It's wild and windy with a chance of Christmas trees

WOW, It has been so wet and WINDY here in the North East of England,

  We have had weeks now of wind and rain with odd bit of snow thrown into the mix. Apparently it is another storm which has a name . .

. . .  A NAME? REALLY, is there any need? Just say STORMS, not a name of a storm which makes it into some sort of celebrity to be remembered, i mean lets remember here that we are talking about peoples lives and continuous damage happening, mother nature she can be wicked and i don't feel she needs a name to be known as such. My heart truely goes out to all of those affected.

With all the stormy weather we have been having there is nothing at all we can do with the ponies except check them through all the layers of mud for injuries or ailments and have rugs drying and changed like some sort of production line!!  It is literally terrible, the mud is up to your knees, the water sitting ontop of the roads and fields, streams and rivers swollen to the brim and in places it is over flowing into the nearby fields and it sits there with nowhere to go just acting as a mirror to the sky, quite beautiful with the Autumn colours around. I've been out with my Dad, we went up to the reservoir to see how full it was and had some great fun battling the wind. I feel ALIVE when the wind is battering you in the face, howling in your ears and making your cheeks roll into funny shapes, Mother nature, the very base of existence. How small we are to the world, feel that invisible force move you, takes your breath away . . . Literally!!

There were many tree's that had fallen on our route, that is when you realise

 mother natures pure invisible POWER . . . 

The reservoir was quite choppy with what my Dad described as white horses (Confused eyes looked at him, he meant the waves . . . 
 . . . Like white horses, ah i see, YES they are, beautiful white horses)

It just feels so right for me to be out there surrounded by nothing but fields after fields, woodland and open spaces surrounded by nature,very scattered houses few and far between, just sheep, cows, horses and pheasants PERFECT, it just feels so perfect, like i belong there, i'm home. Although that isn't true as i have always lived in towns, or big villages. Well apart from the years i treasure when i worked as a groom, but i suppose even with that being placed in the countryside, the majority of my work was done around people, either on the yard or at competitions and well when you are up in the middle of nowhere you can stand and breath and i dunno it just makes me feel amazingly enriched, like i'm free.

So what has the FUNKY brain been upto?

Well i have been busy creating some Festive GeeGee's, i have traditionally done this every year since i started creating my little cartoon characters back in 2011, they hopefully have improved over the years with extra layers of FUNKYNESS!! I am so much happier with my creations since i started creating them again  in pencils rather than paint, i feel like i can freely express the FUNKY side and i'm able to get the quirky little details in that i felt i couldn't manage to do with the Acrylics. Here is an example -

2011 Christmas paintings ~ Acrylic and ink on canvas sheet

2015 ~ Christmas drawings ~ Watercolour pencils and ink

As you can see there is a massive difference in the quality and also the ability with the few years practice i have had getting used to using my tools, trial and error, learning from mistakes, growing from inspiration, and believing that I CAN DO IT, even when I am struggling. This is probably the hardest part. Trying to keep going when all the odds are against you. I try and see it as a lesson.
 We NEVER stop learning, with many things in life and i hope one day i can look back onto the 2015 cartoons and say WOW look where i am now? I certainly can with the 2011 paintings and that makes me feel proud at what i have achieved and learned along the way, 'HAPPY WITH MYSELF' which i think is a hard thing for us humans to feel. 

We are always doubting ourselves or comparing ourselves aren't we? And by doing so all we really do is in-validate and doubt our own abilities and our own talents, our own passions. We cast a shadow over everything we do everything we try, everything we succeed.

 Comparing ourselves to others is like looking in the mirror and seeing a monster right behind your shoulder-

*Picture this- MONSTER, Tall and bulky, Sharp teeth, ten claws

 and eyes that are deciding on whether to have salt or pepper to marinade. 

-The problem with that is you will not dare to turn around, you feel driven closer to the mirror, standing there so close you see every defect possible that weighs up the odds between IT and YOU.

How can you possibly survive? I mean look at it there, right behind you, driving you to look into the mirror of your own reflection! The comparisons mean the odds are against you with such a monster right behind you shadowing every movement, every thought, every feeling. How can you move let alone breathe?

CHOICES ~ You can either look closely in that mirror or close your eyes and avoid it.
Or maybe you are ready to turn around and stare that Monster straight in the face and know
'YOU CAN DO THIS'. . .
    . . . .  And no amount of doubt will stand in your way!!

See if we overcome our fear, if we look into that mirror and smile at what is facing us, if we turn around and look at that monster straight in the face, snots, bloody teeth, claws and all. Maybe we will find that actually that monster is our best teacher yet,?

Ask yourself this . . .

