's next to you has done it. Everyone has different levels of creativity, different levels of skill. But as long as they leave with something they're happy with, then our job is done. That's our that's our work.

SPEAKER_01

Do you know one thing that just made my whole body go yes, is when you said then we can return to something old. Yeah. How much sits in that one sentence? Can we just go back into that? Because we have got a lot of wonderful things inside of us, right from the word go, haven't we? And like we've shared here in this light, it's squashed and packaged under all these layers. So there's so much sat in the like the wisdom and just the ancestry and the history that we've got, and we bury it. So to be able to return to something old, there's just so much that's felt in that one sentence, Jules, isn't there?

SPEAKER_00

I think I remember learning to sew when I was probably about five years old. My grandma cut a little piece of Liberty Print fabric and cut holes in it and gave me um a hair, I think well, we called them Kirby grips, but a little hair slide with wool on it, and we'd go up and down through the holes. That was our learning to sew. And that's from, you know, when I was a tiny, tiny child. Everybody has done something with their hands at some point in their youth. It when we're young, we're all ex extremely expressive, we're all extremely creative. We're painting, we're drawing, we're ripping up pictures, we're gluing things on things. You know, we're encouraged to be so creative when we're young. And often the layers of life, the the pressures of mortgages and homes and houses and you know, all the stuff, all the day to day stuff, health, all the stuff we all have in our lives, can uh squash down that space for creativity. And creativity then comes at the end of the list. It's oh I'd love to do that. Oh well I haven't got the time. Oh I can't afford to. Or there's you know there's a million reasons that you put before your own creativity. Whereas actually what I've seen over the last nine years since we started our business is when people make a little bit of time each week for their creativity, it impacts all the other areas of their life. Their mental health. It starts with their mental health. It then moves on to their physical health. Because once their mental health is better, their physical health becomes better. And and their relationships with other people. Some people who come to our classes, it's the only time in the week that they they come out. They're retired, they're lonely. This is the only thing they do. And for some people, they do so much all week, but this is the time they come to be quiet and still. And it's being able to offer that same space for all of those different needs that I think is such an amazing gift. Um, because I think everybody has the ability to be creative, and I think everyone has creativity in them. It's just how to unlock that and how to remind people to use it and then show them how beneficial it is for them.

SPEAKER_01

We're gonna reflect on that for a minute, and that is so lovely. And I'm gonna not even ask you, I'm gonna play the woman's work, Kate Bush, because it just feels like the absolute moment for us all to just take a moment and just really connect to that creativity that we've all got access to. Thank you, Jules. Jules Cousins and Bethany Rivert Karnack. And we've been talking about their journeys, their lives, and the work that they are weaving into the world with love. Jules was just sharing all about the beautiful things that she's sharing within the community and wider and beyond. And Beth, can we come to you? Can you share a little bit about the work you're doing and how that's evolved and what spaces you're creating for people now and how your love-led work looks really?

SPEAKER_03

Um, I always find it really difficult to describe it. Um, I think I'm one of those kind of multi-passionate people, so some of my work looks and feels quite different from other parts. Um, so I I hold a monthly women's circle, um, and it's actually in the venue, Jules' wonderful venue, um, uh where inspiration blooms, and I hold retreats um kind of online and in person. Um and I also do some corporate um offerings, um, mainly creating spaces a lot of the time online, but sometimes in person, for people to actually take that moment to pause, stop the doing, and actually tune into how they are, who they are, what they need. Um, I think this era of people leaving half of themselves at the door when they walk in the office is coming to an end. Um people are recognising that actually they need to tend to the whole of themselves. Um, and personally, I've seen the power that's come from being able to articulate who you are and what you need, in that you can I don't know, there's so much more that you can create if you are fulfilled from the inside out. Um, and having been through um kind of a burnout experience, I feel like one of my passions is to create a space for people to actually rest into and take that moment to reflect so that they don't get caught off guard just you know on that tramp on that um treading on that hamster wheel until they fall off. Um so yeah, there's kind of various spaces that I offer, and then I also do some illustration work um basically taking what people are saying and drawing it. Um, so that's that's kind of a little side passion that just sometimes comes in. Um, but I think that's been born out of creativity that I didn't know was within me that um came up when I started to look at who I was and what I needed, and um, and I've stumbled into this path where um I get to listen to people talking about the things that inspire them, and I just draw and um capture it in a visual way so that people can kind of connect with that afterwards. Um so it's kind of a variety of different things, but um it's mainly about creating the space for I guess people's voices to be heard, whether that's um by themselves or by me or by others. That's kind of the essence, I guess.

