A brief hello - India time.

I have realised it's been a few weeks since I have blogged and thought this morning it will be a few weeks more before I get a proper one uploaded as wanna do the first month of our trip justice with a nice juicy post. Therefore I felt I would just do a quick update and a few phone photos I have taken. We decided not to bring a computer away (which now being away we have realised could have had its plus's with the ease of uploading pictures) but heyho Internet cafés it is! 

We arrived with a smooth journey and actually the first two weeks has been really easy (I say easy for India, them words don't normally work together from my last experience of travelling in India). We have moved around a few places and are enjoying a week at the beach this week, moving on Tuesday to see some elephants in one of India's beautiful national parks. 

I promise a big blog soon but for now enjoy a few simple shots. 

Empowering thinking.

I use this blog as a way to express my thinking that’s going on inside me and a way to document changes that have been occurring in my life, 2013 was a great year of change in terms of my career life, the year was started by gaining a counselling placement at a women’s based service in SE London, my role would be the volunteer counsellor and I would be working with women exiting street prostitution, I was offered a 3hr a week space at the service and started my year working with 3 women every week, the placement work was incredible and I was so pleased to work with such incredible women with story's of strength and courage but also sadness and pain. I volunteered for 8 months before decided to end my time here and that came about due to an incident with another worker where I was horrified by her behaviour towards me and her unprofessionalism. 

Sadly the incident I encountered with the women is one that I have encountered many times with other women, going back to my school years to obviously present day. It really set me off on a spiral of trying to understand the behaviours of women, something I have being doing anyway over the past four years when looking at my own life journey with myself and how I have acted and behaved. My journey of my own understanding started when I moved to London and met beard, he has strengthened me in ways I can’t even describe but not only that he has made me unearth a part of me I wasn't even aware of that part of me that believes in things at a deeper level and not just on a surface level, the biggest of that is how important I am as a women in today’s world – my feminist beliefs have really grew in me and made me open my eyes to the way women are treated in society and the objectification of the female form. 

With this I decided to apply for a course with an amazing organisation called Women and Girls network http://www.wgn.org.uk/about-us who are a women based service who believe in women healing women they work with women and girls who have been affected by all gender forms of violence and offer a range of therapeutic services from counselling to body work. The course I completed with them was Counselling and Therapeutic Interventions for working with women affected by gender based violence. Like my Counselling the course has given me greater insight into the impact women face in society and has definitely been of great learning curve for me as a professional. Today I finished writing my essay around feminist theory and empowerment models and similar to how I work already the main focus of the work is to empower the client to see the strength they have in themselves. When writing my essay today some of the key messages in feminist theory is around the women understanding the wider context in which they live and not holding the problem as an individual problem but a wider societal one. The three main components are around the women developing these beliefs in her as they have made taken away from her by her abuser and society. Whilst writing and studying the same message kept coming across that society and media impact on how women are treated and it just makes me frustrated that in 2014 were still fighting for gender based violence to be taken seriously and recognise its not the women’s fault but the male who is carrying out the violence. 
The empowerment model of therapy used is a beautiful model it just saddens me we need specific empowerment models when really why don’t humans empower each other, wouldn’t the world be a nicer place to live?

Christmas Merriment and Yurting joy.

For those of you who I have been around recently would have heard me say I can’t believe how quickly 2014 has come around, my last blog was about moving out and now we only have two weeks left at our friends and three weeks till our trip, so with that hasn't time flown by….

Christmas was beautiful, I read my blog from last Christmas this morning and it’s interesting to look at where I was there to where I am now, I was reapplying for university, living in our flat and making decisions for my future. I guess at least the latter is still true, decision making is always at the forefront of my mind and my friends know I am always planning and making changes to my life, I am not happy sitting content and I don’t know what that’s about but as a Counsellor I could definitely look for a deeper meaning, today I will just look at as an excitement for adventure and filling my life with goodness!

After the intensity of my most recent course it was nice to spend 2 weeks relaxing at Christmas, I love being in my family home, it makes me feel very happy and relaxed and the feeling of Christmas is so strong it’s like a magic in the air. The run up to Christmas was nice but without being in our own nest it didn't feel the same and I missed that Christmassy feel of decorating a tree, crafting decorations and hanging stockings, so to arrive in Newcastle to my Mum’s grotto was bliss and filled me with delight.

We always stay in on Christmas eve, I used to go out but feel being at home is special and important, we eat delicious food, swap a Christmas present, put our Christmas PJ’s on and watch something Christmassy, its beautiful and I know it will be a tradition I will carry on when I have kids. Sam and I spent Christmas apart (again) this year which was hard and didn't feel right but it was what we decided due to our trip, I missed sharing Christmas morning with him and speaking on the phone is never the same as being present together. After this year we agreed next year we would be together and the year after (fingers crossed) where in our own place and have agreed it would be spent in our home – together, yeah!

