Ink on my fingers

~ Painted memories ~

So as you can see, I'm still thinking about lakes.

One of my favourite reasons to shop on Etsy is that i know i'm supporting an individual artist/crafter rather than a faceless corporation. I found Ryan Fowler's work today and I am completely smitten. His colour palette feels so autumnal, and takes me back to our drive through a pocket of Vermont. And the polar bear just triggered a memory that I had to phone my mum to confirm: growing up we had a huge reproduction painting of a polar bear's head hanging above the fireplace in the living room. In my mind I saw a polar bear, but i still had to phone and ask, because my first thought was - really? A polar bear? But my mum remembered the same, so there you have it - my 70s childhood included a polar bear.

We also had a dog who looked remarkably like this dog below, called Sadie. I still dream about her, and she often speaks to me in my dreams, but i'll save that for another day...

[all art work & photographs by Ryan Fowler]

~ Oh, Montreal ~

Walking around the streets of Montreal was rather like being in the most extraordinary mixed-media painting; there was so much colour and texture, all collaged together into one big of mess of sumptuosity. Honestly, if it wasn't for the all the snow in the winter, I could see myself living there. Have i mentioned how attractive the men are in Montreal? They all look like sexily-deshevelled graphic designer types who carry leather-bound portfolios and laptops, and sit in coffee shops "working". Love it.

This week Jan is hosting an Autumn Colour Week over at Poppytalk - yesterday the colour was yellow, and as I sorted through my photos for this post i kept uncovering yellow: Montreal is such a sunshiny city.

~ My Creative Life: Keri Smith ~

The first blog I ever read was Wish Jar Journal penned by my next Creative Life interviewee, the fabulous Keri Smith. It was through reading Keri's blog that I found other blogs and from there was encouraged to start writing my own; I imagine this path into blogging is shared by many others too. Keri's been very influential in the blogosphere, leading by example and challenging conventions, and now her books are extending that work, one page at a time. Keri is the author of Wreck This Journal, How to be an Explorer of the World and now her latest creation, This is not a Book.

Friends, meet author, illustrator and guerilla artist, Ms Keri Smith...

SC: Did you always know you were an artist, even as a child? Could you tell us about your path into this career?

KS: An interesting question as I think all children are artists. Is there an awareness of our openness? Perhaps.  But to me the word artist is just a label.  There are many examples of ancient and aboriginal cultures who have no word for art.  This is the space that I aim to inhabit these days.  Not putting art in a separate compartment from life.  I seem to have quite an aversion to the actual word art, it seems too all encompassing, like a massive catch phrase that includes too many 'objects'.  I would like to create a new word, or maybe some kind of sound?  Or just erase it entirely from my vocabulary.  Yes, I like that idea.

i've gotten away from the questions, haven't i?

My path.  Through a dark forest with no illumination.  Translation: I have flailed and fluked my way here.  I became an illustrator because I love to draw and love to look at drawings.  In the beginning I think I was too scared to really trust my own ideas, so I just drew for other people/companies.  Over time I developed more confidence and was able to experiment more.  You see, when you are afraid it is much harder to take risks.  Now I have learned that I do much better work when I just fling myself out into the abyss without caring too much about how it will be received.   I wrote down a quote to this effect the other day,   "Make it dangerous or it's not worth doing." ~Maurice Sendak 

Please describe a typical day – do you have many routines?

7am - breakfast, tea, toast, soft boiled egg, granola & yogurt
8am - walk the dog with the whole family
9am - play with my son
10am - work in my studio (my husband and I tag team with our child)
12pm - lunch
1pm - play with my son
3pm - work in my studio
4:30pm - dinner preparation
5:30pm - dinner (we used to eat at 8pm but it is important for us to eat together as a family, so we switched to accommodate our child's schedule. We are slowly going to push it to later again.)
6:30 pm - whole family walk
7pm - bedtime ritual, fruit & yogurt snack, read books, etc.
7:30 - put baby to sleep.
8pm - free time (I get to do whatever I want, a lot of the time this is work time, sometimes a movie)
10pm - reading time. 
10:30-11pm - bed.  our bedtime is early because my son is still nursing quite a bit which makes my night not as restful as it could be.  (read: my sleep is greatly compromised.)  we are working on weaning slowly right now.

Could you tell us more about your new book - after Wreck This Journal and How to be an Explorer… where are you taking us now?

