Climbing in the city.

I spent a lot of my time at work today watching the children climb our two lovely maple trees. They have grown to just the right height for 3, 4 and 5 year old legs and arms to reach and explore.

I am so impressed with the children's ability to manoeuvre their way around the tree as they climb.  Some children  seem to work it out one move at a time - reaching for a branch with one hand, placing a foot in just the right place to balance, and then pulling themselves up or swinging back down to the ground. Some children talk as they climb - planning their next  move, or calling out to friends. Others move swiftly and quietly - in seconds they are up in the tree, leaning comfortably onto the branches, trusting the tree for support. 'I'm going to stay here all day" said one of the girls to me.

For a few children climbing is a real challenge, but they persist. Other more accomplished climbers offer help - a hand to hold, or suggestions such as:  "Put your foot there", "Pull up now!", or the less helpful "My muscles are stronger than this branch!". I am nearby and happy to provide a push up, although I'm more often needed when it's time to get down. I love the sense of pride and excitement when a child climbs up into the tree by themselves for the first time.

I love that I work in an environment where children are encouraged to take safe risks. Where climbing a tree in the city is part of the everyday, and where we trust that children inherently know their abilities - their limits, and more importantly their wondrous and enormous potential.

Time to start writing again.

It's been far too long since I've written a post for my little blog, and in the last week or so I've seen 2 friends who have reminded me to write - to just do it! So here I am writing and already it feels good.

I'm not totally sure what stopped me writing, however I do think it has a little to do with my mind being preoccupied with a bit of anxiety. My anxiety is low level and pretty straightforward - it is directly related to my health and is a result of having had breast cancer not only once - but twice! Throw some genetic disposition into the mix and worrying about the pain in my foot - is it foot cancer??? seems hardly surprising.

However, even though I'm very good at rationalising my anxiety, I'm not always so effective at dealing with it. I let it creep up on me and then I realise that a large amount of my mental energy is being spent worrying about things that haven't happened and that may happen - although most times these are incredibly unlikely to happen. As well as being unpleasant, what I dislike most about this is the space these thoughts take up in my mind. I have realised that when I'm anxious I have less space to be creative. My mind becomes full of not only the anxious thoughts, but also the thoughts that I use to try to resist and deal with the worries. Lots of not so helpful self-talk included. I become distracted - not fully present. And less inclined to take risks, to make things, to try something new.

The flip side of this is that as soon as I do something creative - such as writing which is my preferred creative outlet, my anxiety starts to fade away. It's like when you really don't want to exercise but you drag yourself out - and of course end up loving it and feeling fantastic afterwards. (Walking is also great for my headspace, as is mediating which I don't do nearly enough).

So I guess the moral of my story is that it's time to start writing again. We all know that prevention is better than the cure and now that my head is in a good place I should give myself some gentle help to keep it that way.

Vanna xxx




 

Walking with my beautiful dog Mali is great for my mental health too.

 And so is drinking tea of course!