I must admit to breathing a big sigh of relief now that 2014 is over. It felt like I was living in "interesting times". If you've been wondering why the blog's been a little quite of late, I've recently changed jobs and landed myself a promotion in the process, so I've been a little short of time.
I'm not the best person at dealing with change, I like stability and continuity, but circumstances during 2014 meant that I had to adapt to a constantly changing employment environment. When the man who hired me almost seven years ago walked away from the company he had been part of starting, I knew that I didn't want to be there any more. But it's one thing to know this, quite another to know what to do about it. The resulting stress meant that for most of 2014 I felt like I was running on empty.
It's not all that helpful to focus on the negative, but it is hard to let go of something that has been a big part of your life for so long. During the year I found myself coping in different ways, and I wanted to focus on the positive things that came out of this journey.
Strength, Stability and Courage
One of the the places I found solace when stressed was, unsurprisingly, on the bike. In particular I found myself riding on dirt a lot more. The intense focus required to stay upright (when mountain biking) as well as getting out in nature never failed to put a smile on my face. That isn't to say there wasn't a few tantrums when the trail became tough!
Actually, one of the other places I found myself developing skills to deal with these challenging situations (both on and off bike) was the gym. This year I completed a strength class and learnt how to weight lift properly. The people that I met through the class then encouraged (nagged, pushed, probably depends on your perspective) me into joining the crossfit classes.
I had often watched the super fit guys and gals swinging themselves around on bars and do all sorts of crazy things in the crossfit class and I was fairly reluctant to have a go. Both due to my (perceived) lack of fitness and worries about my back falling apart. But, with the proviso to go easy on my back, I got talked into it. And in all honesty, I loved it.
I found myself doing things I no longer thought I could do. Handstands were easy as a kid, but now? Turns out I can do them no worries (as long as there is a wall there). I've done things I thought I had no hope of doing, simply because I gave it a go a few times. Sure, I've hit my head a few times (literally, I'm fairly clumsy), but I slowly learnt that most of what was holding me back was in my head. In addition, the strength and stability work built into these classes improved my back and my bike handling!
The Art of Patronage
Physical activity alone was not enough to keep an even keel. Distractions abounded throughout the year, including:
I always thought patrons had to be super rich with sparkly gowns, but apparently they don't. All you need to do is support the arts, and when you have such talented friends, this is an easy thing to do. A friend of mine put on two exhibitions this year, "I Felt I should Duck, Weave and Spin" as part of the Fringe and "Air, Earth, Water, Fire" supported by SALA. I was lucky enough to attend both and both times she made time to sit, chat and explain her work. Both times I ended up with a piece of her artwork, a cute felted wombat the first time and a luxurious and indulgent, hand spun and hand woven scarf the second. Not only was I now a patron, I had awesome, wearable art (and I will be warm all winter)!
The second highlight did not strike me as an act of patronage at first, simply there was an awesome Alice in Wonderland book project on kickstarter that I wanted to be part of. It was, to quote the site:
"A deluxe limited edition volume richly illustrated with paintings and drawings by artist David Delamare."
Personally I would have summed it up as amazing, but that doesn't really describe it all that well!
As with a lot of kickstarter projects, this one ran over schedule, in fact I still don't have my book! But in some ways I'll be sad when I do (as well as deliriously happy) as it will mark an end of a journey I have taken with a bunch of strangers to create something beautiful and unique. What made this so special for me is the way the artist and his partner brought us all into the project and into their lives.
They updated us with information not only as to how the project is going, but why they started it, what they hoped to achieve and how things changed over time. The community formed around the book and the artist was offered help from people who had skills they could use.
In many ways the project became bigger than the artist, and I was proud to play a small part in this community. The updates also had a habit of reaching me when I was having particularly bad days, and it always made me smile to know that I was able to help someone else create something with such integrity.
With Friends Like These . . .
When all else failed, I could always count on my friends to cheer me up. Or at least listen to me grizzle! But seriously, my friends provided many highlights this year, chief among them the marriage of two wonderful people, Brett and Karen. I was truly honoured to be part of this event and enjoyed it thoroughly!
My friends were also willing to participate in almost every mad scheme I could come up with. Captain Bob pushed himself to the limit in Roller Frenzy with me. Brett took on the swausage making challenge. Kara rode up Stone Hut Road with me. We celebrated Chinese New Year, Tour de France, Mexican Christmas, New Years and many other events in between. Truly, I am lucky to have such crazy, fun friends.
So as I look back on the year, I realise it wasn't as bad as I thought, stressful yes, but not bad. It had it's challenges, but it also had some amazing adventures and experiences. Hopefully 2015 will be a bit less stressful, but I'm sure it will be amazing with all the awesome people in my life!
