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.