Tag Archives: elisabeth pike

May News

So, now that May has just been ticked off the calendar, I thought I’d do some May news! (Always late…) I kind of feel like May didn’t really happen this year because it was so stormy, rainy and cold, and normally May is my absolute favourite month of the year. I was waiting all monthContinueContinue reading “May News”

What’s the worst that can happen? (Getting over my fear of public speaking!)

I’ve dreaded public speaking since I was a child, but reading Quiet by Susan Cain gave me the revelation that sometimes it is worth more to actually just get over yourself and talk about what is on your heart. And for me, it is weighing up these two things – what do I have toContinueContinue reading “What’s the worst that can happen? (Getting over my fear of public speaking!)”

Gratitude #25

#25 Our house. (I make no apologies for completely ignoring what is happening in the world at the moment, just homing in today.) We moved here 6 and a half years ago, and then it felt a bit like our lives fell apart when Ivy was diagnosed with T1 diabetes, but we got back upContinueContinue reading “Gratitude #25”

Gratitude #24

Gratitude #24 I hope these poems aren’t coming across as too glib. I know this is such a difficult time for so many entrepreneurs especially, who are seeing a drastic change in their income and livelihood. Shrewsbury is a real hub for entrepreneurs and small businesses so support them as much as you can ifContinueContinue reading “Gratitude #24”

Gratitude #23

#23 Too much to say today, the line breaks had to go! Keep going GB, stay in as much as you can. It’s not forever and it’s what will turn this thing around… #gratitude #gratitudepoem https://www.instagram.com/p/B97qlc_Hzzb/?igshid=1n2lilr27r0nb EDIT: This poem is featured in Voice at the Window: One hundred poems written during lockdown which was publishedContinueContinue reading “Gratitude #23”

Gratitude #14

Gratitude #14, may it be known as ‘the craziness of the writer’ and ‘plums’ 🙂 #gratitude #gratitudepoem https://www.instagram.com/p/B9jshLoHpq8/?igshid=16yo2l4sih5f6 EDIT: This poem is featured in Voice at the Window: One hundred poems written during lockdown which was published thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign.  You can get it here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/870191768/voice-at-the-window-one-hundred?ref=shop_home_active_9&frs=1 

Laundry, a poem for World Poetry Day

Thought I’d share a poem for #worldpoetryday. This is one that I wrote a few years ago about the way that we sometimes find ourselves living in close proximity to neighbours that we hardly know. This was when we lived down south in a tiny terrace with our two children. I had formed a collectionContinueContinue reading “Laundry, a poem for World Poetry Day”

Are we all creative?

This is a question I have often pondered and I think that we are all creative to a degree but there is always a choice. The creative path is presented to us, but it doesn’t force itself on us. For it to take root in us, we have to say yes, come and turn myContinueContinue reading “Are we all creative?”

Unboxing Circles!

Happy Friday post! 😃😃😃Look what’s just arrived! @oupublishers 😍😍😍 #happyfriday #circles #newbook #author #writersofinstagram #creativecall #creativity #writer https://www.instagram.com/p/BvB3g56nltF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1e4es4knt9x0s

About me and why I wrote Circles..

My forthcoming book, Circles: Nurture and Grow your Creative Gift was born out of a collection of writings from a crazy time in my life when I had two very young children and a third on the way.  I was longing to create but felt that all my creative energy was being sapped by parenthood.ContinueContinue reading “About me and why I wrote Circles..”

The proof for Circles has arrived!

Look what was delivered the other day! An actual book with my name on the cover!! This is the first proof and the book will be coming out at Easter time. Before then I will be sharing a little more about what is inside.. but for starters.. it’s a story of my journey with creativity,ContinueContinue reading “The proof for Circles has arrived!”

Mary Oliver on the creative call

This. 🙌🏻. This year, do you have a restlessness within you, a project lying unfinished? A far off dream not yet explored? Let this be the year, turn to it, pay attention to yourself, give yourself time. Quote from Upstream by Mary Oliver, one of my Christmas presents that was quickly devoured! #quotes #quotestoliveby #maryoliverContinueContinue reading “Mary Oliver on the creative call”

Burst; a poem by Elisabeth Pike

Burst The things that I see and touch consume me; the work that I must do, the dinner that I must cook, and the house that must be tidied fill up the space in my mind. And when I close my eyes, all I can see is the bustle of things, like a humming city,ContinueContinue reading “Burst; a poem by Elisabeth Pike”

Putting Your Work Out There: There You Are, 34 poems about Motherhood

Who are these crazy dreamers who plug away at something, for hour after hour on their own, believing that one day it will come to something?  I am one of them, and although sometimes I feel deluded (!), I know that there is a quiet faith that my writing will see the light of dayContinueContinue reading “Putting Your Work Out There: There You Are, 34 poems about Motherhood”

There You Are : its nearly here!

So excited that my book is nearly here! I have spent the past year hand lettering and illustrating a collection of 34 poems about motherhood. It will be arriving at the end of next week and *should* get to you for Christmas if you preorder! I will shout when they’ve arrived and they will beContinueContinue reading “There You Are : its nearly here!”

Store it up..

