Written by Telaine Feeney
Becoming a single mum created strong emotions, including anger, resentment, hurt and grief.
Living with these feelings destroys you and your children if you do not find a way to process them and accept them.
We need to take the past, learn from it, and move on. It is not easy, nor is it quick, but one thing I have learnt and gifted my children with is the absolute beautiful nature of change.
In times of uncertainty, creative has given my children and me the freedom to heal, adapt and discover self. We have all learnt that different does not have to be negative.
With some creative thinking, we are all learning to love this life we share.
As a single parent of 5, I have learnt that children blossom in freedom. With unmanaged creative play, they are discovering who they are. I have learnt that we do not control everything or everyone around us, including who our children are. We have all learnt that the future may never look how we planned, and that is ok.
So how does creativity impact this? Well, budget is a significant element.
As a one-income family, the joy of nature and our surroundings is our playground.
We grow our food; my children just built their pig pen for our pig; they help me create natural dyes for my business.
They get freedom in the kitchen to cook for the whole family. Pesto from scratch is perfect. We collect gumnuts in our paddocks to make windchimes. Musical instruments bring us all together and give us the outlet when we need time alone.
Without creative outlets, we all take in information and can spit it right back out, processing it and living it through creating situations of experiencing it. I am raising my tribe to be creative problem-solvers, to look at a cloud and see dinosaurs or birds, to be energised by their imaginations and curiosity.
Life is always going to need us to be creative with our thinking, so embrace a time to do nothing for your children. And enjoy a cup of tea while you watch them, you will be surprised how much they can teach us.