SPEAKER_01

And we need more of that, don't we? Because rest is massively underestimated, or like we just don't make time for rest anymore, do we? We don't make time to listen to what's here and those spaces that you're talking about to really be listened to so that those voices can be heard. It's absolutely fundamental in the world that we're listening to, where we're heads down and you know, everything's going completely wrong. But I think the wheels are turning, and you know, like the wheel of the year and nature and all of the different things that you're connecting to. And I do believe that we're weaving in more and more conscious spaces for people to really connect to that. So, how lovely that you're doing this so that people can come and rest. And in the rest, they then access all the light, like you said, don't they?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and I think it's you suddenly kind of wake up and go, Oh, this is what's important, because there's so many things that we think are really important, and some of those are just because other people think they're important or have told us that they are, but actually, I think it's when you boil it down, you know, life actually the things that are most important are really quite simple and they could be very easily missed or um or downplayed because they just don't seem, you know, like I don't know, they don't seem as important because they're simple, but actually it is um it's how we are with one another, it's that connection, it's it's honesty, you know, just who are you really and what do you really want and what matters to you the most, and creating your life so that those things are, you know, the the important things are there rather than getting sidetracked by all the things that aren't actually important at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01

I know from that all the things just follow, don't they? Like Jules was saying about the weaving and the creating those spaces when you take time to connect with that art and the creativity inside, you're you know, benefiting your mental health, you're accessing those spaces, aren't you, Jules? And when we were just off air then on that song you touched on after listening to what Jules had said about you know looking longingly into the art classroom. Tell us a bit about that.

SPEAKER_03

Um, it's really funny. So now I find myself sometimes at like a conference, and I'm there with six-foot-wide, you know, wall covering of like paper, and I'm drawing, and I and people often come to me and go, gosh, you must have really been good at art at school. And I laugh because I'm like, I didn't even take it because I was too afraid. It felt like it was just not part of me. And because I had um this expectation that I needed to do it the way that other people were doing it, or that it needed to be perfect, I just didn't even try. And it was um, yeah, I used to walk past the art block at school and just look longingly in there, and I used to be obsessed about you know what my friends at school were doing in their art projects, and I'd be like, they're at the exhibitions, and it felt like a world that I wasn't part of what I longed for, and um and I just love the fact that sometimes you end up realizing there's something within you all along, but you don't, I don't know, you just didn't have I just didn't have a clue that it was even possible for me. Um but I really yeah, I really loved just everything about it. This I think it's a sensory experience. It's the colour, it's the layers, it's the you know, like I'd watch, I'd watch people like you know, troweling paint onto a canvas and be like, oh, that just looks so satisfying. I still haven't done that yet, actually. I need to do that. Um Jules, I'm coming to you. Um but um but yeah, it was like a it was like a forbidden love, you know, like oh I wish I could go in there and I just couldn't. It's the same with the drama studio. I'd I'd walk past there and be like, I just want to be in there. But I chose all the sensible things, you know. I I chose all the things that I was already good at, you know, like I could write essays, all of this. It was all the risk-free stuff, you know.

SPEAKER_01

But it's what Jaws, what you said, it's just come back again. It's that returning to something old, like what's meant for you doesn't pass you by. And by taking those moments, that art has come into your life anyway, yeah, and you've returned back to that space, but in a way that suits you, and it's like the spaces you're creating there, Jaws. That's what you're doing as part of where inspiration blooms now, isn't it? You're creating that space.

SPEAKER_00

I think it's I think creativity is a language, and I think it's a language we're all born with. And depending on our life experiences, it either is a language we continue to use or it's a language we shelve, and it's not a language we have to learn, it's already within us. So circumstances will you'll either keep speaking that language or you'll stop speaking that language, and it's a three-dimensional language as well. It's not a language like learning French or German or Spanish, it's three-dimensional. You use your mind, you use your hands, you create. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about what you've made, as long as you have created something that you wanted to create. You don't even have to like what you've created. At times of extreme grief or uh when I've been really ill, times in my life I've created things I've absolutely hated, but they were the language of creativity of that time. And that's for me, it is it that's that whole communication thing from my past, is it's about a creating creativity is communication. We communicate through our creativity, and we've stopped creating through our communic uh you know, properly creating over the last couple of decades as digital has become more and more prevalent. And some people have used digital to be creative and they've used that as their language, but we're returning, we're going back to the old creativity, jigsaws, you know, things reading books, talking about books, basic things, but they're all expressions of our creativity, they're all our own innate language.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, together we are, aren't we? We're returning, returning to the old, returning to the creativity and speaking that language. I am loving having this conversation because I think in our own different ways, you know, even here, sat here with you, that's exactly the same thing. I just want to have these conversations to allow people's creativity to breathe that connection so that we all feel less lonely. And it's just keeping that going in our own way that only we can do, and not worrying about how it looks or what other people think, because there's so much out there that that language of creativity, Jules, that's such a lovely way that you said that, and you know, Beth with you with your art, and you're creating all these beautiful stories, aren't you, through what you're hearing? Yeah, and that's enabling that connection for other people to see something that they possibly couldn't feel or connect with before.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's so true. And I think as I'm listening to Jules, I'm like, I feel like it's so inherently human that we need some sort of medium in order to make sense of this crazy world and crazy life, and the fact that we have all these emotions within us, and I think being also a deeply feeling person, I think, yeah, creativity's been the lifeline to kind of make sense of it all, to kind of process you know, all of the things that touch us in some way, and we need it. Like I feel like I need it like I need air, so um, I'm really grateful that um life has kept cracking me open to it because sometimes it has been that, you know, like I've created poems because of despair, grief, you know, it's it's not always been I haven't always achieved the path to creativity through like pleasure, it's sometimes been through pain, but it's all helped me move forward um and take a big you know breath and um and be okay with whatever's unfolding. Um so yeah, I think it's really important.