Sam arrived on the 27th and we went and spent two nights in a Yurt at Wild Northumbrian http://www.wildnorthumbrian.co.uk/ , it was a present I bought for Sam in November but I thought booking it over Christmas would be a delight and would be really magical, it certainly was that. We stayed in the Merle Yurt and agreed to have our Christmas here, we took our family dog – bowdog and spent two glorious nights with Wild Northumbrian in the beautiful Kielder Forest. For those of you who don’t know Kielder it’s another amazing part of Northumberland and recently won the best darkest skies (basically meaning there is no light pollution so the stars are incredible), the yurt had been decorated beautiful and when we arrived they had the log burner going and the candles on, we spent the evening drinking mulled wine and feasting on veggie stew, exchanging gifts and talking of our Christmas days, I felt so happy and blessed it was more than I could have asked for.

The next day we enjoyed breakfast, watched Bow running around (and under) the Yurt and enjoyed the beauty of the scenery around us, wild northumbrian is positioned in a beautiful area and it was just incredible to be out in December in the wonderful countryside. We found a nice walk to go on that day and walked a good 8 miles through Kielder national park, the dog loved it and enjoyed the freeness of the country air, we had our cameras out and got some lovely shots of our walk and the beaming sunshine surrounding us.

NYE was spent in with the family, eating delicious food and enjoying plenty of sparkle; it was nice to not be out and about and just enjoying family time.

Flower Fever

After many a festival with my fave friends wearing beautiful flower garlands I decide it was time for me to try my hand. After making my feather headband I felt more confident at giving it a whirl, I had had a look at a few of my friends styles and stored all the ideas in my head for my craft session. 

With a night to myself I made my room I to a flower haven and got the sewing machine at the ready. It was really fun making, gluing and stitching and was really happy with the final results - so much so I made a few more for friends. 

Can't wait till 2015 when I head back to Glastonbury! 

Mine.

My lovely friend Rosa's (Christmas gift - which she told me she loved)

Caroline's.

My feather headband (don't think I blogged this).

I have been really enjoying try all these new projects out and my confidence in craft projects is growing so much, 2013 was a good year for learning. 

Love these words.

One step closer

The last month has been pretty crazy in the curly Austin household, with our moving date impending we knew we needed to make a start on packing and clearing out our beloved flat and taking the next steps towards our travel and move North.

After much deliberation we managed to get my family to store our worldy belongings in their loft space, we knew we didn’t want to pay for storage as it would cost so much and obviously when away the last thing we want to be doing is pay for our stuff to be stored in a locked cupboard, for me it felt right for everything to go North, we know our plan is to head back there at some point so seemed right for the move to start now especially if we can store our life possessions without a ridiculous cost. It’s made me excited knowing our things will be stored there as it just feels one step closer to being home.

Lately life in London has become more and more distant and I don’t feel a connection to where I am, yes I have an enjoyable job, lovely Austin family and a few close friends around but the sense of living somewhere I feel I don’t belong resides in me so strongly. I did an exercise in a course I was doing last week where we made a paper alter, the alter included a page of things that I enjoyed and made me feel at peace, when complete I realised no part of it contained London, it was all about the country and the coast.

Our plan is still uncertain in a sense but we know that when we do know when we come back in 2015 Sam will still have his work in London whereas I will be jobless, the plan is we will stay in Ldn with Sam’s job but I will look for full time work back North, with the eventual plan of Sam moving as soon as he has work, hopefully within 6-8 months. People keep asking how it will be being apart but sadly I know its part of what probably has to happen as we both won’t get jobs at the exact same time – it would be beautiful if we could but I just think it will be difficult. I have no fear about us both getting jobs it’s just getting the right ones that suit us. I know my eventual plan is to set up my own female counselling service but feel I would like to be in other employment before taking this risk and new challenge.

So with our boxes packed and moving day tomorrow were nearly out of our Brixton abode, we will be living with our lovely friends Stef and James until end of January then its home for a week and then travel time. Its never felt more real than it does now and I can’t actually believe were doing it, it’s going to be an adventure of a life time and the experience can only strengthen Sam and I to another level and allow new experiences of adventure and exploration.  

Shambala beautiful.

