A Year in The Hamptons - February 2011

Today’s blog entry could be called “An Inspirational Tale” or, if you  prefer “My Soapbox and I”.  It was triggered by a chance meeting and put me straight on my soapbox, so here goes……

Young people are great. They get bad press, and often don’t help themselves in that regard, but I think they are fantastic. They are at the edge of their flight of life, full of passion and promise, learning to fly. So leave them alone – it’s tough for them, and the yobs that make the news headlines are the exceptions, just like the adults that make the news headlines for all the wrong reasons.

And the reason for the soapbox stand? This. Last week I dropped into the bookshop by Barclays corner in Teddington, attracted by promise of even greater discounts on some art materials (likely to be the next phase in my midlife crisis – watch this space!). And there I met Ayesha, working behind the counter, and we got talking and she became unwittingly a source of inspiration for me.

Here was a young girl at the end of school, at the beginning of her adult life, who had discovered in herself a talent for card-making. She had a kit and had a go, basicly, and found not only that she enjoyed it but that she could do a good job of it. And not only THAT, but she put it to practical use and did the cards for her sister’s wedding! Howzat?! And now she is off, maybe carving out a career for herself, maybe just having fun and finding out that believing you can do something gets you a long way.

She talked suppliers, and future plans and her excitement was infectious – I walked away feeling like I could do anything I wanted to too. (So maybe that watercolour will get painted after all…)

Good luck, I say, and when we are all buying Hanif cards instead of Hallmark cards, remember this blog.