SPEAKER_01

I think that's it though, isn't it? We have to keep allowing things to unfold because the more we resist, we're just pushing against all this wonder that's inside and you know, feeling the pain, feeling the grief, feeling the joy, feeling the pleasure, feeling all the things. We get to be cracked open a little bit more. It's like that, you know, the vase where they paint it together with the gold paint.

SPEAKER_00

Is it called can see you?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, yeah, and it's just like wow, that's that's what it's all about, isn't it? Just the remembering and becoming and creating and gosh, I wonder if anyone else is enjoying this as much as we are. That we're coming up to the news, but don't you worry everyone, because Jaws and Beth are going to be here up to midday. We've got another hour and we're gonna be diving a bit deeper, connecting even further. If there's anything that you want to share or request, you can email us at studio at marlofm.co.uk. Um, and if you have missed the show, you can listen again at marlofm.co.uk and just select today's date. Didn't have Beth's request, so I've actually, while we've been talking, made my own request for you, and we can come back with some others in the second hour. I know you love this artist, and I know that you've seen him. And as we're talking about remembering and becoming and returning to the old, Beth, this one is for you. We've been having a beautiful conversation this morning all about how life has unfolded as it will, and what these two beautiful women are weaving into the world and creativity as a language of love, really. Returning to the old, making spaces for people to feel seen, heard, and connected. And we're gonna dive a little deeper. So thank you for staying with me, Beth and Jules.

SPEAKER_02

It's been fun.

SPEAKER_01

Just been having a dance. Yeah, we're just dancing in the studio to Peace in the Valley, and then we've got a few more great tracks to take us on a journey this morning. Always have a mindful moment on the show at 1111. So we're gonna have that shortly. In fact, we might start a bit early, or I might be umming and Ring for a few seconds, and there's no point in that. We'll finish at 1111. But really, it's just a moment to um arrive where you are and take a minute to be with your body, be with your breath, and just meet yourself with what's present. So we're gonna go there now. Um, if you were driving, please do not close your eyes. So if you're listening to the show in the car, that's not advisable, but you can listen in. But if you're anywhere else in the world and you're seated and you would like to join us for a mindful moment, please feel free now just to close down your eyes and take this moment out of your day just for you. Just really becoming present in your body, feeling the ground beneath your feet, the connection with the chair beneath you, and have an awareness of the space outside of you. Aware of the sounds, the distant sounds. Notice how your body is feeling, your body temperature. Notice if your thoughts are trying to steal your attention, and then gently bringing your awareness inside your body, inside yourself, and connecting with your breathing. Just aware of where you feel your breath today. Noticing if you'd been aware of it before now, and just feel the inhale, feel the exhale, become aware of your heart space, just breathe some love into your heart, and breathing that love back out, and just be with that for a few seconds, just breathing that love in, breathing that love out, and as you expand your breath into the space around you, those people you love, just having a sense of what's in front of you, behind you, beneath you, and feeling your feet once more on the ground, bringing a tiny bit of movement into your toes, and coming back into the space that you're in now this morning. If you're at home and listening in, you can keep your eyes closed as we continue the conversation here in the studio with Jules and Beth. We've been talking all about the wonderful work that they do, and as I said before, and I just love what you said about creativity being a language, Jules. We're coming back to you first as you're weaving away this. She's sewing in the studio.

SPEAKER_00

Keeps me calm.

SPEAKER_01

So have you, you know, just that in itself, just sewing keeps you calm. We've all got things, haven't we, that we can access to keep us calm and present. And in turn, actually gain quite a lot of strength from that. It feels like these tiny things now are all discovering, are really the big things, and taking moments for yourself, which is what you're weaving into your groups and the spaces that you're holding, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think a lot of people for a long time have talked about me time, which is a phrase I absolutely hate. Um, but I think Tell me about that. Well it's because we all we all have to do lists, don't we? We're most people have lists of things they need to do: home admin, work admin, life admin, then you need to do exercise, you need to eat healthily, you need to not have too much time on your screen. I mean the list goes on and on and on, and the very bottom of the list is usually this elusive, horrible word me time. Um and we put it to the bottom. And I have found that if I can have something on the go, like I'm doing a little bit of embroidery at the moment, um, if I've got something on the go all the time that's small enough to fit into my bag, then if I do get a couple of seconds where I need to pause for whatever reason, whether I'm waiting for children to be picked up from school or waiting for a meeting or you know, sitting in a car park wherever I am, if I can just grab it, spend two minutes doing it, it does calm me down. And life is stressful, life is busy, and I find it slows me down because naturally I'll just keep running and running and running until I burn out otherwise. And it, you know, making the prioritizing it for two seconds gives me the next five minutes of better productivity or or just changes how I feel. My mood is so affected by how much time I have to myself. And it just even just taking a few seconds to do a bit of sewing grounds me and and calms me down.

