I love spring. I love that the tree outside my window is in blossom, and the pot of daffodils by my front door are so vibrant, and the unexpected patch of bluebells that has appeared in my garden. I love sitting outside to eat dinner, walks in the warmth… I’m definitely a spring / summer person!
Maybe my good mood today is also because the latest issue of Happiful magazine hit my doormat this morning. It includes my feature “Learn to love where you live”, which is about how we can connect with our local area, from learning about local history and walking heritage trails to getting involved in community projects or cooking up a meal celebrating our local cuisine.
As well as being in the May print issue of Happiful, the article is also available to read on their website.
In the article, I talk a bit about my experience of discovering more of my Staffordshire home, like taking part in a ceramics class and enjoying the wonderful delicacy that is the oatcake. As we continue to emerge from lockdown, looking at what we have locally is a great way for us to get out again, and I hope the article helps inspire others to explore their hometowns.
Like much of the country, there has been snow here in Staffordshire the past couple of days. But despite the cold, there are signs of spring emerging. I’m lucky to be getting out for a daily walk around my neighbourhood, enjoying the daylight and the frosted trees, looking out for snowdrops peeking through the frozen grass.
I’m fortunate that I’ve had a lot of writing to keep me busy over the past few weeks. The main focus in January was preparing for the mid-year review for my PhD, which involved submitting a sample of my writing and a research statement outlining my project so far and how I hope for it to progress. Thankfully I got that all submitted in time for the 1st February deadline. In a few weeks’ time I’ll have a mini viva interview to assess my work so far and check I’m on track. I find talking about my research can be really interesting, but I still feel at the stage where articulating it all feels challenging! But I am enjoying my PhD, and have been doing some really interesting reading for it this past week, exploring published mental health memoirs, as well as doing my own creative work. I feel very lucky to have this opportunity to focus on something I’m so passionate about.
I’ve also had a few articles to work on recently, as well as seeing ones that were commissioned towards the end of last year being published. My feature “Art in the Everyday” is in the current issue of the absolutely gorgeous Oh magazine. I love the front cover of vibrant daffodils – I can almost feel the spring warmth and scent of flowers just looking at it! My piece is about how we can all make art and poetry out of the items we’re surrounded with, drawing on the idea of found object art and movements like surrealism and dadaism. It was a fascinating feature to write, and I’m so pleased to have it published in such a wonderful magazine.
There are a few more articles of mine due to be published in the coming months which I’m excited to share. I also submitted a draft of my new novel to my literary agent recently, and I’m nervously waiting to hear her thoughts. She really gets my writing and always has valuable insights into how to make it better, so I’m confident that her feedback will be so useful.
I hope that you’re doing okay in this difficult winter lockdown, finding ways to get through. I can’t wait until the evenings are light again so I can go on an after dinner walk. And, of course, I can’t wait until things are safer and lockdown can start to ease. I hope things will get brighter soon.
Caroline Butterwick 