Ah, now you're talking.  I've been waiting for someone to ask me this.  With Wreck i was in a deconstruction phase, this is a very physical experience (throwing things, dripping, spilling, tearing, defacing).  But it was also conceptual, dealing with the idea of an object you must destroy in order to complete it.  With Explorer I began to examine things, pay attention to the small details.  As explorer progressed I moved from the concrete into the abstract and asked people to work with their imagination a little bit.  Create things that do not exist, (i.e. create an imaginary portrait of your city, adding things that are a little bit magical or strange).  In the case of This is Not a Book, I am asking you to go into your imagination even more, (though still being physical on occasion).  In order to complete the book you must transform it into something else repeatedly.  And it must be a thorough transformation, meaning you have to believe in it or it won't work.  I do not take the imagination lightly.

When starting a new project, how do you begin to gather your ideas/inspirations? How do you record them?

This might be a difficult one to answer because I am not always aware of the process that is going on in my brain.  I will say I am first "taken" with an idea.  That means something comes in and I immediately become obsessed with it.  I go into research mode during which I feel like an explorer mining the entire world for clues and things related to my idea. I also (and this is the part that is hard to explain), make connections with other seemingly unrelated ideas.  Sometimes I will read a science book or website.  During which I find things that do relate or form a connection to make up something new.  There is an exercise in Not a Book that demonstrates this somewhat, called the 'idea formulation generator' where you create three columns that are essentially lists on different subjects.  You then pick one item from each list and combine them to come up with a new idea.  All of my ideas are recorded in a journal with a pen.

You’ve been writing a blog for over six years now…. Has blogging helped the progression of your career in any way? What does it mean to you these days?

It's actually been over eleven years, I didn't archive the early days.  It definitely has helped to build a readership over the years.    Though I think a lot of readers of my books do not necessarily read the blog, or come to it from the books.  And in many cases the blog has also provided a forum for experimentation which is a beautiful thing to me. These days I am finding that I am doing less of my experimentation in a public forum, preferring to put that energy into my books and personal work.  I'm not exactly sure why that is.  i think in part I have felt a bit overwhelmed with the whole blogging world, there are so many people out there doing the same thing right now and so it feels less unique to me (compared to when I started).  I think it's become more important to me to redirect my energy. 

Has your experience of book publishing been what you expected?

Yes and no.  Publishing can be a very exciting industry, and I have been involved in it in some capacity for most of my life.  But in the case of my work it has been a slow build, (which is a really good thing), and I am only now feeling like I have crested some sort of hill.  I made very little money in publishing for years, which is actually the case for the majority of authors.  A lot of people think I'm well off because I have books out, I assure you that is not the case.  In the beginning I signed some not very good contracts, which ensured that I would not make any money, (read: no royalties yet for my early books).  But I have grown and learned some things the hard way, and now I have a wonderful agent to deal with the business side of things.  I really like the position I am in right now, it allows me to continue to put my work out into the world and that is all I aim to do (and feed my family).

What books/music/artists/sites etc do you love? Could you share some recommendations?

John Cage, Bruno Munari, Masanobu Fukuoka, Buckminster Fuller, George Perec, Gaston Batchelard, Eva Hesse, Charles and Ray Eames, Corita Kent, Bruce Mau, May Sarton, Italo Calvino, just to name a few.  My research is never complete.  That is one of the great joys in my life.

What achievement are you most proud of?

Birthing my son. 

How has motherhood changed your way of living/working (beyond the obvious lack of time :) ?

It has made me so incredibly vulnerable.  This is an important place to be if you are an artist, you learn more about intimacy than you ever thought possible.  It has also made me painfully aware of the painful parts of human existence and the areas where the world needs work.  I feel like I want to make the world better for my child and will go to great lengths to impact it.  See the next question.

What is the message you want to share with the world? (in other words, what do you consider to be your life’s work?)

I feel moved to do so many things to change the world, (the word "service" is very big to me right now).  It sounds slightly full of ego to write that.  On a simple level I would like to give people ways to question things in the world, to look at them from many different angles, to pay attention, to open up to a new experience, to grow, to challenge themselves, to experience the real world more (as opposed to a virtual one), to question everything, to revolt.  Most recently I feel myself being pulled more and more into the educational realm.  I have been working with and speaking to the educational field about ways to impact and improve a system that is in great need of repair.  I want to find ways to reinvent it.  I feel we must move away from the current economic model completely and create a system where people's health and well being are at the forefront.  Money can no longer lead, our focus on it is destroying us and the planet.

