Time out, time out!

Auto response: Out of office

I'm sorry I'm currently away from my desk at the moment. I'm enjoying autumn sun, spending time with my family and filling my mind with creativity.

I value your email, and your request is really important to me, however I'm not going to respond until my return, because I'm recharging my batteries. It will mean I'm at my best when I do respond.

Normal service will resume on Monday

Best wishes

Emma

 So after stumbling across this rather brilliant quote by the equally rather brilliant Sylvia Plath I just had to share some thoughts on self-doubt.

My confession:

Workaholic.

Flower obsessive.

And part-time self doubter.

The more stressed I get the harder it is so see which creative route to take and the more I start doubting. Do you ever get that? I spend near enough my whole conscious hours thinking about flowers - I wake up thinking about them, work with them all day, talk about them almost 24/7. We are talking about a full on floral love affair. And sometimes you need a little time out! Time to banish the stress induced self-doubt particles to room 101 and give your mind some space to begin creating.

Sometimes it takes some enforced time out to make you stop the steam train and enjoy the view. Its so hard to stop, but the rewards are far greater. Every time I start self-doubting I have a host of butt-kicking tricks that soon sort me out, so if your in a rut, I hope these tricks will help you find your groove:

• Radical Self Love. After seeing the wonderful Gala Darling talk so passionately at a Blogcademy course I attended in July, I needed more of this inspirational lady in my life. I signed up to a years Radical Self Love, where by you get a love letter in your inbox every day for a whole year. Each one is filled with inspiration, wise words and awesome challenges. Who doesn't want to receive a daily love letter. You can purchase your dose of love here
• Take a walk, wonder the whole day long, stop for a coffee and relax. Hands up if you sit at your desk all day! Hands up if you even eat your lunch at your desk! Is the only walking you do going to your car, maybe the occasional trip around the shops? I'm so guilty of all of this and my saviour is in the shape of a small 2 year old who demands time in the park, running thorough the leaves. There's nothing like a 9am stroll in the pouring rain to blow away those creative inhibiting cobwebs away. Here's a link to some walks around the UK
• Downtime. Turn the computer off, put the mobile devise down and TALK! Another thing I'm guilty of and something I haven't quite mastered yet. I'm obsessed with screens ... computer ... ipad ... phone. I can't go 5 minutes without looking at one and it totally zaps all the creativity out of your body. My resolution: turn off! and start making. Sure the first drawing may be rubbish, but the 2nd will be better and by the 3rd you'll be thinking about how to draw differently and welcoming creativity!

So this week, I won't be replying to your email's until I return to work. In this crazy email obsessed world "must have a response within 24 hours" I'm bucking the trend for 1 week. I'm enjoying my timeout with my family. I'm busy running through autumn leaves, painting, create huge traffic jams with toy cars, baking , eat home-made grub and kicking self-doubt in the back.