SPEAKER_01

It's so true, isn't it? And actually, hearing you say me time, that in itself is a pressure, isn't it? It's becomes it's not self-care or nourishment or connection, it's it's another thing on the side.

SPEAKER_00

It's become a commodity as well. Yeah, and it's become a commodity that gets banded around in a kind of commercial way. And actually, as human beings, we need connection with each other to an limited or large extent, depending on our personality types, and we need connection to nature, because we are animals, effectively, we are you know from the earth, we return to the earth. Um and we need time alone, again, depending on our personality types, to to recharge our batteries. And I find that if I don't have much time alone, if I can use a bit of time to be creative, it's almost like those two minutes of sewing feel as good as somebody else's 20 minutes of meditation, or so yeah, that's just sewing is just my thing that I like to do. But other people, you know, it can just be as simple as reading a book or writing Beth writes poems or writing a poem, or it doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's connecting with that creative side, takes you out of your kind of over-functioning brain into your calm brain.

SPEAKER_01

I think that's the important thing that you've touched on there as well, is that we can all have these minutes of being mindful and aware, but it doesn't have to look the same. So some people won't enjoy a meditation or closing their eyes, some people won't think that they're capable of sewing. I also like writing and things like that. That's really connected to me. I've always thought I'm bad at uh actual creative wonders that you manage to just weave together really quickly. But we've all got a thing, haven't we? And when we connect to that space, we do have this peace. Beth, what do you find helps you when you need to just have a moment to really connect to yourself and have a mindful moment essentially for you?

SPEAKER_03

At the moment it changes. Um, but at the moment, the thing that I find really calming is actually um like mantra, you know. Um, so I listen to songs that are quite repetitive, but they're so soothing. And I use them a lot during birth, for example, when I needed to stay, like I needed my nervous system to be soft and open and comfortable and at peace rather than afraid. And so um listening to music like that and actually using my voice and singing along, I find really soothing. Um and at the moment I noticed I was um I had a piece of work that I was doing last week and I was really ill and I didn't know how I was gonna do it, but I I wanted to, and um and I noticed that I was just doing lots of like almost like soothing stroke of you know of my arm, and that that kind of touch really helped ground me. Um but creatively, um yeah, it's often kind of writing poetry that helps kind of empty me out. Of all the feelings, um, or it might be just doodling and drawing, um, painting. Um, yeah, I think I I love watercolour at the moment just because I love colour and I feel like I connect with the emotions through through colour, and so just putting you know, pen uh putting the watercolour brush over the paper and seeing what happens and let the colour dance and let it create what it creates, that I find really soothing as well.

SPEAKER_01

Um yeah, I can really relate to that as well because colour really can speak to us, can't it? And I had the privilege of sitting in one of your circles and you got watercolour out actually. Do you remember? And I didn't think I was gonna paint at all, and I did, and this heart um sort of splurged out in front of me, which one of the ladies in turn said it looked like a horse, and it's it's so interesting how we even perceive different things, but what we can create even to communicate in these spaces, um, and we're so lucky to have that, and it's like Jules obviously runs um where inspiration blooms, and you have the just wonderful network of women that gather on a Monday to do sort of co-networking, and I'm really lucky to attend that, and it's just such a lovely space because the wisdom that sits within the room alone and the connection breaks that we have that are so unique, it does that same thing, like through the painting, the drawing, the conversations, you're really able to connect a little bit deeper and then flourish.

SPEAKER_00

Hmm. I think Monday Club's a really good example. We didn't want a a space where space where women come to work together, women who work from home normally. They can get quite lonely at home and and also you need a bit of routine to your week. So, you know, having well, we've got 13 women that meet on a Monday, every Monday, and they just sit together and work on their own projects. But we have this connection break, which was the idea behind that was to have a way to get to know each other that wasn't forced. We didn't want anything to be forced. And sometimes we do some embroidery, sometimes we go for a walk, sometimes we set intentions. We always do a different creative um break for 20 minutes, which then I I hope when people go back to doing their work, they're more productive because they've had that sensory pause, that kind of the rush stops for a second, everyone calms, we connect with each other, and then everyone goes back to their work.

SPEAKER_01

And it's so important, isn't it? Just that reconnection to nature, which I really want to dive deeper into, actually, just the wheel of the year, the seasons, how important it is that we're connecting to this. But before we do that, we're going to play another song. So we've got a few, we've we've got a few bangers lined up now, actually. I'm gonna go with my daughters would absolutely cringe at hearing me use that word live, but that's what came out today. So we've got Emily Sunday, Sparrow. We've got spell songs and hunting high and low because we're playing out with I'm not gonna say what we're playing out with at this point. Playing out with a legend. We are playing out with an absolute legend, yes. That's what we're doing. We are so come on then. Tell us which one you would like next and why. Best looking at you, Jules. Oh, that's all we're saying.

SPEAKER_00

Which would you like?

