Another first for me today.

The University of the Third Age in my local area had an Open Day today. The U3A is on the grounds of an old high school that our local council now provides for various community groups to meet. For example the old school gymnasium is where dancing, yoga, gym and other sports are held for the community. The old quadrangle is now a community garden. Every day of the week, there’s always something on there. From charity groups, the local Steiner school nearby, the gardens, the sporting ovals, charity and community groups, Men’s Shed, it’s all there.

I joined the U3A this year for Ukulele and French classes and have met a lot of locals from the area. Once a month there’s a huge organic garden market selling fruit, vegetables, eggs, cheese and a lot more. It’s a great meet up place too as well as being your kids and dogs along.

With the market on today and the U3A Open Day, my ukulele class put on a performance and it was a lot of fun. I’ve never played in front of people, let alone sing! Some of the audience sang along too. I enjoyed every moment of it. We were getting right onto it. 🤣

My mum came along to watch me play while my father was in another room with his easel set up, giving sketching demonstrations to observers so he missed my performance. After my performance, I did go over to see him and strummed my ukulele behind him while he sketched but I think I was being more of a nuisance to him. I’m so glad I grew up with a creative family. Music, arts, crafts, books, philosophy, languages were considered above everything else at home. Now, I see – and feel – how critically important they are for my mental health and physical well-being. I can’t think how bereft my life was to be if I didn’t have ways to creatively express the ideas, language, words, projects I need to create and put out in the world.

The older I’m getting, I have an insane desire to become more and more creative. I’m moved emotionally – to tears – by creativity, music, beauty and colour. It sounds weird and I don’t know why this happens. I can read a passage of beautiful text, look at trees in bloom, look at a fruit display, listen to music, watch an insect buzz around a flower and I think how incredibly beautiful everything is around me.

An overall creative day filled with music, art and lots of conversations. I love walking about in the garden markets and community knowing people, stopping for a chit chat about this and that. Everyone was out and about enjoying the day and the market.

Afterwards I bought some fresh croissants (the stall owner gave me an extra one for free which was nice of him) and a couple of punnets of strawberries and sat under the tree with mum to eat them for lunch.

This is my creative life. My working life before this is now a long and distant memory.