How Much Have You Changed?

It seems a long time ago we were all at home. How much have you changed since then? It seems aeons ago, but it was less than six months! So much has happened to our world, our country, and closer to home in our own lives.

Have you taken time to look back at the stages of early Lockdown, or have you forgotten all about it? Do you remember the empty shelves, panic buying and loo roll crisis? No hand wash or sanitiser anywhere. There was limited bread, no yeast and no flour. People bought extra freezers! I was hugely grateful that MrH had finished building his workshop last year and we had bought a freezer for extras in case it snowed. Little did we know that there would be no snow, just a pandemic!

I juiced LOTS of green juice to freeze in case there was a spinach shortage – there wasn’t. There was just a shortage of pasta and cornflakes. The country ran out of printer ink due to all the homeschooling and the factories that make plaster for plastering walls, shut down creating a huge shortage when the building trade was one of the first to re-open.

Who gives a crap?

No, that’s not me being flippant!

The manufacturers of loo rolls were rubbing their hands together, and the people who weren’t panicking were those who always keep a supply in the house. I have a business so I always purchase a large amount. Friends who were very smug about their loo rolls were those who use ‘Who Gives a Crap’. I had a look at what all the fuss was about, and they had stopped taking new customers, so I was added to the waitlist! I was waiting to become a customer of loo rolls! Just another company who has done really well during this time – creating awareness –  they donate 50% of their profits to help build toilets and improve sanitation in the developing world.

Have you changed?

I have clients who have worked from home here in Somerset, when normally they would be in London, and they have found it liberating!

They are now ready to set a new routine in motion when they do go back to work. Less travel, less stress. Saving money while finding they have time to cook evening meals and enjoy their homes.

Working from home doesn’t work for everyone and there are many people out there who couldn’t change their working routine at all, but no matter how small, I’m sure you will have made some changes?

I’m so grateful.

There have been so many things I have been grateful for during this strange time, from the generosity of clients pre-paying for treatments they had no idea when they would be able to book, just to help me with my cash flow at the beginning, to living in the country so I could walk in nature every day. I was able to keep on top of the gardening and actually enjoy the garden, where before it’s always been a chore.

The community spirit in my area was amazing with the local pub changing to a pop-up shop, and people taking time to talk to each other on walks because we all had TIME.

But, most of all I’m grateful that I had another career in the wings. One that I didn’t have time to really focus on full time, and I’d never have taken three months off the job I’d been doing for over 30 years to just paint. I painted while the world paused and a whole body of work unfolded in front of me.

So, I have changed.

I’ve changed how I introduce myself. I used to flip-flap about, saying that I was a holistic therapist, recently moved into energy art, blah blah. Now, I say I am an artist with a background in Reiki healing and other therapies.

It feels so good to actually state what I do with confidence. The art is what I do! So, I’m being re-branded and the two websites will be merging into one.

Thanks to an amazing local company, Simply Sig I have a lovely new logo and fabulous new website to coincide with my third exhibition.

Now, please don’t panic!

I am still taking clients, and I will continue to do so for some time to come, but my working hours will be different. For a start, I’m not working late nights. That’s for the youngsters! I’ve just turned 53, and I’m no longer going to be working into the evenings. I really enjoyed having time to prepare really good food every night, and I don’t want to lose that. l still open on Saturdays, so there are plenty of other times where you can book a treatment other than a late night.

Newsletter and Blog Changes.

I have clients who have worked from home here in Somerset when normally they would be in London, and they have found it liberating!If you have signed up to receive this in your inbox, you will need to register again for the new one!

Thank you for reading, thank you for your support, and let’s look forward to an amazing new world unfolding in front of us.