What’s your favourite quote?

Current favorite (it changes frequently):

'I really think it's important to be in a situation, both in art and in life, where you don't understand what's going on.' ~ John Cage

i also love:

'Relax and let everything go to hell.' ~ Sol Lewitt

You're having a dinner party and can invite six famous people from the past or present - who would you choose and why?

Barack Obama - the person you need to speak to if you want to impact the world substantially right at this moment.
Walt Whitman - one of the most amazing humans that ever walked the earth.
John Cage - always thinking and pondering the world.
Bruno Munari - we need someone at the table who does not take everything too seriously.
Carl Jung - one who walked the walk
Ray Eames - for her mind and visual sense

* * * * *

Keri, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us today. I think i'm going to get that Sol Lewitt quote tattooed on my arm...

You can read other Creative Life interviews here

~ Moving pictures* ~

1. Putting together little videos is so much fun - i need to do this more.
2. Seriously - photos that move! who knew?
3. Thank you to everyone in this wee clip - you made my stay so much richer, and more fun. And I'm sorry I didn't get to film everyone - lots of people are missing, so i will have to catch you next time.
4. Special thanks to Jeanine, who was my partner-in-crime for the whole week... Louise to my Thelma. I love you, lil Frenchie.
5. If you're thinking Squam Art Workshops might be your thing, please please meet me there next year - there's time to save... there's time to plan! The new classes will be announced in the new year.
6. I have one post about Montreal simmering on the stove and then it's back to normal programming, including a special Creative Life interview tomorrow...

Happy Sunday x

* The song is Sunset by Kate Bush, and at the end J and I are dancing to The Raps by Hula's brother (and friends)

~ Thoughts by a lake ~

There are two moments that stand out for me from my time at the Squam Art Workshops, and for both of them I was alone. I discovered very quickly that you have to find your own rhythm when you attend a retreat of this sort; it's very easy to turn up at your cabin with a suitcase full of expectations, and it's definitely best to leave them on the plane. I was surrounded by friends I already knew, bloggers i felt i knew and could finally hug in person and people i had yet to befriend. One of my biggest thrills was getting to meet some Unravellers in the flesh - it's wonderful getting feedback in an email, but sitting down and discussing their experience of the course over breakfast completely knocked my socks off.

After a few days filled with people and hugs (and a LOT of coughing - I wasn't able to shake off the cold, and spent the entire week sounding like Kathleen Turner meets Marge Simpson) i found myself alone on Friday afternoon. It had started to rain and i wasn't sure the clouds would clear - Friday was my designated day to take photos of the lake - but as i toyed with the idea of lighting a fire in the cabin, the sun suddenly came out (as captured above) so i grabbed my cameras and ran outside. People-hugging aside, this trip away has, surprise surprise, been all about the Polaroids for me. I've had moments, in both Montreal and by Squam Lake, when i thought my head would explode, there was so much new stuff to see and shoot. My camera and I were bonded at the wrist, and I discovered that Polaroid portraits are my new obsession. That afternoon, as i walked along the twisting path by the lake, i tried to capture the scene.... the changing leaves... the stillness. Sitting on a rock at the edge of the water, i flipped through my polas, as you do when the sun is on your face and you can only hear the leaves rustling. And it was at that exact moment the wind raised its head and whipped one of my Polaroids in the air, flipping it out onto the lake. I let out a very ineffectual and croaky 'noooo!' as i watched my Polaroid float away. For a split-second i wondered whether i should wade out and get it, but the water was cold, and i was ill, and as ridiculous as it sounds now, i honestly had to say to myself with a soupcon of irony you've just got to let it go. So i stood on the rock, and watched my photograph bob along the water, getting smaller and smaller. And it was then that, out of nowhere, a man in a green canoe came paddling around the rocks.
'Is that your photo?' he shouted.
"Yes!" i shrieked back.
This magical being of the lake paddled over, scooped my Polaroid out of the water, and paddled back to me on the shore, the sun glistening on his tanned muscled forearms, a dashing twinkle in his eye. Oh okay, it wasn't really an Eat Pray Love ending - he was actually a rather portly gentleman named John who was holidaying by the lake with his family. We spent a good half an hour chatting about life - turns out he'd spent a few years in London in his twenties and that was when i saw the twinkle in his eye. As I walked to the dining hall later that evening i kept marvelling at the saved Polaroid. I mean, what are the odds?