SPEAKER_03

Um okay, I think um I think we should go for spell songs, the last words, blessing. It's uh it's just such a beautiful track, and I feel like there's there's been so many moments that we've shared, actually, like moments in fields under the stars, whatever. There have been really special moments that this track has come up, and it's I think it's um it's it's a track that helps you really tap into those inner places.

SPEAKER_01

We're gonna do that, and then we're gonna come back and dive into nature itself. Here we go. Spell songs. Oh, ah, it's got a quiet start. Yeah. Wow, what a beautiful song. I wasn't gonna interrupt it with dire straits there. If you've just tuned in, you're listening to Kelly on Good Morning Marlowe, and Jules and Beth are still with me. We're having a real deep dive into what's important, to be honest with you. Conversations, connection, creativity, and just sharing our voices. And we're gonna dive into nature and how important that is. But before we do, Beth is going to share with us a line from a poem that um came to her during during the conversation that we've had. And I think it's really important that what comes up we share if it feels so. So, Beth, if you don't mind, can you just share that beautiful line from the poem that come to you? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03

It was hearing Jules talking earlier about us being kind of these animals, you know, essentially on the earth. Um, I think I need to read the couple of lines before for it to kind of make sense, perhaps. But this is um a poem that I love, Wild Geese by Mary Oliver. Um, and it goes like this. This is just the beginning of the poem. Um, you do not have to be good, you do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. This is the line you only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

SPEAKER_01

Gosh, this is such a nourishing time in here. What a tree. It you only have to let your body love what it loves. How simple would it all be if everybody gave themselves permission to just love what they love? Yeah. And not fight the fight anymore, just really loving and sharing that. And nature teaches us that every day, doesn't it? I mean, we've spoken about the wonderful work you do, and we will share your details, but we're just gonna freely talk about nature and what it brings. Jules, you said that you came back out of the big city, out of that, not being connected to the seasons in London, so that you could arrive in this space and you know, bring up a family. Beth, you've got a family as well, and we're all local, and we're really blessed with the the spaces that we've got. What does nature really mean to you? Dive into that for me. It's a massive question, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00

Okay. No pressure, just see what kind of thanks for that. I don't know if it means of course it means something to me, but how does it speak to you? Um beauty through beauty. I think I'm so I when I see things in nature, patterns, colours, it calms me. I think there was a lot of stuff, wasn't there, around COVID, around people getting back into nature. Like we shouldn't have even left it in the first place, quite frankly. You know, we should be caring for our environment, the environment around us. We should be looking we should we should be good stewards of our land. We're not. And we should be. Um and that's just an absolute fact.

SPEAKER_01

And we need to keep sharing this. I mean, you are a wealth of knowledge with birds, trees, nature. And I know that Jenny shared uh with me, who I had the privilege of having on the show last week, about uh when you were away in the Cotswolds and the rain was coming and you almost knew to a T, which it was only something you could do, which I just laughed and loved so much.

SPEAKER_00

I can see the rain coming over the hill. Yeah, it it hit us brutally. I mean, we were absolutely drowned rats. We were so wet. And I said to her, Don't worry, it's gonna stop in four minutes. And she was like, Don't be stupid. I said, All right, turn around, and I sort of sheltered out because I had a bigger coat, count backwards from 240, and she did count backwards from 240, and it stopped. But you can see rain coming, you see the the browny greyish line coming across, you know, when you get a view, you see it coming.

SPEAKER_01

But I think that's the thing though, Jules. I think a lot of people don't see things coming. But if we are connected to nature and if we're more open to we are, we can feel and sense those things. So imagine you know all these people burning out in that corporate lifestyle with all these to-do lists with me time at the bottom, they cannot see the rain coming.

SPEAKER_00

But that's because most of the time they're not surrounded by anything that gives them any indication that there is a season going on. Yeah, you know, if we remove all the trees from all the cities, then we can't tell what season we're in. And that's what we've done.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Um, yeah. So we need to reconnect. Beth, you've got young children and dogs, dog, and you love going to the woods. What how does nature speak to you?

