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JOURNAL

Slowing Down

 

The last few months I’ve been feeling really run down. Last year was consumed by the stress of selling our flat and buying our new home, and then getting in there and trying to make it liveable as soon as possible. I just cannot relax if I don’t feel happy with my home so I literally threw myself into the work and spent every moment I wasn’t at work, fixing up the house. As soon as we got it to a decent standard, the Christmas retail rush began at work and I had the busiest December I’ve ever had.

It got to January and my body freaked out and I ended up being rundown and ill for about a solid month. That, plus not having had an actual holiday since last Easter when I shot ‘Flat Land’ in Holland, and also just generally not seeing any daylight for so long, really did me wrong. Oh, and I turned 30 so I may or may not have been having a slight life crisis. I actually very nearly put the house on the market and was ready to pack up everything and move to the countryside. Luckily I talked myself out of that and realised I just need to get back to real life and slow down. I’ve taken more time for myself (I can happily spend a solid day just pottering around the house), and more time to work on my online shop (which will soon be in physical form at Tynemouth Market and hopefully other places in the future).

The shop will be a mixture of my prints, things I make, plants I’ve propagated and vintage homeware I’ve collected. It’s basically a plan for me to be able to spend my days doing the things I love, and making some sort of a living from it, which is obviously the dream for anyone. Fingers crossed all goes well, and for now, watch out for shop updates on my instagram. Everything can also be purchased from my online shop here in between market days.

 
Amy Spires