New York City! Girl!

Oh NYC! Your presence loomed large like a bright beacon and delivered so much!

An exhibition where my jewellery found famous friends like Andy Warhol and others jewellery heroes I'd studied. and the first glimpse of the catalogue where I get a whole lovely glossy page for my pieces' image. 

Tasty delights of many kinds

MoMa, Peter Pan Bakery, Brooklyn Brewery, Five Leaves and Smorgasburg.

Kind and friendly souls helped us along the way, offering directions and tips on good places to try,

and we settled in this corner to call home for a while

We did indulge in Glamorous vistas,

Empire state, Lady Liberty, grand central, Chrysler building interior and view of.

Green spaces where people gather. Each a #patchofpeace for someone,

Bebop, Brooklyn, bicycles and blues

It lit me up,

It tired me out,

It inspired,

Time ran quickly away

I forgot about the amount of attention and intention it would take to fulfil my ideal NYC experience. The one in my head.

I didn't see everything I wanted to see but I was reminded to compromise, let it go and be in the moment.

I'll go back here one day and experience it some more. Now wherever I go i'll be reminded to go slowly to feed my deeper soul

Until later NYC!

with warmth and wonder

Jaimie xx

On beginning again

On beginning again

I went so inwards, I lost my outwards

exhausted and drained

trampled and stomped

shattered and saddened

from inside out

I searched my inwards and re-found my outwards

and it emerged from the mists

a fresh start

a fresh heart

a fresh courage

a fresh love.

a fresh space

a fresh connection

simply here

simply near

simply now.

What do you find emerging or re-emerging in you and in your life right now?

I'd love to hear about it. Please feel free to share below in the comments or over on my facebook page

with warmth and wonder

Jaimie xx

Exploring the places you find yourself

Right now I'm getting ready to go to NYC. For the very first time!

I'm so excited about it for many reasons. 

Firstly, because I have a piece of jewellery in an exhibition in The Museum of Arts and Design!

Lil ol me exhibiting in NYC and I'm in the same exhibition as Andy Warhol! What!?  Plus sitting right alongside some really really fabulous international jewellers!

(confused? well you'll know that I love to make and create, but in another life I was a jeweller making work from upcycled materials...I see an environmental theme forming here!)

Anyway, as I was saying, not only am I going to see my jewellery in a big fancy museum, I'm also really loving the fact that I'll be in a Mecca of urban greening/guerilla gardening and creative use of public green spaces. 

And I'm especially excited to check out the use of education, learning and personal development in those spaces. 

I might just find a part of myself in this place

So I've been busily researching and contacting places to visit and so far on my list are:

The High Line- a former elevated railway, left abandoned and neglected for many years and now revived and highly popular and beautiful green park space and walkway, with many volunteers and education programmes.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden- They have a children's garden and youth mentoring programme. What more can i say! *smiles*

Brooklyn Forest – A Forest School founded in Prospect Park, set up by a couple in 2002 and now classes are spread all over NYC. What's even more brilliant is that I've been invited along to join in with one of their classes while I'm there! Yippee! 

Eagle Steet Rooftop Farm- well just as it says, a fab 6,000sg ft rooftop farm in Brooklyn that grows organic produce and sells it in their own shop. They also have bees! yeah for bees! yummy for honey!

PLUS a few others that I've been told about but haven't checked out yet...I can't do everything in 6 days, unfortunately!

Closer to a life you LOVE

So with all that in my mind I'm brought back to realising that things I'm doing everyday are moving me closer to a life that I LOVE and brings me fresh insights and ideas. How wonderful that I can do that for myself!

I feel a real connection, I hope you do too.

I see the connection in nurturing your health and well-being by being outdoors, I see the connection in noticing the small details and the bigger picture and I see the connection in learning how to honour your own inner space and inner peace. 

To be honest, I'm fan of 'where attention goes energy flows'  and finding the deeper meaning for transformation in something that captures our attention. 

So I'm going to keep looking and exploring what this means for us all. So I can keep helping you be able to live a happier, healthier and more curious life.

Finding yourself in the searching

I've also have in my mind those of you who might be struggling and searching, trying to figure out what you want and where you are going right now- self-doubt and confusion are no strangers to me either- and I'm thinking about how I can help you to take that next step in creating the kind of environment in your mind, in your heart, in your daily life. Little by little, every day returning to your hopes and dreams.  I'd love to help you take ACTION, so one day possibly not to far from now, you could find yourself exactly where you needed to be and dreamt you could be.

