Friday 25 July 2014

COMPARISON.........is the thief of joy.  (Theodore Roosevelt)

I came upon this quote and accompanying article in my latest copy of Mollie Makes and it made me ponder some what.

Written by Jessica Bateman she talks about the "dissatisfaction we feel after seeing other peoples achievements and adventures plastered over social media" 

Now I must confess to a little bit of this happening in my life, thus I have withdrawn from the dreaded Facebook so I didn't have to keep on liking my friends Bali adventure as I was housebound with ill children and husband. Now I love my friend dearly and I hope she did have a great holiday, she deserves it a lot but sometimes I don't want to be found comparing her current wonderful times with my current hard times.

But do I feel this way about my blogging life? Did comparing my crafty attempts with others leave me feeling flat? Sometimes, I will confess in the early days it did, but then you find that little tribe of like minded souls that INSPIRE and bring out the best in you. I am so lucky I hung on in there blagging and blogging away and meeting  others and being inspired to go onwards.


These are some quick snaps I took when I went out without my camera. Taken on my little phone. They don't stand up to great scrutiny and they are not sharp and crisp but they do show you some of the wonderful sights at The Cranbourne Botanical Gardens. (PS. I post things like this on Instagram should you be interested under susanc269)

Any way as I was saying people often do inspire me, especially if they are really happy with what they do. It doesn't have to be at a professional level, just the excitement and passion that is created will get me going along. Again my friend Joy (joyjinks) has prompted me to post a few of my phone photos and just enjoy what I have discovered.
  

Isn't this landscape so photogenic? You couldn't fail to frame up a good shot. This garden represents the soil and colours of the centre of Australia.


The contrasts were all there. 












Pretty flowers. The top one are banksias and I have no idea what the others were other than they were pretty and spilled over the path.







 The reason I had made it to these gardens was a little quilt show put on by the "Friends of the Gardens" and these are details of the most amazing quilts. They look a lot like the works of an artist called Margaret Preston






 But these have been created in cloth with that same bold black interspersed with strong colour. The details in these quilts are amazing. Now there is something that could quite intimidate but why would I be? I am happy to stand back and just admire this woman's artistry and passion.
Check out her gallery of quilts on the Internet you will be in awe...



Now see, if I wasn't inspired to go back and see what was sitting in my phone then I would not have shared these wonderful memories of such beautiful days.







Till next time dear friends......

4 comments:

  1. I'm loving your beautiful photos Susan! The Australian Landscape representation is rather intriguing what! And the quilters work is just wonderful, certainly loads of time and effort, not to mention creativity, have gone into those works!
    You're right, we would be rather silly to feel intimidated by them - to each his own and all that - we are where we are and doing what we're meant to be doing and we each follow our own path. Right? Right!
    Very sensible and inspiring post dear friend - we keep on doing what we find beauty in! Talk soon! And hey, thanks for the mention once again and I'm chuffed that in some small way I may have prompted you :) Big hugs to you, Joy xo

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  2. Ah yes - the downside of t'internet is seeing so much that is out there and the incredible things that people make and do. Still there is also a big plus side and that seeing the incredible things that people make and do!
    Love your colours of Australia - it has been many years since we were there but we will come back again one day. I also love that fushia quilt - lovely

    I hope that you are having a lovely week
    Best wishes
    Jenny
    PS: I was in Mollie Makes number 6 (I think) - if you go back that far!

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  3. I've just had a quick flip on your blog.(via Joyjinks) Keep on crafting, blogging and believing in yourself. We are all different, move at different speeds and have very different lives. If we didn't, the world would be a pretty boring place. Yes, we sometimes envy others, but need to keep focused in our own world and get on with what we love, family and friends. I don't have facebook, but enjoy blogging about craft, gardens, scenery and travel. Hang in there. Take care.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your kind words Susan. I have wrestled with the envy beast at times so I have found that just switching off and sitting still has helped me a lot. Let's face it our whole advertising world is based on envy, so by taking time to create and meet kind crafters has made me very happy. And at the end of the day it is the kind people in your life that count. I will take care and hope you too nurture what makes you happy!

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