filling your well

I've been guilty of not filling my well in the past few months. This only really became apparent to me when I listened to a client's words as she talked about letting go of the things she did that 'filled her well' when she was young. Like many people, I'm so often torn by conflicting demands.

My first priority has always been to family. One of the reasons I wanted my own business was to have the flexibility to be able to spend more time with Chris and the girls.

In the past twelve months my business has grown so much that I have actually had less time for them than ever before and very little time for me.

What fills my personal well most is time alone or time spent engaged in something creative. Walking along the beach, meditating, exercising, cooking, writing, reading, getting out of the city. There are things I did when I was young that I miss...journalling, spending hours on surf beaches in winter as well as summer just watching the waves, taking hundreds of photos for no real reason other than to view the beauty of the world through a lens, lying on the floor with the headphones on (when my client listed this as one of her 'things' this was the one that really got me...funny the things that resonate isn't it?).

I've come to realise that I can't run my business on my own any more. I've been toying with the idea of expanding for a while now. This month I have had the support of two wonderful colleagues Joanna, in Sydney and Sarah, in Melbourne who have taken on some of the extra work for me. They are both exceptional coaches who work with the same philosophy as I do.

As well as this, I'm renewing my commitment to 'filling my well'. I'm rediscovering the things and the places that restore me. Elsa and I have spent time sitting on top of the little hill at Point Ormond after walking along Elwood beach (that's Point Ormond in the pic taken by Chris above). Just looking out across the bay at the city is restful. Having time to talk to my daughters is restful. Sharing a long lunch with Chris, is restful. Stopping, slowing down, doing nothing is restful.

What are the things or the places that fill your well?

what chris does

I've always been in awe of Chris' work. It took me about ten years to really get a handle on what his role actually involves. He freelances in the film industry and his job is in the art department...he's called a 'standby' (which effectively says it all). Every day he does something different. He can make a glass of beer look perfect or create a heat haze on a road for a car commercial. He's had to make things fly through the air without any of the tricks being seen and he's often the steady hand creating a single drop of liquid in a shot. He has the most incredible ability to problem solve in a creative way (the combination of an engineer father and an artist mother). Needless to say, I'm still completely inspired by him and in awe of some of the things he does.

He works mostly on television commercials these days and given we don't watch much tv we don't often see the results of his work. Recently he worked on a Schweppes ad that really appealed to him. Filmed on a super slow motion camera, the effects are amazing. Chris is a photographer in his own time and his fascination with this commercial is understandable. It's beautifully shot (and it has a great track behind it -'To Build A Home' from The Cinematic Orchestra). And yes, in case you're wondering...he did get very wet (and they are his feet in the image)!