For anyone interested in learning more about the artist behind the Alice in Wonderland book project, the website is here: http://www.daviddelamare.com/
I'm not the best person at dealing with change, I like stability and continuity, but circumstances during 2014 meant that I had to adapt to a constantly changing employment environment. When the man who hired me almost seven years ago walked away from the company he had been part of starting, I knew that I didn't want to be there any more. But it's one thing to know this, quite another to know what to do about it. The resulting stress meant that for most of 2014 I felt like I was running on empty.
It's not all that helpful to focus on the negative, but it is hard to let go of something that has been a big part of your life for so long. During the year I found myself coping in different ways, and I wanted to focus on the positive things that came out of this journey.
Strength, Stability and Courage
 |
| Stone Hurt Road |
One of the the places I found solace when stressed was, unsurprisingly, on the bike. In particular I found myself riding on dirt a lot more. The intense focus required to stay upright (when mountain biking) as well as getting out in nature never failed to put a smile on my face. That isn't to say there wasn't a few tantrums when the trail became tough!
 |
| Dirt = Happy! |
Actually, one of the other places I found myself developing skills to deal with these challenging situations (both on and off bike) was the gym. This year I completed a strength class and learnt how to weight lift properly. The people that I met through the class then encouraged (nagged, pushed, probably depends on your perspective) me into joining the crossfit classes.
 |
| Super Fit Guy ;) |
I had often watched the super fit guys and gals swinging themselves around on bars and do all sorts of crazy things in the crossfit class and I was fairly reluctant to have a go. Both due to my (perceived) lack of fitness and worries about my back falling apart. But, with the proviso to go easy on my back, I got talked into it. And in all honesty, I loved it.
 |
| More Dirt! |
The Art of Patronage
Physical activity alone was not enough to keep an even keel. Distractions abounded throughout the year, including:
- Lior and Nigel Westlake with the ASO performing Compassion
- Rocky Horror Picture Show
- WOMAD
- Dennis Loccraine (Dr Hook)
- The Last Confession
 |
| Warm! (photo c/ Jill Gillmore) |
I always thought patrons had to be super rich with sparkly gowns, but apparently they don't. All you need to do is support the arts, and when you have such talented friends, this is an easy thing to do. A friend of mine put on two exhibitions this year, "I Felt I should Duck, Weave and Spin" as part of the Fringe and "Air, Earth, Water, Fire" supported by SALA. I was lucky enough to attend both and both times she made time to sit, chat and explain her work. Both times I ended up with a piece of her artwork, a cute felted wombat the first time and a luxurious and indulgent, hand spun and hand woven scarf the second. Not only was I now a patron, I had awesome, wearable art (and I will be warm all winter)!
The second highlight did not strike me as an act of patronage at first, simply there was an awesome Alice in Wonderland book project on kickstarter that I wanted to be part of. It was, to quote the site:
"A deluxe limited edition volume richly illustrated with paintings and drawings by artist David Delamare."
Personally I would have summed it up as amazing, but that doesn't really describe it all that well!
 |
| Image c/ David Delamare |
As with a lot of kickstarter projects, this one ran over schedule, in fact I still don't have my book! But in some ways I'll be sad when I do (as well as deliriously happy) as it will mark an end of a journey I have taken with a bunch of strangers to create something beautiful and unique. What made this so special for me is the way the artist and his partner brought us all into the project and into their lives.
They updated us with information not only as to how the project is going, but why they started it, what they hoped to achieve and how things changed over time. The community formed around the book and the artist was offered help from people who had skills they could use.
 |
| Image c/ David Delamare |
In many ways the project became bigger than the artist, and I was proud to play a small part in this community. The updates also had a habit of reaching me when I was having particularly bad days, and it always made me smile to know that I was able to help someone else create something with such integrity.
With Friends Like These . . .
 |
| High Five! (photo c/ Evermore Photographics) |
 |
| Captain Bob (photo c/ Carl Purczel) |
My friends were also willing to participate in almost every mad scheme I could come up with. Captain Bob pushed himself to the limit in Roller Frenzy with me. Brett took on the swausage making challenge. Kara rode up Stone Hut Road with me. We celebrated Chinese New Year, Tour de France, Mexican Christmas, New Years and many other events in between. Truly, I am lucky to have such crazy, fun friends.
 |
| Swausages! |
So as I look back on the year, I realise it wasn't as bad as I thought, stressful yes, but not bad. It had it's challenges, but it also had some amazing adventures and experiences. Hopefully 2015 will be a bit less stressful, but I'm sure it will be amazing with all the awesome people in my life!
For anyone interested in learning more about the artist behind the Alice in Wonderland book project, the website is here: http://www.daviddelamare.com/
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