When you were a child, did you used to enjoy making things just for the fun of it?

Did you find yourself lost in time building Lego houses, drawing pictures or creating collages with random scraps of material, buttons and ribbon? Perhaps you used to knit, crochet or sew, collect flowers for your flower press or make geometric patterns with a Spirograph?

Wasn’t it relaxing to just sit and make stuff?

And then…. we grew up. Our studies got serious, our jobs and social lives took hold and then we settled down with a mortgage, a puppy and a couple of children. Or at least some variation of that!

Suddenly we had no time or inclination to sit and create. The only time we read a whole book from front to back was on holiday by the pool. And then technology came along and swiped even more of our time away with videos and games we never even knew we needed.

Our whole lives became about consuming rather than creating.

We found ourselves on a treadmill of constant consumption. And it drained our energy, our life force, our innovation and our creativity.

In some strange way it’s as if we needed to get to this point today; a world in which Black Friday shopping madness, ocean plastic garbage patches and the highest rates of obesity and depression ever recorded are the norm.

It’s time for us to wake up and realise that we all carry the light within; the light that will save us and our planet from darkness.

“It’s only one straw. Said 8 billion people.”

Together, we are the catalyst for change.

United, we are the ripple effect.

Change begins inside you. It starts small. One less cheap t-shirt, one less plastic bottle, one less car on the road.

But just as most people fail in food diets because they focus on what’s being removed from their lives – the things they’re no longer ‘allowed’ – it’s important that we switch our mindsets away from scarcity and lack. Instead, we must focus on abundance, ease and flow.

And the easiest way to switch your mindset is by starting with gratitude.

Feeling grateful for all the small things naturally steers you away from over-consuming – in any form.

And once you stop consuming so much, you re-awaken your creativity.

You’re drawn to pottering in the garden, buying a set of paints or dusting off the old camera.

You feel an urge to declutter your wardrobe, take up hiking or start a vegan diet.

You’re inclined to spend time outdoors with your children or joining them in art and craft fun.

What have you felt drawn to?

I’ve noticed a big shift in our consciousness since 2012 – although I wasn’t aware of what was happening at the time. So many people I meet in person and through the online space have been on a journey of awakening. We’ve quit corporate jobs, taken our children out of mainstream schools, started our own businesses and begun a path of creativity and innovation. We’ve not been afraid to step out and show our unique gifts, talents and lifestyles to the world.

Perhaps you feel like you’ve been riding the same wave too?

It’s a wave of love, honesty, integrity and authenticity.

It’s a wave of connection, community, collaboration and compassion.

It’s a wave of self-awareness, reflection, personal growth and alignment.

I may not be a surfer chick, or even a water baby, but I’m riding this wave all the way!

I’m actively swapping my consumption for creation. I’ve got out the sewing machine, I’m digging out the knitting needles and I’m keen to try making a macrame wall hanging. (My godmother once taught me macrame knotting with the cords attached to her spiral staircase back in the late 1970s – how hard could it be now?!)

I feel a deep desire to create, from a place of love and meaning, every single day and I’d love to know if you feel the same?

Lorraine xx

If you’d like to read more about this subject you might like my recent blogs: The True Cost of Fast Fashion or Greed, Consumerism and the Era of Change