Shambala

2013, another year frolicking in the hidden fields of the Midlands, our yearly journey to Shambala; we were one down but still a car full of feathers, glitter, fancy dress and cosy warmth travelled the road to Shambala town, with a pickup in East London we were on our way, happy and smiling. The journey sadly didn’t go as smooth as planned and a quick stop off turned into a long lost walk along the motorway looking for Ewan’s bag, with the bag found we got back on route ready for our exciting journey in the wondrous fields of Shambeautiful.  

We arrived later than our usual time but the joy of Shambala shone bright, with new areas to frolic in and a choice of new campsite we decided to pitch a bit higher than usual, this year we had two new campers joining us the lovely Emily and Sophie so we spread out our belongings out and made sure we saved enough space for our whole Shambala crew.

The Thursday night was spent feasting on a BBQ of delicious treats, tasty cider and vino, the joy of watching people arrive, set up and prepare for a weekend of silliness is great, the festival is so different from others, its definitely one of my favourites and even though its smaller there is a romance about it that I don’t feel at other festivals.

The Friday was spent enjoying the musical treats, venturing into the new areas and basking in the delight of Shambala brilliantness. The colours and features that make the festival are just so incredible and there is a real vibe of goodness and warmth from all attending. What I love about Shambala is that there is music on but it’s not the main part of attending the festival, it’s about all the other things that are going on, there are times on the main stage where there are big slots of no music but it works as you can go somewhere else and get involved with something else like a dance workshop, yoga, meditation, basket weaving or playing the fool its just filled with a great amount of goodness and smiles.

One of my favourite parts of the weekend was playing the fool with Jonathon Kay http://www.jonathankay.co.uk/ we spotted a huge group of people running around the festival being very silly, at first we couldn’t work out what was going on so attempted to ask some of the group but all they replied was they were not sure either, we chose to take the chance and join the group and the brilliantness of the performance was just allowing yourself to be you, that silly part that we lose due to the seriousness of the world we live in. It was just great, so lovely to be part of a wider circle of loveliness and childlike fun. Jonathon Kay (the Fool) got everyone involved and his level of energy was electric and really made the group perform and enjoy. Sam and I enjoyed it so much we went back on the Sunday and played again, a number of friends I talked too that weekend had also caught one of his workshops and it seemed the fool had enticed everyone’s inner child and brought out a whole lot of goodness in everyone’s hearts.

Some of the great bands we saw were the beautiful Alice Russell, her soulful voice filled the fields and Emily and I enjoyed a good boogie at the front. The Shambala beatbox orchestra were also incredible; the sounds these 5 boys made were out of this world and magic to watch. Smerins Anti-Social Club, a favourite of Sam and I’s who we were introduced to last year was once again brilliant, a lot of brass band jumping. We saw the beauty of Amadou and Mariam, a friend had told me about how amazing they were and to see them perform and sing was heart moving. There were just so many brilliant bands, some I knew, a lot I didn’t but that’s part of the exploring of Shambala, finding out about music that you once didn’t know about, the different types of music, joyful beats and lovely voices allows a wealth of different era’s and great new and old sounds to enter your world.

The festival stays open all night but some of the great night time areas enjoyed this year was the pirate ship and the disco shed, the woods still held the crown and glory of being a place to party but with all these new places there was a lot of time spent wondering spangly from one place to another, soaking in the disco beats and great dancing. My disco companion this year came in the form of some heart shape glasses, everytime you put them on and looked to the lights the lights turned into hearts and suddenly your whole world was lots of colourful beautiful hearts, what more does a girl need then disco and hearts!

The Saturday brought the parade and the theme this year was the lost tribes of Shambala, our group decided to go with the lost tribe of tourism and I do believe we were the only ones dressed as this. The different costumes are always amazing and everyone goes to such great lengths – some of my favourites were the lost tribe of board games, to see someone dressed as an operation board game was a great highlight and lovely to see the artistic skills of people. Sam had made us all brilliant guidebooks and Shambala maps to make our costumes look as real as possible, with Ewan as our Shambala guide we were ready to go and walk the procession. It’s a great feeling being part of such a large scale procession, the boom boxes are always blaring and everyone gets involved, the delight of colour and beauty fills the Shambala fields and a real sense of happiness and glow shines bright from the smiling faces of the weird and wonderful.

Our last night was spent dancing to the English disco league in the pirate ship, a lot of funky moves were made, heart glasses shared and cocktails drunk. We ended the night back at camp, burning the last of the firewood and giggling at the weekend’s delights.

With our travels next year (2014) and a possible wedding (2015) we won’t be gracing the fields again until 2016 but 2013 has defiantly left me with the feeling Shambala will be a festival that will be in our lives for a long time, the greatness it brings is one I hold and take away and I feel privileged to have enjoyed the last 3 beautiful years there.