Monthly Archives: June 2013

You got the love

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My friend B is getting married this year.

Knowing how committed she and her fiancé already were to each other, I asked her why they felt the need to celebrate it in this traditional way. ‘Because I love Love,’ She said.

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Over the years, I’ve become more bemused by the celebrations of marriage. I’ve observed it to be a lot of work and money for a very short-lived experience. Sometimes not even  creating any form of wellbeing for the loving couple involved. I’d heard of post-wedding breakdowns when the bride feels bereft of organising the big day.

However, B’s hen-party certainly challenged these stereotypes. Something happened in that cottage in Kent when 40 women got together to celebrate B’s Love. I learnt how strong and powerful this Love thing is, and why you’d want to celebrate it with all your friends and family.

B’s bridesmaid Mimi is a creative and holistic practitioner, running meditation and visualisation workshops for cage fighters, rugby teams and Creating Wellbeing.

Amongst the usual hen-do activities, these 40 women branching three generations sat for two hours painting hearts.

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There was a noticeably calm and positive energy in the house at this time. People were sharing how they hadn’t painted for years; how much they enjoyed the feel of the brush against the paper; how they were feeling so relaxed…

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The process was fantastic, and you could see each heart was made with Love. Love for B, for her relationship, for ourselves and each other.

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But when Mimi showed us what our work was going towards making a bigger heart on a large canvas, there was so much love in the room!

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Basking in the positivity, happiness and wellbeing that was created by this activity and whole weekend I found myself agreeing with B; Why not, love Love?

CWB in 1 minute

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Recently, I was asked to present what Creating Wellbeing is, why it was born and what it can become. Easy! But I only had 1 minute.

When you have a minute, have a read of this to find out more:

I dreamt of Creating Wellbeing 2 years ago.

Apparently, 1 in 4 will experience a mental health problem over the course of a year. It’s a hot topic with many services catering for the increasing need. That is, if your need meets a certain criteria.

But if you have a bit of a problem, there isn’t a lot for you.

You might know someone with a bit of OCD or a bit of anxiety ? Holding down a job, running a household. Brave enough to go their GP only to be told ‘You’re not that bad; come back if it gets worse’.

I’ve met lots ofpeople with a bit of a problem: At my meditation, sewing group, Reiki course. All there for the same reasons: Using crafts and holistic therapies to stop the ‘bit of a …’ from becoming ‘a lot of a …’.

I started Creating Wellbeing to provide a space for people to explore these tools with others, and a psychologist (when appropriate).

So you can tell your sister who’s stressed, partner who’s panicky or dad who’s down ‘don’t wait until it gets worse’. Go to CreatingWellbeing.org or local CWB group to start your own path to well-being.