[the saved Polaroid]

My other Squam moment happened later that night. I'd spent the evening with friends talking about work and life, sat by a crackling fire in what was affectionately dubbed the 'party cabin'. When i got back to my own cabin i discovered Jeanine had lit a fire before going to bed, so i entered the warmth and sent her some extremely thankful vibes through the wall. Earlier she'd been telling me about the previous night's skinny dipping and wine by the lake - Canadians are apparently very hardy! - and while i knew there was no way i'd be getting in to the water (are you sensing a theme here?) i knew i had to be out there, so i wrapped up extra warm and trundled out to the dock with my torch and tissues.

I felt a thrill being out alone in the darkness; it was a perfectly clear night, and i lay back on the wooden jetty, staring straight up at the stars. I didn't feel the cold, I didn't need to cough, i just lay there: looking, thinking, wondering, planning. I whispered a few words to the universe, and before I closed my eyes I saw a shooting star. People, i'm not making this up. It happened; it was magical. After half an hour of communing with the stars I took my tired self indoors and sat by the fire for a while before going to bed. i felt full. i felt content. It was a really good feeling.

i remember reading the post-Squam blog posts last year and feeling a mix of envy and curiosity. And i'm here to say that, yes, it really is that good of a time. But there was no levitating over the lake (i tried - it didn't happen ;) and while friendships are made and renewed, it really was mostly about reconnecting with yourself and your creative dreams, and sitting under the shade of the trees, and having some much-needed fun. Lots of smiles. No stress. The perfect way to spend four days. Elizabeth has created a special place we can visit, and i hope it grows and expands as the years pass. There is room for all of us.

I'll be there again next year for sure, so if you are too, can i take a Polaroid of you?

~ a little hello ~

[This is Bath; i left my plug adaptor and USB lead at home like an idiot!]

The day before my flight i had the beginnings of a cold and now, on my second day in this beautiful European-flavoured city, i am a mess of blocked sinuses and used tissues. Yesterday i walked around Jeanine's neighbourhood, snapping a few Polaroids and foraging for coffee and books; as i currently have only two working senses, i'm fascinated by how we usually interact with a new place. I have no sense of taste or smell, so i can't tell you what the food is like, or what the streets smell of. And, most uncomfortably of all, my ears are blocked, so my hearing is so impaired i'm walking around feeling like i've a glass helmet on my head. As my new course is all about the senses I've been noticing how much more my eyes want to work to compensate for the lack of anything else - everything is so much bigger and more colourful suddenly. I also now realise how important taste and smell is for making you want to eat (i have no appetite) and how incredibly inward you become when you can't hear what people are saying.

What's also interesting is that despite all these physical discomforts, I feel incredibly comfortable here. I was a little wary of the language issue, considering that i don't speak French, but everyone i've met has been a) bi-lingual and b) so nice it hasn't been a problem; shamefully, my school-girl French is but a distant memory. Right now Jeanine and I are sitting in her favourite cafe, typing away on our laptops while our coffees cool and African beats pump through the speakers attached to the wall. Tomorrow we leave early to drive to Squam, making our way to the border and on through Vermont and New Hampshire; i can't wait to see if the leaves have changed colour, and what the journey has in store for us...

[I've shared a few words and pictures over on This Joy + Ride this week.]

~ Out of the office ~

I'm off on an adventure, my first time out of the country in a few years, so i'm excited. I'm flying to Montreal today to stay with my lovely friend Jeanine, and then we'll be driving down to the Squam Art Workshops on Wednesday. I'm so looking forward to seeing the autumn colours of New Hampshire, and taking my cameras out for a spin - I'll try to post a few photos while i'm away. Look after yourselves, and i'll see you on the flip side! x

~ My Eat Pray Love shame* ~

While my recent Yoga Shame post was contentious, I'm very aware that writing this next post may get me excommunicated from the Blogosphere, so i am writing this at my OWN peril...

I don't like Eat Pray Love.

Please believe me when i say I wanted to love it. As a single gal I wanted to soak it in and be inspired by her journey of independence and revelations; I wanted it to be a book i felt moved to keep with me at all times, a book i would scribble notes in and underline passages in pencil.

But that just didn't happen.

