Kate from The Catalan Way is one of the most amazing women I know. She moved all the way from the UK to Catalunya, Spain. She lives there now, away from the security of home and what was familiar. Her courage and dedication to searching for a truer more honest self inspires me all the time. She talks about this new life in Catalunya, about the new people and the wonderful languages she gets to learn. She talks about how these wake her up to the right now, to seeing her self and her world with clarity and honestly. She continually evokes these very feelings for her readers too. Enjoy this wonderful piece of inspiration!
1. Your favorite doodle of all time (please send me a picture of the doodle)
you want to print out one for your own pleasure then you are very welcome.
2. How do you stay creative and mindful in your day-to-day life?
To stay connected to creativity and mindfullness is a life long practice.I forget and then remember, over and over again. I create little nudges like - 'see a feather and remember hope' or 'notice when the numbers 11.11 appear and focus on love' . Everyday life is an ebbing and flowing of remembering and forgetting and then remembering again.
3. Your favorite quote
I don't have a favourite quote as such but I often use the phrase
'Thy Will Be Done' as a reminder to myself to let go of trying to control things
and just open and trust the energy of life.
4.How do you deal with overwhelming emotions (intense joy, sorrow, anger, indignation, etc)?
Going to live in a new country is not always easy and I have had to deal with many emotions including my especial familiar friend - fear! I try to stay in the present moment and to remember that life is giving me opportunities to learn new things even when they are uncomfortable. I like to keep things simple when I am overwhelmed so if possible I go outside to be in nature, listen to the birds, watch the trees,
walk my dog and if I am alone - sing!
5. Tips for readers to stay creative and mindful in the face of stress on one hand and boredom on the other.
I don't think it is possible to be mindful every moment so be gentle with yourself and be glad every time you remember who you are. Dance, draw, sing, smile, walk, stroke cats, look up at the birds in the sky, be glad of all that you feel even when it hurts and do silly things to make yourself laugh. I have lots of ways that I encourage myself to keep faith with my dream and I think it is really important to put energy into that friendship with yourself. I make myself laugh by , for example, doing stupid faces in the mirror when I am alone in the bathroom or talking out loud in silly voices. Laughing brings me back to my centre, relaxes my anxiety and is a reminder not to take life or myself too seriously.
If creativity seems stuck then just draw a line on an envelope - send a letter to someone with a little drawing at the top of the page, or place one stone on top of another. Making little changes shifts the energy and magic starts to happen.
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Dear Aarathi
ReplyDeletethank you so much for your kind and too generous words. As you know I have been through a hard time recently with the death of my brother and perhaps if I had done the interview with you after this then I would have said different things. But reading through it still sounds like me and I will try to take my own advice and do some silly things even when feeling very sad. Tonight I also did start carving some wood while listening to some music that was my brothers. What a strange mix this life is of pain and pleasure. with love Kate x
Dear Kate,
DeleteSo sorry for such a late reply. True, life is such a mix of pain and pleasure. So wonderful you have started carving wood! I love your advice on doing silly things when feeling sad too. I remember it often!
oxox