Making the leap into spring with the sounds of Caithness
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Northern Drift by Monique Sliedrecht
Today, March 1, is St David's Day. This is a very special day in Wales. David is the patron saint of Wales and one of the earliest British saints (before Columba, but after Patrick – who may have been Welsh!).
To mark the day, many Welsh people around the world wear one or both of Wales's national emblems – a daffodil and a leek. Special concerts and parades are also held in St David's honour.
It's also the day after Leap Day. Every four years we have to make a slight readjustment to the calendar. We need to do that in our lives every once in a while too, to realign and take stock. Many of us are so driven forward by our tasks and the stuff in our heads that it’s not a bad idea to take space for some re-configuring to our lives and schedules, which can get out of sync.
In an attempt to get out of my own head, and while walking on the beach the other day, I could hear the music of Caithness local band, Neon Waltz, drifting across the bay. They were rehearsing in Freswick Castle over the weekend, preparing for their upcoming tour. As I looked out to the sea I thought how joyful it sounded, how refreshing.
At the same time, a couple was being shown around for a wedding, delighting in the space and imagining their big day together.
The combination of these things lifted my spirits and gave a real sense of creativity, hope, and love as I scanned the wave tossed seaside for images to capture with my camera and draw in my sketchbook.
Neon Waltz’s newly created songs being played for anyone in range to hear (in symphony with the birds, cows and seals) gave me the courage I needed to step into my own studio and enjoy the process of creating. And rather than play with notes and instruments, I could play with colour, paint and shapes which would inevitably lead to something new.
I was sitting in Stacks cafe in John O’Groats some time ago and noticed a rack with a magazine called Positive News. I paged through it and was surprised to see the articles about events the mainstream overlooks, wonderful and encouraging pieces of journalism.
Like music, or time in nature, there is a need for good news. Perhaps this can be seen in the form of micro-events – very small moments of glad tidings which can happen constantly. For me the other day it was just noticing all the beautiful curlews happily searching for food in the sunny field nearby.
And had I not gone on that walk on the beach, I would not have heard the music, or seen the fresh daffodils delicately emerging into the world – bright spots on the hillside, and a promise of spring. These are gifts that can go unnoticed in our hurried lives.
It’s important to take time to rest and make space for the possibility of play and joy, which is sometimes reached through being bored, and not cramming every moment of every day with meetings and work, or filling our head with too much information and incessant bad news, much of which is completely draining.
St David’s last words to his followers before his death are thought to have been: "Be joyful, keep the faith and do the little things that you have heard and seen me do." The phrase gwenwch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd – 'Do the little things in life' – is still a well-known phrase in Wales.
Let’s take stock, open up space in our days, and be joyful with the little things in life.
- Monique Sliedrecht is an artist and blogger based at Freswick. If you want to follow her writing or sketches, go to her blog at www.moniquesliedrecht.com
