Coddiwompling

I love this word! You'll have to read on to find out the meaning.

Origin: English Slang Word

Definition: To travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination.

This year, I plan to coddiwomple through the year, living with a mindful intent.

The start of a new year is often a point of conflict for me. I love starting something new - which is evident in the vast number of half finished paintings lying around my workroom - however I am strongly pulled to slow down and winter through the dark cold months. My focus for January, is to begin my coddiwomple slowly, to take pauses, and lean into a gentle and restful way of being.

Taking a meandering approach to life and creativity, does mean that my art and poetry can have a higgledy piggledy feel to them. I often jump from one idea to the next without warning and only stick with an idea until the next one pops up and shouts “Look at me!” Occasionally, I go back to these ideas and organise them, but not often.

For those of you who are lucky enough to know me in person, this will be no surprise as I talk like this too, a scattergun with a very wide range.

Saying that, there are some things that feature heavily in pretty much everything I do. I love nature and am constantly surprised and delighted by what I see when I’m outside. It is not just the big things that excite me, other walkers are often surprised to find a grown woman face down in a ring of mushrooms. I am drawn to the feeling of awe, of being something small and part of something huge at the same time, like the vastness of a sky, or how a body of water can be unfathomably deep.

Over the next few posts I will hope to share writing and art that reflects and is informed by these themes. For now though, I will just share some of the things that caught my eye on my coddiwomples this week.

I love all the little surprises nature offers up when everything is quiet for winter.

I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on what I share.

Ruth x

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All work shared is my own and is the intellectual property of Ruth Gray Artist