Last night, while catching up on the blog entries of a friend and amazing artist at Cider & Faun, I found my interest piqued by a whimsically named blog in her links list. When I opened up The Magic Onions, I found myself devouring entry after entry, mystified by the wondrously creative projects the author enjoys with her children. She is an amazing writer and an inspirational person. I lay awake in bed buzzing with excitement until 1 o’clock in the morning, imagining trying out every single one of her tutorials either myself or with my future buntens.
When I was a little rabbit, the world was filled with magic and awe. I created worlds with my vivid imagination. When I was ten years old, I pretended that we lived in a world where everything in the universe contained a spark of life whether it was the glowing moon in the sky or the dewy grass beneath my paws. And somewhere in a distant corner of the universe, there lived another us, our Dream Selves, whom each presided over one beautiful domain in our natural world. I imagined that there was another tea-coloured rabbit like myself in that world who tended to the stars. Although I never shared this imaginary world with anyone else, every day I stepped out into the world with this belief in my heart, and treated her as sacred.
As I grew older, my vivid imagination started to share a crowded hotel with everyday worries over career, bills, and relationships. It is with sorrow and nostalgia that I look back on my childhood and realise I have lost so much of that wide-eyed little bun who believed in a magical universe and respected nature with a tender reverence; a rabbit who strived to be kind-hearted, tolerant, and generous. It is my hope that this blog will offer me that expressive and nurturing forum I so need to be inspired and awed once more by the beauty around me.
I began by taking my camera out with me today when I hung out the washing:
chilli blossoms in our yard
newly trimmed hedges
Your optimistic friend,
Bun
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9 comments:
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Lovely new venture Helena! I am, as always , envious of your photography.
In my childhood I was always fortunate enough to have a large front and backyard, and I was allowed to use the space for pet keeping, gardening and creative projects. I really miss having a slice of nature just outside the doorstep. Such homes are a luxury for many Gen-Y-ers, but I still dream of providing a generous home for my future children one day. Blogs like these are just inspiring.
Hi Fiona, thank you for commenting in my new blog!
How lucky you were to have that growing up! It means a lot to me to be able to pass on that love for nature and the outdoors to my future children as well, if anything just to get them off the computer every once in a while. But even if I don't make it to a nature-surrounded home in the next 5 years, I am definitely going to make visiting parks, reserves and zoos a regular part of their weekly/monthly rhythm. Although I was mostly surrounded by concrete growing up, that never stopped me from imagining that a tiny patch of grass at the end of our car park was a rainforest! :D
Same as Fiona, I was fortunate to have a front and backyard. Not only that, the area I lived in was still being developed, so across the road there were mounds of lovely dirt where we used to ride our bikes (it was said they were going to build a hospital there...but that was a lie, and now there are houses built on it :). Space really is such an important thing for a child's imagination to flourish I think - I used to circle around the backgarden, walking with an old broomstick handle I used to treasure, or riding my bike, dreaming up all sorts of stories and acting out parts in my episodic series' (if I had to come in to eat, it would have 'to be continued...'). I think my parents actually have footage of me walking around the garden talking to myself!
Anyway, this is unrelated to your post. Will this be a craft blog, or an everyday, whimsical sort of blog? It begs the question - what will happen to your other one(s)?! I really like your chilli blossoms photo by the way...it kind of makes me feel like I'm in another world, like another country perhaps.. I don' know.
Hi Rajita, welcome! Haha you sound like an adorable child, although I hardly think you have lost any of your wonderful imagination and creativity from the old days.
I hope this will turn into a nice balance between a craft blog and an 'everyday, whimsical sort of blog'. I think I had always hoped to keep something more like this but my habit became to write mundane catalogues of what I did without really exploring the beneficial aspects of journally. Pocketbook had hopeful intentions but I feel it's become a log ("Today, I did this, then I did this, etc.") I hope that makes sense as to why I am crowding your bookmarks with yet another annoying journal?
Thank you for your compliment about the chilli blossoms photo. I really love it too because it is not something I have noticed before or would normally notice. Makes it a much more special find! I bet if you went into your yard with a camera right now, you'll find some buds in bloom you didn't know existed before either :).
Wow, this is a neat project idea, Helena! I love your writing style. It's so elegant, but yet at the same time so inviting!
Unlike the other two commenters, I grew up without a front or a backyard ~_~;; Though I did have a large balcony to play in . . . but somehow I think because of the lack of a yard, I grew up as someone who doesn't really care for nature much.
But man, I wished I knew you when we were younger! It would have been neat playing with you since your imagination is so creative and fun! I don't think I was ever that imaginative on my own! I usually just replayed what I read or watched on television in my head as some Mary Sue character. XD
But anyway, good luck with this blog! ^^
Thanks so much Tara, and welcome to my new blog as well!
I think you're proof though that you don't absolutely need to have a huge backyard to play in or possess a deep, wondrous awe for nature in order to become a well-rounded, compassionate and artistic individual.
i love this bun ;)
Hehehe this bun loves you too! Welcome to my new blog, Andrea!
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