SPEAKER_03

I feel like um, how does it speak to me? Um for me, it's the place I go where my mind is busy and it feels like it's holding me. Um, it feels like I can breathe there, and obviously that is exactly what the trees do do for us, you know. It's it is it's very physical. Um, but also it I don't know, I feel like I can it it's almost like it opens up the top of my head again. Does that make any sense? You know, when you're stuck in the thinking and actually you need to be back in your feeling body. Um that's what it does for me. Um, but also there's some there's such joy and wonder that comes from being in nature for me. Like it's there's I don't know, just the small delights of you know, the dappled light coming through the woods when you hear an owl at dusk, and I don't know, it's just it brings me to this state of wonder and joy and awe, and I think it's really valuable for us to feel those those things because I think it brings us back into that childlike innocence again, you know, where we're not bogged down by all the stuff. Um, but it's it's really important, and and I've had a really strange experience over the last year because I've been wanting to connect more reciprocally with nature and and actually through jewels a lot, um, have been exploring, you know, different um, you know, naturally foraged plants and what they can bring, you know, like using hawthorn berries as heart medicine, and um and I've had this strange experience in the last year where actually names of plants have been randomly coming to me when I've held somebody else, you know, with my hands, and it's been kind of surprising, but also not surprising because I think um I'm just intentionally trying to be I don't know, a lot less in my head and a lot more listening to the world around. Um and yeah, I feel like having children nature is so important. Clivedden is like my spiritual home, and um every week since I've been a mum, I've pretty much you know been there. Um not so much in recent months, but um, I feel like with with my family, it's noticeable that no matter what emotional state we are all in when we leave the house, by the time we come back from somewhere like Clivedden in the woods, we're just all calm, better, and there's just like a real uh that comes from that, and I think it's so important. Um, yeah, it's I just I gasp if I haven't had enough nature. And actually, when I used to work in Slough, which is obviously not the greenest place, um, I remember somebody saying to me when I first started you know, that I would, you know, somebody gave me like a recommendation of here's the quickest way to get to work, and it was on the motorway. And I was like, oh no, no, no, no, no. If I'm spending the whole day here, I'm driving through the woods past Odds Farm Park, you know, I'm I'm going that green route because I need the green, like I need it, and I can't not have that. Um, and that was a non-negotiable for me. Um, no matter what. Um I would always take the longer route if it's nature. Always, I'll always drive the back roads through, you know, the single track roads in you know, surrounded by hedgerows, and you just yeah, again, you're just surprised by what appears in those places that you don't get when you're sat on a motorway.

SPEAKER_01

And that's amazing that you're aware of it, just that regulation that nature's just bringing to you, even just by driving through it. And we can all make those small changes, can't we? You know, like you shared, Jules, about you know, five minutes when you pause and you take five minutes to do some embroidery, when you're going the longer route and you're going in the car, we're regulating our bodies and we're getting more in touch with nature and those things that can really, really help us because we're losing sight of that. We're really desperately losing sight of what's important. I mean, the news and everything, it's always really not uplifting, is it? And we need to access the opposite of that so that we can really find balance and connection. And there's so much outside of us, you know, in nature, in seasons, um, you know, the moon, the the wheel of the year, and we're all luckily aware of this, but some people out there listening might feel connected to things and not know how to explore it. Jules, what would you say if someone's listening to this conversation and wants to reconnect to nature or take a pause or a conscious decision to regulate in that sort of way? What would you share?

SPEAKER_00

I think it's tricky in some cases. Like you think of the I think of when I lived in the centre of town and lived in a kind of pokey little flat and in the tower block, you know, you didn't get access to nature. You know, it is unfortunately there is a lot of privilege that comes with being able to access nature readily. And I think that's socially, I think that's completely wrong. We remove the green spaces in our inner cities and you know, the people that need the inner those spaces the most don't have access to the green spaces. That's there is a bit of a person thinks quite criminal that that is the way it is, but it is the way it is. I think, you know, in in the area where we live round here in Marlowe in the Chilterns, um we have a lot of green spaces. We're incredibly privileged to have so many beautiful, well kept green spaces and you know, we do need to look after them and we need to go into them. I think it's a lot harder for people that live in the centre of towns. They don't have access to the same things that we do out here. Um I think we have a moral responsibility to try and give them that access. You see lots of schools coming out for there's a lot of farms locally that do projects where school children from inner cities come out and learn where the food's grown and stuff like that. I think that's really important because I think it's the children that we've got to enable to connect with nature because they're going to be the stewards of the future. When we're all gone and we've burned most of this planet up, it's our children, our children's children that are gonna have to take care and do the repair the damage that we've done. Um so it is I don't think it's an easy I don't know how everyone gets access to it, but I do know that the small access you can get it, you know, it's as simple as just looking for three things every day. You know, at the moment if you step outside and you're walking, even if you're walking into centre town, you're likely to see a snowdrop somewhere and going, okay, it's snowdrop season, it must be January, February. You know, making those connections. When I was young, I used to make the connections between we'd go blackberry picking, oh, when the leaves were this colour. You know, you uh again it's going back to the old the old ways, the old things, but you know, daffodils come in the spring. It's it's teaching the children the basics of things like that so they know for the future.

SPEAKER_01

It's an education, isn't it? And I think that's why these conversations are absolutely fundamental to the to the future generations, because we need to educate with all of the little bits of wisdom that people have got and gather, you know, like back in the old times where you know there were the hunter-gatherers and we're looking for food and people were in those communities. We need to do that with the the knowledge and the wisdom that we've got and share that and you know, gather, educate so that people can access it and even just looking up at the sky, like wherever you are, you can look up at the sky and you know connect to thinking right, there's something bigger than this at play here, and I can connect in any way that I can. Beth, what would you share on this?

