Before we get started: This post was originally shared with my email community in May 2019. I’m sharing it with you on the the blog today as gentle reminder of how important it is to prioritise our maternal mental health, not just for our creativity but for our fundamental well-being.

This post also gives a little insight as to what you might expect from my fortnightly Letters from the Road. If you’d like to receive letters like this to your inbox every other Saturday, you can sign up below. You’ll also receive my complimentary 7 day guide to better photos with your children.

Once upon a time, I found myself sitting on a sofa in the small hours. The party around me was still beating a faint pulse but revellers were fading fast. I’d had a good time and was quietly congratulating myself for making uncharacteristically successful efforts to mingle and mix.

I was dating a musician at the time, and found myself chatting to the drummer of the band. We’d never really spent any time one-on-one together, but the conversation flowed easily and I found myself, dare I say it, fitting in. The warm glow of acceptance flooded my cheeks until he said “I mean look at everyone, having a great time, hooking up...and here I am stuck with THE GIRLFRIEND”. I was instantly deflated. My self-worth suddenly reduced to a label. Girlfriend, a term that I held dear, was now something that apparently reeked.

Fast forward 15 years and I was very happy in my role as stay at home mum, thank you very much. I had my future mapped out in front of me until it all came crashing down. Miscarriage and two TFMRs in the space of five short years. Grief on top of grief. All my eggs smashed at once and I wished I’d had another basket.

I wear many hats these days. Mum, photographer, teacher, griever; but it’s creativity that somehow seems to bring them all together to give me strength of self. Motherhood is my creative tool, just as all my losses and life experiences are too. My world, which once felt flat, now feels round. Creativity is both my mental sanctuary and my courage.

So, in case you need it, let me take this moment to remind you that you are special too. You're more than the sum of your parts. You're all the things that make you, YOU. Your thoughts, your way of seeing the world is completely unique and yours alone. That’s surely something to be treasured and worth nurturing, don’t you think?

The embers of your spirit might sometimes be hard to see through the daily grind, but I promise you they're there. So if you don’t already, I urge you to make space for them, even if just a little.

Nurture your artist heart. Pick up your camera and take a photo, write down your thoughts, paint the sunset, dance to your favourite song with reckless abandon. Whatever self-expression looks like for you, go towards it with an open heart. And you won’t be disappointed.

Suzie x

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Nurture your artist heart : A journey of creative self-discovery