'Fighting the urge'

Staggering about on the clifftop, trying to stay upright in the wind, salt spray stinging my face and the roar of the waves thundering in my ears...

I felt fragile.

But also exhilarated, and strangely calm, like the chaos around me was echoing something in my life that I hadn’t yet found words for.

You know that feeling too? When everything feels like it’s crashing in at once, like you’re being pulled this way and that. You're fighting the urge to panic and trying to focus on staying afloat?

Yet somehow we do. We just have to be brave and keep calm.

Later I painted “Fighting the urge”. This wild, expressive seascape is full of that drama. It's a reminder of the humbling awe of nature. But also the everyday wonder of life when we allow ourselves to feel it ALL, without trying to fix it.

It may seem slightly at odds with the current balmy weather, but it wasn’t so long ago that the skies were dark and the storms were rolling in.

That’s the nature of things, isn’t it? Storms always pass eventually.

This piece is especially close to my heart. To me it's life affirming and I hope something in its message brings you a little moment of courage too.