Where there is life there is hope, right??
So there is still hope to make this blog come alive, I can start over, and I choose to do that today 20 April 2019.
I want to transcribe some notes I wrote on a train in Italy on 23 September last year on the way to Lucca, bear with me, all will become clear and hopefully relevant.
On the train to Lucca I was reminded of how womens' friendships are the same world over and a day out with a group of female friends looks and sounds the same no matter the language.
From Dubai, in the water park, where a group of young women in various states of traditional dress (suitable for swimming) talked and laughed and sang their way around the lazy river, while lounging in inflatable rings, to Italy, where on a train to Lucca, Tuscany, a group of Italian women elegantly dressed laughed and talked (over one another of course) all the way to our destination.
These two groups of women, worlds apart, have in common, deep friendships and connections with other women that bring joy and belonging and a history known only to themselves.
I am off to walk the streets of another ancient town where the women through out history have come together to work, talk laugh and support each other through the centuries. Everytime I have a spare minute I stop and absorb the mystery, stories and strength of the women who walked these streets before me. I want to hold the memories of this time in Italy somehow and honour and acknowledge the people who created, built and lived in these beautiful places.
So, what do those ruminations have to do with me now in New Zealand in Autumn you may ask.
When we moved to this home in Haumoana, I created a space in the downstairs room, aptly called Kates Space. It is my place to create and write and think and just be. My dream for this space was to create and curate, if you like, a space for other women to come and create, connect and complete art and or crafts together. A nod to another time where women would sit and sew or quilt and talk and support each other if need be.
Would anyone come?, does it matter?, is the space big enough, cool enough?, on and on I went vacillating between yes! let's do it, to, no, who would want to be part of this. Finally I decided I would set one day and evening aside to do my own craft. I would open it up to as many women I knew who created and crafted and just see what would happen.
Make Do was launched, now that sounds impressive, which it really wasn't but I decided that didn't matter.
I'm not going to lie, I have had between zero and 1 person attend each week, but I now set aside a day to create, to spend time doing the arts and crafts I love either on my own or with another person who loves making things as much as I do.
So, from a train in Lucca, Italy, to tiny little Kates Space in Haumoana, NZ I am determined to nurture connections with women face to face and to nurture my own creative soul in whatever way I can.
Happy Easter everybody,
Kate.
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