I’ve not been much of a fan of social media over the years but I have to say that since engaging more on behalf of Made Unique I’ve not only enjoyed connecting with many of you but also have often been inspired by some of the people and organisations I follow (including the wonderful friend and creative, Sarah, who took the photo above).

I know I’ve mentioned him before but Charlie Mackesy is one artist whose posts speak to me day in day out. A lovely friend bought me a copy of his beautiful book ‘The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse’ nearly a year ago and it still sits by my bed so I can regularly be encouraged by the hopeful, kind, gracious words and images inside.

Recently Charlie posted a compelling artwork on Facebook and Instagram with the words:

“Those are dark clouds,” said the boy.

“Yes, but they will move on,” said the horse, “the blue sky above never leaves.”

It’s a simple thought, but profound. We’re still in stormy days. We don’t know when the skies will clear but there are constants we can be grateful for.

We said goodbye to our thankfulness tree this week but we enjoyed reading through each ‘leaf’ again and have tucked them away to read at harvest time next year… will lions, apples and litter pickers still be some of our favourite things?! It might be small things or big ones that help make up your ‘blue sky’ but on this cloudy weekend why not take time to look out of the window and feel thankful.

And one day, we’ll be able to join with Maya Angelou in saying:

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wonderously clear

I rise…