"What is it actually i fear?"

Let us look at 'FEAR' for a moment, Using the Monster as example.

THE MONSTER ~ It is right behind me? Is it on my shoulder? . . .   

 . . .Is it pushing and holding me physically or mentally? ~

THE MONSTER ~ What makes it look scary? What makes me fear it? Why do i feel pushed into the mirror to look at myself so closely with such intense scrutiny and compare myself so painfully?

IS IT . . .My  PERCEPTION? AWARENESS? PRE-CONCEPTION? STORIES? IMAGINATION? PAST EXPERIENCE? FEARS? EXPECTATION? SELF CONSCIOUS PREDICTIONS? 

THE MONSTER ~ What makes me look at it and stare at it? What stops me from closing my eyes and avoiding it? What makes me count up all the possibilities? What stops me from facing it and proving my own self worth, my own beliefs? What makes me doubt my own ability so much?
            

'ME'
It is Me who creates the 
perception of this moment.
It is Me who is in control of my reality.
And there is ONLY ME who can overcome this fear.

Say that to yourself. 

Don't close your eyes and avoid it,
Turn around, FACE IT, and learn from it,
and then brush yourself off,
 stand tall,
 do what you LOVE
 and believe in it!

MOST OF ALL

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

 By comparing ourselves to ONLY ourselves, without any comparison to others, then what we find is we GROW, we get better at our passion,skills and beliefs. We enjoy it, learn from it, grow from it.

This runs not only in our hobbies but also in our professional and everyday lives. 

At times when we need to ground ourselves and avoid these wicked and soul destroying comparisons, 

I mean-

-COME ON- Is anyone really PERFECT? 

 We all have our chance to shine if we are willing to learn, expand, accept limitations but express determination.
 SHINE and through shining we grow, always grow, we can only grow. 
The 'being' and 'spirit' that we ALL are is made to grow and glow.

 For when we shine, others too shine-

-And TOGETHER we can make the WORLD shine too.

Creativity and INDIVIDUALITY
 It is in us all, we are all born with an internal 
need to make our own mark . . .

 . . . What mark will you make??

Here is a poem i wrote a while ago, but it is still a one i re-read many times when needed. 

(Click on image to enlarge)

Now that i have got that off my chest i suppose you would like to know what the Funky GeeGee;'s have been upto? 

WELL, You wouldn't believe it if i told you . . . 

 I was walking with Mr Funky on our way to do a little shopping,when i couldn't believe my eyes as there was a lovely little pony trotting in front of us, if that was not strange enough to us we also noticed that this pony was wearing a Christmas jumper . . . Now that was strange!! We stood and watched as she trotted over the road to the post box and posted what looked like a Christmas card, HOW SWEET, I do hope that she remembered to write the postcode clear enough and has remembered to pop on a stamp. A very lucky Funky GeeGee shall be receiving a lovely card very soon by the looks of it, and judging by her fashion she is a very FUNKY GeeGee indeed!!

Later on as we were settling for the night, warm and cosy in our PJ's there was a tap on the door. I sent Mr Funky as it was freezing out there, when he opened the door he could not believe his eyes when there in front of him was the same little pony just Minus the Christmas jumper. Did he let her in i here you all ask? . . . .

 . . . OF COURSE HE DID, SOFTY! We also felt rather sorry for her so we let her wear Mr Funkys socks to warm her cold hooves up from the snow. All she wanted was to borrow a pencil and a piece of paper so that she could write her Christmas list and send it to Santa, 

Awwwwwwwwwww how cute!!

She stayed for a hot chocolate and we let her watch a movie with the Mini Funky's until their bedtime, after that she was ready to get back to her FUNKY friends and her warm straw filled stable where may i quote she commented -

"Where i don't need to learn to push a handle to cover up my droppings,

 or wrestle with a toilet seat so that i can sit down."

It was nice to have her round for a while, and we managed to get her list all written up and ready, all i will say is i hope Santa has an extra big sleigh to fit what this pony is asking for in all of his sacks!

Well i'm off to find my warm quilt and pillow filled stable ready for another no doubt wet and windy day. I have quite a bit to do this week with Christmas preperations and OH YEAH that small matter of putting up the Christmas tree which i have been asked to do for over a fortnight now off the Mini Funky's (Bless them) I have promised it will be going up on Friday when i get it all out from storage and say "Here we go again" as i realise yup, indeed, here we go again.

Next week is a busy one with end of term and Christmas school stuff, so i probably wont get much time to do my cartoning, but i will make time to create a few more festive ones so pop back to see them, or follow my facebook page.

Facebook.com/missfunkyandthegeegees 

Catch up soon <3 Miss Funky