SPEAKER_03

Gosh, um, I think I'm still processing what Jules um shared. Um, but I love that idea of um well, actually, what what's coming to me is even just noticing the sensation of the warmth or the cold on your skin as you, you know, even if you're going to your car to go somewhere, I think starting to pay attention to those little details. Um, I think that's what nature has given me. It's kind of it's opened up my eye for detail where I don't normally tend to the detail. Um so even just noticing those sensations, you know, like what what does the air feel like today on your skin? Is it warm, cool, is there moisture? Just those little things can I think help attune us back to being back in our bodies. I think that's that's the thing, because I think we're spending a lot of time operating from our minds, and actually I think what nature invites us to is to remember that we are, as Jules said, these kind of soft animal bodies, and it's actually coming back to that because when we're in our bodies we can more we can more attune to our instincts, you know, our instinctual nature, and then we are more connected with what feels true for us, noticing how our bodies responding to the things around us, the situations we're in, the conversations we're having, the food that we're eating, all of that. I think our bodies are kind of a here, they are their nature, we are nature, and actually it's bringing us, l allowing us to sink back into that, and I think, yeah, noticing the sensations, um, I think is a good place to start, and just being open to the beauty, you know, even looking out of the window here, there's beautiful trees, and it's just noticing those small details, the colours.

SPEAKER_01

Um yeah, it's so important for the final time today. Coming up to quarter to twelve, the morning has absolutely flown by. And if you've just tuned in, I am here in the studio with Jules and Beth, and we've been having a lovely conversation today about all things, really. There isn't anywhere we haven't gone. We've spoken about nature and what's deeply rooted in the work that both Beth and Jules do. And I think it'd be a really great time actually just to share where people can find you both and what you do, and if they're interested in coming into these spaces that you're creating for people to really access what you're sharing. So, Jules, over to you. Tell everybody, um, just summarise again what it is that you're creating for people to share and where they can find you.

SPEAKER_00

So we run arts, crafts, pottery um workshops, courses, classes, um, in Penn Street, just outside Amersham and Homer Green. Um and the website is www.wareinspirationblooms.co.uk and we're on Facebook and Instagram as well. And then in a bit more my sort of stuff, um, my rantings, uh, are on Instagram at by Julia Cousins.

SPEAKER_01

And can you tell me there's a new space that's coming up on a Wednesday, isn't there? Can we talk about that?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I've suffered from teaching anxiety for a very long time, um, and recently have discovered that that's because um I don't like things that are sort of finished pieces. So I'm opening up a Wednesday morning space at the pavilion. We have a beautiful cricket pavilion um um in Penn Street, and it's just for women, it's a women's cricket pavilion. Um and um on a Wednesday morning I'm gonna be opening the doors and inviting people to come, and it's called the the making space, and just people to come and make whatever they want to make. I'll have stuff there, I'll have some embroidery stuff there, some weaving stuff there, might be a bit of pyrography or I don't know, depends what I'm feeling like. But I'm gonna go each week, whether uh anyone else comes or not is up to them. But I'm gonna make something every Wednesday. I'm gonna concentrate on a Wednesday morning on making something that that I want to make, just being creative in in the space. And um yeah, on my website, on our website you can uh buy tickets come along to that.

SPEAKER_01

Um does the making space commence when it commences on the 4th of March. So from the 4th of March, yes, you come on a Wednesday morning, yes. And what time do your doors open and come on?

SPEAKER_00

9 30 till 12 30. Okay, so I'm gonna do I'm gonna do some kind of demo each week as well, like the Connection Breaks and Monday Club, but um a kind of demo an inspiration, what do we call it? An inspiration um interlude. That was it. An inspiration interlude. And I think I'm gonna do things like paper making, because I want to have a go at papermaking. I don't want to teach a class in paper making, but I've got all the kit, so let's muck around and make some paper and chop some petals up and put it in it and have a bit of fun. So each week there'll be a different demo of something random that I'm thinking I might make and people can join in.

SPEAKER_01

I absolutely love that. So Wednesday mornings are now covered. If you've got nothing to do, you can find out all about that wear inspiration blooms with jewels, and it's just drop in. So you can either join all of them or just drop in. Can people, if they think, oh, you know how people are so non-committal? I mean, I'm very last minute, can you just arrive and pay on the door? Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Brilliant.

SPEAKER_00

You probably have to have Milo with them in the background because I'm thinking otherwise you won't be able to come. So we'll have this one in the background.

SPEAKER_01

And Beth, tell us how everyone can find you.

SPEAKER_03

Um, so my main hangout place is probably Instagram, and you can find me at Bethany LoveLed. That's love L E D. Um, or you'll like feel free to drop me an email. Um I'm at Beth at loveledcoaching.co.gk. Um I have um a WhatsApp group where people can um ask to join, just where I will share upcoming circles and offerings and retreats. Um so feel free to get in touch and I can obviously add people into there, but Instagram's probably where I I'll you know post things um for people to see. Um and it would be lovely to yeah to meet anybody who wants to hang out, join a circle, come explore together, um and uh yeah, it'd be really nice to have that have that space. Um and I also do do work one-to-one with people that I haven't done for a while since I've had very small children, but that's going to be opening up again soon, um, once I've created the space, uh the right space for that. Um just a space for people to come and explore their kind of inner terrain um using colour and energy and um visuals and things. So um, but yeah, Instagram's the place to find me for now.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you. And is it all right to say because I just remembered this myself, so sorry if this is gonna put pressure on you, but didn't you at some point say that this year, sometime, um, that you'll be doing making journals?