And on that note, I'd like to share this little video with you. Plus there are loads of other lovely inspiring videos and resources on the Culture Unplugged site. 

http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/festival/play/6411/The-Curious-Garden

The Curious Garden- A simply adorable piece of storytelling from Peter Brown.

Gorgeous isn't it! Oh I love it soooo much it gives me butterflies!

I love it because it shows us how repeated small positive actions done with love can transform ourselves, the lives of others and our environment, the places that we live and work, the places where we create our lives, the places where we become all that we can be.

What are you moving towards day-by-day, action- by- action?

Or if you're feeling stuck on knowing where you are heading or what action to choose first, please come and chat with me on facebook or please reach out to me for a free discovery session so we can talk and begin to dig a little deeper and see where I can help the real you emerge.

With care and curiosity

Jaimie xx

on finding your patch of peace

I know it can be hard to be truly 'in' natural spaces sometimes. You might find yourself especially disconnected in an urban setting. I've felt it. Especially when I first moved here. I felt lost.

We forget who we once were. Wild. I know I do sometimes. The memory of being immersed in nature is so strong you imagine that maybe, just maybe, it is part of you and returning there is the missing piece. However, trying an urban nature space on for size might throw up some resistance, no matter your background, a feeling like it might swallow you whole if you let it. Like you just don't know what to do next.

But what if we leapt in and tried anyway?

We have to learn to trust nature again, to learn how to be in these often humble spaces and let them surround us and to take care of our inner nature.

Our urban settings have many, neglected or stalled nature spaces ripe for people to see them again and to find themselves in. They are not ugly, not really. Ugly is only neglect deep! These spaces know how to be beautiful and they are trying their best despite our efforts to conceal and squash them. These spaces just have forgotten how to shine in our eyes because we have forgotten how to see them. They will only shine when we pay attention and nurture them and allow them to nurture us. 

A deep appreciation for a patch of green- and ourselves- may take time. It takes a feeling of belonging, of stewardship, of slowing down. A deep mutual care. Returning often to notice and give effort and grace. 

Even living in a very green city like Edinburgh I can see that there is often a feeling that public parks don't all seem like our own either. They have been preordained to 'be' the green that we are given in our cities, often seen as flat plains with little interest or different areas to belong, to explore, to settle in, to be playful, to be peaceful, to be creative in.

But what of our imagination? What would you love to see and do in your local park? just as it is? What would make it seem more like a space that is for you?

With my Pop up peace mission of late, I've been thinking, wouldn't it be wonderful if every street had a communal garden or a space on the street that is like a mini park- but like a garden, a place to come together and feel part of a community. 

I expanded my green space adventures to find the patches of peace in this city just a few days ago. I went on a lovely wee tour called ' Hidden Gardens of the Royal Mile'. 

I had been wanting to do this for ages and when I saw it again in the Edinburgh Fringe Programme it was the first thing I booked. The weather stayed dry if a bit windy in the midst of the tail end of Hurricane Bertha. 

Jean the tour leader and owner of Green Yonder Tours http://www.greenyondertours.com/ was a delight and invited us all to 'coorie in' ~ a scots word meaning to nestle or snuggle~ and hear her stories of the past and the present lives of these hidden green spaces. Throughout the tour she talked about the transformation of the Royal Mile with slums being cleared to make way for light and air to enter in, and the importance and her admiration of the passion and focus of the pioneers of greening our old town and recognising it's power in living a healthier life. 

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She spoke of the first children’s gardens/nurseries that were set up in Edinburgh and showed us beautiful images of children in their Victorian petticoats and bloomers being taught outdoors and how to garden. Gorgeous! 

She also showed us modern community gardens, public spaces which have been claimed by local residents and are now spaces to be, enjoy and grow their own. Moments of care in patches of peace. 

So, it is being done and being done beautifully- YIPPEE! ...I'll be sharing some other adventures of green space advocates here very soon....

But right now I'd like to set you a challenge-

I'd like you to notice your very own urban nature patches of peace in your day to day life.

When you are on your way to work, when you are in a new part of town, or when you are taking your loved ones out for the day. Whether they are established public spaces and/or full of positive possibilities. I'd love to hear how you feel in stepping into those spaces, how you experience being in them, what do you notice? how you feel when leaving them. Do you feel a sense of connection there? Do you feel welcome? What small thing could you do to make this patch of green even more of a patch of peace?

Share your story on facebook or twitter with a photo and #patchofpeace and let's start a conversation.

With warmth and wonder,

Jaimie xx