The Lovely Book for Wonderful Women

So one day, I am in the kitchen. I have three children, twins aged 3 at the time and a 6 month old baby boy. As my friend would say i was dripping in children. They were all going off and shouting, I was tired and my brain had gone in to meltdown. So with a breath, I went to our chalk board which was installed in the kitchen. I wrote all the things that made me happy. It was a reminder, hot fresh bread, a warm sea, the sound of summer rain. I also wrote down all the things about the children that made me happy. The way they laugh, their curiosity. Holding them whilst they fall asleep.
It was these words that would daily restore my sanity.

Then I took it one step further and wrote the words on a small canvass that I have now hanging in the kitchen.

It was these moments that lead me in to writing and illustrating my book The Lovely Book for Wonderful Women. I had, at the time planned to write a book about children, and as I sat down to write it I felt fed up and realized, I was utterly miserable and felt completely blocked.Then I had a lightbulb moment, it was not the children I wanted to be with in these few sacred hours on my own, I wanted to be with myself. A voice in side my head said, what would make you happy, right now, right in this instance? And there it was, I wanted to write a book about happiness, which is what I did.

The shift for me was immense. The clarity of claiming my own space and time, to actually do what I wanted. Home life was a sea of nappies and baby food and delicious moments with three littlies. Which were far more delicious once I had claimed my own time and space. Which as a woman is hard to do. So my book is written to inspire other women to claim their time and space, it is written to make women laugh and to celebrate the best of what we are, because, let’s face it, we are all wonderful women!

The Lovely Book for Wonderful Women by Lehla Eldridge can be found at www.lovelybooks.co.za