Seeking inspiration, especially when you really need it, is a thankless task sometimes. I've been trying to find some inspiration for a new workshop I wanted to run and the more I thought about it, the more confused I became. I had the theme, but needed ideas for exercises and, more specifically, a plan for the day. By the time I'd finished thinking about it, my mind was running in circles.

It’s a bit like when we have a problem and don't know what to do. The more we worry and fret, the worse things seem to become and the more we worry and fret. It's a vicious circle.

I'd read somewhere that if you're planning to write a book, the first thing you should do is to write the blurb that goes on the back cover. That way, you give yourself a focus and you know what your intentions are for writing the book. And I'd also heard that if we’re worrying about something, the best thing we can do is to forget it for a while and the solution will present itself while we're doing something else.

The 'something else' I decided to do was create the poster for the event. That way, I would be doing something I love (creating graphics etc.) and also give myself an idea of what I wanted the workshop to achieve. And guess what? It worked! By the end of the day I knew exactly what I wanted to do and achieve with this workshop, and I'd had a thoroughly good time 'playing with the graphics' as well. Not to mention the fact that the poster's now done and ready to go.

And I think there's a lesson in there somewhere too. We can't ignore our problems. They won't go away on their own. But if we keep worrying and fretting we can only make things worse because our minds cannot 'think straight' while they're going round in circles. So if we can find some time to rest, relax and think of something else for a while, we allow the solution to simply pop into our heads when we're not looking for it. This is one I'm definitely going to try again!

And here's the finished poster…

'Step into Spring'