Nanna’s coloureds pencils, the knitted artist she made for me, and my little ‘I Can’ book…
On Creativity, Adaption & Finding a Way
Today is my mum’s parents’ wedding anniversary.
As I’ve introduced you already to Nannie Libs, I thought I’d take the opportunity today to introduce you to two more influential people in my life, Nanna and Gramps.
Nanna and Gramps met when they were just 11 years old. They stayed together all their lives, and when they eventually left this world, they were reunited in spirit just four months apart.
Nanna was a nurse and Gramps was an engineer and a pilot. They were keen travellers and, for a time, their caravan became their home.
Nanna helped me learn how to use a sewing machine. I still have the nightie we made together one summer holiday. I still recall standing in the shop as a little girl, choosing the pattern, picking the pale blue material, and being taught the patience required to make something with my own hands. It’s not a skill I continued with (in fact I wouldn’t know where to start at a sewing machine now!), but I am in awe of those who can, and do, make their own clothes!
Nanna was firm but fair. She wouldn't stand for any I can’t’s either!
In fact, one day she made me sit down with a notebook and write down all the “I cans” that were true…
I can breathe
I can see
I can feel
I can talk
I still have that little “I Can” notebook amongst my most special possessions, although, having just taken it out of my bedside drawer, I’ve discovered that at some point in my life, I apparently ripped all the pages that had my childhood ‘I can’ list! I really have no idea why! Perhaps I squirelled them away somewhere else that I considered safer at the time. It will be a nice surprise to find them again someday!
Holding that little book brings back the memory of writing out those lines. At the time, I didn't realise quite how much I was being taught. I often think I should have kept up the habit more whilst growing up, but am definitely continuing to reap the benefits these days with my current gratitude journal.
One subject that has come up a lot in conversation at work this week is eyesight. I’m still to go and order some new varifocals (my first pair, which I felt marked a little milestone in my life!… It was also the first time the optician had to physically lift my eye lid to be able to test my eyes too… another new experience ha ha!)
Jokes aside though, I really don't take my eyesight for granted.
Nanna loved to dabble in art too, she made clothes, knitted all kinds of characters and she didn't let her colour blindness stop her from creating her art!
As you can see in the photograph above, she found her own way around the challenge. She carved off the end of each coloured pencil and labelled it with the colour, so she could continue to use them.
She didn't stop making because something had become more difficult. She adapted.
I've been so inspired by beautiful friends of mine too, who, despite their own eyesight challenges, continue to make, draw and create. They have found ways around the barriers that might otherwise have stopped them.
This is one of the reasons I feel so connected to Occupational Therapy. The core philosophy of my role is helping people find creative ways to overcome barriers to participating in the things that are meaningful to them.
I remember one particular lady I had the honour of working with many years ago who was bedbound. She was an artist, and together we found ways to set up her studio and arrange her materials so that she could paint comfortably from her bed. Her art was incredible! – and so distinctly hers! The angle from which she painted gave her a unique perspective on the world. What might have looked like a limitation became part of the way she saw and expressed what was around her.
Every week, she religiously turned up at the page, no matter what else was going on, no matter how much pain she was in. She kept making.
There are countless stories across the world of inspiring people who have overcome adversity and continued to create. Different circumstances, different challenges, different ways of finding a way through.
So, on this early Sunday morning sat holding Nanna’s coloured pencils (and thinking of them both on their wedding anniversary!) I am called to share a simple message…
Don't put it off for a rainy day!
Don't wait until you've got more time…
Don’t wait until you’ve got ‘more space’…
Don't wait until the children are older…
Don't wait until work settles down…
Don't wait until you retire…
Don't wait for the perfect circumstances…
Make what is calling to be made now!
Use what you have, where you are, in whatever way you can.
Embrace your gifts, your skills and your abilities, including the ones you might have forgotten you possess! And if something has become more difficult, perhaps the question isn't “Can I still do this?” maybe, reframe it as:
“How can I do this now?”
There is always some way to engage with the things that bring meaning and joy into our lives. Sometimes it just takes a little creativity to find it.
And you may find that the greatest reward isn't even the finished thing, it's in the fact that you showed up to make it anyway… You adapted!
And today, I’m sitting on my new drafting chair that arrived yesterday (my hip and back had finally declared that long painting sessions on an old wooden dining chair with zero padding, were no longer an option!)
So ‘I can’ now sit more comfortably at the canvas for longer. I’m carving out more dedicated, protected time, just for me, just for painting.
And I’m especially grateful for that little notebook (even though the pages are now missing!), written by a young girl who didn't yet fully appreciate the lesson she was learning, or the inspiration it would become…
‘I can dream’
‘I can be playful’
‘I can imagine’
‘I can see’
And even after all these years, I'm still learning to remember and ask…
What else can I?
If you had a little “I Can” book in front of you today, what would you write on its pages?
Until next Sunday…
🌿 May you find inspiration in nature this week.
Tracey Anne x
