My date with myself

In Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way, she advises her readers to take themselves on regular artist dates. It doesn't have to be anything extravagant; just something to fire the creative juices. I've always liked the idea but, since becoming a mother, finding time and space to have a date with my partner has been close to impossible - let alone dating myself. BUT...on Friday I did it. A day...well, 6 hours...to myself.

One child delivered to the bosom of public primary education and the other in the care of the local creche, I took myself off for a cup of tea in Yarraville. Such bliss to be having a quiet cup of tea and reading the paper without interruptions and constantly checking that no-one was about to stick a finger into an electric socket. I sat at a communal table and let the buzz of conversation relax my mind. There were so many possibilities in front of me that I was almost immobilised by choice. Then I looked up and saw the Sun Theatre smiling at me from across the road. A movie. An adult movie. That would be nice.

I picked up a brochure on movies and session times and stepped from the bright morning sunshine into the dim foyer. A familiar face was buying a ticket. The mum of one of my son's school friends. I bounded up to her to find out what she was seeing. "The Blind Side". Hmm, I was more interested in seeing "The Hurt Locker" but unfortunately that was wasn't on til noon; way too late. The young guy selling the tickets informed me that "The Blind Side" had Sandra Bullock in it but it was a good film. I was sold and Donna was happy to have the company. I adore movies. Since having kids, my movie days have limited in both choice and opportunity. Lots of kids' films - luckily there's a lot of good kids' films about. So Donna and I enjoyed the delight of sitting still and tuning out of our daily lives and watched a feel-good movie with a positive message and a happy ending. Sandra Bullock was great but I have to say I was a little distracted by her strangely shaped top lip. What I did like were the action sequences. I've never been a big fan of American football - it's always seemed too technical and stilted to me. The football scenes in the movie however were well shot and exciting to watch. It helped me appreciate the sport a little more. It gave me food for thought in terms of igniting a reader's passion for a topic they've never considered before.

After the movie and a quick lunch at home, I was off to do the one thing that I had planned. My parents gave me a voucher for lingerie for Christmas. To help me ease back into post-breastfeeding life, bless them. The voucher was for a lingerie shop in Clarendon Street, South Melbourne. I lived in South Melbourne in the 1990s and just loved it. A quietish suburb, minutes from the city. Man, has it changed! For a start, I had to pay to park! And now there's a real buzz about the place. The shops have, for the most part, gone upmarket. A few stalwarts like Ferrari Suit Hire, remain in amongst the gloss and glamour of the cafes and boutiques. I won't go into the minute details of my lingerie shopping, suffice to say, I was helped by a lovely young girl and was very pleased with my purchases. I had just enough time for a quick cuppa at home before putting my mummy hat back on and picking up the kids.

Julia Cameron is right - our inner artist does need to be "taken out, pampered and listened to". Take yourself to the beach at sunset for a walk, visit a local gallery, have a massage. Do things that open sides of you that rarely get an airing. For next artist date, I'm vowing to go to the NGV. Gazing at art is something that always fires me up. Beauty and creativity is all around - we just need to take the time to notice it.

Gala Storytelling Night

On Saturday night, I went with a couple of girlfriends to the Gala Opening of the Wheelers Centre for Books Writing and Ideas. One friend, Robyn, and I travelled in by train and were running late. The line for seats - we all had tickets but seats weren't allocated - snaked out the front doors of the Melbourne Town Hall, along Swanston Street and around the corner up Collins Street. The faces of the people queuing up were shining with expectation. Around us milled another crowd of people; all wearing AC/DC t-shirts and all wearing the same excited faces. You've gotta love Melbourne.

Once inside, Rob and I met up Alison and we went upstairs to find seats. The place was packed and as always I admired the amazing organ pipes behind the stage. Chrissy Sharp, the CEO of the centre, welcomed us and Peter Bachelor, the new Arts Minister, did the usual political aren't-we-great blah blah. There was also a beautidul acknowlegdement to the traditional owners of the land we were on by an elder whose name I have now forgotten but will look up. And then the show was on the road.

A croaky-voiced David Malouf opened with unravelling of a family secret. How did his mum who'd grown up quite privileged in England come to be a deck-class immigrant to Australia? A tale about the power of secrets. Cate Kennedy followed with funny, endearing tales of her eccentric, belligerant grandfather. I thought to myself that my own eccentric, belligerant grandfather, Harry, would have loved Cate's poppa. The laughs continued with Shane Maloney's tale of how his father asked him to edit his (the father's) memoirs. Shane is dismayed to find one reference to himself - a short interlude about how Shane was born with an extra toe and how his father and the doctor decided to cut off the toe at the same time he is circumcised.

I think Judith Lucy was next and as usual she had us laughing at the foibles of her parents. Her mother once gave her a vivid account of Judith's birth and then three years later Judith discovered she'd been adopted. In a lovely Irish accent, Alex Miller recounted one of the bedtime stories his dad used to tell him and his siblings. The message was that the things we value aren't always as valued by other people. Chris Tsiolkas recounted the first time he went to the Greek village of his mother's family when he was ten. His grandmother was aghast to discover her daughter had been lax in giving young Christos lessons on how to kill a chicken. She filled in the gap in learning, much to Christos' horror. As an adult, working in a vet's office, this lesson came back to help him. John Marsden recounted a confronting tale about a visit to a clothing shop and the lessons of judgement and trust.

The beautiful Tara June Winch told a lyrical tale of heritage and love about her grandmother. There were tears in glistening in many eyes after that stary. John Safran revealed that the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree as he recounted how his father prodded him into subversion as he was growing up. Chloe Hooper reflected on an Aesop's fable her grandmother used to tell her and whether she'd ever understood it as a child. Now as a adult she reflects the meaning could be more about the unfairness and unevenness of life. Alexis Wright told vivid, poetic stories of her Indigenous heritage and finally Paul Kelly recounted how his aunty met and married an American and sang a song of their meeting.

It was a wonderful night. The stories were tight and meaningful. No-one overstayed their welcome and everyone had something to tell us about the power of storytelling. Rob, Ali and I left on a high, looking forward to the upcoming events planned and organised by the Wheelers Centre.

The new project

I'm off and writing and, for a change, enjoying myself. I've been struggling with my writing for the past few years...well, really, since I had my first child. I lost my mojo and I'm slowly getting it back again. It's easy to put yourself in the back seat when you have kids. I think all parents do it, to some extent. I decided recently that it was time reclaim my life. I've started 2010 off well. Last month, I went to a short story writing workshop run by the marvellous, Cate Kennedy. I attended with a girlfriend who's in the second year of reclaiming her life. I've got tickets for this Saturday's Gala opening of the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas. The list goes on.

The best thing is that I'm writing, and writing more regularly. Well, I'm not writing on my blog too regularly, I admit. I've started something new. A crime/fantasy novel for the pre-teen/early teen age group. I've never written for this age group before and I've never written anything with a fantasy element before, but I've been inspired by my writing group, Clan Destine. A motivating bunch of women and men who have opened my eyes to new ways of expressing myself. I'm giving this story a red hot go and, for once, the words are flowing. I'm into Chapter 8 and in my head I'm further down the track.

2010 - the year I reclaimed my life, my mojo...(TMI) and my libido!