Simply put, I didn't like the way she wrote it - it read like one very long magazine article, a style of writing that works for 2,000 words in a glossy publication but not, for me at least, in a book. I have only read the book once, and no longer have it in my possession so i can't double-check, but my overall impression was that the Italy section was superfluous, the India section touched on interesting things but felt rather forced (a stay in an ashram that didn't have a spiritual experience attached to it could still have been powerful), and Bali was forgettable and self-centred, with a panic to find a bloke at the end. I hated the ending. It felt like such a cop-out, as if she thought her book should end with a relationship so she jumped on the nearest guy. I would have been more moved if she'd ended the story as a strong single woman, ready to take her newly acquired self-knowledge back to America to start writing her book and start mindfully living her new path.

The book didn't hold any surprises for me. It read as i feared it would read: a wee bit surface, with not enough grit or texture. Just like a magazine article. I seem to remember that she was commissioned to write the book/take the trip, so that in itself threw up a few question marks for me. Can we plan to go and find ourselves in this way? Or does it just happen when you least expect it, when you're doing the dishes or walking through the park on a warm autumn day. I know that if i planned a trip to those three countries, my experience would probably be a lot more pedestrian than that of Ms Gilbert's. Maybe the book jarred with me because i've found my own revelations in the humdrum normality of my everyday life. The idea of going to another country to find what we're looking for is so seductive, so incredibly appealing, that i can understand why this book is beloved by so many; I'm catching a flight to Canada tomorrow, and as i haven't been on a plane in two years i'm excited, hoping some travel will stretch my mind out of its day-to-day shape. But i also know that my deepest searchings, and my most excavated self, were found in the quiet moments sitting at home, journeying inside rather than outside.

I tried to read the book again recently, hoping i'd find the deeper meaning that I'd obviously overlooked, but i didn't make it past the first ten pages - her tone just alienates and irritates me. I have since given the book away. It's just not meant to be. But you know what the irony is? I'd love my Unravelling book to be as popular and well-received at EPL - who wouldn't? I remember when i bought EPL I was hoping it would inspire me to start writing my own story - a story i've been penning in pieces since 2005 after he died - but what actually happened was i discovered the style i didn't want my book to be written in. I'm not saying I'm going to be writing high-falutin' literature - far from it! - but i guess i envision more poetry woven through it. And more everyday textures.

I'm sure there were parts of EPL that i enjoyed, and paragraphs and turns of phrase that spoke to me, and I am not knocking anyone who loves the book. Hell, that's why so many books are published each year - so that there is something to suit everyone's tastes.  And i must take my hat off to Elizabeth Gilbert - she got the book deal, she took the trip and she wrote the book. And she's enjoyed fantastic success from it while touching people's lives, and we need lots more of that good stuff.  I fully support any woman who has work published as it is a long-held dream of mine too; if i was to put my words into book form and send them out into the world i know I would open myself up to criticism too, and I've often wondered how that would feel, considering how brutal a negative blog comment can feel.

So in summary, I know many of my blogging peers enjoyed Eat Pray Love, and for some reason I felt the need to hold up my hand and admit that i didn't. I did, however, really enjoy her recent TED talk; i just wish she'd written the book in the same voice she used that day.

* This post was brought to you today by my ramblings on Facebook and Twitter, and by the number five.

~ Thoughts on Unravelling ~

Looking back through my diaries I see that the first time i wrote about putting some kind of photography course together was June 2008. Abby and I had spent the day in Bath, walking around as i tried to decide if this was a place I could see myself living. As we drove back to Bristol, we talked about what i could do when i got here - at the time my sister was working for an adult education centre and she uttered those fateful words as we hurtled down the motorway: 'Why don't you create a course for us?'

I don't know if i ever fully conveyed on this blog just how nervous I was about my first time leading a group of students - I was can't-eat-can't-sleep nervous. I feared I would sit with these women and not know what to say, so i prepared and prepared and tried to put together a lesson plan that i hoped they would enjoy; Abby helped me plan the first session in 15-minute chunks so every minute was accounted for! And something amazing happened - fifteen minutes into our very first session, i completely relaxed. I could feel the nervous knot in my stomach loosen as i explained what we'd be doing in each class. By the end of our first two hours together I was smiling.

My little evening class in Bristol had taken about two months to fill up - I left postcards in coffee shops and made posters for the local library. Most of the participants had read about the course in the college prospectus; they took a chance on this curiously-titled photography class that wasn't really a photography class. Unbeknown to them they took a chance on a first-time tutor. Fast forward to last Monday, and my autumn Unravelling class sold out in just 83 minutes. People, it was insane! Clearly a lot has happened in a year.