A kernel is sometimes all it takes.  A feeling, a word, an image that sums up how we are feeling, a verse from a song.  Store them up, write them down.   In those years of relentless parenting with three under fives, I often had a feeling, a desire to say something which would be snatchedContinueContinue reading “Store it up..”

For When We Don’t Know What is Coming: an unexpected diagnosis

We had just moved to the wilds of Shropshire, with a two-week old baby and two pre-schoolers, and everything was new.  My husband was beginning to concentrate on his music full-time, and the two eldest children had just started in a new preschool.  There was time for the dust to settle.  But I still hadContinueContinue reading “For When We Don’t Know What is Coming: an unexpected diagnosis”

Letting Go

Sending my novel out to agents feels a curious thing.  I have finished at last.  I breathe a sigh of relief.  I am proud of what I have achieved.  But I also find myself stepping back from it.  It is its own thing, launched into the inboxes of strangers.  I can’t imagine how is perceivedContinueContinue reading “Letting Go”

Trembling Heart

A poem about the night that my daughter was diagnosed with Type 1, back in 2013 when she was 2 and a half.   I held you to me on the bed and smelt your hair, felt your lightness,as your father bustled in the darkness for your favourite things.We had been to the doctors thatContinueContinue reading “Trembling Heart”

Afterwards, a work in progress…

And breathe… first day back to school for the kids which means I finally have some time! Here is the latest work in progress. To be included in a book of poems that should be ready by Autumn 🤞 🙏xx #handlettering #poems #instapoetry #livecreatively #parenting EDIT: You can find the finished poem in There YouContinueContinue reading “Afterwards, a work in progress…”

Uncle John

A very old poem and a kernel for the novel. The smell of the strawberry jam, the decay, the wildness.. The jam thick with whole strawberries  hadn’t seemed so wonderful to me at the time.   Only now, sitting in my room with morning toast do I feel the loss,   as I remember themContinueContinue reading “Uncle John”

Messy Desk…creative mind…

Believe it or not, this is the tidiest my desk has been in a long time..!😂 this is place I wrote and redrafted my novel which is now going out to agents 🤞🤞🤞 and also the place I design my hand lettered poems and also where I think up creative ways to teach creative writing.ContinueContinue reading “Messy Desk…creative mind…”

Love Poem: Poetry prints by Little Bird Editions

My children exhaust me and bring me to the end of myself but they make me who I am and they were the ones who taught me to love. I have recently launched a collection of prints which are my own hand-letterings of some of my poems about the early years, when everything is aContinueContinue reading “Love Poem: Poetry prints by Little Bird Editions”

Pick Up Your Violin!

When I am reading to my children, I am half-asleep, I am not distracted, my defences are down, and for me that is sometimes the best time to hear God. The latest one is Patrick by Quentin Blake, a tale of wonder and music.  You can read the story here: https://archive.org/details/Patrick-Eng-QuentinBlake  The message in this amazingContinueContinue reading “Pick Up Your Violin!”

Snow Day!

First appeared in The Guildford Dragon in Winter 2012.. Snow! What a great diversion from normal life for parents and for littlies. What was a dreary, never-ending January suddenly became a winter wonderland, a magical world for children. Everything was different for a little bit. As the snow fell on Friday, my husband rushed intoContinueContinue reading “Snow Day!”

On budgeting and how much it really costs to raise a child

Another old blog post. Apparently bumbos are out of favour now so shows how quickly this post dated! Written in Autumn 2012 I remember when I was younger, blissfully ignorant of the realities of having children and announcing at work that I was broody and couldn’t wait to start having babies.  I was only aboutContinueContinue reading “On budgeting and how much it really costs to raise a child”

Coming down to Earth at the National Trust

Again this is an old article that I have dug out today.  This was written in Autumn 2012 I think… Today we drove for an hour and a half to meet up with friends from our home town (by home town, I mean the one that I and my husband grew up in, the townContinueContinue reading “Coming down to Earth at the National Trust”

Marianne Williamson on being given permission to shine

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child ofContinueContinue reading “Marianne Williamson on being given permission to shine”

To Lavish

To lavish (def: bestow something in generous or extravagant quantities on). I love the fact that God’s ways are not our ways and that the eternal mysteries of God are something that we keep learning over and over.  They don’t naturally make sense to us, we can’t see them coming.  In the world, we sayContinueContinue reading “To Lavish”

Gifts

I sometimes have to remind myself that God wants to use me; who I am, as I am, right now.  It’s easy to write ourselves off and to think we’re not ready yet but God is looking for people who are ready and waiting; first to hear his word and then to obey it.  HeContinueContinue reading “Gifts”

#1

Wind wraps around me like a blanket. In a blustery playground my boy has fallen asleep. And there is space and time, of a sort, standing hands in pockets, brook rushing by behind me, I hear it’s eddies and ripples, see the winter light brimming, spilling over, winding through the trees. All alone like IContinueContinue reading “#1”

#73

Sitting outside, listening to the beautiful noise coming from that shed. Tiny Leaves rehearses with his cellist. This is what summer is like, After two weeks of cold rain, I had almost forgotten. Mud covered children at dinner time, Finding potatoes like jewels in the mud. Birds singing still at 8.30, The fresh scent ofContinueContinue reading “#73”