#44 Aerial Arts and the Witching Hour
A wordsmith who performs in the air, and then there's me, freezing my butt off on a windy day in front of a camera.
Happy Friday! I rarely keep track of public holidays because I’ve not worked a day in the 9-5 life since forever. They just creep up on me. My other half tells me he’s off on a Friday or a Monday (or both), and I’m like, “Ohh, right. I forgot.“
I don’t actually mind working during public holidays. The air feels different. It’s quieter, less demanding, and more peaceful. Not that many emails besides the usual brand marketing stuff that I generally subscribe to for business interests. And hardly anyone messaging me on my clients’ Slack channels.
So, before we head into the Easter holiday, I wanted to share a little about a lovely freelancer I met on LinkedIn (or in one of the freelancer Slack groups?). Lizzie Davey is one of those no-bullshit writers and educators who just says it how it is.
I’ve read so many resources from creators who add far too much filler content that detracts from the main message of the key lesson or thought. You know which ones I mean. You’re reading an intro that just keeps on going and gives you absolutely nothing useful.
Well, Lizzie’s resources are very much straight to the point, as are the lessons she shares for other freelancers online.
But I’m not mentioning Lizzie here because of her marketing and writing expertise. I recently asked other freelancers and business owners what hobby helps them switch off, replenish their creative energy, and bring something unique to their life experiences.
For Lizzie, it’s aerial silks. I didn’t know much about it (besides that it looks insanely difficult), so I had to learn more.
Lizzie got into this form of acrobatics in 2018 after spotting her local community centre offering an intro course on aerial arts. She had already been looking to start a new exercise and was bored of the gym and regular classes, so this was definitely something unique to try.
It’s a challenging form of exercise and performance. Lizzie says people on social media make it look easy, “but when you're upside down, it's really hard to know which way is up and which way is down.” It can soon get frustrating, but it’s fulfilling to watch your progress.
“The most rewarding thing by far is seeing my strength improve. You need so much upper body strength and it's amazing to see how much I've improved over the past six years—sometimes I can't believe how difficult I found it in the early days to do such simple moves!
I just had to ask Lizzie if she can draw any parallels between the creative processes in her day-to-day as a writer and when she’s creating magic in the air. She tells me:
“One thing that I do for both creative forms is come back to something that I'm struggling with. If I can't find the words for a piece, I'll take some time away and come back with a fresh mind. Likewise, with silks, if I can't master a move, I'll go back to something I can do well and then try again when I'm less frustrated.
But work aside, practising silks every week gives Lizzie dedicated time to focus on herself. Once it’s booked in the calendar, no clients or projects will steal that time from her. “It’s sacred,” she says.
As it should be—we deserve to give ourselves time for creative play. ✨
P.S. If you want to check out Lizzie’s work and resources, visit her website.
Heading into my witchy era 🦇
Last week I shared how I had booked a professional photographer to create a series of photos for me. The actual journey to the shoot was mildly traumatic, but I got there. It was my gift to myself on my 33rd earlier this month.
I’ve been really feeling the 33.
“Three is the number of the Empress in every Tarot Deck. The Empress is in charge of the Earthly and material plane,” according to this site. While this page shares that '“No number holds more esoteric significance than “33.” The number three is significant in all major religions. There is a Trinity for Christians and a Triple Goddess for the ancients.”’
Now, I’m not religious, but if there’s anything I would be drawn to, it would be paganism. It’s very much still tied to my country’s culture and has almost become more of a cultural identity than a religion.
From broomsticks to black cats, witches have captured the imagination of people around the world. And they've been a part of Latvian culture for millennia, though not in the way foreigners might expect.
As the last Europeans to encounter Christianity, Latvian pagans revered folk healers with a rich store of magic powers, useful for both good and evil ends.
(Source)
Many modern Latvians continue to practice pagan rituals and sorcery related to witchcraft: herbal brews, sauna rituals, and fertility rites at Midsummer. 🌿
So, I wanted to infuse that into my shoot. I always thought 33 was a witchy number. I think I recall something about 3 am being a witching hour when the paranormal entities and beings are at their peak.
This gave me a chance to embrace that natural, earthy side of oneself mixed together with womanhood. And, honestly, I think my photographer nailed it. Also, she’s a Latvian herself—what are the chances of me finding someone like her here in the UK?
There are too many favourites for me to share. I only recently received the gallery, so I haven’t had enough time to just be with the images. My friend (hi, if you’re reading this) always says photographers and subjects need time to digest the photos.
You need to leave the screen and return a few days later and do that a few times. It’s a lot to take in, so physical separation is necessary. You can’t enjoy, read, and get to know and love numerous photos simultaneously. It’s a process.
Also, how the heck can I decide which ones to print?! I now know how some of my clients feel!
But before I share any more from this beautiful session, I wanted to give you a sneak peek into the actual shoot. I set my phone to record a couple of locations to show you what a photoshoot like this looks like behind the scenes.
The first one was a sunny clearing with a small river and rocks. We specifically wanted an overcast, gloomy day for the shoot, but we had to embrace the sun's light. It may look nice and sunny, but I was freezing my butt off on that rock—it was ice cold!
In the second one, you can start to see just how windy it was. When I left the house, my phone said the temperature was around 7°C but it felt more like 3°C, so you can imagine just how cold it was. (See if you can spot our little twirly dance near the end).
All in all, it was exactly what I had pictured. No pun intended. Now, the hard part of figuring out which ones to print, how to frame them, and where to put them on a wall!
I hope your weekend is way warmer than this one was. If you're celebrating the holiday, I wish you a lovely one!
That’s all from me this week—if you enjoyed this newsletter issue and haven’t subscribed yet, you can click the button below. I’d love to have you here! Hopefully, catch you next week.✨