SPEAKER_03

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

So people could just email you to register their interest for that, couldn't they?

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely, yeah. It's um I feel like journal making is such a beautiful way of capturing you know everything and anything, and the journals that I make, um, it's kind of blank pages, so you can write, you can draw, you can paint, whatever it is. Um, and there's something really magical about the process of stitching them. I don't know why, it just feels magic to me to have created the thing, and then you have that blank page, and and so you begin. Um, so yes, if anybody's interested in joining that, I am gonna be um holding spaces for people to come and make journals together, which would be really fun. Maybe we could uh make some paper with jewels first and stick that in.

SPEAKER_01

That would be amazing. Yeah, um it reminds me of what you said at the start, Jules, when you would sit doing your very first sign where you'd have those punched holes in, and then you thread and like the similar with the journals. So, with what you're both creating here though, it's really special, isn't it? Because you know, you um shared that looking through the art room window, just wondering. Both of the things that you're creating here are spaces where people don't have to wonder, they don't need to worry about judging, they don't need to worry about what they can and can't do, they can just enjoy you know the wonder and joy of just diving in and seeing what unfolds.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean for me it's I get quite ranty about it, so apologies in advance. But everybody has creativity in them, everyone is capable of creating, and it it's so sad when people have had that knocked out of them through life experience. But at times of you know, extreme stress and pressure and grief and anything that hurts, that's the time to return to your creativity. That is the time to explore it. And what I am most passionate about is is helping people to create something. It doesn't matter what it is, it doesn't matter what it looks like. It's just about being able to create something, to express themselves through you know, it could just be about a piece of paper and a pencil and they're doodling. It doesn't matter. It's just about doing something that uh is creative and and is using the language everyone has within them to be creative. So many people come to classes and say, But I'm not creative, I can't make anything. And you're like, you can. Everybody has it within them. It doesn't matter what end what your end product is. It's it's just about going through that process. And the more you create, the more confident you get with whatever it is you're creating, the happier you'll feel. It's it's so proven in so many places so often. Um yeah, I I really want to make be encourage people to just try something, even just going to a charity shop and picking up a jigsaw, taking it home and doing a jigsaw. Like it doesn't sound like it's massively creative, but it is. You're creating a picture. Yes, somebody's given you the pieces to put into that picture, but you're still creating that yourself. Yeah, it's so important.

SPEAKER_01

Any form of creativity is so important. It's just feeling safe enough, isn't it, to just have those like aha moments and things. In fact, we're gonna play that song now that's come in. We're gonna we've got two songs to squeeze in. I'm gonna try and do it, and then we're gonna wrap up the show really quickly. So we are now gonna invite you to enjoy with us aha, hunting high and low, and then we're going out with an absolute classic coming to the end of the show. Sadly, we've only got a couple of minutes left with Beth and Jules. If you've missed any of it, you can listen again. But for now, before we play out with a legend, as Jules has uh in introduced him, I'll give you a little clue. But we're gonna just share a couple of minutes each, just what you want to leave our listeners with. And firstly, from me, thank you both for coming in for this nourishing, wholesome just bubble of joy for me. It's just been oh gosh, lovely. I've learnt as usual so much from you, and I hope everyone listening takes something away. But just anything at all that feels right that comes to you, Beth.

SPEAKER_03

Um, there's something that's kind of been a thread through the conversation that made me reflect on what helped me when I most needed to reconnect, and that was that sense of going back to um the things that really lit you up when you were younger, and I feel like that that's an invitation I want to extend to people listening that you might be in that place where you're feeling disconnected, life feels busy, you might not, you you might not, but just for the sheer joy of it, perhaps I just want to invite people to to kind of reflect back on that younger version, you know, the kind of wild-free, um, you know, carefree version. Um, and you might have glimmers of that, you might not have felt like that when you were younger, but just what what were the things that you would do just to pass the time? Um, because I feel like they hold so many clues for the things that might be nourishing to you now, and they might show up in very different ways now. But like if I think about my childhood, I was in the garden, I was playing with flowers, making potions, I was drawing, I was talking a lot, but it was it's those things. Um, and I yeah, just invite people to to reflect on that and just give yourself permission to to let your body love what it loves. Thank you, Beth.

SPEAKER_01

And George.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think it's for me the invitation is put on your phone for five minutes, just five minutes, instead of scrolling, watching other people doing their creativity, put the phone down and pick up anything, just pick up a pen and a piece of paper and just see what happens. I think I really want to encourage people to just be creative. And it it sounds such a scary thing when you s when I say it like that. I can hear myself saying it thinking that's just ridiculous. But just do something, anything with your hands, gardening, picking flowers, anything. Just pick you use your hands to do something that isn't scrolling just for two minutes, and that will I promise that if you start doing that, it will start a relationship with your creativity that can take you to places you just wouldn't even have a dream you could get to.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, thank you so much. We are gonna play out with George Michael on faith. It's important that we have a bit of faith. Return to the old invitations there from Beth and George. You can listen again. Thank you for being with me today. Beth, Jules. Thanks, Kevin. Thank you so much.