[A glimpse into Anna's unravelling, shared with her permission]

Recently I've been getting emails from people on the mailing list who are frustrated that the courses always seem to be sold out by the time they click over to the registration page - going forward into the new year I want to find a way to organise staggered enrollments that's mindful of all time zones. What excites me the most about the course is that moving it to an online venue has not only made it so much more dynamic and rich but it also means people get to know each other from all over the world; i know Unravellers have been getting together in person and there are lots of emails and phone calls flying around the ether.

In a recent comment Anu asked me: what have you learned from your Unravelling classes? What has it excavated for you that surprised you? It's interesting that even though the class is based on stuff i've tried over the last few years i still find i have bits of me that can be stretched some more. I share personal thoughts with the Unravellers, and one of the most surprising discoveries is that I now feel more comfortable making videos; I feel i can be more myself and embrace how i look; there's no clever lighting or fancy cameras, just me and my webcam.

What has also become apparent is just how incredibly passionate i am about doing this work. I have never felt this passionate and committed to any other work i've done since i left school. I always struggled to fit into the regular world of working - I struggled with a salaried job, i struggled being freelance.  I was a student for many years; i've worked in cafes and shops. I once worked in an oil refinery canteen serving greasy breakfasts to hungry men at 7am. I tried my hand at portrait photography; I've done tele-marketing and PR; I've made sandwiches for the minimum hourly wage. When my love died I was unable to work for the first year and felt adrift in my life and without purpose; I didn't know that his death had set me on a path that would eventually lead me here.

When I launched the first class in January I had no idea that it was going to turn into a business - for some reason business has always seemed like a dirty word. It's as if i assumed that meaningful-work would be accompanied by harps playing in my zen office space as i shared my work for free and didn't need to worry about silly things like paying the rent. The reality is that i am working harder than i have ever done in my life and I'm learning how work can be an important exchange of energy for both the giver and the receiver. I'm learning about how to promote the work you do (i did my first ever podcast interview here - BIG learning curve for me), how to create a working model that is sustainable, while keeping my focus on creating courses that are enjoyable and multi-layered, and making sure I am as available as i can be for every participant who reaches out to me. I'm constantly asking myself what would i want from this course? What would my own expectations be? It's a constant challenge that i'm enjoying trying to figure out.

With every testimonial or email of thanks i get, there is a 15-year-old girl inside of me whose eyes sparkle as she thinks 'wow, i made that happen. That is so cool.' The girl who never thought she had any talent. The girl who, when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, quietly said: an artist.

To go on a blog-book tour across North America, Europe and down under is one of my wishes i shared in yesterday's post - i'd love to publish my Unravelling book, with stories and assignments, case studies and exercises to do at home. I'd love to be able to do that book tour, not even necessarily to lead workshops, but to create a space where we can get together for coffee and poetry, chats and sharing. Take the online network into the real world. To build a tribe of Unravellers*.

Heady dreams, perhaps, but the 15-year old girl is enthusiastically nodding her head: 'That would be so cool.'

* This is a big wish i'm sharing. I actually feel a little nervous putting it out there, so it must really be a heart wish!

~ Wish I may ~

Star light star bright
The first star I see tonight,
Wish I may, wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.

It's 09-09-09. It's a day for wishing... I wish for a healthy niece or nephew. I wish for love to find me. I wish for continued growth in my wee business. I wish for a healthy body. I wish for a never-ending supply of Polaroid film. I wish for a wedding day filled with laughter. I wish for a book publishing deal. I wish for a  book-blog tour across Northern America, Europe and down under. I wish for continued unravelling and magic. I wish for connections and friendships. I wish for an easily attained driver's license. I wish for a year living in California. I wish for a return to London. I wish for a ride in a hot-air balloon. I wish for a holiday by the sea. I wish for the perfect black shirt. I wish for a PA. I wish for hot summers. I wish for another rose cupcake from the Hummingbird Bakery on Portobello Road. I wish for a world filled with friendly people. I wish to go to Paris and have a perfume made for me. I wish for a dragon tattoo across my back for my 40th birthday. I wish for a Polaroid safari in Morocco. I wish for sciatica-free living.

I wish to find my man.

What do you wish for? Make a list today - I think there's magic in the air.